All across America, luxury hotels offer exceptional amenities for memorable weddings, but having a celebrity chef cater a bride’s reception truly takes the cake.
By: Jimmy ImFrom sunny southern California to Georgia’s capital of Atlanta, notable properties boast restaurants helmed by esteemed chefs who can also provide terrific menus for your big-day bash.
Photo courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton
José Andres at Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
Once the vacation stomping ground of the Rockefellers, the ultra-glam hideaway of Dorado Beach continues to lure the jet setters with the glittering Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve. Located just outside San Juan, Puerto Rico, the exclusive oceanfront retreat sprawls across a whopping 1,400 acres of natural beauty. The resort is equipped with 100 ultra-luxe guest rooms and 14 suites, a breathtaking treehouse spa and the culinary offerings of acclaimed celebrity chef José Andres. His prolific background includes working at El Bulli in Spain and opening award-winning restaurants including Minibar in Washington D.C. and Bazaar at SLS Hotels.
Here, wedding menus (serving groups of 11 to 200) catered by the resort’s restaurant, Mi Casa by José Andres, are customized for each couple. They often include a variety of signature sea-inspired tapas (shrimp and grapefruit salad with frisée, arugula and chayote and liquid-center conch fritters) and simply prepared plates like salmon filet and Maine lobster (wedding packages start at $4,500 and include the ceremony, some decor, a musician, bouquet and boutonniere, a champagne toast and more; ritzcarlton.com).
Photo courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton
Wolfgang Puck at Hotel Bel-Air
Stretching over 12 acres, the idyllic Hotel Bel-Air in Beverly Hills, has served as a haven for the rich and famous since opening in 1946. The sun-kissed grounds are romantic and embellished with 1,000 plant species, as well as a towering, 100-year-old sycamore tree. Thanks to its picturesque setting and history, Hotel Bel-Air hosts 30 to 40 weddings a year for groups and guest lists ranging from 30 to 250. Wedding ceremonies take place by the iconic Swan Lake (home to three of the graceful birds). Guests then congregate at the elegant Garden Foyer and Courtyard for cocktails and end the night in the Garden Ballroom with its soaring domed ceiling and starburst chandeliers.
Adding to the memorable wedding offerings are the Wolfgang Puck catered event menus. Puck, with his eponymous international restaurants, cookbooks and licensed products, is synonymous with the term “celebrity chef.” The master is often on site, so he could personally oversee your big-day meal. A sample menu includes Maryland crab cakes with tomato relish and basil aioli, as well as Mediterranean sea bass with Spanish chorizo, fennel confit, artichokes, saffron and piment d’espelette and an Austrian chocolate cake with pudding filling (wedding packages start at $450 per person and include site fee, the cocktail hour, dinner, a bar package and wedding cake; dorchestercollection.com).
Photo courtesy of Hotel Bel-Air
Photo courtesy of Hotel Bel-Air
Art Smith at Intercontinental Buckhead
The Intercontinental Buckhead, in the tiny Atlanta neighborhood called Buckhead, has long served as the event space for society affairs, including birthday parties for A-listers like Usher and Ted Turner and over-the-top, star-studded weddings, including NeNe Leakes’s celebration last year. The indoor/outdoor 25,000-square-foot function space encompasses a gorgeous garden oasis Buckhead’s largest ballroom.
Foodie couples love the catering by celebrity chef Art Smith, who opened Southern Art restaurant at the hotel in 2011. The James Beard award winner has a notable resume (Oprah’s personal chef, cooking with Lady Gaga) and is a regular face on TV. The restaurant serves up regional Southern comfort food with fresh ingredients from local farms. And the dishes can be custom-catered for weddings. A popular option is the signature ham bar experience (specialty hams and local Georgia cheese) and sweets like cake pops, caramel pretzel chocolate pie and bourbon pecan tart (wedding packages start at $160 per person and include passed hors d’oeuvres, a seated dinner or four reception stations, a wedding cake and a five hour beverage package; intercontinentalatlanta.com).
Photo courtesy of Ettinger/Fischer/35Atlanta.com
