The Promotion Ceremony Part II: The Ceremony is Done! Let’s Celebrate!
Immediately after the ceremony we had a receiving line and then it was time to celebrate!
Receiving line.
For those who aren’t sure, the cost of the refreshments is typically covered by the promotee(s), especially in small group and single promotee events. We decided to order catering (everything but the cake and punch) from a local grocery store called Wegmans. Have you heard of Wegmans Food Markets? If you haven’t, it’s probably because they only have stores in six states, all in the eastern part of the US. This is a shame because they ARE THE BEST! – by far, our favorite. Yes, lovers of HEB, Publix, Whole Foods, and Kroger, I said it. Their produce, meat, bakery, and cheese departments, along with their prepared foods and cafés, just can’t be beat. It makes sense that this great quality extends to their catering department. Now for the delicious details!
Since it was lunch time we ordered several trays of pita sandwiches, wraps and sides. For the “Pita Wedge Platter,” we selected the Greek Chicken, Turkey & Pepper-jack and Roast Beef with Cheddar. There were plenty of fruits and veggies to share in the “Fresh Fruit Tray” with vanilla dip and the “Colorburst Vegetable Tray” with dill dip. (Those trays were enormous…they were definitely not afraid of filling them up to the very top.)
Pita Wedge Platter, Colorburst Vegetable Tray (large), and the Fresh Fruit Tray (large)
The “Signature Sliced Wrap Tray” consisted of Roasted Vegetables with Provolone (my favorite), Ham and Swiss, Roast Beef with Cheddar, Tuna with Provolone, and Chicken Caesar with Bacon wraps. The “European Rustica Platter” (stuffed peppers, various meats, cheeses and cornichons), the “Italian Cheese Quartet” (various Italian cheeses, along with dried fruit and Marcona almonds) and the “European Cheese Quartet” (several different cheeses including Brie, Blue Stilton and Gruyére, along with dried fruit and almonds) rounded out the catering.
Signature Sliced Wrap Tray, European Rustica Platter and the European Cheese Quartet
For desert we decided to go with a cake from our go-to cake designer, Jenn, from Kids Cakes and Special Occasion Cakes. We get all of our cakes from her. The link to her web page is here. Not only are her cakes always beautiful, they also taste amazing. The fact that she is so helpful and sweet is the cherry on top. For Tyler’s promotion cake we went with a two-tier cake, red velvet on top and carrot on the bottom, both with cream cheese filling. So GOOD!
Tyler’s delicious Promotion Cake.
To drink, we brought bottled water and Limeade Punch. Limeade Punch tends to be our go-to when entertaining large groups because it’s easy to do and appeals to a large amount of people. One bottle of “Simply Limeade” (59 fl oz bottle) to one 2 L bottle of lemon-lime soda, pour over ice in a dispensing container or punch bowl and that’s it! You can always add lime sherbet to it, but I prefer it without…especially for a more “formal” event. I feel it looks nicer, plus it isn’t as sweet.
We brought home a ton of leftovers, but trust me, they definitely didn’t got to waste! With so many people visiting, it was all gone within a day or two. Since we had members of both families in town, we did what many a military family has done…crammed as many things into a three-day weekend as we could! Besides the promotion ceremony/reception, we had Cam’s Avenger’s birthday party and Ash’s baptism, both of which I’ll be writing about soon. As always, thanks for reading! ? ~Lyssa
Coming up next! Service Members are fairly limited on what they can wear, for obvious reasons…so let’s talk about “What to Wear to a Military Promotion Ceremony”
Coming up next, “What to Wear to a Military Promotion Ceremony”
