Terrence Huie 1/27/19 Terrence Huie 1/27/19

DIY Wedding Tip: Buy a KitchenAide and Make the Food For Your Wedding

Apollo Fields Wedding Photographers | DIY Wedding Tips | Cook Your Own Food For Your Wedding | How To Feed 100 People | Ramsey, NJ Farm Wedding

Many called us crazy, others called us stupid, some called us crazy and stupid. But for us, hosting a dinner party, albeit one with 100 guests, was just another day at the office. We knew it would be hard work to make the food for our own wedding, but when we thought about doing that which defines our relationship on our wedding day, making a fresh pasta bar and serving it to our guests was simply something we had to do.

First off, I have to thank KitchenAide for making such a reliable product. Without Fernando/Fernandina (our unisex name for our KitchenAide), Heather and I would’ve worked pasta dough by hand until we could barely hold a fork and knife. Instead, we managed to churn out four fresh dishes to accommodate veg heads and meat lovers alike. The crowd favorite was the pumpkin and butternut squash ravioli served in a sage brown butter sauce; followed by the vegetable lasagna with herbed ricotta; long slices of zucchini and fresh tomato; then it was a classic — spaghetti and meat sauce made with fresh tomatoes and roasted red peppers; and finally a dish for the more nuanced palate, the truffle mushroom linguini. Fern handled the entire workload like a champ as his/her constant purr eventually became white noise in the bustling kitchen at Honeymoon Acres.

But Heather, Fern, and I can’t take all of the credit. With any great event, it comes down to the team who can pick up the slack when they’re called upon. Whether it was Heather’s sister, Mary, and her fiancé, J, rolling out pasta dough and making raviolis with a handy tool our family friend Dr. Amy gave us, or my brothers Matt, Tom, Kevin, and sister-in-law Morgan dusting cutting boards with flour and popping those raviolis into boiling water, everyone played a crucial part. I remember the first thing I saw after I got all dressed up in the back room was coming into the kitchen to see Matt wearing Heather’s apron with flour all over it. It made me so happy.

Serving Our Food To Our Wedding Guests:

Perhaps my favorite part of the wedding, though, was when Heather and I served the food to our guests before serving ourselves. We originally planned to only serve the first few plates, but we were having so much fun that we didn’t even want to take our seats. When we finally reached the end of the line, we walked through the barn into the dining room to a resounding applause. People were so grateful for the fresh food, but they were even more excited to share that they’d never been to a wedding where the bride and groom were the last people to be served. It didn’t even occur to us that the newlyweds are usually the first to eat because every time we hosted a dinner party at our Colorado home we’d always served our guests first. We didn’t think dinner at our wedding should be any different.

When Heather and I first started hosting dinner parties in our home in Colorado, we were amazed by how much fun it was. Perhaps it was me turning 30 and leaving the Jameson shots in Irish pubs for someone else (or some other time :)), but there was something about new and old friends brushing elbows around our table that meant something more to both of us. As we now settle into our interim Long Island home the reason became very apparent when a friend of ours came over for a few fingers of whiskey. It was the simple act of bringing people together, about creating community, about filling a space with jokes and laughter that provided us with happiness. I didn’t know at the time but that’s why I felt the way I felt when I saw Matt in Heather’s flour-dusted apron on our wedding day—it was him being part of our community.

There are few days when our communities come together with such a fervent energy to contribute to a cause, but our wedding days are such opportunities. We’ve seen families and friends fall flat and we’ve seen people band together and the result always lies within the glue or gluten that holds us together (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pasta joke!). Here’s to everyone who played a part, including Dawn and Sandy who volunteered their time to bartend and make the rest of our food look pretty when it came time to serve those most important to us.

For those getting married, remember that the miscues of your wedding day will be forgotten in time, but the efforts of your communities will linger in your heart like the flavors of a delicious meal. Don’t be shy, be bold, and do that which defines you. With a little bit of luck and a lot of thought, your communities will have your back.

Your Immeasurable Friends,
Terrence & Heather

How To Make Homemade Pasta

This is one of our favorite foods to cook for guests (usually sub 100 people, but who knows!) because it is SO easy and who doesn’t love pasta? And fresh pasta is just the best! For real, once you have the homemade stuff, you’ll never go back to boxed again.

We love it so much that we have an entire recipe – perhaps our favorite one – in The Immeasurable Cookbook dedicated to the stuff. Which, *shameless plug* you should totally go out and buy now if you haven’t already.

Before we decided to take on all of the cooking for our own wedding, we used to make the dough by hand and use a super simple, cheap hand crank pasta maker. I hate having a ton of kitchen appliances because I think most of them are a waste of space and money, but this is one of the few that I can’t live without. Plus, there is something so great about getting your hands dirty in a mound of flour ;)

The Recipe:

Remember how we hate measurements?? Well, you guessed it, you won’t find any here either! But you don’t need them for pasta (trust me, you OCD kitchen people… you know who you are). If you really want to learn, unfortunately you’re going to have to come over to our house for us to teach you and then we’ll force you to stay and eat the deliciousness and drink tasty beer and whiskey. Ohhhh noooo ;)

Photo Credit: Derek Morf shooting for Apollo Fields

Heather Huie 7/20/17 Heather Huie 7/20/17

Family Photography in Hunterdon County NJ

new jersey family photos | hunterdon county photographer | family photo session | apollo fields wedding photographers | summer session

This session just warmed my heart. I initially met Lindsay many years ago when she managed the local coffee shop in Clinton, NJ that my best friend Grace and I used to go to all of the time. We had complicated coffee orders, would stay way too long making Gilmore Girls reenactments, all while Riddle would cause a raucous. I don’t know why she liked us, except for the fact that we tipped, but for whatever reason we totally clicked.

Lindsay wore every hat at that coffee shop and brought so much positive energy to the place. She is one of those people who could do any job in the world, but belongs with people. She has great organization and hospitality skills and I have a feeling that one day we’ll be on some sort of project together. She’s also a lover of the outdoors and shares the same passion for eating healthy and local as I do. She loves supporting artisans and has a great sense of community.

When we first met her, she hadn’t met Brian – her now husband – yet. Grace and I absolutely pried into her personal life and would constantly bug her for details on her dating world. Occasionally, she would throw us a little quip about someone she was seeing and we would all gossip together like schoolgirls. It was all in good fun, but when she met Brian, it was practically fate. They make such a great couple and I’m so stoked that they now also have an awesome son, Henry.

Henry is absolutely full of life and cannot be contained. His huge personality made photos so fun because it very quickly became all about him. Following him around as he just ran from place to place with the biggest smile, and his curiosity was beaming. We almost had to reschedule the session when the weather was super rainy, but the skies broke and let us sneak the photos in. All of the rain did leave huge puddles and I could keep seeing Henry eying them. I knew it was only a matter of time and I think my favorite part of the whole session was the very end, when we let him finally jump in the puddle! The look on his face says it all :)