A Gluten-Free Casein-Free Wedding Shower

How cute is that centerpiece? It's three Corningware-type dishes stacked on top of one another and placed on a cake stand. Two white doves top the "cake"and navy and white ribbons surround it. My crafty mom made it for my wedding shower which took place two weekends ago.
I just got done writing my thank you notes to all of the wonderful women in attendance; I felt so lucky to be surrounded by such strong and wonderful women during the shower, but it got me thinking that I needed to thank the food vendors who made this happen as well.

I'll start off with the caterer - Terrie Stone Catering out of Easton, MA employs the nicest group of women I have ever encountered in the food business. My mother who planned the shower with my sister dealt with the menu planning and from what I understand, Terrie Stone, the owner, couldn't have been more accommodating when creating a gluten-free, dairy-free luncheon. I apologize that the pictures aren't great (I tried to take quick snapshots between spending time with the lovely ladies in attendance) but each dish was not only beautifully presented, but delicious and fresh to boot.

The veggie platter was crisp and served with a spicy black bean dip and the shrimp cocktail was fresh with a great cocktail sauce that everyone raved about (the caterer even gave me a copy of the cocktail sauce recipe which can be found here, via Gluten-Free Girl). The main dishes were tasty as well, and I ate them so quickly that I failed to take a photo, they included sweet and sour chicken with apricots and short grain brown rice (a new favorite) and tender steak tips with a great mesclun salad with beets. Terrie, thank you for being so accommodating and for feeding the flock some great tasting food!
Favors for the party were created by the locally owned Pinches and Pounds in Whitman, MA. Annette Harnett, the owner, researched and researched to find gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate that she could use to specially make chocolate dipped dried apricots, pineapple and marshmallows as favors. You can tell that each confection was made with great patience and they turned out beautifully, wrapped in a pretty navy blue ribbon. Pinches and Pounds is one of those great community stores, aiming to help the local community and do whatever they can for their customers. Annette, thank you so much for specially making these delicious treats! People are still talking about how great they were.

And how could I not leave out Cal. You've read what I have to say about Cal's Cupcakes before -- the Hingham, MA based company that makes gluten-free, dairy-free cupcakes that are to die for. Well, Cal is so awesome that she delivered five dozen of her chocolate and vanilla cupcakes to my mother's house for the shower. They tasted even better than I remember (and I didn't think that was possible). Along with the chocolate cake/vanilla frosting combo, she also made a vanilla cake/chocolate frosting combo that was delicious. I'd have more photos, but they were all eaten so quickly that I didn't have a chance to take any more! Thank you, thank you, thank you Cal!
So, fellow GFers, I know what a pain it is to find gluten-free vendors -- those that won't act like you're a complete pain or charge you more for special requests, so I end this post with the optimistic thought that they're out there and I was lucky enough to find three.