One of the most impressive aspects of visiting the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis is the beautiful, well manicured landscaping and gardens. It is no different at the Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton.

Colorful spring flowers, stately brick walls and elegant wrought iron fencing grace the entrance of One Soccer Park Road. The parking lot is expansive and spotted with island groups of pampas grass. The towering street lamps will make any dark night seem like day.

The entrance of the building has a massive brick portico, which is peppered with planters that are filled with seasonal flowers. The gardens along the windows are also bursting with color. The easy in and out access is perfect for senior citizens and disabled guests.

Since the Anheuser-Busch Center caters only one wedding at a time, you are guaranteed personalized service from the entire staff. Michelle Wagner, the administrative coordinator, gave me a tour of this first class facility. Her friendly smile and upbeat personality will calm any nervous brides’ jitters.

The first door to the St. Louis Room opens into a lounge area with comfortable parlor seating. Along the inner wall hangs a black granite counter type table (perfect for seating cards, guest book, floral arrangement etc.) The opposite wall is lined with floor to ceiling windows that overlook the front entrance garden. Two highly polished Cherry wood doors open into the main room, which is furnished with round tables and covered with white linen. The upholstered chairs are attractive and quite comfortable. If desired, one could contract a rental company for elaborate chair covers; however; it would not be necessary as the chairs blend nicely into the room.

The Anheuser-Busch Center uses fine china, glassware, silverware and linen napkins. Centerpieces are always made of fresh seasonal flowers that are placed on a mirror tile with votive candles. And they’re complimentary! The banquet supervisor will try to accommodate your flower color choices, however; if you have something specific in mind, you may want to hire a florist.

The St. Louis Room and attached, glass-enclosed Veranda will comfortably seat 250 guests. The St. Louis Room may also be used alone to create a more intimate reception, perfectly fit for 180 people. The Veranda offers your reception an open and relaxed atmosphere which overlooks a sea of lush, green grass on the main exhibition field. The Veranda ceiling has retractable shades to shield guests from the sun when closed or allow the starry night view indoors when opened. There is plenty of space for the portable dance floor and whatever entertainment you hire. Additionally, if you want some fresh air or some guests smoke, the patio overlooking all the fields is available for use.

Jack Conway has been the Executive Chef at the Anheuser Busch Center for over 15 years. His culinary creations stand up to any five star restaurant. Wedding reception selections range from hors d’oevres, cheese/fruit platters, carving board choices of beef, turkey and ham. Or choose from the all-inclusive sit down or buffet menus that include soup, salad, entree and desert. Chef Conway’s talents don’t end with traditional food preparation; the menu extends to themes such as Italian, New Orleans, Germanfest and BBQ. Regardless of your tastes, Chef Conway and Sous Chef Mary Gould will prepare delectable foods that will delight your taste buds.

One of the most unique features of the St. Louis Room is its black marble fireplace. Kenny Endermuhle, Supervisor of Sales and Marketing of the Anheuser-Busch Center said, “The fireplace makes a great backdrop for headtable pictures but a bride can put the headtable wherever she wants.” This seems to be the overall theme with the staff … whatever the bride wants … as long as it represents the quality that Anheuser-Busch built its reputation on.

If all this sounds great, hold onto your hat! You can have an elegant, first class wedding reception in the $7000.00 range. For a tour and more information, contact Michelle Wagner at (636) 349-3701 or eMail Michelle.Wagner@anheuser-busch.com.

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Making attractive table centerpieces can be alot of fun. The hard part is developing an idea, gathering up the materials and finding storage place.

The basic rule of thumb is not to obstruct your guests’ view of other guests and YOU!

When purchasing items for your centerpiece, ask yourself this question, “Can I use this in my home afterward?” If you can, the investment is all the more worthwhile.

For example:
Instead of using mirror tiles, buy plate chargers or cloth placemats that you can use for those elegant dinner parties you’ll be having after the honeymoon.

Or, depending on the time of year, buy flower bulbs and perrenials to plant in your yard. Create miniature herb gardens by filling clay pots with parsley, chives, rosemary, thyme and sage.

Table centerpieces do not need to be “exactly” the same. Start going to garage sales, flea markets and antique malls to find vessels for cut flower arrangements. A porcelain pitcher, a brass or silver ice bucket, a vintage basket, a crystal bowl etc. These are all useable items for your home.

An inexpensive and creative container is a picture box. Everyone loves to look at pictures, especially of the bride and groom. Gather up your favorite photos and make copies. Glue them on a box that is the appropriate size for the table. (Note: Be sure to use an acid free paper glue.) You can place a candle ON the box or put flowers IN the box.

Visit the Bridal Message Board for more centerpiece ideas.

Recently, I was invited to join a group of 50 people for a day along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. They rented two trolley cars to transport everyone. Each trolley seated 30 people so we had plenty of room for coolers and stretching out.

Before boarding the trolleys, we all met at Kilroy’s - a homestyle restaurant overlooking Smartt Airfield in Portage Des Sioux. The owner, Lori Cotton was kind enough to let everyone bring their favorite Bloody Mary recipe and we sampled the spiked tomatoe juices while enjoying Lori’s tasty breakfast treats.

We met the trolleys in the parking lot at Sharkys Cove, one of the largest floating restaurants on the Mississippi River. Everyone took their seats and we were off on our adventure to Grafton, Illinois.

Rather than drive around the horn, our trolleys drove onto the
Grafton Ferry. We got out of the trolley and marveled over the scenery. The trees are just budding and spring is in the air. I was told the Grafton Ferry is also available to rent for private parties but only after the close of normal operational hours. How about a moonlight cruise?

Once in Grafton, we stopped at the Loading Dock. This is an airy place with a huge deck overlooking the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. They offer catering for private parties on the deck, under their big top tent or in the Boatworks building. It’s a fun place to watch “river traffic” from small boats to enourmous barges.

Our next stop was Aerie’s Riverview Winery. WoW! Our trolley was like the “Little Engine That Could” as it climbed its way up a steep hill to reach a quaint house with a million dollar view. This is a perfect place for an intimate afternoon event. They offer a wide range of wines, a limited selection of beer, cheese and sausage trays and other munchies. But the cool thing is, they encourage you to bring your own picnic basket and just sit on their deck and enjoy the view.

The trolleys were waiting to take us to Piasa Winery so we loaded back up and braked our way down the hill. Piasa Winery has a beautiful deck overlooking the Grafton Marina. They serve wine from their own vineyards as well as micro-brewed beers.

We also went to the Wild Goose Saloon & Grill and again, the view was spectacular.

For a list of other eateries and things to do in Grafton, visit the Grafton Chamber of Commerce website.

Our day concluded back at Sharkys Cove where we had a great steak dinner and watched the sunset over the Mississippi River.

This would be a fun trip for friends and family of the bridal party, out of town guests or bachelorette/bachelor parties etc.

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StLouisWeddings.com is taking the Internet highway … we’re Blogging!

Our goal is to provide you with information about wedding planning and wedding vendors.

We’ll be writing about brides, grooms, family issues and marriage. We’ll interview companies that cater to the St. Louis wedding market.

Since this is a work in progress, your comments and/or suggestions are welcome.

Let the blogging begin!

Best Wishes,
Teri Nickinello

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