A fall celebration

IT’S BEEN a while since we have hosted an event at the farm and so it was with a little trepidation that we dipped our toes into organizing a long table dinner.

 

After all, we had big shoes to fill – remember those incredible Fieldstone Vintage Markets hosted onsite in 2011?

 

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We wanted to be able to celebrate the last of summer’s harvest, the arrival of fall and of course the launch of our new blog.

 

We thought it high time we bring together some of our favourite local food and lifestyle bloggers to show them around our farm and swap stories over a family-style dinner.

 

We knew we had the perfect setting.

 

We just had to cross our fingers the weather would play nice and the goats were not plotting any elaborate escape attempts that evening.

 

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Farmer Pete and CEO Bill were very happy to show our visitors around the farm – Peter casually informing them we turned the farm smell down to low in their honour.

 

Our girls were on their best behavior throughout the tour, kindly demonstrating their luxurious cow brush and sleeping mats.

 

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Our friends at Nature’s Pickin’s had just taken delivery of the biggest apples we had ever seen – the perfect place card holders for a fall harvest celebration.

 

We gathered Vanderkooi family heirloom china including dinner plates, platters, serving bowls and a beautifully eclectic array of vintage tea-cups.

 

Tea light candles lined the paths while hay bales and our home-grown spaghetti squash and sweet corn to remind us all of where we were.

 

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With a passion for seasonal food and local wine, we knew husband and wife team Nessa van Bergen and Dino Renaerts of the Bon Vivant group were the perfect fit for our event as soon as they walked in.

 

We challenged them to create a four-course dinner incorporating Vitala product with meat and local produce sourced from Nature’s Pickin’s.

 

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Having invited 16 of the lower mainland’s leading online influencers to dinner, we were reminded of just how small the world is.

 

Old friends reunited, acquaintances re-connected and as the food and wine kept coming so too, did the conversation.

 

It was with some surprise, that Helinda and I realized our event had run over time 30 minutes and we needed to get those Vancouverites back on the bus.

 

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And so it was, with a tinge of sadness that the night came to an end and the last stragglers drove back out the farm gate.

 

We are still so grateful and amazed that so many wonderful people were willing to take the time to make the trek out to see us in the Fraser Valley. So thanks team, without you, this wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun!

 

 

-Lucy

 

Photography: Tanya Goehring | Post Photography

 

Décor/event styling: Partners and Hawes

 

Food: Dino Renaerts and Nessa van Bergen | The Bon Vivant Group

 

Wine: Haywire, Serendipity Winery and Arrowleaf Cellars

 

Music: Scott Perrie

 

Event management: Ladawne Shelstad | Crush Brand Lab