The way to this bride's heart is through her tummy

I feel that I can hold my own in the kitchen, especially when it comes to baking. My groom-to-be, on the other hand, is pure magic with a sauce pan and spatula. With weekend breakfasts and Thursday Soup Days, it's no wonder I'm having trouble losing any extra weight. But trust me, you won't hear me complain... too much.

There are some aspects of your wedding day that will be more important than others, but time and time again, people always talk about how they remembered (and loved or hated) the food. I have experience as a food editor and A cooks at a local cafe 5 days a week. So you can believe it when I say he and I are on a mission to satiate each guests appetite with an unforgettable meal. Given A's gift to concoct culinary creations worthy of Food Network Stardom, he and I agreed that he (with a little of my input) would plan the meal for our wedding day.

We jotted down some ideas that all looked great on paper, but neither of us wanted the meal to be a surprise to us as well as the guests. A little stuck on the concept for the chicken option, we decided to prepare a few things and see how it went. There's a great deal of skill that goes into achieving the perfect balance between savory yet light, exotic but homey, filling *ahem* yet cost-effective. We wanted something unique, but simple enough not to scare off the "meat & potato" crowd. And I wasn't about to serve two starches. Just ask A how adamant I was about that one.

Last weekend, A completely blew the challenge out of the water, using inspiration from the first meal he ever prepared for me. He whipped up a terrific meal of chicken breast lightly showered in sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese on top of a bed of orzo. Flanking either side of the main attraction was a playful stack of sesame green beans and a fluffy cloud of cauliflower puree with parmesan. Wow. An interesting and well-married gathering of flavors and textures. We both knew within bites that we struck a home run. I can't wait for guests to try it. Too bad dinner is still 7 months away. Next up: steak.