Congratulations on your engagement! My husband and I tied the know in Philadelphia 9 years ago (already?!) and, also on a budget, we ended up getting married at U Penn (of all places) at the Hall of Flags. It was beautiful and the rental fee was very affordable ($500, from memory). All the $$ goes to student associations because U Penn is a non-profit. Though not a BYO per se, we were obliged to bring our own alcohol, which helped cut costs. The catering was U Penn's, also excellent, on the 3rd floor of the building. The attention to detail was marvelous, from the waitress knowing I was from France and made a point to speak French, to the boxed teas... A friend talked about the teas a couple of years later. Here is more info here:
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/perelmanqua...
Good luck!

And I found out restaurant.com now carries gift certificates at 1/2 price for Floga. We fell in love with Floga when it first opened, they had really fabulous panini. It's recently been hit or miss lately. I like Sovanna for lunch, it's crowded but you cannot beat the value.

Yes, I thunk it is next to the car wash.

Sorry I am just seeing your reply now. Not sure if it is West from the Center but imagine you are on State Street, driving through town, you continue straight, you will pass the shopping center on the left and then there is a gas station and a sign to go to driving range. You make a left and go straight ahead, that's where the produce store is.

I usually get them around February at Trader Joe's where they are reasonably priced. If you live in the Kennett Square area, you will also probably find them in the produce store on Old Baltimore Pike, which is located next to a driving range. Again, I usually find them starting in February.

And I love Talulah's frittatas for brunch!

I was curious about this place. We live in Kennett and I love going out for coffee and a dessert. I was looking through the window the other day and thought I saw they served Lipton tea. Call me a snob but I refuse to got to a coffee place that serves Lipton tea! Anyway, was the coffee any good?

Right now our place of choice for coffee and pastry is Talulah. I love the setting but I only find their coffee OK. The pastries are good but they are too greasy for my taste. Their PB shortbreads are awesome though. I have not found a perfect coffee/pastry yet, but I hope Talulah will make less greasy desserts!

To FoonBubby, Talulah also has WiFi, they will gladly give you the code if you ask for it.

For breakfast, you can try a pastry fro; the Strawberry Bakery on Lancaster Ave:

365 Lancaster Ave
Frazer, PA 19355 map
district: Frazer

Tel. +1 610.644.8484

Did you ever try Cosimo? http://www.cosimorestaurant.com/
I love this restaurant. The setting is gorgeous, they have a nice wine list, and great prix-fixe lunch for 9.95. Desserts are worth a try (there is a pastry chef on staff).

For dessert, I love the mini cupcakes from the Cupcakes Gourmet store, which recently opened: http://www.cupcakesgourmet.com/
My favorites are the PB/chocolate and Cafe Mocha. Just had those at lunch today :-)

I hope you get to try these places.

Yes, they do accept credit cards!

The mocha one is also my favorite!

Sorry about that... The address is 288 Lancaster Avenue from what I remember. It's really close to The Goddard School and MacKenzie (sp?). You can see the "Grand Openings" signs right from Route 30.

I just went there - this place is awesome! Cupcakes Gourmet only opened on Saturday and I already love it!

The place is nice and cute. Cupcakes are available in two sizes, small (1.50 each) and big (3.00 each, which is a little expensive but oh well). Flavors are fairly tarditional - chocolate, PB, coconut, red velvet, although I did see some Chai on the list of available flavors.

I picked three different kinds today: vanilla, PB, and mocha. I gave the vanilla away to co-workers and tried PB and moka. All flavors were in the icing, the cupcake is actually chocolate. Cupcakes were freshly made, nice chocolate-y flavor and not too sweet. PB icing was good, very light and fluffy. The mocha was amazing: flavor was balanced, coffee flavor was trong but nicely balanced by the sugar. Flavor had a long finish. I cannot wait to eat those again.

This place is probably going to be my new favorite pick-me-up bakery, I cannot wait to try all the remaining flavors!

www.cupcakesgourmet.com

I have been to Sovana twice, the 1st time was great, the 2nd time just good. They had apparently changed chefs in between. Orchard is our "celebration restaurant", have been there 4 times, and it only gets better with time (I still dream about La Bete Noire, their chocolate cake). We also prefer the more romantic and intimate setting of The Orchard.

This place just opened on Route 30, not far from the Lincoln Shopping Center. I am going tomorrow, has anyone been yet?

I absolutely *love* Sovana Bistro (http://www.sovanabistro.com/) where I had the best roast chicken EVER (it's free range from Lancaster County). I am not so impressed with Talula's Table, although everyone here seems to rave about the place. I find the food way over-priced!

This all sounds good but where exactly is this place located? I am curious to try it, thanks!

Sometimes you can find them at Wegman's in Downigtown...

I have never been there but I know exactly where that is. On the same street, I tried the Home Grown Cafe last year, had a gaspacho and falafel burger, both of which were good. Here is their website: http://www.homegrowncafe.com/

In Wilminton, I really loved eating at the Dupont Hotel, the food was good and the decor amazing.

Hummm, maybe you can go there:

PREMIUM STEAP
111 S 18th Street
Philadelphia, Pa 19103
tel: (215) 568-2920

It used to be the Tea Salon in Wayne but they have relocated next to Rittenhouse Square. The place is small but you might be able to get a seat upstairs.

I am not aware of any sites that would display menus... I have, however, been to the Half Moon, which is also nice, though not upscale like The Orchard. They have all kinds of meats there, like kangaroo, I believe... You can ask to be seated upstairs, which shoudl be nice in the summer (outside).

I absolutely love the Orchard, a very high scale BYO. It is located very close to Longwood Gardens, the service is impeccable and the food amazing (I remember a great cod there). The 1st time I went, the chef actually came to discuss another side dish option with a customer, just because the guy did not like risotto. I remember the chef concluding with "I will be creative", I thought this was awesome!

503 Orchard Ave, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania 19348, Tel: (610) 388-1100