Couple’s Olive Garden-Inspired Wedding Ends With a Late-Night Breadstick Bar

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar
Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar

Unlimited breadsticks, soup and salad all with a side of marinara? That’s amore. Two Olive Garden aficionados recently married and hosted the ultimate pasta party, complete with Olive Garden’s wedding catering menu options served for both their reception dinner and their late-night snack.

The couple, Samantha Roberts and Jeff Gilleland from Grand Rapids, Michigan, first connected over their love of the franchise and even got engaged with the help of Olive Garden in 2017. While growing up, Roberts regularly dined at the establishment with her family and Gilleland developed a fondness for Olive Garden after frequenting his local spot for sports team dinners. (After all, carb-loading is real before a match.) The two, therefore and naturally, found comfort in having date nights at Olive Garden.

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar. (Credit: Jeanne Sherman Photography)

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar
Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar. (Credit: Jeanne Sherman Photography)

Two years ago, Gilleland ended up learning about Olive Garden’s Pasta Passport to Italy, which gave 50 devoted fans the opportunity to purchase an all-inclusive, one-week trip to the land of pasta and pizza for two. The cost was only $200 (and came with an all-access pass to Olive Garden for the year), but the odds of snagging the item were rather slim. In fact, that year, a whopping 21,000 people purchased pasta passes on Olive Garden’s website in the first minute.

Somehow, Gilleland was among the 50 lucky customers who won the trip of a lifetime. While in Italy, he popped the question, and the couple’s unwavering support and fandom of Olive Garden was even displayed when they had a themed engagement shoot in the subsequent months. It was only natural for the franchise to eventually step in and offer something special on the couple’s wedding day: the oh-so-coveted Olive Garden wedding catering menu.

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar. (Credit: Jeanne Sherman Photography)

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar. (Credit: Jeanne Sherman Photography)

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar. (Credit: Jeanne Sherman Photography)

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar. (Credit: Jeanne Sherman Photography)

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar. (Credit: Jeanne Sherman Photography)

Guests noshed on everything from penne to fettuccini as part of Olive Garden’s wedding catering menu. However, the couple’s late-night menu may have far outweighed the reception offerings. After the dance party ended, guests helped themselves to a breadstick bar, where the franchise’s famous appetizers were served with an array of dipping sauces.

Finally, guests departed with the ultimate party favor (right on-theme with the rest of the wedding): Never-ending pasta passes to… you guessed it, Olive Garden.

See all the photos below.

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar. (Credit: Jeanne Sherman Photography)

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar. (Credit: Jeanne Sherman Photography)

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar. (Credit: Jeanne Sherman Photography)

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar
Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar

Olive Garden Wedding Catering with Breadstick Bar. (Credit: Jeanne Sherman Photography)

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