Friday, August 18, 2017

7C's of Wedding Desserts

Cake _ Cupcakes _ Cheesecake _ Cakepops _ Candy _ iceCream _ Cookies

 

"Love is Sweet"

 

The best part of eating at a wedding ... the dessert.  It's always one of my favorite parts of a wedding.

 Main desserts for weddings fall into these categories.  I never realized until writing this blog post that all the BIG desserts served at weddings start with the letter C!  How crazy?! Something about tasty desserts and the letter C just go hand in hand.

Here is a compiled list of the main dessert options to serve at your wedding.  I've been lucky enough to have tasted all these scrumptious desserts (except an ice cream sundae bar, but I figure I still got quite a few weddings in my future)!  When picking your dessert consider whether you want to stick with the traditional wedding cake or showcase one of the other many options out there.  And hopefully these photos will give you some inspiration to put your own flair into a wedding dessert.

As for other delectable favorites to serve alongside your main wedding dessert see my post on how to Personalize Your Wedding: Drinks and Desserts.  Your guests will surely be pleased with all these ideas of tasty morsels and creatively named wedding drinks.

 

CAKE

Whether it's the main dessert, or just a cutting cake for the couple, there's a reason it's tradition!

Here's a peek at some of the fantastic cakes from the weddings of friends and family. Aren't they all beautiful and so unique?! The creativity of cake decorating is amazing, from fondant flowers to the real deal, from sparkly bling to simplicity, to monograms on or off the cake, to wedding color ribbon or piping, it's all in the detail! I just can't get enough of these cakes, and the same can be said for many of the guests. So in the famous words of another Marie, "Let them eat cake!"











 

Cupcakes

What's great about cupcakes is your ability to choose a multitude of flavors beyond the one or two choices a cake forces upon you. With ganache, flavored icings, and whip creams you can serve quite an assortment of deliciousness with cupcakes. Another benefit, cuts down on serving time too and no cake cutting fee!

http://katewenzelphotography.blogspot.com/
Kate Wenzel Photography




































Candy Bar

Whenever there is candy at a wedding, you can be assured I'm there!  I love candy!  I thought a candy bar was a fun snackable treat option for guests at our reception until the main dessert is served.

Our cousin Apryl also had a candy bar at her wedding, which they made as their main dessert.

Lisa's brother and sister-in-law/best friend Mary had a candy bar featured at their wedding, which she helped with.  It's super adorable with the sorted colored candy, you gotta check out Lisa's M&M blog post.

Apryl Rose Photography




Cake pops


Bellagala Photography



Cookies

 

Lisa's wedding featured a Cookie Bar , a new twist on the average wedding dessert.  In fact, I recently learned from a graduate student friend from Dave's college in Ohio, that in the western part of Pennsylvania it's tradition for the family and friends to bake cookies for weddings. I think it's a great way for the family to all contribute to the special day, and all that effort leads to an incredibly impressive dessert table.



Items not pictured Cheesecake nor Ice-Cream, but were big hits when served at the weddings.

More Ways to Personalize:
Little Wedding Details  
Little Wedding Details: Part 2
Sand Unity Ceremony
Our Bride and Bridesmaid Bouquets
 Personalize Your Wedding: with Photos
Personalize Your Wedding: Guest Favors

Friday, August 11, 2017

Wine & Beer Wedding Table Names

One of my very good friends got married and boy, did they throw a party! When I'd imagined the perfect outdoor wedding reception, this was it! Everything from the hydrangea flowers, painted recycled bottles, use of burlap and lace, mason jars guest favors, outdoor games, frames hanging from a tree photo booth came together to create a cohesive, elegant and rustic outdoor celebration.

Guests found their tables by finding their name attached by a clothespin to a vintage door. After finding their name, guests deposited the clothespin in the basket and took a bare mason jar to stick their name tag.  Jars served as our drink glass for the night and were offered as favors as a keepsake.  Using mason jars is a downright genius idea for outdoor weddings!



The Bride and Groom distinguished their mason jar glasses from their guests by having them on a pedestal. What a fun and non-generic keepsake!


In love with DIY projects and hydrangeas, Sam's simple centerpieces were the perfect touch.  She took recycled glass bottles and painted them shades of purple to tie in her wedding color, then accented them with the burlap and lace. Small baby food jars made easy votives to arrange on the tables. One of the details I really enjoyed was the names of the tables. I always like when couples go beyond the basic numbered table and add a little creativity into their seating assignments. The two of them did a combo of beer and wine, just like the combo of glass bottles.  Check out Math Wedding Table Names if you're looking for another original table naming idea.

Benefits of using wine/beer table names include: can be year around, can be a fair representation of both couples taste, would be adorable for a vineyard setting, if the couple frequents vineyards/breweries and so forth. Small touches like these simple DIY centerpieces are what helps to personalize a wedding. Plus, they are just so darn cute.




 

Wine/Beer Types:

White Zinfandel
Pilsner
Champagne
Chianti
Saison
Belgian Wheat
Hefeweizen
Merlot
Rochbier
Pinot grigio
Barleywine
Milk stout
Bordeaux
Pinot noir
Porter
Riesling
Cabernet sauvignon
Ruby Port
Prosecco
Syrah
Chardonnay
Helles Bock
Kolsch
Altbier
Oktoberfest
Blonde Ale
Shiraz
English Bitter
Scotch Ale
Red Ale
Malbec
Sauvignon Blanc
Sherry
Pale Ale
Erin Dahlin Photography
Other Ways to Personalize a Wedding: 

Monday, April 24, 2017

Woodland ONEderland Birthday Party

My god-daughter's 1st birthday was this past month, and it sure was a cute one!  

 

My best friend knocked it out of the park with this Woodland ONEderland theme!  Decorated with adorable woodland creatures and party food tailored to the occasion, every item was connected to the party theme.   It truly was a party planned after my own heart. 

The Woodland theme could be used for any children's birthday party, or a perfect theme for a Woodland Baby Shower, especially if the mom-to-be wants a woodland nursery.

 

With all the details to throw a fun Woodland party, here's a look at Calleigh's 1st birthday!



Woodland ONEderland Party Theme:

 

Attire:  

Can provide woodland animal masks/headbands to the children or make it a party craft.  Fun for the party goers to wear, and a cute party favor.  Ideas for animal masks include a racoon, fox, owl, rabbit, wolf, deer and bear.

To celebrate their "little cub," her parents even dressed in Mama & Papa Bear t-shirts. 

 

Food: "Don't Feed the Bears"


Squirrel nuts : trail mix

 

 

Hedgehog : cheese ball 

 

To make combine the following ingredients: 

8oz pkg of cream cheese

mayonnaise

cheddar cheese 

parmesan cheese

 

Mix and let it sit overnight.

 

Before the party, stick your 1 cup of whole almonds into the ball to create the quills.  Then split 2 black olives for the nose and eyes.


Serve the dish with an assortment of crackers.

 

 

Acorns:  chocolate and nutterbutters


To make use nutterbutters (can split in half), melt some chocolate to glue the chocolate hershey kiss onto the surface. Then put a small dab on the opposite side to make the "top" of the acorn shell. 

 

 

 


Mushrooms : Mozzarella topped with cherry tomatoes.

 

Cut mozzarella sticks into thirds. Place cherry tomatoes which were sliced in half on top of the cheese, thread a toothpick through.

 

For a more "adult" version have the mushrooms on a plate of drizzled balsamic vinegar and a leaf of basil in between the cheese and tomato. 

 

Snails : tortilla roll-ups

 

Rolled into a tortilla and secured with a toothpick is cream cheese, ranch dressing, cheese and ham.

 

Ants on a Log : the traditional snack every kid loves. Celery sticks for logs, peanut butter, and raisins for ants.

 

Branches : Carrots and celery

 

Sticks / Twigs : pretzels

 

 

Bear Berries : a fruit salad of blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries

 

Drink:

 

Pond Punch -  lemonade mixed with blue food coloring

 

Desserts: 

 

- Smore bites

- Birch sticks : white chocolate dipped pretzels, drizzled in milk chocolate.

- Cupcakes : owl eyes , mushroom decorated, moss (green sprinkles)

- Fudge tree rings

- Teddy Grahams

- Bird nests : see my Lovebirds shower post for recipe

 

Decorations 

Logs and moss, acorns, pinecones, plants, woodland printables, animal pom poms, birch straws, etc.

 








Other Party Themes on the Blog:

Froggy Birthday Party

Little Pumpkin Baby Shower

Minnie Mouse

Peter Rabbit Baby Shower

Circus

Pink vs Blue Gender Reveal 

 

Coming Soon:

"About to Pop" Baby Shower

Mommy-to-be Baby Shower

Bows & Bowties Reveal / Baby Shower