As you may know, our wedding will be self-catered. We’re anticipating about 125 guests, and this means a great many mouths to feed. How can we possibly expect to pull this off? Planning. Lots of planning. Maybe even over-planning.

(source)

While the success of my planning remains to be seen, I’ve taken a lot of steps that I think will help keep the chaos down.

• Type of Food. Our menu decisions have primarily been based on ease of preparation. We will have three types of mac-and-cheese (spicy, creamy, and basil-pesto). The three sauces can be made ahead of time, and the noodles can all be cooked together. This means we won’t need three separate prep stations for each of these different types of macs. Blackened chicken and grilled shrimp will be served a la carte. Sides will be a mixed green salad with cheese and nut toppings on the side, and cornbread—baked ahead of time. Our appetizers will consist of veggie trays and dips, chips, and pitas—all chopped and prepped the day before. We will set up a buffet using disposable chafing dishes that will keep the contents warm.

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• Divide & Conquer. We will have a small group of willing helpers that will run the “kitchen.” Each volunteer will have a specific duty; one person will man the grill, one will prepare the sauces, one will set out the appetizers and sides, and one will cook the pasta. If each helper has an assigned job, there runs a smaller risk of a major task being neglected, and it keeps them out of one another’s way.

• Trays, Bowls, & Utensils. I rescued many a serving spoon from a garbage can demise at my office. There are often catered meetings hosted in the conference room, and the caterer supplies serving utensils, such as tongs, spoons and ladles. These are made of a hard plastic, not the flimsy plastic of a lot of plastic silverware. The folks at my office keep many of them, but they end up with an overflowing drawer and ultimately throw the rest out. I was happy to wash them off, and they were happy to save them from the landfill. I have also gotten several trays and bowls this way. Eventually, using our menu as my guide, I will label each tray or bowl with the expected contents and attach the appropriate utensil. This way I can ensure we have enough. Of course, I will bring extras—I’m bound to forget something!

• Preparation Checklist. We have recruited a group of folks who will help us with food preparation the day before: chopping veggies, skewering shrimp, making sauces, etc. Our goal is to do as much of the food preparation the day before, so our wedding day chefs will be able to focus on cooking. I’ve created a list with every single thing I can think of, from cooking to cooling, that will need to be done the day before.

• Cost & Quantity Spreadsheet. This is a key part of the planning process and also the part where I will be the least helpful. Mr. Husky created a pretty awesome cost estimate for us, separating each individual item required for our menu, dividing by package size, and creating a CPP estimate. Not only was this critical in our decision whether or not to self-cater, it will also help us to determine exactly how much of what food items we will need once we have a final RSVP count. While I cannot tell you how to make one of your own, I am happy to share ours and answer any questions about it:

(screenshot of our cost estimate)

So there you have it—my main tips for pulling this off. I’m sure as we near the date, there will be more to add to this, so stay tuned for round two. After the wedding, I will be sure to post a “Lessons Learned” to help any other self-caterers from making the same rookie mistakes as we’re sure to make.

What preparations are you making for your reception or rehearsal meals? Are there any potential pitfalls that haven’t occurred to me yet?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Today is a great day on Style Me Pretty. Actually, every day is a great day on SMP but today is exceptional because it is all about the girly, the drool worthy, the down right gorgeous. And what better way to kick things off than with a pink infused dessert table? Designed by Jenna Marfori Lang of the fabulous blog Eat Drink Pretty, this little number is the creme de la creme of dessert feasts. Every girly base is covered and can we please discuss the blooms in apothecary jars…genius! We know it is only 9 am but it is never too early for cake and champagne in our book.

{click here for more sweet goodness}

From Jenna of Eat Drink Pretty:

I designed this dessert table to celebrate Eat Drink Pretty’s blogiversary. The vision was to bring my blog to life by asking the question, “if Eat Drink Pretty was a dessert table, what would it look like?” The colors and overall style of the table were influenced by the blog design; lots of pinks and grays, a chandelier and rows of tasty pink treats. Many of the desserts were homemade and were inspired by the many recipes I have featured on my blog over the past year.

Photographer: Sewell Photography / Florist: Just Bloomed / Linens: Apres Party Rental / Edible Icing Decals: Hello Frosting / Calligraphy, place cards, cupcake toppers and drink straws: Lovely Scribbles / Cake: Sweets Bakeshop / Concept and Design: Jenna Marfori Lang of Eat Drink Pretty

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Post tags: Apres Party Rental, Eat Drink Pretty, Hello Frosting, Just Bloomed, Lovely Scribbles, Minnesota, Sewell Photography, St. Paul, Sweets Bakeshop
Post categories: The Blog, Wedding Cakes, Wedding Cakes and Desserts, Wedding Style

This article was originally posted onStyle Me Pretty.

Although Mr. S and I really loved our customized m&m’s, we knew deep down that they were too much of a splurge for us. So we ate up the sample packs that we bought and said our goodbyes. Farewell sweet little m&m’s with our faces. You were fun but waaayyyy too expensive for our blood.

We decided to go back to our original love: Hershey’s Kisses.

Okay, technically these are not Kisses. They’re Raspberry Hugs. They have a layer of creamy white chocolate and raspberry stripes on the outside with a milk chocolate core. Yum. They just melt. And they make us melt.

After Valentine’s Day, Mr. S and I rushed to Target because I knew that they would have the candy on super clearance. I scoured the seasonal aisle for leftover bags, but they were nowhere to be found. I went up and down the aisles, checked all the shelves twice. Three times. No lavender/pink bags anywhere!

I got sad for a second and almost gave up, but then I decided to check all the shelves once more. Sure enough, at the very bottom shelf of an end cap, a bunch of bags were shoved to the very back and hidden from view. I had to get down on my knees to get them. We grabbed everything that was left on the shelf and were able to score 19 bags for $0.74 each! There are 63 pieces in each bag… which means that we got 1,197 pieces for less than $15! Sahweeet!

Each flower favor box holds 7 pieces, which is kinda perfect, actually. Everyone knows that 7 is a lucky number, and how awesome is it that we are getting married in the 7th month? I know, I’m the only crazy that would ever notice this silly correlation. Haha.

I love that they are wrapped in shiny pink foil! So pretty.

The Easter kisses come wrapped in green, pink, blue and silver foil. In keeping with our wedding colors, we’ll only use the green and pink kisses. I guess we’ll just have to eat up all the blue and silver ones. Wedding diet out the window!

Anyway, I knew that I wanted to personalize our candy, so last night, I did a little mock-up using our monogram that I made and the awesome drawing that my blogger buddy Miss Sewing drew for us.

Basically, I took each image and cropped it into a little circle in Photoshop. I used the ruler in Photoshop to make sure the diameter of the circle measured 5/8″, and then I copied the image of the circle over and over until I filled a page.

Since this is just a mock-up, I printed a fast draft of the page on regular copy paper and proceeded to punch out each circle with a 5/8″ circle hole puncher.

Then I used a little piece of tape to stick the circle to the bottom of a kiss. (Keep in mind that this was just a fast draft, so the image looks a little blurry. The finished product will be much more vivid and clear.)

I was pretty pleased with how my little mock-ups turned out. Now all I have to do is go buy full-sheet label paper and print them out in high-quality.

This was a fun and easy project, but punching out the little circles is kind of labor-intensive. Who wants to help me punch? I’ll pay you in chocolate!

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

A couple of weekends ago, FMIL Pudding threw me the most wonderful wedding shower. It was literally the sweetest shower ever – so sweet in fact, that I need to break up my recollection of the event into two posts in fear of spiking your blood sugar levels.

So, I want to start with the setup. As you know, the shower took the form of a cake tasting, since FMIL Pudding is baking our wedding cake. And let me just say: We ate cake! Don’t believe me? Take a look:

FMIL Pudding really outdid herself – she made a total of 8 cakes! Here’s a list of what we were tasting (try not to drool all over your keyboard):

Starting with the cake in the top left corner:

• Raspberry Dew: Sponge cake with almond pastry, raspberry filling and raspberry buttercream.
• Chocolate Eclipse: German chocolate cake with coconut, pecan, and caramel filling and chocolate ganache.
• Caught in the Rain:Coconut cake with pineapple filling, toasted coconut dacquoise and cream cheese and white chocolate filling.
• Moon over Mansfield:Maple butter cake, walnut pastry and maple buttercream.
• Bella Noche:Tiramisu cake with white chocolate and cream cheese filling, Kahlua and espresso syrup and bittersweet chocolate.
• Blueberry Zinger: Lemon cake with blueberry filling and lemon buttercream.
• Poppy Sunrise: Orange poppy seed cake with orange buttercream filling and marmalade glaze.
• Midnight Express: Golden sponge cake with mocha buttercream, chocolate meringue and ganache.

All the cakes were delicious, but there were definitely a few stand outs. In the end, we decided on two cakes: one for the main wedding cake, and one for a sheet cake that will be served as dessert. Before I give you a play by play of the shower, and reveal the big winners, any guesses on the cakes that we chose? Which flavor would you choose?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Well, its official. Our wedding is going to be an eating extravaganza. Yep. An all night marathon of food. I hope our guests are preparing for this in advance…

Mommy Buttons and I had a final (hopefully) meeting with Carlouel last week. I swear, each time we leave from one of our venue meetings, my mom and I couldn’t be in a better mood. Everything about our experience with Carlouel has been a dream. And the menu is no exception.

Remember our first tasting?

Well, guess what…

we…nixed…everything…

After ruminating about our first tasting’s selections, Mommy and Daddy Buttons brainstormed with me on what we would love to have at the reception. We were searching for variety, fresh foods, and a lot of different flavor profiles. After collaborating with Chuck, we were able to come up with what I consider to be a pretty amazing menu.

Get ready to start drooling… now…

Appetizers: Our guests will step outside for our cocktail hour immediately following the ceremony. They will be able to enjoy the following:

• Crudite table set up with crackers, cheese, fruit, smoked fish spread, and artichoke dip
• Lobster stuffed baby portabella mushrooms
• Parmesan cups filled with grilled mixed vegetables
• Caprese salad kabobs: 6″ skewers with buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and basil marinated in balsamic

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• Open faced grouper sandwiches
• Poolside grill will be cooking Kobe beef sliders to order

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After the cocktail hour, guests will move inside to their reception table. Salad will be served at their seat.

Salad: spring mix with caramelized pecans, gorgonzola, and craisins. The salad will be dressed with my mom’s recipe for honey lime vinaigrette

We will then open up the five tasting stations for dinner. Each station will serve a small plate of food (salad plate size), and guests will be able to take one plate, sit at their table, and come back for multiple tastings. The stations are as follows:

• Baby grilled rack of lamb with a light herb seasoning, served with tzatziki sauce, rosemary roasted red skin potatoes, and asparagus

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• Stir fry: choice of chicken, pork, or shrimp. Served with stir fry vegetables, sticky rice, and chopsticks

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• Chilean sea bass, served with julienne vegetables. Guests will have a choice of chimmichurri sauce or mango salsa
• 5oz petite filet mignon, served with a spinach souffle and au gratin potatoes
• Mixed veggies (black beans, corn, tomatoes, green pepper) and chicken, served in a homemade taco shell bowl, topped with cilantro, guacamole, cheese, and salsa

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About 45 minutes after dinner is complete, we will cut the cake. It will be served on a table with a coffee service and the following desserts:

• Mixed berry tarts

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• Mini key lime pies

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• Assorted cookies: chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and white chocolate macadamia nut

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At this point, guests might think that the night is over and they can be wheeled out to their cars; most likely with their pant buttons unbuttoned to accommodate all of the food they just ate. But wait… there is one more detail to our menu for the evening…

A french fry bar!
I really liked the idea of having a “late night eating encounter”, and so we added one on! We will be serving:

• Fresh made french fries in paper boats
• Condiments: ketchup, malt vinegar, season salt, nacho/melted cheese, bacon bits, green onions, jalapenos, and sour cream

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• Chocolate milkshake shooters!!!

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When Chuck suggested the french fry bar, I think my brain went into wedding bliss overload. Whenever I have a night of drinking, I usually start craving greasy food: pizza, french fries… perhaps a pot of Kraft mac ‘n’ cheese. To me, this will be the perfect ending to our evening; I hope our guests will enjoy the surprise (or, lack of surprise if any of them happen to be reading this)!

So… are you full just thinking about the amount of food that will be served at the Buttons’ wedding??? I sure am!

What is your favorite item on your wedding menu? Are you adding any late night treats for your guests?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Mr. O and I were adamant about our desire to eliminate traditional, cheesy wedding cakes. I just couldn’t get into the idea of the cake as “the center of the wedding” as one famous local cake baker has said. I can’t find that quote (which was part of the intro of one of those “bake a wedding cake” shows), but I did find this cute clip of a someone making a wedding cake in 3 minutes:

We were content with our idea of having some kind of alternate cake structure, cake table, or dessert table, or maybe even little Whole Foods round cakes for each table (mmm!). What we weren’t content with was the idea of having to pick up all these little cakes, deliver them, and set them out ourselves…

And what would we put them on? Sure, it would save money, but I don’t think my sanity is worth the small amount we’d be saving.

So, we caved. Since Mr. Oyster is an artist, he can appreciate the idea of a wedding cake that is also a work of art. But our philosophy (as it is with many aspects of this wedding) is that we should either get exactly what we’d like, or nothing at all. Since we can’t afford one of these lovely works of art, we’ll just get a very simple cake and call it a day.

Our wedding is a classic ballroom wedding in an urban setting (This is what I mean by “urban black-tie…” I don’t know, I made it up!). This means we should have a cake that’s a little modern, subtly interesting, and not too flowery or “froufy”. Serving about 130 guests, our cake should be about 4 tiers. Here are some of the choices we’re looking at:

via ProjectWedding.com

I love it: nice and simple! A clean, classic design with double beading at each layer reminds me of a nicely painted room with crown molding. The scroll designs are pretty, but we are not really into them. If we did have a scroll-y cake, though, I’d like to mix things up by combining shapes and a little color.

via Dallas Affaires Cake Co.

This one is from one of the vendors we’re considering, Dallas Affaires Cake Co. Their cakes are beautifully designed and consistent. I like the two-tone effect on this one.

Here’s one from another cake vendor we like, Elena’s Cakes. It’s another combined shape one… but what if the vertical stripes were just stripes (and not flowery stripes)? It might look nice. Plus it would mimic the light fixtures at our venue, which I initially hated but have since made peace with.

photo via Elena’s Cakes

A post like this wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t include our dream cake. We love the idea of this incredibly unique and beautiful cake by Sylvia Weinstock, featured on the cover of Martha Stewart Weddings’ anniversary issue:

Wow! What beautiful, stunning work. Mr. Oyster makes the excellent point that sugar flowers are pointless if they look exactly like real ones. With florists decorating cakes nowadays, why pay for all those hours of labor?

But if the flowers look like something you’d want to eat? If they look so organically a part of the cake that they seem to have grown out of it? Well then, they seem perfectly justifiable in that sense. It’s true; cake was among the lowest of Mr. Oyster’s and my priorities, and paying for something whose value seems intangible is difficult for us. But this cake? It’s just beautiful and *different*. It doesn’t look like cake! It’s just a mound of beautiful white flowers. Who wouldn’t want to eat that?

Barring the Weinstock masterpiece, I think I like the simple square cake best. A version of it is featured on the front of Martha Stewart’s wedding webpage (and in the “Real Weddings” feature of Christopher & Liezel):

Oh, and this is our cake cutting song! Why not have a little fun with it?

**Update: Mr. Oyster, who is currently suffering from a cold (poor sweetie!), has pointed out that the Weinstock cake now looks to him like a big pile of wadded up tissues. Ew! Nothing like a guy’s point of view to make you see things in a different light.

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

And while we’re on the subject of girly goodness, just LOOK at how pretty this dessert table by Lisa at Delicious Desserts and Desiree Spinner is…it’s pretty, frilly, girly perfection! To see the whole spread, click here.

Inspiration is delicious when put into the hands of Lisa Raffael, renowned cake decorator and dessert designer, and these delectable treats are no exception. Created with the thought of a pink-themed baby shower, this table also doubles as a delightfully feminine addition to any bridal shower, engagement party, or reception. Designed by Desiree Spinner, the table avoids the fatal mistake of being “too pink” by alternating shades of pink  with fresh splashes of white, and even metallic candies to add just the slightest hint of urbanity. Lisa’s desserts steal the show however,  her signature cake truffles, cupcakes and custom frosted cookies act as miniature preludes to one of her world famous cakes, topped with rock candy to bring the whole table together. The glitter that subtly adorns the desserts makes each one seem just a little magical—a fact which their taste confirms!

Photography: Bello Photography / Tables: Rentals Unlimited / Linens: Wildflower / Candy: Candy Wharehouse / Desserts: Delicious Desserts / Table Coordination: Desiree Spinner Events / Venue: Chatham Bars Inn

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Post tags: Delicious Desserts, Desiree Spinner, Dessert Bar, Dessert Table, Rentals Unlimited, Wildflower Linens
Post categories: Wedding Cakes, Wedding Decor

This article was originally posted onStyle Me Pretty.

For our engagement party we decided to have a signature drink. The weekend before the party, a few of my girlfriends came over for a drink tasting. I should have done more research beforehand. I had mostly chocolatey drinks, as the party is black and white themed, but they didn’t taste very good. We rated each drink on a scale of 0-5.

These are the coasters purchased through For Your Party.

My mom was originally planning on throwing a large engagement party, but it ended up small and being thrown by friends. This left us with excess coasters and a few other supplies, which helped me decorate for the tasting!

For garnishes, I thought it would be cute to use Lindt chocolate on diamond cocktail picks to go in the drinks.

This drink was a concoction made up by my friend. It was pretty good, but the cocoa powder on top was not working for me. I ended up inhaling it as I went to take a sip! The cocoa powder is a no-go as were the Lindt Chocolate garnishes.

After tasting a few chocolatey drinks, we realized they just weren’t that good. I am not a Vodka drinker and they all contained some type of Vodka. The ones that didn’t contained cream or heavy liqueurs, which just weren’t working either.

Next, we moved on to fruity drinks. This was hard because I am not a fruit-loving girl; I love veggies and have never really been one for fruits. We tasted a couple and it came down to a drink called the “Scooby Snack”. It is one of Mr. Starfish’s favorite drinks, and he was the one who suggested we try it. It was rated a 4.5, while most others ranged from 0-3.5. It won by a landslide!

A Scooby Snack consists of:

• 1 oz. Pineapple Juice
• 3/4 oz. Midori
• 1/2 oz. Half and Half
• 3/4 oz. Malibu Coconut Rum

It was not what I was picturing (it has green tint), but I think everyone will like the taste, which is the most important thing! Some people weren’t into the idea of half and half in the drink, but changed their minds after tasting it.

Is anyone else doing a signature drink for a wedding related event? What are your favorite drink recipes?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Ugh. I have gone back and forth over this for so long and cannot make a decision. So, I need your advice. See, I have this vision in my head of a beautiful cake on top of a pedestal cake stand. Only, I picked a cake that looks like this:

Source

See that square bottom? Apparently they do not make many pedestal cake stands in a square shape in the size that I need. I talked to my cake lady about this, and she offered me two solutions:

1. Switch to all round layers and have my beloved pedestal cake stand, but this would mean 10-12 fewer slices of cake.
2. Use a traditional square silver cake stand that is elegant, but not really vintage, which is the look I’m going for.

I’ve gone over my guest list and am trying to determine just how many people will come so that I can see if it will matter much if I lose the 10-12 additional pieces. But there are so many unknowns! This person might come and this other person might not, but I really won’t know until our RSVPs are due (and those of you that are married are laughing at me thinking, ‘Yeah right, people will respond to you by the RSVP date.’ I know, I know, but a girl can dream). So, see this is a huge dilemma and one that I still don’t have a solution for.

And there is another problem, too. Miss French Fries posted a picture of the most beautiful cake I’ve ever seen in my life and now it’s all that I can think about.

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So moving to the round layers is fine with me. I’m just worried about losing pieces of cake.

And then there’s this. I just keep dreaming about these beauties:

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So, what should I do?

Option A: Use the pedestal cake stand and hope that the lost pieces of cake won’t matter. I mean, hey, we’ll have a groom’s cake, too.

Option B: Suck it up and use a silver cake stand. And get a pedestal cake stand for my home so I stop crying about it.

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.