Groom's Cake - How crazy should one go?

I think like many of you the first time and only time I had heard of a groom's cake was from Steel Magnolias. I mean, who could forget that famous Red Velvet Armadillo!?
Shocking and fabulous at the same time.

As the specialty cake craze grew I heard more and more about these cakes, stemming from what I believe was a Southern tradition. It seems like now has swept the nation and is often presented at the rehearsal dinner. (I'll be the first to admit, a Virginia Tech logo would not match my motif!)

As we were planning our wedding in my hometown, and I was making the bulk of the decisions, I knew I wanted to do something nice for FH. FH is a loyal HOKIE (Virginia Tech Alum) and we had quite a large population of fellow Hokies as guests. So what else, a Hokie cake!?

While watching a Food Network Cake Challenge one day I discovered Cakes by Jay! I thought for sure he was my cake guy. Well, I am sure many of you have gone through this, as things get closer, money actually does become an object. I contact Jay about doing a Hokie cake, either of the Hokie Bird or of the VT logo. He came back saying a cake for 45 people in the VT logo would be about $350. What!???? I could only imagine if I had ordered one for the final count of the rehearsal dinner - 75 people! (To note- Jay's cakes are amazing, I am sure making a cake like the one I suggested is easy peasy but they are filled with orders so it wouldn't be worth it for them to make the cake for less- and they were SOOOOO incredibly nice. If I were in the market for a gorgeous cake and had a budget to match, I would DEFINITELY contact them. I was very impressed with their service and their quick responses)

So, back to the drawing board. My stepmother suggested Whistle Stop. Whistle Stop is an amazing family owned bakery known for its cheesecakes. My family has ordered from them for years. We had them do a full sheet cake with the Virginia Tech logo piped on and it looked fantastic! And, let me tell you, the chocolate cake with raspberry mouse and butter cream icing was to die for (much tastier than my wedding cake but I'll post about that on a later date). I mean, does anyone actually like the taste of fondant?

I guess my little lesson from this is- I attempted to go with a baker with cache but in the end going with a trusted, small vendor that has proven to be a quality vendor was definitely the right choice!

What did you do? Or what are your plans for a groom's cake?

 

VEil pick up!

Stale content, I know, is the worst thing one for a blogger. I’ve just been crazy busy and not had a tremendous amount of time and really, I have been so focused on Christmas and have been working on so many unrelated projects (which means I am extra scatter brained!) that I haven’t had time to think about weddings.

Here’s some exciting news, once again work took me to the Big Apple for the day so I was able to carve out an hour and get some wedding schtuff taken care of. Most important -I picked up my veil today!!!! I have a sneaking suspicion (ok, he told me) that FH logs on to here every now and then so I don’t want to give too much away.

As you may recall, I posted a few weeks ago about my trip to SposaBella Lace to have a veil made (ask for Maci, she was fantastic and even tipped me and mom off to a sale down the block where we bought lots of costume jewelry for next to nothing - I am talking $3 nothing). The veil was a quarter of the price of getting one in the department store where I got my dress. I wanted something simple and could not justify in anyway paying upwards of $400 for two pieces of tulle.

I also picked up my hair piece, I really don’t know what I am going to do with it but I loved it and will bring it to my trial - which is this Friday!!!

All in all I could not be happier with the veil and would highly recommend thinking outside of the bridal salon to purchase your veil and other accessories. They get you because you are there. When you are spending a lot already it is easy to say – hey – what’s an extra $500, but really, think of what that could mean? That’s another 3.5 people I could invite! A step up in the welcome baskets, or heck, that almost covers the cost of my bridesmaids gifts. So when I was able to have the simple veil that was $450 custom made for $95 and the hair piece (just a simple comb) that I saw in Saks for $375 for $95, I think I made the right decision.

Coming this week...
Hair and makeup trials, food tasting, and everything else I can get done over the holidays!!!!

Fancy Find #9 - PaperZest, Wedding & Christmas!!

OK, yet again I have been an absent blogger, this darn work thing always getting in the way. I totally thought I would coast between Thanx and Xmas but that has definitely NOT been the case.

Nevertheless, I have a great FANCY FIND for you today!!!

My friend Sara, (you may remember her beautiful wedding details from this post) had some of the most beautiful, fun and funky stationery I have seen in a long time. She ordered her customized suite through PaperZest. Which, I have seen recommended on such sites as Style Me Pretty's Little Black Book and others.

Here's some pics of her fun stuff:






I love how everything is coordinated but nothing is too matchy matchy- something that lots of people strive for but not always achieved.

Sara and Christina from PaperZest hit it off so well they decided to collaborate and do some Christmas cards together!!!They have an Etsy shop where you can buy these sassy little greetings. I think they are great if you are giving a gift certificate or something like that where you need a special card for your fun friend. Maybe order a few and add them to a hostess gift. You'll love the fun designs and the witty sayings that are perfect for the stylish and saucy gal pal or boy toy.

I love this one:
"All I want for Christmas is you"
"And something from Tiffany's but that's neither here nor there"


How great! You know you all love it! There are more fun cards so check them out!

Fancy Find #4: Photographer Yun Gen Yang

(Not necessarily a fancy item but a vendor I am currently stalking and I think he's fancy)

So yesterday during my Sunday evening Internet surfing (I do this while FH watches football) I came across a photographers website that held me captive for a good hour. His name is Yun Gen Yang and his website can be found here: Yang Photography.

He's based in NYC and looks like he covers most of the Tri-state area. Now, I found and am thrilled about the photog I chose (Matthew Sowa) but I cannot deny that this made me question my research- how did I miss this guy? He has an obvious love for the sky:



and just overall color and beauty. I put together a two little collages of my favorite photos; one from his wedding collection and one from the lifestyle/personal collection on his site. Check them out and check out his blog as well!

The Power of Three

For me, the most successful method I have come up with when planning from out of town and working (a lot) is the power of three. I use it when I am ready to choose a vendor - or anything really.

Here's my motus operandi: after tons of Internet research (reading reviews, searching for pictures, etc) I narrow my choices down to three and choose from there. I probably do this because to get anything approved at work over a certain dollar amount we have to show we have looked at three different options. We put together an analysis of the costs, deliverables, and any other factor that would lead you to choose one thing over the other two. Or, maybe I learned this method from Goldilocks?

So far this Goldilocks method has worked with numerous items. It really just helps you pull the trigger and decide on something.

I did this with a reception halls. I scoured the Internet, read countless reviews, saw millions of pictures and made an astonishing amount of phone calls pleading for available dates but when it came time to visit - I only went to 3. I went with my Dad and Stepmom and 3 sheets of questions. There was one that stood out to me and I chose The Woodlands. It was actually the first we visited and I loved it from the get go but I just needed to get other prices and see what was out there.

I did this with bridal salons (not dresses but the salons). First, I went to one with my Maid of Honor (MOH)in Manhasset, then to Bergdorf Goodmans, then Saks - which was my final destination. Even there, I had tried on a multitude of dresses and then found three I loved. The one I chose was hands down my favorite but it wasn't what I had pictured so I had to think about it for a while. But in the end, narrowing down to three really helped and when I thought about all three I knew I found the one and it was time to stop looking.

Photogs-
I narrowed my choices of photographers down to three via Internet research. I contacted all three and heard back from two - and well, that narrowed me down to two right there. If you are planning from out of town or you are on the road a lot like I am, the number one priority is good communication via email and phone. I only met with one, the one I went with - Matthew Sowa - and he was great. I got a DVD and spoke with Gail Chetalain and really thought she was fantastic, I will totally recommend her to friends. She was also a great price for a photo journalist photog, I just felt like I really clicked with Matt and that FH would not be annoyed by him (and thus be a little more patient during picture taking - something he despises). Gail is a free spirit - she returned my calls while on the road from Cali to Florida "I normally fly but I needed to find myself" is what she told me! Works for me but that attitude is definitely not one for the hippie-hater FH!

DJs-
Not so much the power of three but the power of two. We wanted to meet with the DJs and thought this was something we should both decide on - and given FH's limited patience for wedding planning- I needed to make this as painless as possible. Here we met with two, we loved the first one DJs Unlimited, our guy Dave met with us and totally pegged us within seconds of introduction. He knew we were a little older and didn't want to turn the beautiful 1920s mansion into a night club "I am guessing you are not a laser show or strobe light type couple," (Um, you got it) he actually suggested one of the least expensive packages. Our second visit - well- she tried to sell us an Andean Pan Flutist for the cocktail hour(I wish I was joking) at which point FH laughed in her face and I knew I was going to have an entertaining car ride home. We went with the first one.

Right now I am collecting florist quotes. I know which one I want but just don't know if I can justify her price quote. The second quote I got was SIGNIFICANTLY less but I really do not like their style. I am going to get a third quote this week to gauge how far off my preferred gal is. Just like Goldilocks, I am hoping to find the one that is juuuussst right.