Martha Explains Cake

1. White Butter Cake

2. Moist Yellow

3. Almond Dacquoise (who has ever heard of that word before? Certainly not me)

4. Lemond Poppy Seed

5. Carrot Cake

6. Red Velvet

7. Marble

8. Chocolate Butter

1. Caramel Sauce

2. Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

3. Chocolate Ganache

4. Lemon Curd

5. Swiss Merengue Buttercream

6. Chocolate Buttercream

7. Apricot Jam

8. Pistachio Buttercream

9. Cream Cheese Frosting

10. Raspberry Preserves

Doesn't that just make you want to go on a cake tasting, right now? I would love to go to some bakeries and eat little tiny pieces of cake with different fillings. Sounds like a fun way to spend a day!

In case the print is a little small, I wanted to share an adorable little chart about what your cake flavor says about you (total bull, but entertaining nonetheless):

a) Vanilla- Sophisticated

b) Lemon- Tart and Sexy

c) Strawberry- Romantic

d) Chocolate- Masculine

e) Mint- Cool

f) Carrot- Spicy

g) Almond- Traditional

h) Fruit- Open-Minded

I think they're a little silly. Vanilla is safe and boring. Sophisticated to me would be something gourmet/foodie, an unusual flavor pairing. Here's what it should be (totally kidding, by the way):

a) Vanilla- Boring, playing it safe. You are probably two white people getting married.

b) Lemon- You are settling for your groom, and the cake is a way of saying, "Life gave me lemons, I had the baker make a lemon cake with them."

c) Strawberry- You like Bjork ("Naked man, naked man, please come down, I'll get you some strawberry cake or something").

d) Chocolate- You are having an internet-meme-themed wedding. The cake is to go with the chocolate fountain, representing Chocolate Rain.

e) Mint- Your groom has halitosis; the cake should help.

f) Carrot- You are marrying a rabbit.

g) Almond- You don't like your second cousin, who has a nut allergy. NO CAKE FOR THEM

h) Fruit- Your nod to your groom, who wanted to serve Skittles at the reception so that guests could taste the rainbow.

Let them eat cake

I enjoy browsing Martha Stewart Wedding galleries. Everything is so beautifully photographed and well organized and easy to flip through and find a million favorites. Here are some cakes I found that I liked:

Wendy Kromer via Martha Stewart Weddings

Wendy Kromer via Martha Stewart Weddings

via Martha Stewart Weddings

via Martha Stewart Weddings

via Martha Stewart Weddings

via Martha Stewart Weddings

Wendy Kromer via Martha Stewart Weddings

via Martha Stewart Weddings

Wendy Kromer via Martha Stewart Weddings

Deep Blue Something

Whipped Bakeshop via oh lovely day

It's a blue cake. And not a wedgewood china, pale blue, BLUE. Like Grover. The texture looks like thick, impressionist paint globs up close.

I don't want the cake to be a big production. Because we're not serving cake to everybody (more on that later)! We will just have a tiny cake to cut and put the cake topper on. I do like looking at a pretty cake, I just know that John and I love other desserts infinitely more than cake. It is cool though, don't you think?

I could see a whole painter theme here; watercolor envelope liners on the invitations, mini easels on the tables holding up the table numbers...

Save the Dates!

I am so excited to blog about this, because we finished a large item on our wedding to-do list! John and I will be sending out our save-the dates tomorrow!

The knot.com tells us we're overdue on this, but better late than never! The save the dates are simple; just a colorful, vintage reminder with a link to the wedding website.

Since this is an informal reminder, we chose to send them just to our families. Most of the younger guests are internet-savvy enough that an email (with a pic uploaded of the save-the-date design) will suffice. The important thing is that the date and place are announced and that we can point them to the website, where the rest of the information about the day will be located.

My vision for the paper goods in the wedding was to have something colorful, vintage-inspired, and printed at home. I love well designed invites, but I didn't want to pay a stationer (we don't have limitless money for this wedding!). If I wanted the design to just be simple script font on an ivory paper, then sure, engraved or letterpress would be the way to go. But, knowing I wanted to go with something more colorful, I figured a simple printing on cardstock would be the best way to go; after all, it's not like people are going to hold on to our paper goods forever; I'll put them in a scrapbook and most people will throw them out after the wedding.

So then I saw a beautiful, 1920s inspired wedding whose paper goods had me swooning. I first saw it on Style Me Pretty, then followed the links to the bride's blog, where she posted her inspiration board for the invites.

All images © Amy and Stuart Photography 

I was instantly in love with the bright colors, the vintage fonts and styling...sigh. I read on the bride's blog that she was inspired by vintage French perfume and soap labels, so I began searching on etsy and found a bunch of digital collage sheets for about $1.50 a piece. Definitely within our budget!

From there, I cropped the images out individually, and got to work learning photoshop (actually, Gimp, the freeware version of photoshop) to figure out how to edit out the text and change colors to my liking.

So, the actual save-the-dates started like this:

I loved the font and realized I had most of the letters for the words Save the Date (including at fabulous S  at the beginning of Savon). So, with patience, I constructed the letters I didn't have. Once we decided on  our color palette, I decided to make the background the light mint green.

The D on date isn't perfect, but I think overall the design works really well. The second font I used was Gutenberg MF, which I thought matched well with the more ornate title text. From there, I just had to flip the image and add the relevant text to make side 2. The finished product is a 3" x 6" card that fits in a standard envelope.

After we printed them out, we stuffed them in envelopes and printed out address labels to save time. But I still felt like it was missing something, so I designed a little sticker for the envelope flap (I had sticker paper lying around).

Here's some photos of the end result!

Ta-daaaaa! Now, we have to send the save-the date emails and then I can move on to the invitation design!

The Great Shoe Search

Let's get some shoes. I have a few ideas about wedding shoes. I like heels, but I don't want them to be too tall, and I want them to have something interesting about them.

Oh, and no ivory for me. I want shoes I can wear again, thank you. Possibly a metallic copper/gold/bronze, or something in the wedding colors (I could get a seafoam green or teal and have it be a something blue).

1) BHLDN Clipped Corolla Heels.

2) BHLDN Elopement Pumps.

3) Ballroom Dance Shoes from DanceShoesStore.com S2802 in copper

4) Ballroom Dance Shoes from DanceShoesStore.com 2707 in light brown and light gold

5) Seychelles Pot of Gold Pump on endless.com

I just don't even know what exactly I want in the shoe department. A something blue? A simple, comfortable, well made shoe as a supporting cast member or more of a fashion statement? I hate shoe shopping; anybody who knows me can attest to this.

Well, give me your feedback if you have it. And if you spot the world's most adorable pair of vintage-styled teal heels, send them my way! I would love to see them!

Photographer Love

I've been meaning to post about our brilliant, amazing photographer for a while.

His name is Ken Clunk, and I found him because I was in a wedding he photographed. My friend Emily's wedding, specifically.

Look, that's me!
http://www.aestheticemotions.com/emilyandseamus © 2010 Kenneth Clunk

I was tagged in a photo on facebook, and decided to click through Ken's website. Immediately, I was in love. He has such a gift for angles; I love the perspective of his shots, as well as the saturated colors he gets in many of his shoots.

I also appreciated his background; while flipping through the site, it became clear that he wasn't strictly a wedding photographer. He shoots bands, models, even my alma mater's rock orchestra. I think this gives him a fresh take on weddings. Most wedding photographers are pretty cookie cutter. I like a guy who will tilt the lens every now and then to get a more interesting shot.

http://www.aestheticemotions.com/emilyandseamus © 2010 Kenneth Clunk

I knew Emily couldn't steer me wrong; she's an art institute graduate and I knew an artist wouldn't have an un-artistic photographer for her wedding, and she had nothing but rave reviews of her experience with him. So I emailed Ken.

After some email tag and coordinating of schedules (mine was super hectic), John and I met him for coffee. At this point I was pretty much sold on his work alone, but meeting him made us immediately want to sign on the dotted line. Ken and his wife rock. They are super cool, have a great sense of humor, and seem to really want to get to know us as a couple so that they can better capture us at the wedding.

I am beyond psyched. It feels like everything is coming together, and it's all leading up to a day that is sure to be amazing! I am resisting the urge to put a million of his photos on here. What keeps me from doing it is the knowledge that I don't know any of the people he photographs, so it would be kind of creepy to gawk over all the images (but I do on the website!). See his latest work, and join me in gawking, here.

Wedding Updates: Website

Hello all! Now that my recital is over, I can focus on planning my wedding! Hooray!

I'm actually feeling pretty good about the state of the wedding. Although theknot.com tries to tell me via to-do lists that I am tardy on many things, I feel good. The major players are in place:

-Our ceremony/reception venue is booked.
-The caterer is booked/comes with the venue
-The menu is decided
-Our incredible, awesomesauce photographer, Ken Clunk, is booked
-I bought my dress
-Bridesmaids dresses are all ordered and on their way
-I have a gorgeous vintage cake topper
-We have a string quartet (my string quartet) for the ceremony
-We have our officiant
-Rooms are booked for our immediate families
-I have a fabulous sorority sister who is going to do all the flowers

On the to-do list (lots of minutiae):
-Print and send save-the-dates (I know I'm late on this one, but they're almost good to go) for anybody not computer-savvy
-Start working on a seating chart for the reception (already started)
-Start designing invitations and deciding on wording (hooray for my new photoshop skills, thanks to designing the website)
-Get alterations to the wedding dress (not many, but a few small things)
-Find shoes to wear with wedding dress
-Figure out or design jewelry and headpiece for wedding dress
-Make bridesmaid jewelry/hair pieces
-Order white gold for wedding bands
-Make wedding bands
-Take engagement photos (probably in June?)
-Figure out guys' attire
-Decide on wedding favors, if having them
-Plan the Friday night s'mores party, add details to website
-Figure out the cake/dessert situation
-...other details...I know there's many more, but those are some of the ones that are next up

...What is this website, you ask? Our wedding website! I totally did the whole thing from scratch. I sourced all the vintage graphics, learned Gimp (mac freeware version of photoshop) in order to give them all the same background and even out the textures, and put it all together. The only thing I didn't do was code it, but I've never been a coder. My skills extend about as far as adding html tags to text.

I'm pretty happy with how the website turned out. I know it's such a small part of the wedding process, but I didn't just want to have a pre-made template from one of the many wedding website providers. They seemed boring and not very much like us. I received some great feedback on the site; a few friends said it was the best wedding website they had ever seen! Woo! It's nice that I busted my tail on it and people like it, even though I'm all about doing things for the enjoyment of doing them. That's the real reason I'm such a DIY queen. I enjoy the process. I can't wait to get started on some of my other projects.

The Wedding Dress Saga, part 2

I am in better spirits from my last post. I received a great deal of commiseration from other engaged friends as well as many kind words and suggestions. I had decided, tentatively, to go the custom route. I started sketching away different styles of bodices and skirts, trying to pin down exactly what I was looking for. I scoured etsy.com, looking at the handmade dresses available on there (there are a lot to choose from on their site, and many have a simple, clean aesthetic that runs counter to the overly-beaded confections in the bridal salons).

Sketches!

More Sketches!

So I had started trying to figure out what I was looking for.

Then I went bridesmaid dress shopping. My friend Kristen is getting married on my birthday this year, and I am considered an extension of the bridal party (I am in the string quartet, so I can't walk down the aisle or anything, but I get to go to the bachelorette party and wear the dress and stuff).

This one is pretty awful. It's one of those where
you can tie it dozens of ways, but I think they're
just super unflattering.

Me doing the LeBron "witness" pose.

I actually liked this dress with the contrasting sash. 

Cute!

Me with the bride-to-be!

So we went to two dress shops in Rocky River. The first was good to try; the saleslady was really patient and walked us through each designer. She really took her time with us. It was awesome!

But the second shop, Leonardo's, had wedding dresses as well. After finding several bridesmaid dresses we really liked, Kristen told me to try on some wedding dresses for kicks. She had never gone dress shopping herself, having gone with an awesome, nontraditional red dress. So we both tried on some pretty insane dresses:

Ummmm...what?

 This dress was so heavy! When I took it off the hanger, it stood up by itself. I spent a few minutes staring, trying to figure out a plan of attack. "Do I step into it and hope my foot finds the floor through seven layers of skirt and crinoline, or do I burrow up from underneath?"

I ended up burrowing, and I don't think I will ever have so much fabric on my body ever again. For those of you who have never really thought about wedding dresses, picture yourself in this one. Now, picture yourself walking forward, trying to bring the skirt along with you gracefully. Not going to happen. The zillions of beads on the bodice don't help. If I wanted a skirt that big, I would want a really simple top part of the dress so the voluminous skirt could get all the attention.

I was lucky enough that this dress was captured at a very flattering angle.

This dress looked amazing on, and many friends on Facebook tried to convince me that I should wear this one. I don't disagree that it looked good, but it isn't the right dress for me.

1) It's strapless. I don't want strapless, no matter how tailored it is to my body. I would still be tugging it up all night, right? I don't want to deal with that!
2) It had a huge train on it. I am getting married outside, on a shuffleboard court. Also, shortening the train wasn't really an option because of how the lace is constructed.

I do like the picture though!

However, amidst the fun time trying on different dresses, I got to talking with one of the bridal consultants about what I was looking for in a dress. She brought several over to me and I tried them all on. Suddenly, one of them just felt right. I stepped out in it, everybody reacted to it and told me it looked like me. I looked in the mirror and said "I am getting married in this."

Case closed. I found my dress when I wasn't even looking for it! It was a sample and they were having a March madness sale at the salon, so I saved a boatload. Plus? The dress I tried on is MY dress. I don't have to worry about waiting several months for the dress to come in. I can go and visit it any time I want, and I plan on doing so to snap some better pictures to help me accessorize (the fun part!!!).

I will not, however, be posting the dress anywhere public. I don't want John to see it before the wedding day! So I will not spill too many details about the dress' design other than to say the lace was unlike anything I had ever seen, it was a beautiful ivory color over a champagne lining, and I just adored it.

So the awful, multi-week search is over. After going to far too many bridal salons, I finally found something simple that fits my style.

Friday Night Festivities...

So I know at least the bridal party, my family, and John and I will be down at our wedding venue Friday night.

We met with our amazing photographer (post on him to follow), and he asked if we had anything planned for the Friday night after the rehearsal dinner since people might be around. I said, sort of off the cuff, "It might be cool to have a campfire in the woods and do a s'mores party."

Ah, that's the ticket. Though I think it looks to neat and perfect.
Why isn't the charred, molten marshmallow oozing out the sides?

The more I think about it, the most obsessed I am with this idea. I mean, come on! We're in the middle of a state park with all sorts of gorgeous forests and campgrounds. Although I am more than happy that our venue has a beautiful lodge to stay in, it would be so fabulous to get out and hang out in nature.

So, I think I'm totally going to plan it. It would be uber casual. Lots of bugspray, s'more makings, and bug juice. Grab some twigs, char them and stick a marshmallow on 'em, girl-scout camping style. Keep it simple, keep it full of childlike wonder, then hike back to the lodge to hit the hay before the big day.

 

Of course, just because we're having s'mores doesn't mean they all have to be Hershey's milk chocolate+ Jet Puff marshmallows...there might be some room for experimentation, by having an interesting chocolate bar as the base and perhaps doing some homemade marshmallows. Some interesting ideas: bacon+milk chocolate, black sea salt with caramel center, espresso+cocoa nibs+chicory, and Rooibos+cherries+vanilla (also, that is just about the prettiest label for a chocolate bar that I've ever seen...

So pretty, right?

Something to think about...though we would have the classics on hand no matter what!

A wedding letter...

I stumbled across this blog entry recently, which contains a letter from a "wedding graduate." She addresses the letter to her own wedding, and it's pretty hilarious (and also great perspective for those planning now).

Some favorite moments:

"Oh, I know your sneaky ways. I didn't even want a wedding. But you're so flashy flashy, and so 'everyone else is doing it' and the next thing we knew, we were sending out invitations. And then there was no turning back, and you just kept luring us deeper and deeper with your promises of happy families and cake. The cake was a clever ploy. Oh, you're good, wedding."


"Sure, maybe the further away you get, the more I like you. Maybe I can't actually find any photos from you where people don't have huge grins. Maybe eating nothing but cake and champagne is pretty rad. Maybe I really like wearing fancy silk dresses. But that's neither here nor there."


This was the type of bride I am going to be; a super-DIY type who wants to make just about everything (although I have no sewing skills, so I couldn't follow her on the whole making-her-own-dress escapade). It's good to remember to take a step back and just enjoy the process without letting it consume you. It's one day, people will enjoy it no matter what, and we'll end up married at the end of it.