cake, part two: cupcakes achieved....?

Originally, the plan of attack for our cupcakes was the downtown coffee house called Aromas. They have delicious cake, they're close to our venue, and we went to a wedding in February that had their cupcakes and they were awesome. And huuuuuuge. One Aromas' cupcake can easily feed two people, which gives the added advantage of not ordering as many cupcakes. They were also the cheapest option, tied with Cupcake Island, who also has delicious cupcakes but isn't as close to our venue and their cupcakes aren't quite as big.
So let's go with Aroma's. Cupcakes achieved. Or so we thought.
Well, no, actually. It turns out that Aroma's (the coffee house) wants to sell Aroma's (the bakery). And if you buy a bakery, the last thing you'd want to do is have to fulfill some silly order that they made before they belonged to you. So all the talks we had had with these people regarding pricing and delivery and flavors...gone. They can't do our cupcakes. And this blow came...last week.
Needless to say I was FREAKING OUT. We had chosen this bakery because they were the cheapest, best option. Was I going to have to drop half a g on shitty cupcakes? Would anyone still be available for our date? I went back to Hastings last weekend and I spent a lot of time with my mom trying to work out if we could conceivably make our own cupcakes. We could, but it would give me an ulcer or two. Probably some panic attacks, too. So what to do?


Well, you get in a boat, and you point that boat towards Cupcake Island.
This is Ed and his business partner Shirley (Edit: Not his wife. Thanks Mike!). These are their cupcakes. They own Cupcake Island, quite possibly the cutest cupcake shop ever. They saved our asses. They are my new favorites.
We went to Cupcake Island last night. They arranged a meeting for us even though they would've usually been closed at that time. We also had cake samples. We banged out a contract right then and there, no backing out, no "maybe's." Their cake really is superior to Aroma's, the cupcakes are just a little smaller, so we ordered more than we were originally planning.
We also ended up ordering an actual cake. We had been considering a small cake to display our rad cake toppers from Paul Pape Designs (BTW Paul: I will email you dress pictures tonight...probably) and also because I like the idea of cutting an actual cake. This cake probably won't be sliced up at the reception unless it looks like they're still ravenous after dinner, candy and cake. It'll be something along the lines of this:
Only without the bands of frosting. Just like a mini wedding cake. To showcase the topper.
The conversation was interesting, because he asked what we wanted on the cake and I said, frosting. He asked if we wanted ribbons, or flowers, or frosting flowers. I said no, cake should just be cake. With frosting. No fondant, ever. He convinced me to put a little extra frosting froo on it. Some ivory bands or something, I don't remember. But as I said in my last cake post, I think just frosting is pretty. No froo, please. Just delicious, delicious cake.

We'll be having vanilla, chocolate, and pumpkin spice cupcakes. The wedding cake will be red velvet. We went over all the flavor options (so many! all sounding wicked good) and Greg mentioned that he liked their mocha flavored cupcakes. I thought they sounded good, but I didn't know if they'd have the wide appeal (especially to the little kids) and also...um..chocolate was cheaper. The chocolate was also one of the samples he gave us, and it was delicious. So chocolate it was.
As we were walking out, though, Ed said "Oh, you guys said you liked our mocha cupcakes?"
And we said "Yeah, they're awesome, just not for our wedding, I guess"
And then he went to the fridge. I thought, awesome! Free cupcake!
But he didn't give us a free cupcake. He gave us A DOZEN FREE CUPCAKES. Mocha ones. With cream cheese frosting. And chocolate chips.
I ate four. Then I sent them to Greg's work so I would be able to fit into my dress.

Did I mention Ed is my favorite?

cake, part one: a history

Let's talk about cake.
of course this cake is from Martha Stewart.

This is going to take awhile because I don't know if we've ever touched on cake and the Hallowedding. Which is weird, because dudes, do brides ever love cake. Why shouldn't we? They're so pretty. And big. And you get to find a pretty cake topper. And sometimes, inside this pretty, big thing, under the cake topper, there might actually be cake!
Unlike most of those "little details" that brides slave over and then nobody will ever notice ("oh, were all the straws at your bar in your wedding colors?...okay") everybody WILL look at the cake. Because it sits out at the reception all through dinner, then everyone gathers around and watches you cut it, and then they eat it. They have to notice the damn thing. So a lot of thought goes into most wedding cakes.
Here is the thought that went into my wedding cake: I HATE FONDANT.
source
For those of you not knee deep in the wedding industry, or not all that schooled in cake, fondant is a frosting paste that goes over the cake to give it that smooth surface, as pictured above. You can also use fondant to make beautiful lace, or pretty flowers, or wacky shapes. It is a staple to fancy pantsy cakes...and it tastes terrible. I have heard stories of marshmalllow fondant existing and not being the worst stuff ever, but it just...it bothers me. So no fondant. No fancy cake. Just cake, please, with frosting I can eat.

I think there's just something really pretty about plain frosting. So simple and pure and imperfect. Maybe it's because I bake, and plain frosting makes a cake look more hand made. Maybe it's because inside of me there's a fat kid who just really loves frosting. Who knows.

But aside from fondant, there is just all this shit you have to consider. Because if you have a cake, you have to cut it, and then sometimes there are cutting fees. You can also opt to have the big round pretty cake and then have super secret sheet cakes in the back. How many flavors of cake do you want? How many fillings? Do you want those little roses? What kind of frosting, if you're not using fondant, and are you suuuuuuure you don't want fondant because it's really, really pretty.

Thank God for cupcakes.
Look at 'em. There aren't any fancy flowers or marshmallow paste. There's just frosting, and that frosting is beautiful. With cupcakes, there is no cutting, no forks, plates aren't even all that necessary. They also fit in a lot better with the whole sandwich/soup vibe. Also, you can still have the beautiful set up that you have with a real cake, thanks to the handy invention of the cupcake stand
A DIY'd version from this blog.
So it was pretty much a no brainer: cupcakes for ever, cupcakes for days. So we went out in search of a baker to make us a couple hundred cupcakes.

And that, friends, is when the fondant hit the fan.

Coming soon, part 2: WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY FUCKING CUPCAKES?

ROBOTS

I love robots, and steampunk, and therefore I also love buildersstudio. Not only do they make adorable wedding robots, they sell RAYGUNS. There's not a lot of budget for small pieces of wood at the moment, but I think we should keep them in mind for like an anniversary present. Or commission a piece to be made when we get another dog or something.


(did you see the tiny gear bouquet? it made me squeek.)

fantasy favors

I don't know if I've mentioned this on the blog before, but I'm planning two weddings. One is the fabulous Hallowedding you will be attending, orange and brown and black, costumes encouraged, brimming with pumpkins and candy and autumnal goodness.


The other wedding is a made-up wedding where it is not Halloween, it is warm outside, my colors are purple and grey and everything is very chic.
This wedding will not be happening.
I don't regret our wedding date, but it does rule out certain details that don't fit the holiday or the season. Outdoor weddings on October 31st are VERY RISKY in Nebraska, since we've had several Halloweens canceled for snow and few children have known a season where their costumes didn't incorporate a parka. So that's out. Also, nature will deny me lilacs, which are very sentimental to me, and were I to be married in the spring, they'd be frickin' everywhere. In mason jars.

I don't think I'm the only bride who does this. And I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am not the only person who had big elaborate plans for their wedding that they secretly hold in their heart just in case they magically find, oh, several thousand extra dollars to contribute to their wedding. The elaborate, poster sized wedding invitations. The custom made Stephanie James dress. The lighting designer projecting tree branches onto the dance floor (actually I could do this myself, were my venue willing, but I highly doubt they are capable).

And oh, wedding guests, if I had the money, the favors you would get!

Now, let me just say that in my brain, I don't care about favors. They're cute, sure, but if they're missing from a wedding I don't really care. I really liked getting martini glasses from Jen and Jon's wedding, and the individual Jones Soda from Vince and Sarah (yummy AND adorable!) and Brandon and Mura (whose wedding I still need to cover...damn) made donations for their guests. These were all great. We're doing a candy buffet for ours--painfully trendy, yes, but it really fits with it being Halloween and if people leave their favor on their tables then I get lots of candy. Win. Win. Win.
That's my in my brain.

But my heart, Maria, but my heart....

IF I HAD THE MONEY, or if I could somehow cut our guest list down by 100 people and not be torn apart by guilt, I would lurk around ebay for months and give everyone amazing vintage Halloween goodies.
You're kind of lucky I don't have the money, actually, because what I consider amazing vintage Halloween goodies some people consider "Old Crap"
Like the candles! Oh vintage candles! You beautiful waxy sirens.Cupcake picks, which remind me of the cupcakes you get at grocery stores (in a good way) and totally make me swoon. (That sounds like the wedding is getting to my head but you'd be wrong, suckas! I've always gone crazy over useless cupcake decoration. SO THERE)
Or just tiny little pointless plastic toys (which could also go on top of cupcakes!)
But they're averaging about $5 a piece (and I don't think Jesus would forgive spending that much money on stuff most people would throw away) and there's no guarantee I'd be able to find 150+ of any one item so....more pointless longing.

However, I might find some place for these sort of findings if not in the hands of my guests.

(Oh, and if you search "vintage halloween" on ebay you get something that is not vintage, classic, or classy, but still makes my heart ache a little bit with kitschy nostalgia:
HALLOWEEN MCNUGGET BUDDIES!Can you smell that? I think it's the nineties.)

holy crap!

(Like this, only with wedding clothes and on top of cupcakes)

Yes, yes, I know. I suck. I post dresses and promise news and then nothing. Well, for a while anyway, you might need a little more of nothin'. One, there's not a lot to share until we get the venue picked out (I KNOW, I KNOW, CALM DOWN MARTHA WE'LL BE FINE!) and two I'm crazy busy right now with non-wedding stuff...but I just had to say something.

PAUL PAPE GOT FEATURED ON WEDDINGBEE. I had mentioned him and his chocolate miis in a comment on there (which I believe got him quite a few orders) but then today Miss Hummingbird just stumbled upon his cake toppers and DAMN! That man is gonna get some business. (For non-Omahans, Paul is the guy whose family helped Greg with the proposal? Remember? Great!)
This is awesome because hooray money for Paul. This also means that Paul will be super busy so I'm also kinda sad for Paul. But we are also planning on getting a wii topper from Paul with a tiny mii Ruffles, so hell, this might be a trend! We are trend setters! Go wedding!