Mock Wedding at the Hotel Monaco, Portland

I had a great time last week.  I was invited by Brandon Perron of Brandon Perron Photography to take part in a "mock wedding" he was staging as a photography workshop for local photographers.  The event was coordinated by Mandi Downs of Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination, flowers were provided by Jordan Gladow of Blum, Design in Flowers and the gorgeous setting at the beautiful Hotel Monaco downtown was overseen by Carole Lombardi.  Mandi did an amazing job, the room was done in magenta, plum and red and was sleek and sumptuous.  The cake was done to give a nod to the darling magenta shoes the bride wore.  I received copies of the first pictures today.  These were done by Laura Zander of Add to Heart Photography.  You should check out the rest of her photos, they are really beautiful!

Put Some Fun in Your Wedding Planning!

Spring is almost here, your date is set, your venue is reserved and you are in the process of choosing and confirming all your vendors. While you are working on that list, why not consider some of the vendors below and have a wedding that is not only wonderful but fun and unforgettable! These vendors are in the Portland area, but fun options are available wherever you are getting married!

Portland Wedding Pedicabs - http://www.portlandweddingpedicabs.com/ If you've planned the ultimate eco-friendly wedding or have lots of guests to transport downtown, this is the only way to travel. You can imagine the fun as your guests wind their way through downtown to the reception site! Check out their website for the parade video..too much fun!

Top Hat Productions - http://www.tophatproductions.com/ Having a Christmas wedding? Santa Clause can come, how about Irish Dancers for that March wedding or Polynesian dancers? Top Hat can offer you multiple, unique entertainment and theme ideas, guaranteed to surprise and delight your guests.

Paparazzi Tonight - http://www.pdxphotobooth.com/ You can't have too many pictures of a wedding and reception and many couples put disposable cameras on tables so that they get those spontaneous pics. With the help of Paparazzi Tonight you can do it better and rent a photo booth! Imagine all the fun your guests will have cramming in and smiling for the camera. Not only will everyone have a ball, but they will leave with a wonderful momento.

The Case For Fondant

Over the years I've met with so many couples who come in for their tasting with a picture they've pulled from the latest wedding magazine of a cake they want recreated for their wedding. Almost always the cake is done in fondant and almost always they want to know if it can be done in buttercream. Why? Because they have either heard horror stories about fondant or they have tasted horrible fondant and they don't want to inflict it upon their guests. So why does fondant, which is so universally used have such a horrible reputation and what can you do if the cake of your dreams is fondant?

First, some common misconceptions; a fondant cake and a butter cream cake are exactly the same, the fondant cake just has one additional layer, but both cakes have a generous layer of butter cream. Fondant does not taste "bad" and in fact can be quite delicious.

So why does Fondant have a bad reputation. It helps to know what Fondant is made of; Fondant is very similar to marshmallow's although Fondant is not cooked and therefor remains soft and pliable enabling it to cover cakes. Handling of Fondant makes all the difference in the final outcome. Most fondant in commercial use comes in 5lb blocks and it is my experience that this fondant does not taste that great when fresh. In most commercial bakeries your wedding cake is decorated on Thursday or Friday and must sit out until the wedding on Saturday as fondant cakes are usually not refrigerated. Go back to that marshmallow and imagine putting a fresh, soft one on a plate on Thursday and coming back to eat it on Saturday...it would be dry, chewy and stiff. The same is true of fondant.

So is it impossible to get a yummy fondant cake? Absolutely not! Fondant made from scratch is so much better than what is available commercially. It tastes good, has a lovely scent, is much easier to work with and stays soft and lovely much longer than that produced commercially. Fondant made fresh can also be flavored depending on the flavor of the cake itself, vanilla, lemon, almond, champagne are just a few of the flavorings that can be added. This fondant starts out much fresher and so stays that way longer. It is also important that the fondant be applied to the cake as close to the delivery time as possible. Every day that the cake sets out with the fondant applied it becomes less appealing.

So, what do you look for when you go to meet with your cake designer? Ask what type of fondant they use, is it freshly made or purchased. Ask for a sample to try. Ask how many days before the wedding the fondant will be applied to your cake.

A bakery that cares about the taste of your cake will make sure that the fondant is as luscious and lovely as the cake itself.

photo by: Joni Schrantz, StudioESS

http://www.studioessphoto.com

Getting Your Perfect Cake

With the flood of media surrounding weddings these days it's hard to sort out what you want from what everyone else is telling you you should want! So how do you pick out the perfect cake for your wedding?

First, rather than bring a picture in to be copied, print out lots of pictures. Make notes about cakes you see and what specifically you like about them. Look at other aspects of your wedding, is their a design theme or color that is running through everything. It will help your cake designer if you can come in and say, "I tend to look round over square, I like cakes with a floral theme, but not fresh flowers, appliques."

Second, think about how you would describe your wedding to others. What will be the feeling, atmosphere? What is special about your venue, is it fun, elegant, sophisticated, a garden, out in the country? What makes your wedding different from others you have attended, what do you look forward to the most?

Lastly, how would your friends describe the two of you, is there some feature or aspect of your relationship? What would your friends expect you to do?

Answering these questions will give your cake designer not only a direction, but some specific features that you like. Having this information will help the designer come up with a design that will be unique, fit with your wedding and will have your friends admiring the cake and commenting on how perfectly it suits you!