Thursday, January 31, 2013
Each January brings great events for brides and I look forward to seeing inspiration and trends from our local wedding pros. Chef's Market is a trend-setter and always on my watch list. Their wedding and event food is always scrumptious, innovative and impeccably presented. If you are an out of town bride, planning remotely or missed a recent bridal event, here's a virtual taste of what Chef's Market showcased.
Their food and booth were a big hit with brides and grooms!
Their yummy bridal show menu:
BLT Bites with Cherry Heirloom Tomato with Bacon Basil Bread
Curry Chicken Salad in Green Tea Edible Cone
Vegetable Crudite with Hummus
Bite Size Chocolate and Strawberry Truffles Dusted with Gold
Jay Qualls Cake
The design for their bridal show booth:
Brides who hire Chef's Market expect great food presentation along with creative food and professional service. It's no surprise that their booth design is always a strong complement to their food design. They selected a swanky color palette of white, gold, turquoise, sage green along gold and white chevron background. Brides and grooms loved that the truffles' design that complemented the booth design!
The oversized king and queen chairs were striking and were provided by Visual Elements. Table, china, and other design rentals were provided by Liberty Party Rentals.
For more info on Chef's Market innovative catering for your Nashville wedding, contact Stacey @chefsmarket.com.
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Cakes & Food, Luxury Nashville Wedding Finds
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Wednesday, January 23, 2013
As a bride, you have a specific vision for your wedding day and it's your job to know your vision, find vendors that respect your vision and who are also able to execute on that vision. That's exactly what happened with Keegan's Nashville wedding at the Belle Meade Plantation. She contacted Beyond Details to be her wedding caterer and event design team and challenged them to create a diverse menu that would delight her guests but not impede on mingling. Here's how Beyond Details designed Keegan's wedding menu...
All photos: Emma Steinmetz Photography
Keegan described her wedding as comfortable and traditional. How did you work with her to create a menu that reflected her wedding style?
Beyond Details: Keegan wanted to have a very versatile menu. We worked very closely with Keegan to touch on all different types of food from seafood to Italian all the way to the opposite end of the spectrum with having a delicatessen. Most of our clients like to pick one specific theme for their food, which sometimes can get boring on our end, so it was fun working with Keegan to develop her menu.
What was her menu?
Shrimp and Roasted Red Peppers in white Asian cups
Grilled Chicken Caesar Wraps
Tuscan Kabobs
Pasta Italiano Salad
BBQ Pork Sliders with French Fried Onions, Salmon Sliders, and Mini Bacon-bleu Cheeseburgers
BLT Stuffed Tomatoes
New Orleans Shrimp Squares
Sicilian Torte
Water, Sweet Tea, and Home-style Lemonade with colored sugar around the rim
It appears that Keegan's menu consisted of heavy hors d'oeuvres versus a full meal. Is that correct? How was this influenced by the wedding style?
Beyond Details: Keegan's menu was heavy hors d'oeuvres. Keegan wanted to have people interact and walk around, versus feeling like they are stuck at a table. Keegan also wanted her food to be presented with eye appeal. At Beyond Details, we constantly challenge ourselves to think of innovative ways to present food which do not compromise the temperature of the food. We wanted to incorporate her wedding colors into the food - black, white and green. We accomplished this by having green sugar around the rims of the signature drink glasses along with having her signature drink, Lemonade dyed green with black straws. We also incorporated black and green olives into one of her Italian menu items - Tuscan Kabobs.
Where were you challenged to innovate or be extra creative when it came to designing Keegan's menu?
Beyond Details: The hardest part about designing her menu was coming up with menu items that could be served at room temperature or even served cold, without compromising things that she liked.
What did you most enjoy about designing her wedding menu?
Beyond Details: The best part of designing her menu was searching for all the great ways we could display her food. As avid horse lovers with a horse showing background, we wanted to incorporate some type of horse element into her design. Not to mention the fact that she was getting married in a barn, it seemed perfect! Our teams of designers were scouring the streets of Nashville, and even Atlanta to find the right pieces for Keegan's wedding. From the horse head centerpiece to the white modern cups that her shrimp and roasted red peppers were served in, down to the green sugar on the glass rims - it was all came together and exceeded all of our expectations!
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Cakes & Food
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Monday, January 21, 2013
Raise your hand if you've had cupcakes from The Cupcake Collection? For many Nashvillians, The Cupcake Collection, located in Historic Germantown, is the one temptation that simply can't be avoided. My personal favorite is their chocolate cupcake; just enough balance of cake and icing. Yummy! I know, I'm a simple girl. My fancier friends swear by their Strawberry Lemonade, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, or wait - Caramel Apple. If you've had one (or two or a dozen), you have a favorite flavor. (If you haven't, stop reading and pick up a couple during lunch today, then resume this post to join the rest of us in our cake love!)
Did you know that the same place that we rush to on Friday before they close, offers more than your indulgence of the week? They create custom cupcakes and cakes for Nashville weddings. Yes, I said cakes!
Mignon, the co-owner of this family business, is locally known and loved. If you've visited The Cupcake Collection, I'm sure you've experienced her infectious aura. I stole a few minutes from her cupcake-crazy schedule to learn all about The Cupcake Collection to see what all they offer the Nashville bride and groom.
Here's the oh-so-sweet scoop...
Brides love this cake, designed by The Cupcake Collection!
This is Mignon who co-founded The Cupcake Collection with her husband. The Cupcake Collection is a Nashville original and family-operated business.
The Cupcake Collection designed the Apples to Apples game box for the couple as their cake, surrounded by other board games and cupcakes. Photo: Jonathon Campbell Photography
How many years have you been in business?
The Cupcake Collection: 16 years of experience in the business, 4 year old bakery
How did you get started in weddings?
The Cupcake Collection: People were seeking my husband at the time to do cakes and I was always really good at making incredible icing, so I started working with him to bring my icing to his creations. I began designing some of the ideas because he couldn’t necessarily express himself for what he wanted to do. The first memorable wedding we did together was when one of my best friends was getting married and she thought no one else in the world could make her a cake that would taste good enough. She wanted to take a stab at it and it was gorgeous. The rest is history. We kept learning, practicing, and going forward from there.
What do you like most about weddings?
The Cupcake Collection: What I like the most about weddings is being entrusted with that much of a person’s dream. This is something little girls dream about and they keep expounding on those ideas until they find themselves a groom. So for someone to lay that much responsibility in your hands is the greatest honor for a wedding practitioner.
What is your favorite wedding picture/video? Why?
The Cupcake Collection: My favorite wedding picture is going to have to be the Manogins. It took me a whole year to come up with something for them. We would meet and talk about things and they would bring me samples for what they were using for their invitation. That’s when a light bulb went off! The bride decided she really didn’t have a preference for what she wanted, she said "just do something for me." She trusted that it was going to be good and she gave me full creative control to make her a cake. That, to this day, is my favorite cake (two years later). Even the mom came in while I was setting it up and cried because the cake was a great representation of her daughter. On that particular set up, a film crew was following us and there was documentation of everyone’s feelings as we did it.
It was pink, orange, two shades of brown, gold, and white. It had a handmade fondant bow on top and they had a custom cupcake stand that my husband built from wood. Even the groom’s cake was a grouping of cupcakes shaped into the notorious Kappa Alpha Psi Kane.
What is your service philosophy?
The Cupcake Collection: Customer service is not giving the customer what they want, it’s giving them what they expect. They expect knowledgeable, helpful personnel that understand the product enough to make intelligent and experienced suggestions that will make their cupcake experience better than they anticipate.
What are your strengths compared to others in your category? Why should a bride hire you?
The Cupcake Collection: Our greatest strength is our flavor. Not only is that a very good reason for a bride to hire us, we also take the time to get to know our bride and groom to find out what they really want not just from pictures pulled out of magazines.
Who are your five favorite Nashville vendors?
The Cupcake Collection: There are so many to choose from, how can I just pick five? StudioWed is a wonderful option because there are so many fabulous choices under one roof. Rhonda Patton is a florist that I tend to see at a lot of different weddings and I’m often amazed at her creativity. Monell’s never disappoints whenever I have used them for catering. Chef’s Market is one of my new favorites for innovative food. As a former photojournalist, photography is a quintessential place that you need to spend the biggest portion of your wedding budget. There are so many choices it is hard for me to just pick one. Kristyn Hogan, Chris and Adrienne Scott, and Mark Denman are just a few of my favorites.
For budget-savvy brides, what’s the one thing that should always make it into a budget?
The Cupcake Collection: A delicious cake because it serves at least three purposes: it’s a centerpiece, it serves as the first thing that you do as a married couple, and it gives your guests something to talk about long after the rice has been thrown.
The Cupcake Collection offers cupcakes or can design a custom tiered cake or even sculpted grooms cakes. Photo above and below: Kristyn Hogan.
What’s one way brides can save money/be more economical without sacrificing her vision?
The Cupcake Collection: Choose cupcakes. At a more cost-effective dollar per slice, you can feed all of your guests, possibly even box some as favors, and make them really fancy on a much more reasonable budget. With all the money you’ve saved, you can add a one-tiered anniversary cake to the top of a cupcake tower and spend an extra seven days honeymooning in paradise.
What is your favorite thing about working with brides or grooms?
The Cupcake Collection: Whenever I get the chance to be involved with the creation process, I take my brides and grooms on a psychological journey by answering a few questions that I learned back in college. I am able to apply the answers to my wedding business and you’ll be quite surprised at how much they tell you about what they really want in a cake. A lot of them are really surprised at how much I understand about their style after asking a few very unrelated questions. It’s fun for them and me. We can create something that fits their wedding day, not the one they saw on the cover of a national bridal publication.
How and who should brides and grooms contact to learn about weddings at The Cupcake Collection?
Main Contact: Mignon, co-owner
Visit our website: thecupcakecollection.com
Call us: 615-244-2900
Email us: thecupcakecollection at yahoo dot com
Tweet us via Twitter: @cupcaketweets
See our cakes on Pinterest: pinterest.com/cupcakeweddings
Friend us on Facebook: facebook.com/cupcakecollection
The Cupcake Collection is located in Historic Germantown. They are open M-F and Sunday for cupcakes. Bridal consults are by appointment.
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Helpful Vendor Interviews!, Cakes & Food
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Cakes have gotten more elaborate, detailed, and colorful. But all-white cakes are classic and still preferred by many brides. Are all-white cakes boring? Can they be as expressive as cakes with color? Apparently so! If you are leaning toward an all-white cake, you are not alone. According to my interview below with Vicki of Signature Cakes, they are just as fabulous as their hued cousins.
Traditionally, haven't wedding cakes been all-white?
Signature Cakes: During King Henry VIII’s time there were no wedding cakes, because the cake tin/pan had not been invented. They did, however, have elaborately sculpted sugar pieces that were then painted in bright colors and trimmed in 24 karat gold which were edible. Later, heavy cakes with nuts and dried fruits became the dessert of choice for all celebrations including weddings.
The origin of the traditional tiered wedding cake is said to date back to 18th Century London. The story began with Thomas Rich, a baker’s apprentice who fell in love with his boss’s daughter. He surprised his new bride with a wedding cake that took its inspiration from the steeple of St Bride’s Church. That cake is credited for the traditional tiered wedding cake used across the world today.
It was actually Queen Victoria’s wedding cake that made the white tower wedding cake famous. Within one day of her wedding, pictures of the cake were published in newspapers all over the world. It was the beginning of the towering white wedding cake.
How recently was color added - do you know?
Signature Cakes: From Queen Victoria’s time through the early part of the 20th Century, most all wedding cakes were white. In the 1950's, John and Jackie Kennedy, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, and Princess Grace of Monaco, all had white wedding cakes. It was tradition.
Toward the end of the 1950's and into the 60's pastels began to appear in the buttercream flowers on the cakes. You might see pink or blue piped roses and light green leaves. In 1967, Elvis and Priscilla’s wedding cake had red roses on it. By the 1970's, the Wilton Cake Company made colorful wedding cakes the current trend. The more complicated and colorful the design, the more the brides wanted the cakes. Of course, fondant was not in use as it is today. These colorful cakes were “old school” all hand piped buttercream flowers, borders, and embellishments.
How many of your brides opt for all white/ivory vs color?
Signature Cakes: I’ve noticed over the last couple of years that the trend to monochromatic white/ivory with touches of gold, silver, pearl has increased. Some of the cakes are very simple buttercream iced cakes. However, many of the modern white cakes are very detailed, making layers of edible texture, lace, fabric, sashes, ribbons and finishes worthy of a runway. They are often breathtaking in their complex simplicity - there is an oxymoron for you which serves to emphasis the point.
Why is an all white cake appealing to certain brides?
Signature Cakes: Remember the old adage, “All things old are new again”? Just like we see in fashion, things come around again, but with some new twists. Very few vintage designs are exactly the same as the older versions. No matter what the taste or theme of a wedding, most brides want some form of elegance, glamor, or romance. Even a rustic wedding cake with white birchbark fondant has it’s romance. White has a way of making even the rather ordinary stunning.
Can you still have a fun, intricate cake even though it's white? How is detail or whimsy added?
Signature Cakes: A white wedding cake can certainly be very intricate. Adding textured icing fabrics, laces from art deco to rococo moldings, and custom, original piping turns a white cake into a masterpiece. However, whimsy is most often defined by color. White tends to be more sophisticated and those two elements fight each other. When I design a whimsy cake, I’m looking for bold and color as well as texture. The white cake is sophisticated, classic, elegant, original, and couture.
Do these cakes usually remain all-white or do brides add color through flowers, ribbons, etc?
Signature Cakes: If a cake is called an all-white wedding cake, the only “color” that is added would be very neutral such as ivory, pearl, perhaps a very minimal touch of metallic gold or silver. Occasionally green floral leaves are added to a white sugar bouquet, but once you begin to add colors, it is no longer a white wedding cake. Of course there is nothing wrong with adding color to personalize your cake to the colors of your wedding. That is predominately the trend today. The design, the color, and the possibilities are endless.
All cakes creatively designed by Signature Cakes.
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Advice & Planning, Cakes & Food, Inspiration & Trends
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Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Spicy...sweet...chocolatey...beer flavored wedding cake? With custom cake flavors, Crumb de la Crumb takes wedding cakes to a new level. I've always been impressed with the design skills of Nashville cake artists but now, you can partner with Crumb to design your cake AND your cake flavor. And, we're not talking strawberries and cream, chocolate pound cake or new twists on tradtional flavors, we're talking - sit down, tell us what you like to eat and get a cake with notes from your favorite flavors. Unreal.
Lorie of Crumb de la Crumb happened to mention their custom cake flavors in passing and it raised my eyebrows. If you are a foodie and wants a cake with a distinct flavor that your guests will remember, here's how it usually works:
~Lorie meets with the bride and groom to get to know them.
~The couple tastes a variety of their most popular flavors, textures from their bakery.
~Once the couple has hired Crumb de la Crumb, the team starts working on the custom look and the taste.
~Lorie digs deeper into the couple's loves - from their favorite desserts to food and drinks - anything that might give her an idea of your taste palette. Some couples bring in samples of what they love.
~Lorie designs cake flavors based on what she learns and the couple chooses their custom flavor or they modify until the taste is perfect for them.
One groom was a beer connisseur. He likes premium beer and brews his own. He brought Lorie 3-4 of his favorite beers and she designed a flavor based on those beers. Lorie created infusions and buttercream all laced with beer. For the groom this experience was more enjoyable and very different than going to a bakery and getting a traditional caramel cake. Everything is tailored to the bride and groom, from design to flavor. Crumb de la Crumb wants it to taste as good it looks and believes the taste should also reflect them. After going through the experience of creating a custom flavor, Lorie says most Crumb clients opt for the custom flavor.
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Below: a typical Crumb de la Crumb cake tasting; photos by Kristyn Hogan
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Cakes & Food, Inspiration & Trends
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