How it all came down: the evening of

Before the banquet began in the evening, we cut the picture-taking short (cutting out the SI Ferry option) and headed back to Ctown so that we could get the tea ceremony started. There was a bit of traffic, especially on the street leading to the restaurant. Our photographer got out of the car so that he could capture shots of us arriving and I think he must've waited at least 15 minutes for those few paces. The bridal party, behind us, decided to just walk and they got there way before we did.

When we got to the restaurant, Judy, our fantabulous baker, had just finished setting up the cake. It was so nice, exactly the way I wanted and yet way beyond my expectations. I think we were still communicating about flowers a few days before the wedding and I just gave her free reign because indecisive me couldn't decide on a lot of things. She ended up creating a bunch of yellowish-orange sugarpaste orchids for the cake-topper and at first I thought they were real! Everything that I could decide on and asked for was created exactly the way I wanted, down to the same shade of red that I love from the invitations. From the flowers to the double happiness monogram in royal icing, to the cherry blossom texture on the middle tier, to the red bands stamped with an image of a Chinese knot I found on an envelope, I really loved how the cake turned out and to try to describe how beautiful it was would just ruin it.

So here are some pics.

Do you see how she even piped the cherry blossom design onto the board that the cake is sitting on?

close-up of the flowers on top of the cake

close-up of the double happiness

Someone captured this moment while Judy was setting up -- look at the deep concentration!

CAKE from SILK CAKES: A+
I love Judy's work and I think she was the best vendor we dealt with, coming up with exactly what I wanted. She has a lot of good ideas and her work is exquisite! And her pricing is a lot more affordable than other bakers that we checked with for the type of cake we wanted. She is also very accessible -- we met with her several times to discuss the design and flavors, plus we communicated regularly through email. At the tasting, we couldn't decide which flavor we liked more so we chose both the mocha cake with raspberry filling and the lemon cake with strawberry filling as different tiers. I think the mocha turned out a LOT better than the lemon (though the lemon wasn't bad either) and I even had guests ask for more of it when only the lemon was left. Someone also said that he doesn't usually like that type of cake (chocolate with fruity flavors) but he still really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, a lot of guests also said that they didn't partake of any of the scrumptiousness b/c the MC neglected to mention that there was cake to the side (more on THAT some other time -- hrmph!!). But can I really complain, since we got all the leftovers?! :D We cut a section to freeze for our one-month anniversary (yesterday, btw, but we totally forgot!) and we also had slices here and there for the first two weeks when I allowed myself to eat with reckless abandon again. But I digress, I HIGHLY recommend Silk Cakes!


I don't know who exactly set stuff up at the restaurant, but the favors and bottles of wine (or at least most of them) eventually made it to the tables, as did the table/menu cards. The cake table was also made gorgeous by BM's sister, who set up the buckets of flowers from the ceremony in a line across the back of the table. Such a simple presentation that did just the trick! She also propped up the floral monograms so that they flanked either side of the cake, and spread leftover petals on the table. I was so pleasantly surprised at how romantically lush it came out!

BEFORE: the cake table

AFTER: the cake table (with us in the background doing the tea ceremony)

While everything was set up, we did the tea ceremony thing on the stage at the front of the restaurant. It took forever to get things ready (to round everyone up and to get the tea) so it totally threw our schedule out the window, even though we showed up early (and sacrificed going to all the places we wanted to for pics). Finally, Dear went and got the tea and we got started. It was weird to address all these people as if we were related (like addressing Dear's aunts as if they were my aunts, since I am now considered part of that family). At times I found it comical when we didn't know how to address certain relatives (I am somewhat disrespectful and I don't always correctly address my relatives by their proper rank and title, plus I thought my parents called some ppl various terms of endearment). And when I forgot what Dear just called his relatives, thankfully BM was paying attention and mouthed it to me. That garnered me at least one brownie point with Dear's aunt, who called me smart since I normally don't talk to her under the guise of not understanding her Cantonese dialect. ;)

At the beginning I really didn't want to do the tea ceremony thing b/c I thought it would take up too much time and in some instances I don't really want to pay respect to ppl that I don't really know (like some 'aunt' who I still don't quite understand the relation of). But it was kinda cool to have that time with each set of relatives, sorta talk to them, and to serve them tea, kinda like a receiving line on steroids (only they were sitting and we standing). Originally we were supposed to kneel to the elders but Dear adamantly refused. I thought he was being picky but then I learned this was some sort of pagan ritual so I fought for it too. I felt a bit guilty about this since my mother had already purchased the pillows and the specially embroidered pillowcases but in the end she understood (or got so tired of fighting me on every little thing that she gave up). However, either my parents didn't communicate with each other (highly likely) or my father forgot, but when it came their turn to be served tea, my father kept saying "Aren't they supposed to kneel?" I found that kinda funny too. Besides a bunch of gold bracelets and stuff, my mother also gave me a pair of gold screwpost earrings with diamonds -- the posts were so thick it hurt to stick it in my ears, but everyone said I had to wear everything to show respect. After a while, I started to look like the female (and Chinese) version of Mr. T. And Dear's tux pocket was stuffed with envelope after envelope that we each received from each set of elders. I wish we kept better track of these. :( Also, I still think that my older brother should have been included in this lineup but my family insisted that he shouldn't be because he's not yet married. What irked me more is that later on, when our families were introduced, he was excluded yet again, as if I don't have a brother. Even Dear's younger brother was introduced then! Friggin' distant aunts were mentioned but not my brother -- how much closer of a relation can you get than siblings?!

Anyway, on to other criticisms.... Just a few more posts about the banquet and I'll be done recapping! (Maybe we'll then have time/patience to do all the million other things that need to be done, like going through pro pics [if we ever get them], writing thank you notes, etc.)

Extra cake?

If you are the groom, stop reading! (though the chances that he is actually reading this are very slim.) I had always thought that the idea of a groom's cake (which are supposedly making a comeback) was just another wedding industry excuse for brides to spend more money so I thought I'd never even consider having one. The idea behind a groom's cake is that it is a gift to the groom from the bride (I once read that the traditional wedding cake is sometimes called the bridal cake or something) and it is often made to reflect the interests and tastes of the groom. Traditionally, the groom's cake would be sliced up and packaged for guests to take home. There are some superstitions about single women sleeping with it under their pillow and some variations on how a future husband would be in store for them.

Unlike the tiered white cakes that are often seen in weddings, the groom's cake is more casual and fun. So, for instance, if I were to get a groom's cake for Dear, it'd be the face of his latest watch (also the wedding gift I got for him a while back). The thing is, I think the idea and first glance at the cake would garner oohs and aahs but then afterwards, it's just a tiny detail that most won't appreciate. And Dear, being the practical person that he is, would probably rather save that extra money for some gadget that he can play with for longer than five minutes, rather than the extra calories the cake would be. However, I am also concerned that there isn't enough cake for everyone (we were going to supplement the existing tiered wedding cake with a dessert bar). So should I bother with this (somewhat expensive) detail? Any brides out there doing a groom's cake?

Here are some groom's cakes I thought were interesting:

And if I were to have a groom's cake, it'd be like this. But instead of a poker chip design, it'd be like this watch face.

Mmmmm... cake...

Today I had the best-est cake that I've had in a very long while! We met with the baker again today and she gave us two samples: mocha cake with raspberry filling and lemon cake with strawberry filling. I was a little worried b/c when we met with her previously, the mocha sample was a little dry and the fillings did not have much flavor. But I was astounded today -- the raspberry and strawberry flavors were very apparent, the cake was not dry, and altogether it was not very sweet (Chinese ppl do not like overly sweet things). Now the hard part -- which flavor to choose?!

The lemon cake with strawberry was very fruity-tasting and that's why I like the mocha one a smidgen more. I like the balance of the mocha (not very sweet, even notes of bitter) with the raspberry, where the contrast of each flavor heightens and complements the other. I also found the strawberry flavor a little artificial tasting but so far fiance, FFIL, and my brother both like the lemon/strawberry more.

I think FFIL's first reaction was shock that the mocha cake was dark (chocolate is practically black in color, which is a terrible thing to Chinese ppl, yet there is no problem with FMIL's dress being black -- I roll my eyes for yet another spin on logic vs. superstition where exceptions can always be made by the old folk for them to get their way). He also thought the cake was a little bitter, which I think is not such a bad thing (but I am one of the few ppl in America who prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate; what can I say, I have a sophisticated palate, haha!). Besides the flavor though, I like the idea of a different-looking cake (can you imagine how dramatic the dark cake would look coupled with the white fondant on the outside when you cut into the cake for pictures?)

My mother and I can't decide (she likes both too) which one we like. We'll see what my father says (he is very picky and I think he has a very Chinese-y palate). In the meantime, I may just settle for different flavors for different tiers and give the lemon one to the old Chinese ppl and the mocha to everyone else.

But other things to keep in mind -- the baker was saying that you have to be very specific to the Chinese restaurant about the way that you want the cake cut b/c oftentimes they'll slice it however they want, even cutting tiers in half so that you just get this glob of messy cake (maybe even without any frosting) on your (paper) plate. She says that they're mostly used to cutting Chinese cake, which is not very tall (and is usually just one layer) so they might think something like our 5" tall tiers composed of at least 3 layers is meant to be cut in half. Aiya! So we may have to designate a cake-slicer from among our friends (or someone to supervise the cake-cutting). My boss, who used to be in catering, is always called upon to cut cake whenever something special is being celebrated in the office b/c he always cuts a concentric circle in the middle so that the middle part can be saved and the celebrant can bring it home (like a mini cake) so I was thinking that I'd ask him to cut it. HAHAHA -- that would continue the running joke but I don't think anyone would find it funny and it'd probably be weird.

Anyway, I'm pretty satisfied with our baker and we made it official by giving her a deposit. I'll hold off on giving a final review until after everything is said and done but so far I'm happy and she's been pretty accomodating and helpful with the designs and flavors. Check out Silk Cakes if you need a cake for any special occasion!

Cakes

Despite my funk, I do look forward to the decisions about the cake and these pictures make me happy.

I love the different textures of each layer (above) and the monogram on the second tier. Instead of the monogram, though, I think I'd like it to be a double happiness character in red. And instead of a flower topper, I can't decide whether or not to do a red gumpaste ribbon, with it draped down the sides, like below.


Similar look but with a real ribbon:


These flowers also add a gorgeous texture (but are they considered white flowers and hence, bad?)


A different combination of a ribbon and flower texture look.


A different ribbon look to incorporate some color (not crazy about the daisies though).


Other textures/background flowers I like:

Celebrate carbs and calories!

The "Celebrate the Cake" at Michael C. Fina was an interesting cake-tasting experience. They are sort of like a high-end department store with jewelry and watch displays upstairs and home goods like cookware and china downstairs. I think they also do invitations for special events. After we checked in, they gave us drink tickets to pick up champagne or water, which was nice. There were eight cake designers/bakers there. Our first stop was Martin Howard, the pastry chef at Brasserie 8 1/2. Since this was the first one, I remember it most vividly. The sample was a vanilla cake with triple berry mousse and buttercream frosting, which was sooooo good! The berry mousse was very intense and multi-dimensional and the cake was moist. Just thinking about it gives me shivers!! Unfortunately the cakes start at $10/slice(!) and his designs are a little too obtuse for me (hence I did not take a picture).

Next up was The Cake Studio. I liked that they were thoughtful enough to present nice trays of mini cupcakes for everyone so it wasn't as messy to slice (but it ended up being messy for the tasters b/c the thick frosting really got in the way when trying to remove the cake liner). The person manning the stand was a little snooty b/c when she saw me taking pictures, she told me not to show them to any designers (the designs weren't that nice anyway). Their cakes were super rich: The first one I tried was a red velvet, which was really sweet and a little too heavy for me. The other one was coconut something or other and not very memorable. I couldn't finish these cakes and had to chuck them. I think their cakes start at $10/slice and they also don't do sheet cakes on the side so it'd be a very expensive (and big) tiered cake for us. I am a little hesitant to post pics of their cakes but b/c I'm keeping this blog for remembrance's sake (and I'm not showing it to any designers), I will.
Sweet Melissa Patisserie next door was alright. I liked how they had these pretty cookies on display (a sample of what to give out for favors, I guess). Their cake sample was some sort of a cream puff, which I didn't really care for and a chocolate thing which I didn't try b/c we're not going for any sort of a chocolate cake. Their buttercream cakes start at $8 and fondant, $9.

I was surprised to see Ferrara, from Little Italy, there. They had a very traditional tiered white cake on display and a gigantic sheet cake for tasting. They gave huge slices of raspberry and chocolate mousse cake, with big bowls of other fillings that they offer on the side. The raspberry mousse was not as good as the triple berry one from Mr. Howard, but their prices are right: $5.50 for tiered cakes and $1.50 for sheet cakes, where sheet cakes feed 120. I think they don't do fondant and I think I tasted lemon too, which I didn't like.

Then there were some gorgeous, but crazy expensive cakes from the Sugar Room (Juan Arache). Someone said, and I kinda agree with them, they're so beautiful you don't want to eat it for fear of ruining it. I'm not so sure that's a good thing b/c I want guests' mouths to water at the thought of eating the cake, not afraid to eat it. I didn't try their cake b/c it was chocolate. I think they were $15/slice for the really fancy one w/ the sugar flowers.

Cakeline (Cynthia Peithman) had a sample of white cake with pistachio and strawberry fillings. I didn't really like the pistachio but it had a nice green color. The strawberry was alright. I thought her cakes were pretty though (see right).

Michele Brown Baking was our last stop. I don't remember what her sample was but it's interesting that she offers demo classes at her bakery (too bad it's in Glen Cove). She charges $6/slice (starting?) for tiered buttercream cakes and $2 more for fondant.
We did not even stop at the last place, Cake Diva, b/c their cakes were kinda ugly and they seemed to be groom's cakes, which we're totally not doing. Plus I was so stuffed!

At the beginning, while we waited for some friends (they're getting married in June!) to get their drinks, we were accosted by a "Registry Specialist." I shouldn't use such a strong word like accosted b/c the man was actually very nice and he really made me consider registering with them (especially since they have Le Creuset!). He said that he would guide us on creating a registry, which is what I think we kinda need b/c we have no idea. We're probably missing all the crucial things out there and we're probably going to end up with a stocked kitchen and nothing else. But I'm not so crazy about such a 'specialized' store (there are only 2 in NYC, one of which is in Brooklyn and not as fully stocked as the one on Fifth Ave.) b/c in order to buy stuff from them you have to trek all the way there (I think he said their online registry is not as good as their store).

Anyway, this was definitely one of the nicer bridal events that we've been to. But we'll see whether or not I get any spam related to this! Speaking of which, the spam continues from that stupid Bridal Expo -- I got 2 registry offers from Macy's, with the 2 different names that I gave out to different vendors so they must combine spam lists! X(

Let's eat cake!

We RSVPed to attend "Celebrate the Cake II" at Michael C. Fina -- a cake-tasting event with a bunch of pastry chefs. It's a little odd b/c they are like a gift/registry store and cakes (which they don't sell or have any partnerships with) are totally unrelated to what they do. At least at the Target event almost every station was related to what they sell (makeup, hair products, registry items, etc.). I hope it's not like that episode of Martha's Apprentice where they try to sell wedding cakes to ppl.

In a recent Daily Candy, they were talking about Insolia inserts which sound very comfortable. These inserts provide comfort when wearing high heels by shifting weight from the ball of the foot to the heel. The main reason why I don't like wearing heels is b/c of the pain in the ball of my foot. Though pads work, they don't last throughout the day for me. So I'm excited to try these for my wedding shoes. It sounds too good to be true (and I'm often disppointed by these things b/c my feet are so temperamental!) but with a free 30-day trial and free shipping (probably included in the price already), it's worth a shot. Also, the price is OK and if you buy 2, you get the third for free.

Cake flavors

Some yummy flavor combinations that a magazine article on Sylvia Weinstock suggested:
- hazelnut cake with raspberry cream and chocolate mousse
- white cake with pistachio and apricot buttercreams
- yellow butter cake with blood-orange, key-lime & raspberry fillings

I like the idea of almond, chocolate, or hazelnut cake and the following fillings (though not necessarily together):
- chocolate
- raspberry
- mocha
- strawberry
- coconut
- hazelnut
- pistachio
- apricot

Some flavors offered by the cake baker we met with:
- green tea cake
- praline buttercream
- chocolate truffle ganache
- 100% pure fruit preserves

I'm also considering red velvet cake b/c of the dramatic red color.

Some sites to check out to find vendors:
- wedding consultants: bridalassn.com
- DJs: adja.org
- flowers: aifd.org
- wedding photojournalists: wpja.org (this is the only site that I've used and I found some decent ppl but most were beyond our price range)

Sweeeet!

I've only briefly thought about cakes (it's probably too early anyway) but I remember when I saw this episode of Gilmore Girls, that I loved this cake that Sookie made for her wedding. It's so beautiful with the edible sugar flowers (this was the first time that I saw such realistic edible flowers). Unfortunately, sugar flowers are very expensive since they are handmade and I probably won't want a yellow cake so this is probably going to be filed in the 'nice, but not for me' category.
However, Sookie has made other cakes on the show. The one on the right, she made this past season for an upcoming wedding at the Inn. Though I don't care so much for the design (too square and modern), what the cake is made of sounds delish. She calls it her "dark chocolate s'mores wedding cake."

This cake at the left, was made for Lorelai and Max. Unfortunately, that didn't work out and Sookie had to scrap the whole cake (I don't remember if it showed her destroying it). This also may not be a good omen for our cake. But I noticed that this cake is very similar to the first pic (maybe they used the same form and just painted it?), even down to the tiger lilies.

Here's a cake (not made by Sookie) at the Gilmore vow renewal (see in the background; click picture for enlargement). I like this cake's simple design but what I really like is the cake topper -- an elegant silver monogram. I like how the big "G" is in the center, flanked by a smaller "E" (for Emily) and "R" (for Richard).
I am pretty sure that there were other cakes on the show but I have to find the pics.

So to share a little story about the cake hunt so far (not that we've really been looking). After a dinner one night in the Village, we strolled towards Veniero's for dessert. On our way there, the cakes in the corner shop down the street, Something Sweet, caught our eye. I had always wondered about this little bakery, especially since they are so close to Veniero's, how the competition must be difficult. In the window, we saw pretty little cakes (fake ones of course) and a sheet of paper advertising the prices for wedding cakes. We decided to go in. Fiance asked some questions about the cakes and the proprietor came out to discuss it with us. She was very nice and friendly, asking us about our wedding, when it is, how many people, etc. With so many people (this was back when the number was 300) she recommended that that we get a small tiered cake for show and then have sheet cakes made for the rest of the people (besides, she doesn't have the capacity to make a tiered cake big enough for that many people -- everything is made in that tiny little shop). She also told us about Chinese couples that she has dealt with, how you can have three layers or five layers, but not four (sounds like "death" in Cantonese). Since we're having a fall wedding, she said that she could make something with cranberry (her eyes lit up as she said this). Recently, she made a cranberry cake for someone. All of a sudden, she took out a tart and pushed it across the counter for us. She told us to take it. We couldn't and she said she knows how hard it is for young couples, so we should take it. We said that we wanted to buy something and even said that we don't really like tarts so that she wouldn't force it on us. So she offered something else. We tried to refuse so we said we'd buy something else. Somehow we got to talking again (she recommended French restaurants to try, some similar bakeries to check out). She also told us how she can make any filling, except cannoli because it's Italian and that's what Veniero's does. So drawing the conversation to a close, fiance said we'd buy some other stuff and get something for my mother. She seemed to agree -- we got a mango mousse, tiramisu mousse, and a chocolate cranberry tart. At one point she had also shoved a brownie bite across the counter, sticking it into a white paper bag for us and insisted we take it. We were about to pay as she was wrapping things up. Then a guy came in and was very dismayed to learn that we got the last mango mousse. When he walked out, she refused to take our money. The guy walked back in after consulting with his wife and ordered something else. The woman said "We don't take tips" so as to not give the other guy any ideas that she was giving stuff out for free. After more insisting (and after the guy paid and left) we resigned to taking this boxful of stuff. We felt so bad and left with a business card (but no price sheet b/c I think her prices are flexible). Good thing is also that she can make the cake with two weeks' notice (though we would probably tell her earlier to work out the details). Afterwards, since it was fairly early, we stopped by the Verrazano Bridge and enjoyed these pastries. We didn't have spoons for the mousse so at first we were licking it bit by bit. Then we decided to break the chocolate tart and use that to scoop up the mango goodness and that made it so much better! The cranberry really complements the chocolate well and mixed with the mango, it really made all the flavors that much more pronounced. So yummy!!!