More Cake

Finally, pictures of my first cake trial. It is the mocha cake I will do for the wedding. I still have to practice cutting the cake in 3 straight layers, and putting an even amount of filling/frosting. But it was fun, and I loved it!

Menus

Just finished the Menus. Easy to print, cut the straight lines, but took a little longer for the curves.

Welcome!

A lot of our guests are travelling great lenghts for the wedding, coming to France for the first time, don't speak the language, or don't understand how buses work... So we had to give them everything to be armed in this foreign country:

1. Welcome booklet: personal note, Brittany story, places to visit... touristy informations

2. Phrasebook: phrases from the internet to use in any circumstances

3. 1 Bus ticket

4. Rennes/Brittany maps

5. Bus lines booklets

6. Contact information sheet with how to dial

7. Maps for the wedding day

8. A water

Marc Tison chef at LeCoq Gadby gets his First Star Michelin

The Chef Marc Tison at our reception site (LeCoq Gadby) got his first star Michelin in March 2008. Looking forward to our wedding to eat amazing food!

Place cards

We took a long time to figure out what we wanted to do for placecards, until I came accross this picture from MarthaStewart.com.

You just need quilling paper. The main issue right now for us is to see if we can print on it, and what size of paper we can find, otherwise we will have to change our mind again. Each table is a different rooster, so on 1 side we will have the roosters of the guest table (the side going in the glass) and on the other side (the one coming out) the guest's name. Here it is. Hopefully we will know in the next week if our vision will work.

Transportation

Until now, my parents were thinking about using my grand parents' car. It is a nice car, just a normal car. I wanted something a little more fun, but my parents couldn't find an affordable one. But we came up with a solution! My great uncle has a grey Renault 4CV. It is not the car you would think about for a wedding, it is really tiny (poor Rich won't fit), but it is an old french car. It felt special and different. We have now to ask my great uncle, but I figured I would show you what kind of car it is... lets all hope he lets us use it!
How to decorate it? In France, we do those kind of things, Yuck!

We will go with something a little different:

Rehearsal Dinner

Either rehearsal dinners don't exist in France, or I have never heard of it. Rich really wants to have a rehearsal dinner as he wants to eat lots of seafood (he is a stomach with legs). Here are the main thoughts:

If it happens it will take place at my parent's house. My mom doesn't want to have people over on Friday night (the day before the wedding) because we are doing a lot ourselves for the wedding and can't manage to organize a dinner that day.

Most people are flying in on Wednesday or doing touristy things, so we want them to get a good night sleep.

Only day left: Thursday. Unfortunately Rich's parents decided to visit Brittany, and might not make it on time or might be too tired.

Decision? We are stuck! This will be a last minute decision. If we see we can make it, then we sill order some seafood the day before. Otherwise we will do a casual dinner with everyone sleeping at my parents' (grand parents, parents, attendants, friends... a full house!)

Ebay purchases

My maid of honnor's hat (my sister is modeling)

Rich's cuff links (his tie will be the same green and plain, and the male attendants will wear ties with little purple squares). Cost: $0.01

Rooster theme

Le Coq Gadby is the name of our reception site. It is an old family home converted into a hotel/restuarant/spa. The name comes from the 2 grand pas on each side of the family, and for those who don't know, Le Coq = The Rooster. This is why the Rooster is there symbole and they have special roosters for: hotel, spa, suites, seminars, restaurant, the club, and weddings.

So Rich and I decided to honor this place by taking their roosters and adapting them to our wedding: we removed the smoking rooster and relaced it by a glass of wine rooster, there is a present rooster that you can see on their website, and we changed them all to our wedding colors. Which gives us 8 perfect roosters:

Voila!

Hat Shopping

My mom and my sister went absolutely crazy on a hat shopping day. They tired millions of hats on!

My sister almost got that one, but it was a little pricey

And my mom got that one!

See... craziness

And I found my Maid of Honnor's Hat on ebay France!

Maps and Directions

Haven't really though about the directions, but I am done with the maps for our guests, and it was really easy. I used google map to get the main roads. Copied the image and pasted it in PPT. Then you just have to draw and remove the image when you are done!

Main Map

Ceremony Site Detailed MapReception Site Detailed Map

Wedding Cake Flavors

So, for those who don't know, I am making my own wedding cake. But I had no idea which flovors, which recipes, and how to make wedding cakes. I am a good baker, but wedding cakes aren't something I had ever done before. So 5 months before the wedding I started practicing.

First I wanted something fruity because we are getting married in the summer.

My 1st try was:

Yellow cake

Grapfruit curd

Rum syrup

Mango buttercream

It was a pretty good cake, but my buttercream recipe wasn't great which made it hard to work with. Unfortunately the cake was all yellow, so it was hard to see the difference between the curd, the buttercream, and the cake.

Then I was looking for cakes on Martha Stewart and found the Mocha Cake. I fell in love! It seemed a little heavy for summer but after all we will eat the cake after coffee and we won't serve it, people if they want a slice can help themselves (with some help).

I made it, and it was AWESOME... to come soon pictures of my practice cake.

The MacBeth Collection

You might want to check out The MacBeth Collection because they are great. Even though it is a little pricey, I gave in and bought the oval tub and a vase for the wedding. I will use the oval tub for the ceremony programs, and the vase to hang the favors on some branches.

Dressmaker "shopping"

I just couldn't buy my dress, so I had to find a dressmaker. I contacted 5 dressmakers in the Denver area. I was a little scared it was going to be too expensive, which happened to be the case with some dressmakers. I contacted:

1. Christine Hoyt (CH Studio): First one I met. She was nice, but we just didn't click. From 800 to 1200.
2. Nancy Thompson (FancyNancy Designs): I had a problem making the appointment. So never ended up meeting her. Offered from 600 to 1200.
3. Kathleen Lopata (Sew Fine): I didn't feel so comfortable with her, it didn't feel right. From 800 to 1200.
4. Nora McCray (Sew Fresh Studio): Wonderful lady, total confidence on getting a wonderful dress. She adviced where to get fabric, and gave a lot of tips. Unfortunately she was a little too expensive for us. From 1200 to 1800.
5. LeNore Kerber (the Eye of the Needle): Great. Amazingly affordable for a custom made dress, we felt comfortable and right at home. She is an MIT engineer who loved sawing, and started her business. Please go meet her, she is great.

So we picked LeNore Kerber . If you need anything made form scatch or alteration she is great. Pictures of the dress to come...

Menu

We had to choose between 4 options. Neither of them really pleased us, so we decided to rearrange them:

First dish - menu 2

Second dish - menu 3

Added cheese

Third dish - menu 1

Which gives us:

House Duck Foie Gras marinated in Chouchen
Warm toast

Foie Gras de Canard Maison mariné au Chouchen
Toast tiède

Duo of Filets Mignons with Cherries
Vegetables in Season
Duo de Filets Mignons aux Cerises
Légumes de Saison

Duo of Warm Cheeses
Bed of Vendel Herbs
Duo de Fromages Chauds
Lit d’Herbes de Vendel

Plougastel Strawberries with Caramelized “Tuiles”
Iced with Vanilla from Bourbon Island
Fraises de Plougastel en Tuile Caramélisée
Glacée à la Vanille de l’Île Bourbon

Wines:

Ferran Pradet
Côtes du Marmandais White and Red