Pittsburgh flair: Eat 'n Park Smiley Cookies

If you're looking for a great Pittsburgh-inspired wedding favor, look no further than the Eat 'n Park Smiley Cookie. Whether you're getting married in Western Pennsylvania or are a couple from the 'Burgh saying your vows elsewhere, it's easy (and pretty affordable) to add this sweet treat to your big day.

Of course if you're in Pittsburgh, you can stop into any Eat 'n Park to pick up the local treat. But now you can also order the cookies online to be delivered anywhere. Plus, the Web site let you design your own cookie, so you can customize the smiling faces to match your wedding colors, whether they're blue and orange or black and gold:
While the cookies would make a great favor at your wedding reception, they'd also be a great item to include in out-of-town welcome baskets for your guests. Visit Eat 'n Park's online store for all the details.

Green Wedding Tip #2: Skip the styrofoam

Make your wedding more green and serve dinner with real china and flatware at your reception. Plastic, paper and Styrofoam cups, plates, napkins and flatware create more waste and some of it is not biodegradable.

By using china, real flatware or silverware and linen napkins, you're using products that can be used again and again at other events. Plus, it will give your wedding a more classy, elegant feel.

Find more green wedding advice at the Perfect Memories Wedding Store.

Pittsburgh flair: The cookie table

"No Pittsburgh wedding is complete without one." You can find a cookie table at nearly every wedding in Western Pennsylvania: a long buffet table filed with trays and trays of sweet treats. Many local reception venues even include the table for cookies in their packages, offering to "tray your cookies" for you.

While we like to consider this a Pittsburgh tradition, historical research shows that the cookie table may have actually originated in nearby Youngstown, Ohio. Several other regions across the U.S. indulge in the cookie buffet as well, but nowhere so predominantly as Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.

Traditionally, female relatives of the bride all pitch in and bake dozens and dozens of homemade cookies in several varieties before the big day. You can also order the cookies from a local bakery, or mix it up with a combination of homemade and bakery treats.

Give your cookie table a modern twist and combine it with a current national trend, the candy buffet. Pair trays of cookies with bowls of candy and provide bags for guests to create their own favor to take home. Or, go for a different look and serve the cookies out of clear cookie jars instead of tray. Hang a tag from each jar identifying the type and the baker (e.g. "Grandma's Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies."

If you're getting married in Pittsburgh, many of your local guests will expect to find cookies at the reception. But your out-of-town guests may be clueless about the tradition. If you want to give them a local history lesson, clue them in with a simple sign explaining the cookie table. In my experience, most out-of-towners are delighted by the idea (case in point, the picture below of an out-of-town college friend of the bride and groom, who went a little too crazy over the cookies).
No matter how you choose to include the cookie table on your wedding day, it is an old-time tradition that will never get old.

Images, from top: Shout Youngstown, Design Mom, Perfect Memories
Sources: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Wikipedia, Miami University of Ohio

Fab 5: Groom's cakes for every personality

A Southern tradition, groom's cakes have recently become very popular in Western Pennsylvania and across the county. Brides present the cake as a gift to their groom, and usually choose a design that fits their new husbands' personalities. The cake itself is typically richer than the wedding cake--choosing a chocolate groom's cake, for instance, can provide a flavor option for your guests if you're serving a white wedding cake. Though typically served at the reception, you could also use the groom's cake as dessert at the rehearsal dinner, or even a Sunday brunch.

While groom's cakes certainly aren't a necessary component, I love the fun designs and options available. It's also a great way to reward your guy with a little bit of his personality, after a year of putting up with wedding planning. And so here are five creative groom's cakes, each fit for a different kind of guy.

1. The Poker Player
   
   He's got the guys over every weekend for some Texas Hold 'Em, so why not present him with a cake fashioned after his favorite game? This miniature poker table cake is complete with the playing cards and poker chips.
   Image from Hot Breads & Cakes
   
   
2. The Gamer
   
   If your groom's always glued to latest video games, serve up a cake shaped after his favorite game system. This XBox 360 cake (pictured for use at an XBox anniversary party) looks real enough to play.
   Image from IGN
   
   
3. The Car Nut
   
   Your groom's the kind of guy who spends his weekends under the hood, and never misses a Nascar race. Give him a cake designed to look like his favorite classic or race car.
   Image from Cakes by Sam
   
   
4. The Partier
   
   His favorite pastime is, well, drinking. He links to hang out with the guys at the bar, tailgate before football games and relax with a cold one in front of the TV. Get him a cake that looks like a can or bottle of his favorite brew.
   Image from Cakes by Graham
   
   
5. The Sports Fan
   
   He lives and dies with his favorite sports team, so get him a cake that shows his passion: a football helmet, hockey puck, baseball and glove or college mascot will do the trick. This Terrible Towel cake was originally designed for a birthday, but would be a great Steelers groom's cake as well.
   Image from Cake It or Leave It
   

You might be interested in:
The Ultimate Wedding Planner & Guide:
Everything the happy couple needs to plan their wedding with ease!
Compiled and written by a bride, this e-book includes ideas, wedding guest list, budget & checklist, contact list, reception ideas, gift list and more!

Dancing, food and flowers

Happy rainy Tuesday everyone! The Post-Gazette added some new wedding articles to their site yesterday, so I thought I'd share:

Ask Carley: Balancing dancing, dinner at reception
My take: If you're having a sit down dinner, dancing during the meal does not seem like a good idea. Plus, guests won't want to dance while food is being served. If your worried about guests getting bored, start the dancing during the cocktail hour and have your band or DJ ask guests to be seated for dinner. You can start again after the meal.

If you really want dancing all night long, consider a different set up for your reception. Offer food stations or heavy hors d'oeuvres throughout the evening with tables situated away from the dance floor to allow for conversation.

It's the flowering accessories that make a wedding blossom
My take: You shouldn't limit yourself to a venue's recommended florist. Sure, they may know who does the best work in their space, but they might also be recommending a florist because it's down the street.

Also, not all venues require that you use one of their florists, so choosing someone else may not be an additional cost. When making a decision, take a look at work that florist has done, both in the space and elsewhere. Ask to see examples of what they can create for you, in your budget.

Fab 5: White Wedding Cakes

What could be more traditional than a white wedding cake? Unfortunately, a traditional white cake probably brings to mind three tiers of buttercream icing with buttercream piping and buttercream roses, and a plastic bride and groom on top.

Luckily you can have the white cake and still have a more modern style. Here are five fabulous cakes, all in white.

1. Modern Elegance
   
   Modern square tiers draped with smooth fondant serve as a backdrop to a cascade of gorgeous sugar orchids.
   Cake by Collette Foley Specialty Baking, Image from In Style Weddings
   
   
2. Winter Wonderland
   
   Perfect for a winter wedding, this sparkling white cake features edible snowflakes and a topping of ribbons.
   Cake by Carlo's Bakery, Image from Brides.com
   
   
3. Tradition Redefined
   
   Never mix white and ivory? No way! Four alternating tiers of ivory and white look simply gorgeous. Fleur de lis, fondant swagging and sugar paste roses decorate this wedding cake, topped with fresh flowers.
   Cake by Polly's Cakes, Image from Wedding Channel
   
   
4. Roses and Dots
   
   This simple and classic cake, iced in vanilla, features white Swiss dots all over and a decadent amount of white roses between each tier.
   Cake by Scrumptions, Image from The Knot
   
   
5. Detailed Design
   
   Created locally in New Castle, this hexagon-shaped cake features detailed piping design that alternates around the sides and tiers of the cake. One tier features the bride and groom's monogram.
   Cake and image from Jody's Pantry

You might be interested in:


The Ultimate Wedding Planner & Guide:
Everything the happy couple needs to plan their wedding with ease!
Compiled and written by a bride, this e-book includes ideas, wedding guest list, budget & checklist, contact list, reception ideas, gift list and more!

Carb-o-licious wedding food

Mrs. Strawberry over at Weddingbee posted about the mashed potato martini bar she had at her wedding...yum! This is such a great idea if you are having food stations, and I'm sure it will be a hit with your guests.

Guests are served mashed potatoes in martini glasses, and can top them a selection of goodies, like cheeses, bacon, chives. . .you could certainly get creative here. Dress it up a little bit by serving different kinds of potatoes. Sweet, blue or purple potatoes will not only add taste variety to the mix, but some serious color as well!

I wish I could do my own wedding over again just so I could have mashed potato bar! Seriously, "mashers," as I like to call them, are my favorite, favorite food. I really made out at events during the height of the Atkins craze. . .the girl sitting next to me never wanted her potatoes, and I was more than happy to trade some broccoli!

(In case you can't tell, the potatoes excite me. Hence the overuse of exclamation points in this post.)

Image from Idaho Potato Commission