The CAKE - Our HANDMADE ETSY WEDDING - Dorana & Todd 12/26/2009

I have been fantasizing about my Aunt's Brandy-Almond Wedding Cake with cream cheese icing for the last 17 years!

After consulting with 14 - yes, fourteen local bakeries and driving my family insane, we decided that there would be no wedding cake - we'd have pies instead!

It seems that even though there are bakeries that can make a cake in the shape of The Eiffel Tower, not one was willing to make a cake that wasn't just white, yellow, or chocolate cake with some kind of filling in the middle!

So pies it would be!

Really.

We just wanted a couple of the amazing pies from the local pub...But my sister just wouldn't hear it!

"You can't have a wedding PIE! I'll make you a brandy-almond cake with cream cheese icing!"

No.

We wanted PIES!

Did I mention that my wedding was the day after CHRISTMAS!?

Who on Earth would want to be baking a cake during the holidays!?

That Christmas Eve, my little sister came over with a sampling tray of variations of brandy-almond cake with cream cheese icing... JUST like the professional cake shows!

There were brandy-soaked cakes, brandy baked in cakes, some with chocolate fudge fillings, some with vanilla pudding fillings, some with vanilla pudding and fudge filling... You name it, my little sister prepared it!

We sampled, okay we devoured the entire tray of delicious mini cakes!

We chose the Lindt chocolate and vanilla pudding filling and ironically, the almond cake without the brandy!

It's funny how once you get what you think you want, it turns out that it's not what you want at all!

On the morning of our wedding as my sister, mother and I enjoyed our pampering pedicures, she sat back to tell us the tale of how she and her fiance stayed up all night baking our cake...

"We ran out of cake batter and it was too late to start making another batch, so I sent Rumon out to get a box of yellow cake mix...

But it's almost ten o'clock at night on Christmas Day and everything was closed...""He walked up to a Hispanic man closing a Bodega (Spanish convenience store that has everything,) in Paterson (not exactly Disney) and says desperately,

"Sir WAIT! I just need a box of cake mix!"

"We're closed - it's Christmas!"

"Sir, PLEASE, it's my sister-in-law's wedding tomorrow and we're baking her wedding cake and

I JUST NEED A BOX OF CAKE MIX PLEASE!

Don't make me go home without cake mix!"

See...


Exactly why we wanted: PIES.

From the PUB.

Down the Street.

We laughed hysterically as she painted the picture of her fiance practically mugging a poor convenience store worker on Christmas desperate for a box of cake mix!

Our Almond and Lindt Chocolate with Vanilla Pudding Cake with cream cheese icing was absolutely delicious and beautiful!

THANK YOU PIANCA AND RUMON for making us the most incredible wedding cake - the thing that I'll be fantasizing of for the next 17 years!

The FLOWERS - Our HANDMADE ETSY WEDDING - Dorana & Todd 12/26/2009

(My father and I right before walking down the aisle.)

I remember surfing through the endless pages of shops when I was first introduced to Etsy's Handmade Community.

When I found it, it was love at first sight!

I was completely awestruck by the beautiful images and was dumbfounded when I read that the amazing floral creations from DK Designs Hawaii were made out of CLAY!

OF COURSE she was featured on the Martha Stewart Show, she creates such life-like flowers out of CLAY that even a Botanist like myself had to take a second look!

I was mesmerized for hours as I shared the link to her shop and website with everyone I knew!

When my little sister announced her engagement, I bought her a small sample bouquet from dkdesignshawaii.etsy.com in celebration and to start planning her big day!




I knew then and there that my wedding would have none other than Diane Phillip's amazing floral creations!

Imagine my nervousness when we turned our engagement into a four week affair in the middle of the holidays! I sent Diane a message preparing myself for the possibility that she wouldn't be able to do our flowers.

We were ecstatic when she agreed!

Diane created the most gorgeous open ivory and red rose bouquet and flowers for our wedding! Even in the short time, she allowed me to send her a piece of the lace overlay of my gown to use as the wrap on the handle of the bouquet - it was absolutely stunning!



When I had mentioned to our family that we were doing clay flowers instead of traditional fresh flowers, you can imagine the looks of disgust - I think they imagined me walking down the aisle with a clay pot in my arms!

Everyone was mesmerized as we presented them with the special corsages and boutonnieres and my bouquet is still as beautiful today as it was on our wedding day!

(My stepmother and stepsister pinning the boutonnieres on my new husband and father.)


We ordered extra flowers to adorn the wedding cake that my little sister made for us and we saved and preserved them to send back to Diane to make a Boxwood Wreath for us to hang in our new home!



I can't ever thank you enough Diane for helping us create the special magical touches of our wedding day, last forever.


Photography by Stephen Shadrach and Diane Phillips of DK Designs.

The FAVORS - Our HANDMADE ETSY WEDDING - Dorana & Todd 12/26/2009

I never imagined that I'd ever be a Christmas Bride! Imagine my surprise deciding on a wedding date of December, 26th - the day after Christmas!

What a stressful endeavor, a wedding... so many details. I've realized just what a wonderful blessing it is that we decided on such a short engagement! The longer the engagement, the more expectations, the bigger the bridal party, the bigger the show!

The most difficult decisions for me were THE FAVORS! I knew I didn't want anything chotchkie or cheesy - nothing that would be thrown in a drawer and forgotten...

And then it hit me! After all, it was CHRISTMAS!

COQUITO!

Coquito is Puerto Rican coconut rum eggnog and a family favorite. It couldn't be just any kind of Coquito - nope - it had to be special!

I found a great wholesale distributor of full-sized glass liquor bottles! Of course I could have made small flasks instead since Coquito is suppose to be enjoyed as a shot, not a drink, but the image of my elegant wedding favors fitting into the back pocket of a pair of jeans, was not what I envisioned!

After a little time on Etsy, I found customized wine bottle labels to match our Red Rose Theme from tishtica.etsy.com! I was absolutely thrilled with how beautiful the bottles and the personalized labels came out!

We then wrote the recipe on Letterpress Cards from missive.etsy.com and attached them with personalized ribbon from espritdejoie.etsy.com!


After 12 dozen eggs, mountains of coconut cream, and 6 gallons of Bacardi Gold, all the anxiety of choosing the perfect wedding FAVORS for our guests, faded away as we watched our friends and family toast the night away with our special brew!




Photography by Stephen Shadrach.

The RECEPTION - Our HANDMADE ETSY WEDDING - Dorana & Todd 12/26/2009

Vibrant Red Roses and delicate White Hydrangeas created a dramatic accent throughout the reception and ceremony among the all black and white dressed party! The floral vision brought to life by my best friend, Heather Peterson included custom double-sided knot Satin ribboned rectangular glass vases with green Spanish Moss and lit branches! (The double-knotted Satin Red Bows matched my shoes and dress!)

Dozens of flickering tealight holders with red satin bottoms trailed the center of the tables on top of custom made white Satin table runners made by Etsy's Teresa Swift of tsurfer.etsy.com!

Thank you for finding the perfect fabric for our table runners Teresa!




Photography by Stephen Shadrach.

The LETTERPRESS - Our HANDMADE ETSY WEDDING - Dorana & Todd 12/26/2009

Todd has always been a big fan of the art of Letterpress, so it was important to me to have some Letterpress pieces in our wedding. I was thrilled to find Lisa of Etsy's Missive.etsy.com!

Words cannot begin to describe the amazing design and quality of our custom Red Rose Coasters and Place Cards. They were exactly how we had imagined them and brought a truly special touch to our wedding reception tables!

Our guests were very impressed with the beautiful print work and I ordered an extra set of Place Cards as the Recipe Cards for our favors. THEY WERE PERFECT!



We were touched by the beautiful handwritten Thank You Card and good wishes that Lisa took the time to send to us.

In this process, we learned that how you're treated AFTER the sale is just as important as the way you're treated before the sale. Lisa has been an invaluable resource of information in her trade as we now help my younger sister plan for her wedding this summer!

Thank you SO much Lisa for helping us achieve our dream handmade wedding!


Photography by Stephen Shadrach

The AMBIANCE - Our HANDMADE ETSY WEDDING - Dorana & Todd 12/26/2009

Our intimate outdoor wedding turned indoors was magical with special touches from some of our favorite Etsy Handmade Vendors!

Perhaps the most photographed was a beautiful personalized luminary that glowed throughout the evening along our "alter" from Jessica Wolf of Etsy's paperacorn.etsy.com.

Jess was so accommodating and friendly throughout the process and we were thrilled with the packaging and speedy shipping! For the perfect glowing personalized token at any special occasion paperacorn.etsy.com is it!



Photography by Stephen Shadrach.

The WELCOME - Our HANDMADE ETSY WEDDING - Dorana & Todd 12/26/2009

The plan was a small outside intimate wedding with 25 of our closest friends and family, celebrated in our new historic town and home.

(sigh)

Alas, Mother Nature had other things in mind; torrential rainfall! It poured from before sunrise into the following day!

As I walked out of the salon with my hair in cascading waves, the howling wind turned my umbrella inside out while the rain crashed down sideways! I struggled with the umbrella trying to protect my hair as I slid on the pavement losing my flip flops (yes, flip flops - note to future brides: don't get manicure and pedicures done the day of your wedding!).

I remember shuffling through growing puddles of water and thinking to myself, "I can't believe this! This is our WEDDING DAY!"

All morning long I had been convincing myself that the rain was GOOD LUCK!

I had read that rain on your wedding day represented fertility and stability and income and guaranteed a long happy marriage!

But as I drove home realizing that we wouldn't be able to take pictures in our new town and have the service in our beautiful side yard, I was so disappointed!


I made the turn into our driveway and was greeted by our beautiful custom made Wedding Sign created by Jennifer of Etsy's Funki Folk Art.etsy.com that my future husband had attached to our mailbox!


All of the disappointment over the weather and anxiety immediately melted away! It wasn't quite what I had always imagined... it was better!

Jennifer's beautiful welcoming signs set the perfect stage for our living room wedding!

I had been exchanging emails with Jennifer for over a year and we were so thrilled to finally be able to take advantage of her unique personalized signs!

We also ordered a "RECEPTION" sign that Todd stole and positioned over our new Wet Bar in the kitchen!

We can't wait to order my little sisters' signs to welcome her guests to her June Wedding! Thank you Jennifer!


Photography by Stephen Shadrach.