Handmade Gift: Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

I cannot TIE THE KNOT without you by my side.  Will you be my Bridesmaid?

How I popped the question. 

Allow me to impart some history... In early Roman Times, bridesmaids formed a king of bridal infantry as they accompanied the bride to the groom's village.  This "protective shield" of similarly outfitted bridesmaids was supposed to intervene if any wayward thugs or vengeful suitors tried to hurt the bride or steal her dowry. 

However, the Western bridesmaid tradition seems to have originated from later Roman law, which required ten witnesses at a wedding in order to outsmart evil spirits believed to attend marriage ceremonies. The bridesmaids and ushers dressed in identical clothing to the bride and groom, so that the evil spirits wouldn't know who was getting married.

Luckily, I didn’t have to pick my bridal party with any of these factors in mind! I chose the women I wanted to stand by my side on the happiest day of my life.  Ladies that had stood by my side before, and ones that I knew would be by my side in the future.  I knew exactly who my maids were going to be.. to be honest, I probably knew years ago!

Our Engagement Party

Champagne Brunch

Caution: Picture Overload Ahead!

Now, I may be biased... but I believe that our Engagement Party was probably about the best ever!  My parents so graciously hosted everyone, around 50 people, in their backyard on May 4th (yes, Star Wars Day) to celebrate our engagement.  We decided to do an earlier party so that we could enjoy the beautiful day, and what's a better excuse to have an excessive amount of champagne than BRUNCH?! 

 

Invites from digibuddhaPaperie

Family and close friends gathered to share marvelous food, drinks and sweets.  Jamie and I had the time of our lives and we are so thankful to my parents and others that helped make our day so special.  My future father-in-law made a very short, sweet and funny toast. It made us that much more excited for the BIG PARTY to come early next year.

 

Ginger Peach Teacakes

Peach Teacakes with a Ginger Liqueur Glaze, Ol' Sport!

Which potluck item would be appropriate for a Great Gatsby themed 20's housewarming party?!  I racked my brain...  I knew I wanted to make sweets, and of course, cupcakes are always on the top of my mind.  I even went shopping for cupcake liners to get some inspiration.  Well, I did manage to find the cutest cupcake liners that were grey, black and yellow and super elegant. I thought I would be using those, but I made a last minute change and wanted to do something smaller and more bite sized for the party. So I landed on mini cakes, tiny, cute, teacakes. 

Now, I may be taking some liberties in calling them teacakes, because what really makes a teacake a teacake?  I typed that exact question into my search engine.  I got results for traditional English teacakes, which aren't very cute at all, more like a yeast-based bun with dried fruit.  The South will refer to a large, dense, cookie-like treat made with butter, flour, eggs, milk and sugar as a teacake. BUT, in the rest of the United States a teacake is usually a single-layered, lightly spiced cake, often made with buttermilk, topped with a glaze and sometimes they contain fruit.  Ding! Ding! Ding!  We have a winner.  And by just doing a glaze on top, instead of frosting, gave me a chance to play around with my royal icing and piping techniques that I so rarely use outside of work. 

Visiting the Claremont Farmer's Market

 

Farmer's Market, Market Night, Street Fair.  Everyone has their own name for it, but visiting these local events is one of my favorite things to do, especially as the weather starts to warm up. 

I've been very lucky to have a Friday night event in my very own town that I frequent at least a couple times a month. The Monrovia Street Fair and Farmer's Market is one of my favorite places. I grew up hanging out there every week while my parents sold their crafts, and now I go to support the local vendors. They have a great selection of handmade gifts and jewelry, as well as a produce and food selection that rocks! I just can't get enough, so I am trying to branch out and visit other local markets in my area to discover new vendors and items that I've never seen before.