There’s a lot of stress involved during the wedding planning process. From who to invite, gathering the funds, and the o-so-important wardrobe choices. However, a significantly more enjoyable aspects of the process is testing food!
The Cake
Brontë and I had several occasions over the last few months to taste-test the delicious concoctions that will be served following our ring exchange. The first, and of course most important, happened late January; the cake testing! Being the New York City folk that we are, you’ll all be pleased to know that we’ve selected Magnolia Bakery to bake our wedding cake! Brontë’s mother, Tory, made the trek out to New York to, among other things, sample food with us. We were given the opportunity to choose four cakes to try, of which we were able to specify the icing, cake, filling, and design from a litany of choices. A few days prior to our tasting, we informed Magnolia of our choices:
- Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Icing and German Chocolate filling
- Carrot Cake with Whipped Vanilla Icing and Cream Cheese Icing filling
- Red Velvet Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Icing and Coconut filling
- Coconut Cake with Lemon Meringue Icing and Vanilla filling.
All of these choices were exceptionally delicious. It was difficult to choose, but fortunately our very helpful baker Christina guided us through the process. Of the three tiers that will make up our wedding cake, we elected Vanilla Buttercream Icing throughout with a Carrot Cake filled with Cream Cheese Icing for the bottom tier, Red Velvet with Coconut filling for the second tier, and Chocolate Cake with German Chocolate filling for the top tier. As you can tell, carrot was the undisputed winner. For our guests who have a gluten allergy, we are also arranging for delicious flourless chocolate cupcakes!
The Food
Hornblower Cruises and Events, our venue, has been incredibly accommodating from the start. When we heard we would have not one but two opportunities to try the food and sail on our chosen yacht, we were a little giddy to put it bluntly.
Our first food tasting cruise, a lovely brunch, took place the first weekend in February. The main goal of this adventure was to sample Hors d’oeuvres and get a better idea of what the interior of the ship will look like during the day, given that our ring exchange and reception will take place around lunchtime. We tried numerous dishes, and great brunch food, all the while sailing down the Hudson River. As a wonderful touch, our coordinator ensured we were given delicious sparkling cider as opposed to alcohol, which was a wonderful touch. It was snowing during our cruise, but we still managed to take a number of beautiful photographs along the route the ship will travel on our wedding day. Brontë’s mother Tory and my mother Pilar were both able to come aboard with us!
The second tasting, a dinner cruise, took place the second weekend of March. My father Robert and cousin Scarlett joined us on the light-filled cruise around Manhattan. Here, we taste-tested our dinner options as well as a few additional deserts. Apologies to the vegetarians, but we did not order the vegetarian meal, but we were assured it is delicious :). It was difficult to decide the meal we liked best, although Brontë was not a fan of the arugula topping the chicken (bonus – Brontë doesn’t like arugula).
Although our reception will be during the day, seeing New York City at night is a special experience. After the daytime cruise, we recommend an evening on the water should you wish to do so. There’s much more to be done, of course, but we hope you enjoyed this brief “taste’ of our wedding preparations. We’re looking forward to having everyone there to celebrate with us!