Baltimore Cupcake Company Comes to D.C.!!!!

YAY! I will be the very first to admit that I am a certified cupcake snob. I can't help it! And my very favorite cupcakes have arrived in D.C.!!

Photo by Martha Fitzsimmons via The Baltimore Cupcake Company

The Baltimore Cupcake Company has teamed up with ladies of Hitched Salon in Georgetown to bring their delicious and whimsical little cakes to Washington. Deliveries will be made daily, so you can stop in and pick up a two-pack or six-pack (I'm really liking this new meaning of six-pack) any old time you want.

How perfect for bridal showers or bridesmaids luncheons or birthdays or baby showers or Tuesday afternoon...I mean is there is really a time when cupcakes are not appropriate? You can also place a special order 48 hours in advance and pick up at Hitched. Just call The Baltimore Cupcake Company at (888) 990-0133 to place your order for any flavor and quantity.

Classic Baltimore Cupcake Company flavors like key lime, vanilla and chocolate will be available along with toasted marshmallow, and an exclusive new flavor, coconut framboise! YUM!

Photo from Hitched

It all starts tomorrow (Wednesday, July 9), don't be surprised if you see me in line for the first cupcake. ;)

Hitched is located at 1523 Wisconsin Ave.
Store Hours are Tuesday -Thursday 12pm-8pm,
Friday 11am-6pm & Saturday 9am-5pm

Baltimore Cupcake Company Cupcakes
available during business hours

Binding It Up

Hey everybody, did you have a good 4th of July weekend?

(thanks to Foodista)

I had a bit of extra time on my hands because of the lovely long weekend so I decided to tackle a project I've been meaning to do for a couple of months.  I have a ton of wedding magazines lying around my apartment so I thought it was high time to take out my favorite images and use them as inspiration of what I want my wedding to look like. 

I'm happy that I have a way to show a florist, bridal gown consultant, or caterer exactly what I have in mind for the look of the wedding without dragging my laptop around.  Sometimes low tech is just more convenient.

I also found out that I really shouldn't try any DIY projects as I am totally incapable of cutting in a straight line.  Whenever I tried, the page ended up at an angle.  Well, we all have to know our limitations.

The Man Shower

(photo credit www.macaleer.blogspot.com)

There comes a time in every man's life when he decides to make the ultimate commitment.  He selects a ring.  He writes down his proposal.  He asks for his lady love's parents' permission for the honor of making her his wife.  And then he thinks, hey, how come she's getting all the free stuff? 

Fortunately the Canadians have rectified this problem with the "man shower," which is basically like a bridal shower but with more beer, more power tools, and more Rock Band (this sounds better than a lot of bridal showers I've attended).  Gift wrap is strictly optional; one attendee says, "You bring (the gift) in the plastic bag you bought it in."

Grooms often feel overlooked in the wedding process.  It's always considered the bride's day, but people forget that the groom is marking an important lifetime occasion as well.  These "man gatherings" are a way to honor the groom and to make him feel like an important member of the family.  Right?

Or, says Summer Krecke, executive editor of WeddingChannel.com, "they're wising up to the fact that there are gifts involved."

Checking Vendor References

Dilbert by Scott Adams via www.stangbangers.com

When I read Miss Cream Puff's post over on Weddingbee the other day about having to break-up with her photographer, I let out a little sigh of relief that I've been checking vendor references all along.

There are scads of articles, threads, posts, etc. out there in wedding-planning-land with great suggestions on what to ask when interviewing potential vendors. I've been using the "What to Ask" Printable Checklists on Real Simple Weddings and they're an excellent guide. However, I haven't seem many resources for collecting references for vendors.

My thought is, in the regular working world, you wouldn't hire someone to work for you without checking their references first, so why hire a vendor without checking references?

Thus far, Mr. Fairfax and I have our venue, caterer and photographer contracted and I've checked (or attempted to check) references for each one. Most wedding professionals should be able to provide you with a list of 2-3 couples they have worked who are willing to act as references. The Mr. and I did find though, in our brief experience, that if a venue "moonlights" as a wedding reception hall (i.e. if your venue is really a historic home, that does weddings versus a wedding venue that happens to be a historic home), they are less likely to have references available. But hey, you've always got the The Knot and Wedding Wire to do a very informal check.

I've listed a couple of my standard reference questions below that are generic enough to apply to most vendors.

• How many people did you have at your wedding and what type (indoor, outdoor, formal, casual, etc) of ceremony and reception did you have?

• Who else did you consider and what made you choose [vendor]?

• How was communicating with [vendor]? Did you feel that they were responsive to your e-mails/calls? Was the level of responsiveness consistent throughout the time leading up to your wedding? What about after the wedding?
  

• How flexible/open was [vendor] to changes in your contract once the contract was signed?

• Were there any charges on your bill that came as a surprise or were added at the last minute?

• How would you rate the [vendor's] professionalism, level of service, etc.?

• How would you rate [vendor's] cooperation with your other vendors? Did they facilitate coordination and help everything run smoothly? Were they problematic for your other vendors?

• What do you wish you had discussed with [vendor] prior to the wedding that you did not?

• In hindsight is there anything you would have done differently? Picked another [vendor]? Stipulated a few specific items in the contract, etc?

AND THE MILLION DOLLAR REFERENCE QUESTION:

• If your best friend were getting married, would you recommend [vendor] to her? Would you have any hesitation or reservations about recommending [vendor]?

For us, these questions accomplished a two big things: 1) We knew we would feel more confident about our vendor choices if we got solid references. A reference check can help avoid situations like poor Miss Cream Puff's. 2) We would know our vendors better. Generic example of #2: one reference I got for a vendor mentioned the vendor is MUCH more responsive to phone calls than e-mail. Had I decided to use that vendor I would have been a savvy consumer armed with information about my vendor, rather than a frazzled bride who can't figure out why my vendor won't respond quickly to my e-mails!

I have other caterer/photographer/venue specific questions I'm happy to share if you shoot me an e-mail at fairfaxmiss@gmail.com.

Did you do a reference check on your vendors? What questions did you ask?

Destination: Matrimony

It's the first day of July, so everybody's thinking about summer vacation.  It's not surprising that the current issue of Instyle Weddings and one of my favorite wedding blogs, Manolo for the Brides, are featuring articles about destination weddings.  It's so hot and so sticky who isn't thinking about a nice beachy vacation spot right now? (photo credit Emily Perello)

Doesn't that look nice?

But do you actually save money on a destination wedding?  It does mean you don't have to invite as many guests, and you generally do use an all-inclusive resort, which is great.  But you also have to plan an entire weekend of activities, and because your guests are stranded at your destination with you, you're responsible for their transportation and more of their meals for the weekend (at least you have to find them restaurants).

So I'm not sure that a destination wedding is all that great for the budget.  What I am looking forward to is spending a whole weekend with my family and best friends.  Since I'm putting so much effort into the reception, it just makes sense to help people make a weekend out of it if they want to, and it means we have more time to spend with everyone.   

But how much do we have to be responsible for?  We've currently got activities planned for Saturday daytime, Saturday evening, and Sunday (the wedding).  Do we need to do something Friday night?  Should we plan an activity for Monday morning, for those who are waiting for late flights?  How much is too much and how much is too little?  

Alternatives to The Wedding Cake

With each wedding I attend, I think about how mine can be different. One part of the wedding that is always unimpressive is the cake! Brides spend sometimes thousands of dollars on a dessert that is often tasteless. In addition, by the time the cake is cut, the guests are either too tired or drunk to care what it looks like or tastes like!

So....I have decided against the cake and am thinking of other ideas instead. So far, the cupcake idea is all that comes to mind. I have also found the doughnut "cake" online as well. Anyone have any other non-traditional ideas instead of the wedding cake?