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THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, JANUARY 10 -16, 2019 Ij'-fiafyee PAGE 9B
Beyond The Cake:
Wedding desserts trend toward fun, variety
BY KIM COOK
(AP) While the big,
traditional wedding cake
shows no signs of going
away, many couples are also
including an array of sweet
little bites at their recep
tions.
It’s an opportunity for
newlyweds to show who
they are, said Jennifer
Cress, digital director at
Martha Stewart Weddings.
“We’re seeing many
couples include sweets that
say something about their
relationship, like a family
cookie recipe, or their go-to
ice cream flavor,” she said.
“Every couple wants to per
sonalize their wedding day
as much as possible, and
dessert is an easy way to do
that.”
Los Angeles couple Lau
ren Aust and Sonny Yuen
did just that for their Kansas
City, Missouri, wedding this
summer.
“We used food as a ve
hicle to help tell our story,”
Aust said. “Dinner stations
were themed after some of
our favorite New York food
adventures.
“I saw the same opportu
nity with dessert. When our
caterer mentioned they used
doughnut holes from La
mar’s (a Kansas City shop)
to do a flambee station, it
seemed a nice way to give
guests a taste of my home
town and create a moment
that was experiential.”
Desserts allow for cu
linary creativity—things
such as cake lollies, mini
milkshakes, churros and
alcoholic ice pops. And they
give guests the chance to
sample quick treats before
getting back to the center of
the party.
Meghan Leese, who
plans and runs weddings
in Chicago and New Jer
sey, said, “The cake is only
important for about half of
the weddings we do. It’s
more about the dessert bar,
with the cake as one of the
options.”
WeddingWire’s creative
director Jeffra Trumpower
agrees. “Couples want to
make things less pretentious
and more fun,” she said.
Among her favorite
trends for the wedding
sweet table is one she calls
“breakfast for dessert”—
mini waffles, pancakes or
crepe stacks decked out with
fresh fruit, whipped cream
and other accompaniments.
“It’s the perfect ‘wake-up
call’ for a surge of energy,”
she said. “You can eas
ily pop these treats in your
mouth and head back to the
dance floor.”
Trumpower said com
fort and nostalgia are in.
There are make-your-own
s’mores stations, self-serve
hot chocolate, and top-your-
own mini pies with seasonal
fruits.
New Yorker Amanda
Scott went to a wedding on
Long Island recently where
nobody wanted to sit and
eat. “Servers came around
the dance floor with apple
pie shooters and little maca
roons. People loved it!”
Margaret Foster of
Chapel Hill, North Carolina,
attended a September wed
ding in which the couple did
without the cake entirely, to
save money, concentrating
their budget on venue, pho
tographer and DJ. “There
was a table with plates of
mini desserts like canno-
lis, doughnuts, cheesecake
and brownie bites. I loved
how unique and intimate
it all was—more about the
bride, groom and their loved
ones than wedding tradi
tions,” she said. “They also
provided little pastry bags
for guests to take desserts
home.”
Cress said the dessert-
as-wedding-favor is another
trend. As are food stations.
“They’re entertaining, and
make the day feel a little
more bespoke,” Cress said.
“Other than make-your-own
options, one-bite desserts
seem to be growing in popu
larity. I think with couples
offering so many different
food choices, guests want to
be able to sample it all.”
And don’t overlook the
social-media value of a
decked-out dessert table:
“Desserts tend to be one of
the most Instagrammable
moments of the night,” said
Cress.
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