I think a lot of cookie tables are based somewhat on ethnicity. Where I grew up (Ohio), I never went to a wedding that didn't have a cookie table. Most of these weddings had family backgrounds that were either Eastern European (Bulgaria, Macedonian, Greek) or Italian. My brother's wedding was no different. Even though his cake was fabulous, everyone migrated to the cookie table.

While the cookies are very important to a Pittsburgh wedding, it doesn't replace the cake...they're almost like appetizers, because most people start picking away at them while the bride and groom are on their way, and it only gets worse throughout the night. Even with 30 dozen or so, my husband didn't get any of our cookies! So for our first anniversary, I did a "mini" cookie table with his favorites, and made palmeras con chocolate because he enjoyed them so much on our honeymoon. I can think of some truly terrible wedding cakes I've had (fondant, filled, and very expensive !), but I thought our cake was awesome. We went with a small local baker who basically bakes as a side project to his other job (as a baker in a commercial bakery!). It means that he doesn't have a billion cakes going at once and therefore fresh wedding cake. We ended up with a cookies and cream filling that was basically crushed oreos with some buttercream added. OMNOMNOM. It was even tasty and moist a year later after being frozen!

Did anyone else think their cake was still delicious a year later? My brother and SIL said theirs was OK, just dry, and another said that theirs basically liquified when it came out of the freezer?

Hey, I am Yinzer, so ...
 

I am a Yinzer (a native of western Pennsylvania) and cookie tables are a big part of the culture.

When I was a little boy, my brother and I would wait up for my parents to come home from a wedding. We knew that my mother would have a paper plate wrapped with a napkin; both of us knew that there were cookies under that napkin.

In Yinzer culture, once the engagement is announced, every female relative (and close family friend) start baking. Cousin Sally might always make ladylocks, Aunt Kate might make her famous nut horns while the mother of the groom might make apricot horns. The best man's mother will make pizzelles (a thin, waffle-like cookie usually flavored with anise). As a rule, one only purchases specialty cookies, such as pizzelles.

Cookie tables are more of a tradition for southern (Greek or Italian) or Eastern European (too many to list) communities. Close friends and neighbors will bring their particular ethnic cookies, so Italian pizzelles will on the cookie table at a Polish wedding.

Yes, the wedding cake and the meal are more important. However, while no one might admit it, every one notices how many cookies and how many varieties were at the table.

We had a lot of leftover wedding cake, so we would have a piece every now and then. Quite honestly I thought it got pretty icky after about 2 months in the freezer.

Hence why our baker gives their customers a free anniversary cake on their 1 year anniversary. They don't want us associating freezer burnt, funky tasting cake with their bakery.

Really, nothing should be in a freezer (especially a regular freezer and not a deep freezer) for a year. Especially not a baked good!

This thread has been great! I'm baking all day today, thanks to the incredible recipes and links that have been provided. The thought crossed my mind: Greek Chat cookbook (I have too much time on my hands right now)... I might just cut and paste and make my own.

The Cookie Table is (sadly) not a western US custom, but maybe it will migrate to the Southwest and the next wedding reception I attend will be as memorable as some that have been described in this thread.

Aside: my wedding cake was incredible; there was nothing left to freeze. In my experience, freezers "destroy" most foods after a few months anyway, no matter how carefully items are wrapped and packaged. My freezer is just for ice cubes and ice cream!

From what I am reading, some "cookie tables" are present during the entire reception? Our Venetian hour was at the end of the reception, and people chowed. And we did have cake, but the reception was 5 hours, so people found room for more food. Family didn't make the cookies, though, the reception hall place did, as it was an option for the reception.

This was 12 years ago, and I'm Italian and Catholic, and that's "what's done" in my family.

As for saving and eating our wedding cake, we saved a piece, but it was nasty when we took it out on our anniversary. I wouldn't recommend it.

Yes, paper plates with the napkins over the top! And not only would family members bring the cookies, nearly every mom or baba would too. It was always a toss up between the dancing or the cookie table when I went to weddings on what was my favorite part. The cake was ok, but the cookies were the center of attention.

My aunt always made pizzelles (she was Italian) and I always looked forward to them. Most of the other cookies were bite-sized so that you could sample a lot of them.

BTW...cookie tables are still common at our showers (both baby and bridal).

Here is a great link for cookie bakers.

FWIW, I usually make either pralines or thumbprint cookies (with jam, not icing) for cookie table patrons. The boy thinks I make great chocolate chip cookies, but I think they're just too pedestrian for a Cookie Table. I went to a wedding that was very Scots - bagpiper, kilts, etc - but their thumbprints had either black or purple icing. Eeeeeewwwwww!!!

Two -- small -- cookie table stories
 

One former colleague of mine grew up in a military family, so she really didn't have a hometown until she graduated college and moved to Pittsburgh. She met and got engaged to a local boy and chose to have the wedding here in the 'Burgh. During the reception, she told her family, solid midwesterners, that they MUST take at least one plate of cookies back to the hotel from the reception, or all of her husbands' female relatives would feel insulted.

One Pittsburgh woman I know married a nice southern boy. The reception was in one of the suburbs in the Pittsburgh area. Towards the end of the reception, as the guests were getting ready to leave, the guests began piling up the cookies on paper plates or in napkins (Chinese food take out boxes ... I wish someone would have that of that sooner). The mother of the groom got a horrified look on her face, prompting the bride's mother to come over and see what is wrong.

"Why, Mary," said the groom's mother. "They're all hogging up all the cookies and wrapping them up to go."

"Why, Sarah," the mother of the bride said with a laugh, "Down south, you have your customs and traditions, and up North we have ours. Trust me when I say that what the guests are doing is considered good manners and is to be expected!"

Aside to Honeychile, thumbprint cookies would definitely be on the cookie table (with icing tinted to match the bridesmaid's dresses)

ETA...my dad still waits on the plates of cookies when my mother goes to events.

Your stories are priceless!

I do make thumbprints, but mine are from an old family recipe. I suppose that icing matching the bridesmaids' dresses would look pretty, but we always used jam. Icing was for those who couldn't afford jam (and sticks to the roof of your mouth!). Did I mention that my mother made some mean preserves? :D I have her last few jars of cherry preserves hoarded for very special occasions!

To Honeychile
 

Growing up, my mother would make thumbprints. Hers weren't very fancy. She would use a rather dense confectioners' sugar icing that was tinted with food coloring; this time of year, the icing would be tinted red or green. Other people make a fluffy icing, again with food coloring used for tinting. Still other use a chocolate icing.

For some reason, I am getting kinda hungry ...

I have to bump this, because i did a "recipe" search (and am thinking of just doing a basic recipe thread).

But I had to comment. I HATE wedding cake. I even hated mine. The only time I loved a wedding cake, was when it was a wedding cheesecake. But we also had a cookie table, and there wasn't a crumb of cookie left at the end of the night! There were over 50 dozen cookies on the cookie table (for nearly 300 guests), so I guess I wasn't too surprised that they all disappeared! Funny to read about this being a big Ohio/Western PA thing, too.

Funny that you bring back the Cookie Table! Someone was telling me that they went to a wedding in Phoenix, of all places, and they had one! Of course, the bride's family wrote a very nice description of the What, Who, Why, and How of the Cookie Table at her showers. At the bottom, they had, "If you'd like to contribute to your approval of Mauri & Dave's wedding, and wouldn't mind making some cookies to show that approval, please contact (Cookie Table Person)". I thought that was a great way to introduce it to the new initiates. And, they ended up with something like 200 dozen cookies! But, alas, no pizelles or mini-lady locks.

Found this latest explanation of The Cookie Table on Facebook, and thought I'd share:

In Pittsburgh, the wedding cookie table is a peculiar and wonderful local tradition.




http://wpmedia.life.nationalpost.com...kie1.jpg?w=620


http://wpmedia.life.nationalpost.com...pg?w=620&h=464


I hear a cookie (or four!) calling my name...

Oh my goodness. That is a stunning display of confectionery. I'll have to ask my mom if any weddings she went to as a kid had these. She grew up in a suburb of Cleveland until high school.

Two years ago I went to a wedding in Youngstown, OH with 520 guests. The cookie table on the bride's "side" of the ballroom (dance floor in the middle) was actually 8 round tables pushed together. On the groom's side there were 5 round tables pushed together. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Family members baked for months and froze the cookies. When the cookie table opened there was a mad dash by the older ladies to scope it out and pick their favorites. I took a picture of my husband at one end of the cookie table(s) and you can't even see him!

For our wedding in the 'burgh we had a cookie & candy table. The cookies were gone fast. I didn't even get one! The candy was a bust. Go figure!

^ I think it's the Scots influence on us. Cookies. Free. What's not to love?

BTW, there's a couple in Bethel Park whose daughter is getting married, and they had already filled TWO FREEZERS full of cookies when they were interviewed! They hadn't even gotten to the pizelles, and have something like 21,000 cookies baked. That is going to be one groaning table!

Never even been to PA, but after seeing this thread a few years ago I volunteered to put together a cookie table at a friend's wedding. It turned out to be amazing, and when the fourth of our former roommates gets married we plan to go all out for it. It was a huge hit.

^ Hey, I'm all for cookie table evangelism! Seriously, it's the best part of the wedding. Just remember that Pittsburgh started it ;-)

I had never heard of a cookie table prior to seeing it on here. So obviously I didn't have a cookie table at my wedding 2 1/2 years ago lol!

Watched a show this past weekend on TLC called Four Weddings. Basically four brides go to each others' weddings and then rate them. Winner gets a trip to the Caribbean or Hawaii or wherever. Anyways, the weddings were in the general Pittsburgh area, and a couple of the brides had cookie tables. Holy moly, those tables were COVERED with a million different cookies. Though of Greekchat when I saw them.

So I just turned on the TV to Pittsburgh's PBS station WQED, and they are showing a 4 HOUR cooking show called "The Cookie Table". The content is as one would expect...a bunch of grans cooking amazing cookies. For four hours. Yeeess...

MPT had this show on tonight as well. Yummy!

Might this be available online? I feel pretty confident we won't get this in Columbus being Ohio and all.

hmm, didn't see it on their site, but there's lots of other really wonderful Pittsburgh content (there's gotta be cookies in here somewhere...) here: wqed.org/tv/watch/

I finally found the picture of the monitor cookie table from the Youngstown, OH wedding. You can barley see my husband standing at the end of the 8 table spread.

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...85031898_n.jpg

^Impressive!

I've been asked to be in charge of the Cookie Table at the next wedding at our church. The bride-to-be was impressed by the meaning of ours!

And another article: Pittsburgh's Cookie Table.

Wouldn't it be an incredible fundraiser for PBS to give away various sized tins of Cookie Table cookies to donors? Sure beats the tired old totebag and DVD!

One of my sisters got married today. Yummmmm...

https://fbcdn-photos-a-a.akamaihd.ne...dbfb9d14d2a635

Great. Now I want a cookie. lol