The Cookie Table

[ASTalumna06]

I live 2 hours from Pittsburgh, and I have never seen or heard of this before.

However, I think it's an awesome idea. Knowing me, if I did this, I probably wouldn't even have a cake. No one eats it anyway, but everyone seems THRILLED with the cookies!

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I live 2 hours from Pittsburgh, and I have never seen or heard of this before.

However, I think it's an awesome idea. Knowing me, if I did this, I probably wouldn't even have a cake. No one eats it anyway, but everyone seems THRILLED with the cookies!

TRUTH!

I have been to my fair share of weddings and I have never, NEVER had a good piece of wedding cake. They're always dry, or worse, soggy, but never delicious.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

TRUTH!

I have been to my fair share of weddings and I have never, NEVER had a good piece of wedding cake. They're always dry, or worse, soggy, but never delicious.

At most of the weddings I've been to, a piece of cake has been placed at my seat after everyone is already up, drinking and dancing. No one is remotely interested in the cake... except for the people who don't get out of their seats for the entire wedding.

ETA: Plus, with a cake, there's usually only one kind. But with so many cookies, you can please everyone!

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

At most of the weddings I've been to, a piece of cake has been placed at my seat after everyone is already up, drinking and dancing. No one is remotely interested in the cake... except for the people who don't get out of their seats for the entire wedding.

ETA: Plus, with a cake, there's usually only one kind. But with so many cookies, you can please everyone!

I have had some delicious wedding cake through the years. And almost every wedding I've been to has had a different flavor on each tier, so there's a choice. Maybe it's a regional thing.

The trend up here over the past couple of years was a candy buffet. Chinese take out boxes and lots and lots of candy in apothocary jars. I do PR for a candy brand right now, but I couldn't bring myself to do a candy buffet, especially after so many people have done them now.

ETA: We are in the stage of cake tasting right now and have been blown away by all the choices. I think so far one of our favorites was pink champagne with fresh strawberry and custard filling. I personally care way more about what the cake tastes like than what it looks like. It will also be the only dessert at our wedding, aside from maybe some chocolate-covered strawberries.

[kddani]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

ETA: We are in the stage of cake tasting right now and have been blown away by all the choices. I think so far one of our favorites was pink champagne with fresh strawberry and custard filling. I personally care way more about what the cake tastes like than what it looks like. It will also be the only dessert at our wedding, aside from maybe some chocolate-covered strawberries.

Keep in mind that the cakes you are sampling are WAY fresher than your actual wedding cake will be. Your actual wedding cake will likely have been made several days ahead of time, and probably decorated a few days in advance as well.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I live 2 hours from Pittsburgh, and I have never seen or heard of this before.

However, I think it's an awesome idea. Knowing me, if I did this, I probably wouldn't even have a cake. No one eats it anyway, but everyone seems THRILLED with the cookies!

A. I am SHOCKED that you've never seen this. There's been a cookie table at at least 10 of the last 11 weddings I've been to! Plenty in Erie, as well.

B. I've never met a piece of wedding cake I didn't like. In particular, my brother's (made by my SIL's Grandmother) and the wedding I went to over Thanksgiving had DELICIOUS cake, that was aesthetically pleasing as well.

C. I didn't know what to think of a cookie table the first time I went to a wedding that had one. I was surprised that they can be GORGEOUS. I was in a wedding once where the cookie table overshadowed the cake SO MUCH that they ended up moving the cake all the way across the (very large) reception hall.

That was at the same wedding where the bride and groom made to-go bags that looked like their invitations and said "thanks for sharing our day" or whatever. Of course, that was a Pittsburgh-themed wedding, in Pittsburgh. They're not all so gaw-geous. When I say Pittsburgh themed, the colors were black and gold, their engagement photos were taken in front of all the sports fields/arenas (in the jersey of the team that plays there), etc... so of course their cookie table was HUGE (we're talking the entire wall of a huge reception hall with about 5,000 cookies or candies).

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by agzg

A. I am SHOCKED that you've never seen this. There's been a cookie table at at least 10 of the last 11 weddings I've been to!

Same for Ohio. Cookie tables are pretty common. I'd say only 2 or 3 of the last couple I've been to have NOT had cookie tables. They're usually pretty elaborate, and there are usually little decorative bags, chinese takeout boxes, etc. for guests to take things home in.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by agzg

A. I am SHOCKED that you've never seen this. There's been a cookie table at at least 10 of the last 11 weddings I've been to! Plenty in Erie, as well.

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Same for Ohio. Cookie tables are pretty common. I'd say only 2 or 3 of the last couple I've been to have NOT had cookie tables. They're usually pretty elaborate, and there are usually little decorative bags, chinese takeout boxes, etc. for guests to take things home in.

I am CLEARLY going to the wrong weddings!

[agzg]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I am CLEARLY going to the wrong weddings!

Obvi! Also, I somehow find a way to pack away at least 1 entre', 1 piece of wedding cake, 2 cookies, and at least 2-3 drinks at a wedding. It's a special occasion! Live a little! I may have to loosen my dress and/or unbutton the top button, but it's not like I eat like that all the time!

[PhoenixAzul]

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?

[RedRover]

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.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by RedRover

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.

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).

[honeychile]

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!!!

[kddani]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAzul

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?

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!

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

...No one eats it anyway....

I have NEVER been to a wedding where there was any cake left.

On that note, I have NEVER had a nasty wedding cake. That could have to do with how much money these people spent on all of those tiers, and how seriously the couple took their cake tastings. My fav is the tiered lemon cake my friend had for hers. They ran out of cake so quickly (I guess there was cake smuggling going on) that they had to have a table of cookies and doughnuts. It was glutton heaven.