Wedding Journal

Cupcake, actually.

Instead of ordering a big, fancy wedding cake, Rob and I decided on something a little more in keeping with our "finger food" theme: an array of cupcakes and pineapple buns, set out on a cupcake tree. (A Chinese dim sum staple, pineapple buns are like less-sweet custard donuts. Their name comes from the crinkly texture of the top of the pastries, not any kind of pineapple taste.)

I considered ordering the famous CakeLove cupcakes, but the per-cupcake price and the hassle of having to pick them up in D.C. on the day of the wedding led us to instead choose Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe, an Arlington-based German bakery I'd heard good things about.

There was a good bit of confusion when we got to the bakery -- not realizing at first that there was a woman specifically tasked to deal with weddings and special orders, we took a number and waited our turn in line -- but once we sat down with our sample cupcakes, all was fine. The original cupcakes we'd reserved to taste -- one yellow, one chocolate, both with white icing and blue flowers -- were actually kind of disappointing. The cakes themselves -- particularly the chocolate cake -- were splendid. But the icing -- and I'm usually a big fan of icing -- was so overpoweringly sweet, it completely obscured the taste of the cake.

While waiting in line, though, we'd also spotted an interesting cupcake with pink-flecked icing (it turned out to be yellow cake with raspberry buttercream icing). That cupcake was perfect, much less sweet than the other cupcakes, but much easier to appreciate. After we expressed our enthusiasm for the buttercream, the woman helping us also brought over a slice of yellow cake with lemon buttercream icing to give us an idea of how that flavor tasted. Yum yum yum.

The final order: 60 cupcakes, 20 each in the following flavors:

• Yellow cake with lemon buttercream icing
• Yellow cake with raspberry buttercream icing
• Chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing

After so much sugar overload, we needed something completely different to cleanse our palates -- and detox -- a bit. Since the bakery also had a deli counter, we decided to order lunch there, with me getting a bratwurst (and suppressing a sudden craving for German potato salad) and Rob ordering a chicken curry sandwich. Good stuff -- and I'm looking forward to going back again.

Posted by Aly at 5:22 PM | Permalink

Working from an early design Rob put together this fall, I finished designing the invitations this weekend. We put Doug's illustration to use again in the RSVP postcard and directions insert, (hopefully) to good effect.

On Monday evening, I went down to Kinko's to have everything printed. I handed my key drive with my PDFs to one of the guys behind the counter, and he sent them to the color printer so I could look them over before putting in my order for the full print run. (Coincidentally, while I was waiting for my proofs, I ran into our photographer and his wife.)

The printouts were disappointing: My light blue had turned to a mucky gray, and everything else was too dark. After revisiting my original files, I was at a loss as to why it had come out this badly, when I had used the same colors and settings from the "Save the Date" cards. I went back to the counter and asked a second Kinko's tech for advice. He suggested that the problem the printer calibration, but he couldn't say when a technician might be in to service the printer.

Suppressing the urge to snark about how it doesn't look good for a print shop to have a color printer so badly out of whack, I went home to ponder my options.

Following Dari and Rob's suggestion that I revisit Kinko's at a different time of day, I stopped by on my lunch break yesterday. I ended up talking to the same tech that I'd spoken to Monday, but this time, the proofs came out perfectly, the colors bright and crisp. (My happiness came in stark contrast to the rising fury of the couple behind me, who were throwing a fit at another tech because there was a problem with binding their 600 multi-page wedding invitations.)

Kinko's finished my order a few hours earlier than expected, so I stopped back on my way home from work. Everything came out just the way I'd wanted it. And, whether by mistake or out of generosity, they even cut everything up for me and didn't charge extra for the service, thus saving us a long evening of fussing with the now-to-be-returned paper cutter.

The next task, for this weekend: Addressing and stuffing envelopes.

Posted by Aly at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We've confirmed a group rate with the Hilton Garden Inn at Arlington Courthouse Plaza, one of the closest hotels to the wedding site. The hotel will provide guests with shuttle service to and from Hendry House for the wedding.

Hilton Garden Inn – Arlington Courthouse Plaza
1333 North Courthouse Road
Arlington, Virginia 22201
Tel: 1 (877) STAY-HGI | (703) 528-4444

Our group rate is $105/night for April 27-May 1.

To reserve, call 1 (877) STAY-HGI or reserve online using group code HPW. To get the group rate, you must reserve your room by March 27, 2006.

We’ve reserved a block of 30 rooms, some with one king bed, and some with two double beds. If you have any particular preferences, or if you want adjoining rooms, please let the reservations agent know when you book the room.

The Hilton Garden Inn is located two blocks from the Courthouse Metro station (on the Orange Line). The hotel offers free parking, depending on availability. All rooms include a microwave, minifridge, iron and hairdryer.

More Local Hotels
Distance based on proximity from the wedding site.

• Holiday Inn – Rosslyn (2.1 mi)
• Marriott – Rosslyn (2.4 mi)
• Best Western – Key Bridge (2.5 mi)

Posted by Aly at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As we've been pondering how best to script the ceremony for our wedding, I've done some searching on the Internet for inspiration on readings, vows and the overall script. In addition to turning up some useful recommendations, Google's also brought me some ... interesting results:

• UOWedding - An application for wedding ceremonies in the game Ultima Online. Way too geektastic for me.
• Seussical Vows - Funny wedding vows in the style of Dr. Seuss.

Posted by Aly at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)