First off, this post may seem to deviate away from baking, but I promise there is a (round-about!) connection.
I am getting married at the end of the year. I am pretty excited as you can imagine. And those that know me well, know that it also means one thing. A highly researched, organised, considered event. Do not get me wrong; there is absolutely nothing elaborate planned. It will be a simple affair of 30-35 people, sans formalities. No bridal party. No speeches. No first dance. And dare I say it…no cake.
When first engaged, the prospect of eloping seemed very appealing. Simple, minimal fuss, low key. Problem was, we would miss out on sharing the day with family and close friends. And really, at the end of the day, what is more important? I was then reminded of the reason I bake. It is really part of my fabric. I love baking to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, birthdays. I love to bake to give homemade gifts. I love to learn and discover what families around the world incorporate as baking traditions into their lives. For me, it is the people in your life that make you who you are and provide the joyous memories. Baking helps me create those memories.
So you may be thinking, “if baking is so important in your life, why not have a cake at your own wedding?”
Good question. There are two reasons why.
1. Because we do not want the formality of cake cutting, and
2. I am including something better!
Macarons.
Everyone knows I am obsessed with these little petit fours so what a better way to personalise my wedding day? The search is now on for colours, flavours, fillings, packaging, labeling to give these little macarons the regard they deserve.
I have created my own ‘inspiration board’ (above) for the wedding. I selected emerald green with hints of aqua and lavender as the theme colours. (Long story!) So far I have considered my macaron options to be pistachio, lavender and vanilla, to tie in with my colour palette. But there are so many other choices.
Any ideas for flavours, colours and filling? Anyone made macarons for wedding favors? Any tips or hints?
I am glad it did finally come back to baking – and my favourite kind at that.
{ Images }
1st Row: Champagne bottle photo by Jonathan Canlas, Green tie from Martha Stewart Weddings, Lavender field, Atonement movie scene, Long table photography from the Brides Cafe
2nd Row: Flowers from Martha Stewart Weddings, Invitation from Snippet and Ink, Table Number from Novak Photography, Champagne Truffles from Teuscher
3rd Row: Hanging Flowers from Apartment Therapy, Jewellery from Martha Stewart Weddings, ‘The Dress!’ – Wedding Dress, Oscar de la Renta, Martha Stewart Weddings Fall 2008
4th Row: Macarons from Paulette via Brooklyn Bride, Favor Boxes from Snippet and Ink
Mélanger :: to mix 
May 14, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Congratulations and how lovely. I can see from your photos, you are going to have a beautiful wedding.
Things that come to mind:
Tiny musk sweets in muslin bombonieres.
For Macaroons:
(green) green tea and palm sugar; apple and mint; green cardamon (powder); with the pistachio you could also add rose water; for something really exotic, how about hauntingly aromatic and delicate pandan leaves (available at most asian stores) – use fresh or frozen Pandan leaves (you have to pound and squeeze the pandan leaf in a mortar and pestle with 2 tablespoons of hot water to extract its fragrant green juice.
See http://www.kurma.net/glossary/g5.html
(lavender) how about violet.Take a look at http://cabbagerosesandcupcakes.blogspot.com/2008/04/sweet-violet-cupcakes.html for inspiration.
(for a vanilla colour) – how about coconut, white rose or white chocolate.
For aqua, I can only think of blueberries.
I look forward to seeing other suggestions and please keep us all up to date on the planning. It will be gorgeous, I just know. Good luck!
May 14, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Ohhhh, these are just wonderful suggestions. Thanks, Corry! I will have to definitely experiment with a few of your ideas. I particularly love the violet. That is different! I will add some of these to my baking list over the next few months. I love testing. Wish I could whip up a batch now, but alas sleep beckons! 🙂
May 15, 2009 at 12:30 am
PERFECT plan!
Macarons will be great choice, my favorite filling are the classic chocolate ganache and lemon cream.
CONGRATULATION dear!
May 15, 2009 at 3:23 am
What a fabulous, beautiful (in photos and text) and most of all — exciting post here! Congratulations on the future wedding! I have to say – we certainly do have a lot in common. Not only is my first and foremost passion baking… and not only was my wedding in France a most highly researched, organized and considered event (full time job for a year!)… but I also didn’t have a cake ! (no bridal party or first dance either!) French tradition calls for a Croquembouche – a tall pyramid of choux. That said, zoom in on the if not taller Croquembouche that was served at our engagement party — made of macarons!! 🙂
I’ll put my thinking cap on for this one… be back with some ideas !
May 15, 2009 at 7:06 am
ok, i’m back !
green:
– matcha tea
– lime
– mint macaron with chocolate cream and mint leaf
– mint macaron with vanilla cream and chocolate square
– kiwi
– something with basil ? ooh, lime-basil
purple:
– blackcurrant
– violet figs with honey cream filling
– black cherry
voila !! hope that helps, or spurs other sweet, colorful ideas from your end !
May 15, 2009 at 7:44 am
I am blown away by all the suggestions. I wouldn’t have even thought of basil or cherry. I am getting all excited (you know that verving on anxiousness feeling??) at the thought of a whole new month of macaron testing. I actually have some matcha tea in the pantry so should definitely give that option a whirl. Think I need to make a short list. Very funny about the similarities, too. I actually giggled at a post of yours I read recently talking about spreadsheets and lists. That’s me to a tee. A list for everything. And a list of lists…..
May 15, 2009 at 8:29 pm
yes, of course i know the feeling — that way too excited feeling that gives you butterflies in your stomach, aaaaaah!
i’m totally looking forward to your month ahead of macaron trials !
now, gotta get back to my lists….! 😉
May 15, 2009 at 8:14 am
Congratulations!!! I think a small Wedding is a lovely idea, as you need to spend it with those close to you. I hope you have a lovely stress-free wedding!
Now.. on to the macarons. I haven’t made a heap of macarons, but I would suggest maybe a white chocolate macaron with lavendar or blueberry macarons? (Not sure how hard these would be, but I’ve seen your lavendar ones and they look gorgeous) What is your favourite colour?
May 15, 2009 at 8:20 am
Congratulations! Macarons are such a unique idea! This might sound weird but have you considered green tea or lai chi flavours?
I don’t make a lot of macarons so I don’t know if they would work, but I just thought I would throw those ideas out there! 🙂
May 15, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Congratulations Julia! How wonderful! I don’t know if I have any suggestions for flavours except perhaps pairing them with the colours of your wedding. There’s also http://polkadotbride.com.au/ which is a great blog which has lots of wedding ideas 🙂
May 15, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Congratulations on your impending wedding! I love your chosen colours, and I think macarons would make for a brilliant alternative to wedding cake (mind you, I’m one of those people who actually eat wedding cake at weddings!) As for flavours, well, the options are just so endless, aren’t they! I second all the suggestions above, especially lime, green tea, and blackcurrant! And this doesn’t fit the palette, but would it be possible to sneak in some salted caramel somewhere in there? 😀
May 15, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Oh my gosh, congratulations!! I am very excited for you: both for the wedding and the macarons!
What a fantastic idea to use them instead of a wedding cake! I wish I had learned how to make them for my wedding two years ago but alas I didn’t even have time and the wedding list was for a 850 people. Enough stress already! I was very anal and wanted everything silver and white.. in the end my siblings all had to help make favour bags from matt silver paper because I was just going crazy doing it myself. LOL
I would really recommend pandan/screw pine for the green macarons. You probably saw the ones I made in one of my posts earlier, they were a definite big hit. And you could paint the shell too 🙂 The filling is a very stable ganache made from pandan paste.
When are you starting to bake the shells? They will certainly keep well in the freezer. You are so lucky.
congratulations again!!
Nikki
May 16, 2009 at 6:29 am
Congrats on your impending nuptials – everything you’ve chosen looks beautiful! I ‘was’ starting to plan one myself with J, but that ended suddenly 😦 Oh well…as not to make this comment a bummer, I came up with and envisioned white russian macarons at my eventual wedding. Bright white shells filled with a white russian buttercream…tyhe shells dotted with pearl sugar or just dusted with pearl luster dust, stacked like a small wedding cake, next to the real one 🙂
May 16, 2009 at 11:43 am
Congratulations!
Macaron for wedding, that’s sound very interesting 🙂 Most of the time, people will use wedding cake or cupcakes.
I remember there’s a couple also had macaron for their wedding. The flavor of the macaron was wasabi and in green color.
May 17, 2009 at 5:57 am
oh wow! CONGRATULATIONS!! I am SO happy and excited for you!
And you know what? macarons instead of cakes for your wedding? genius. That’s so awesome, and kicks things up from the boring norm a bit!
May 17, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Congratulation my friend, I wish you all the happiness in the world!!!!
if you need help give me a shout…
I like the choices Corry gave you with Macaroon flavours.
May 17, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Corry – I really think I have to include violet in the short list. I will somehow have to track down the flavouring… Hopefully it won’t be too hard to get in Brisbane. The apple/mint sounds great, too. Actually, that’s a combination I don’t think I’ve had before but just sounds delicious. I’ll also have to check out those Pandan leaves. I’ve never used them.
Elra – thank you! I do love chocolate ganache and hope to sneak that in somehow. But lemon cream? Hmmmmm, how that sounds good!
Kerrin – so first things first. I’m currently compiling a list. Ha! Seriously. Yes, I am. Thanks again for your suggestions. In reading through them again, the basil just jumps out. And we actually do have a range of beautiful herbs in the garden that could be used. That would be an extra nice touch….home grown ingredients for home made treats?
Anita – yes, really looking forward to a small affair. I actually have many people asking me how the plans are going, and I say, “mostly done!”. Well, except for these macarons. I really do want it to be stress-free. Fingers crossed. Thank you for your suggestions. I am quite partial to lavender so think they’ll have to sneak in somehow. And I think most people like white chocolate so probably could give that a try, too!
Hannah – thanks! You know, I actually bought some green tea powder in Chinatown the other week so should definitely give that a try. Sorry to ask, but what is lai chi?
Lorraine – thank you. I must admit, I kind of giggle at the idea of having a last name with FIVE vowels! Thank you for the Polka Dot Bride reference. I have checked it out and it surely does have some great ideas.
Y – you know what? I was actually at a cooking class at Black Pearl week before last and almost bought some Fleur de sel at the store while I waited for the class to begin – with salted caramel macarons firmly in mind! The register was playing up and the transaction couldn’t be completed so I figured I would go back later and pick it up. Now that you’ve mentioned it, I think it’s fated! I must go and get it.
Nikki – firstly…850 people? Are you kidding me? No wonder you had to enlist support from your siblings to make the favor bags. You are the second person that has suggested pandan. And yes, I remember seeing those macarons. They were amazing. I love how wonderfully perfect your macarons all are. (I may have to pick your brain for more suggestions / tips / hints!) I’ve not used pandan leaf before. I think this is a sign now I have to seek this out. I am thinking of baking the shells a month prior. And depending on the filling I go with either freeze them filled or unfilled. Have you have much experience with this?
Lisa – I am so sorry about your wedding plans. The white Russian macarons that you had planned sounded great. Without sounding cheeky, was that a Vodka butter cream? If not, that would have been a fabulous idea! I actually saw a beautiful macaron stack on the cover of Martha Stewart Weddings Fall 2008 edition. Did you see that? It is actually what made me buy the magazine. Inside was the dress that I am getting made (the Oscar de la Renta one above). I can not afford the original! When I saw it, I liked it because it was a one-shoulder gown. I thought that was different. I like to choose things slightly out of the ordinary at times. But now I see that style everywhere. Never mind. I still like it. Particularly the ribbon detail!
Selby – thanks for dropping by! I really like the wasabi suggestion. My partner is a bit of a spicy food nut so could be a good choice!
Sophia – thank you. I could imagine you would also come up with something a little different? With all your experimenting and all? 😉
Arlette – thank you so much. I will definitely shout out for tips and hints and support. Yes, Corry’s suggestions were great!
May 18, 2009 at 12:20 am
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June 20, 2009 at 9:52 am
[…] a month ago I mentioned I was getting married soon. And for the wedding, I wanted to make some macaron favors. I was so overwhelmed by the lovely suggestions, so much in fact I did not know where to begin my […]
June 20, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Congratulations on your angagement.
A small get together is so much nicer; good plan!
Your champagne macarons look lovely.
For green macarons;
– Matcha (green tea)
– lime with or without coconut
– verveine.
There’s a recipe in my merel macarons book, and it’s green.
http://www.efoodies.co.uk/invt/verveineleaves
I would love to make violet macarons. You can get authentic flavoring here:
http://www.selectarome.com/en/contact.php
Maybe too strange, but sweet potato is popular in Japan… could make a unique filling.
June 26, 2009 at 11:59 am
[…] was not setting out to create a liquorice flavoured macaron. My initial list for the wedding favor trials consists of champagne, blueberry, matcha and lime-basil. But after a hiccup or two, an […]
June 30, 2009 at 12:19 pm
[…] now, I will continue to make my own. Given my recent focus on macarons as favors for my upcoming wedding (and my obsession in general), I have been getting considerable more […]
July 11, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Those colours are gorgeous – it will be a stunning wedding, I too decided not to do cake at my wedding i didn’t want the formality. I had a lady bake the most gorgeous short breads to give to my guests. I was sooo busy with everything else.
August 7, 2009 at 7:56 am
[…] paired this buttery, light pastry with a zesty lime-basil curd. The idea for the curd came from a wedding macaron recommendation. I was intrigued by the flavour combination and knew it must be tested, and soon. To create the […]
September 21, 2009 at 2:35 pm
[…] this year I shared the news of my impending nuptials – and the plan for my French macaron wedding favors. Coordinating with the colours of the wedding (emerald green, aqua and lavender), a wave of […]