things are better with a parrott

Apple Blossom Photo Shoot

I recently participated in a beautiful Spring-inspired phoot shoot shot by Emily of Emily Delamater Photography and styled by Sarah of daisies & pearls.  The shoot was held on a beautiful afternoon at Thompson's Orchard in New Gloucester, Maine {just down the road from where I got married!}.  I also loved this shoot because I was able to collaborate with my sister, Jessica, of Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott.  The shoot was featured on Style Me Pretty last week and you may read more about the details on Sarah's blog.

 

The invitations were letterpress printed in matte gold ink then I individually hand-painted each blossom and leaf with watercolor.  I paired the RSVP with a pool blue envelope and used a kraft envelope for the outer envelope. 

Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott Grand Opening

Earlier this month my sister, Jessica, opened a bakery in South Portland, Maine.  She started her business, Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott over four years and we are all so proud of her for opening her own shop with her very own kitchen!  She had a small open house for family and close friends to come visit the shop and sample all of the sweets.

I had the opportunty to help Jess with her menu board.  She painted a large piece of wood with chalkboard paint then I went to town with chalk markers.  It was a lot of fun and I am ready to do more.  Who needs signage!?

I also have a little wall o' cards at her shop.  Cupcakes and letterpress stationery.  Win!

And what is a fabulous open house without a fabulous invitation?  I designed and letterpress printed her an invitation for the event, which also included some more of my hand lettering for the word "Cupcakes."  Love how it came out!


 

If you are in or around Southern Maine, be sure to visit Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott at 740 Broadway, Suite 200 in South Portland.  You may also keep up with Jess's latest bakery and dessert news on her blog.

Our Wedding Reception - Part II

Our dessert buffet was incrediable.  Some might say insane.  It was larger than our dinner buffet, but we were okay with that!  My sister Jessica of Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott baked all of our desserts & designed the table.  A few nights before the wedding we assembled the ribbon backdrop.  Jess's husband, Jason, built the wood stand for her to use for her dessert tables & it worked perfectly for ours.  Instead of spending the morning drinkng bubbly with the rest of the bridemaids, she got her hair done first & ran over to the reception venue to set-up.

The groom's cake was amazing!  Rich is a drummer, so I took a photo of his drums, sent it to Jess & she recreated it!  It was red velvet & cream cheese & was gone as soon as it was cut.

Li Ward, our photographer, also did all of our dinner & dessert buffet labels.  I had rubber stamps made with Deb's, my sister-in-law, illustrations & stamped various pieces of kraft paper.  Li then calligraphed the labels in white ink.

My mom made eight or so batched of her famous toffee.  I stamped little labels & my sister baged & stapled them closed.  I purchased small food-safe kraft boxes for people to take home their dessert, along with the bagged toffee, which acted as wedding favors.  We had a lot of thoughts for wedding favors, but with so many of our guests traveling, we decided an edible favor was the best.

We cut the carrot cake & that was one of the only bites of dessert I had until our after-party {but I more than made up for it the next day!}.  Rich was a perfect gentleman, but, with the encouragement of his father, I smooshed a little frosting on his face.

Our dessert buffet menu looked like this:

- Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - this is the groom's cake
- Spiced Orange Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - the cake we cut
- Mini cupcakes which include:
    - Spice Orange Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
    - Lemon-Raspberry Swirl with Lemon Buttercream
    - Fleur de Sel with Chocolate Ganache
    - Coconut with Coconut Buttercream
- Pizzels & Italian Anise Cookies - a nod to Rich's Italian heritage
- Janet's Famous Toffee - my mom makes the best toffee.  Ever!
- Nutella Cheesecake Brownies - because they are delicious & I have a mild obsession with Nutella

{All images by Fat Orange Cat Studio}

16 more days + Dessert!

{Photo by emilie inc. with desserts by Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott}

I am not sure how this happened, but....16 more days!?!  Wow.  I have a lot to do....You would think with almost 2 years to plan I should be relaxing in the sunshine just waiting for the time to come.  But that is not my style.  Today I am finalizing lists:  guest list, dinner list, dessert list, etc.  I am going to try to post something everyday until the big day, revealing tiny little details as I go!  Today....dessert!

My sister Jessica of Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott is baking all of our desserts & designing our dessert table.  Our desserts will include:

- Croquembouche - a nod to our French heritage & our engagement in Paris
- Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - this is the groom's cake
- Spiced Orange Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - the cake we cut
- Mini cupcakes which include:
    - Spice Orange Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
    - Lemon-Raspberry Swirl with Lemon Buttercream
    - Fleur de Sel with Chocolate Ganache
    - Coconut with Coconut Buttercream
- Pizzels & Italian Anise Cookies - a nod to Rich's Italian heritage
- Janet's Famous Toffee - my mom makes the best toffee.  Ever!
- Nutella Cheesecake Brownies - because they are delicious & I have a mild obsession with Nutella
- Classic Maine Whoopie Pies - because we are in Maine on a Farm, of course!
- Sugar Cookies - because they are cookies & delicious

So, as you can see we {er, mostly me...} are a bit dessert obsessed.  Our dessert table is going to be bigger than our dinner buffet, I am fairly certain of it.  Not only do we love dessert, but we are not having a specific favor, so I purchased a lot of kraft boxes so our guests will be able to take desserts home with them at the end of the evening {hence desserts that travel well like cookies, brownies, whoopie pies, & toffee}.

Carrot Wedding Cake

{Images via Martha Stewart Weddings & Martha Stewart}

I remember going to my cousin's wedding, it must have been nearly twenty years ago {which seems crazy!}, but he & his wife had a multi-tiered, cream-cheese frosting-covered, carrot cake.  I was somewhere between of the age of eight - ten & remember thinking, "Carrots in cake?  Cream cheese what? Hmm..." But, I also remember thinking what a really unique wedding cake idea {again, this was almost twenty years ago}.  I took one bite & the rest was history.  I have been an avid carrot cake lover since.  Rich, also an avid fan, & I decided we wanted to have a small carrot cake for us to cut. 

I wanted a small, tiered cake with open layers, & topped with fruit.  Last fall I had the opportunity to work with a wonderful couple from NYC on their wedding invitations, & the wedding is now featured on Martha Stewart Weddings.  They had a stunning array of cakes on display & I fell in love with their carrot cake.  It was just as I had imagined ours.  I then came across the carrot cake topped with golden apples, which would be appropriate for fall as well.  I love the dripping caramel.  This is making me wish I had a big slice o' cake waiting for me when I get home...