Jilly's Bridal Shower

In February 2006, our friends Annie, Beth, and BJ hosted a bridal shower for my daughter, Jillian. I made cake - lots and lots of cake. There were seven cakes in total, all 3-layer 6" cakes, which we sampled as a shower game to help Jilly decide which flavor she wanted to serve at her May wedding reception.
Here's a picture of all of the cakes:Lemon-Lovers White Chocolate Cake and Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake:
Strawberry-Pecan-Coconut Cake:
Caramel Cream Cake and Chocolate Peppermint Cake:
Anniversary Cake (almond-lemon-coconut-flavored cake):Tropical Carrot Cake:For the luncheon we served spinach and chicken crepes, feathery orange rolls, and a green tossed salad:
So which cake did Jillian choose for her wedding reception? None of them! Hers was a chocolate-themed wedding, so we had to have a chocolate cake, but Jilly and her fiance Carl wanted coconut too. I made them a cake of my own invention - a Chocolate-Coconut Cream Cake which was a rich and fudgy chocolate cake with a chocolate ganache filling topped with a coconut cream filling, frosted with more whipped chocolate ganache and embellished with chocolate shards. It was decadent!

Winter Wedding Reception

This January 2006 wedding reception included what has become the choice of several brides - Terry's Classic Wedding Cake (white cake flavored with almond, lemon, and coconut flavorings and frosted with coconut milk buttercream) :A buffet with veggies, fruits, and light appetizers:
A team of dedicated workers bring all aspects of the wedding reception together:

Jilly's Victorian Wedding Picnic

My daughter Jillian was married in Nauvoo, Illinois on May 17, 2007. Following the ceremony, we had an intimate Victorian picnic for about 40 people in the garden of the historic Ellis Sanders House. My dear friend BJ Medler and I spent several weeks before the wedding preparing the food, and we trekked out to Nauvoo from Chicago on the morning before the wedding to transform the beautiful garden into the perfect spot for an afternoon gala.

The menu was much like a high tea with savories and sweets: tea sandwiches, crab and chicken strudels, mini muffins, scones, cream pastries, fruit tartlets, delicate cookies, petite fours, strawberry cake, sparkling cranberry-grape spritzers and pink lemonade.

Jilly's Wedding Luncheon Cake

My daughter Jillian was married in Nauvoo, Illinois on May 17, 2007. Following the ceremony, we had an intimate afternoon tea for about 40 people in the garden of the historic Ellis Sanders House. Jillian's all-time favorite cake is Fresh Strawberry Cake, which perfectly fit her pink-and-brown-themed wedding. We dressed up this particular strawberry cake with coconut and pecans. The two cakes (three 9" layers and three 6" layers) provided more than enough for our guests.

Jilly's Wedding Cake

When my daughter Shelah got married in 1997, I made her dress. When my daughter Jillian got married in 2007, I decided that making food (especially cakes) was a lot more fun than making dresses. So we bought Jilly's wedding dress and I enlisted a whole crew of talented and willing workers to put on a buffet dinner reception for about 250 guests in Naperville, Illinois.

One of the buffet tables at Jilly's reception:
Although my grandson Isaac and goddaughter Beth are both cute, focus your attention on the wedding cake on the left side of the photo:
A close-up of the top of the cake:
Cake details: chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate curls, filled with a coconut layer. I filled up an entire shopping cart with chocolate at Houston's Central Market, and used most of it on this cake. There were three layers (insert sizes here). The cake and the accompanying sheet cakes served (insert number here).