Venue Shopping: Forest Lawn Chapel

Tis been quite some time since we have been able to visit something with potential since I started working nights and weekends, however we stole some time away this week to visit the Chapel at Forest Lawn. While the building was closed (though the sign said it should have been open for another hour), we did get to take in the surroundings, and were quite pleased with the potential. There are pictures of the interior online that we came across (and were quite nice), and we'll likely stop by and ask to be let in to see it sometime soon.

Oh, by the way, Forest Lawn is a cemetery. This may seem a bit weird to some people.



The grounds, of course, are beautiful. And as such.. would lend nicely to wedding photos.

And who would have guessed Frank Lloyd Wright designed a Mausoleum here?


Pros:
- Photo Ops !!
- Outdoor Wedding possible, with the security of having the chapel for rainy day
- "traditional" setting?
- Neither of us would have to convert in order to be married in a chapel setting (and its not Vegas)
- architectural significance
- on the cheaps
- size and seating is perfect

Cons:
- Burial ceremonies take priority (could get our reservation bumped)
- reception would need to be elsewhere (not a big deal)
- building doubles as a crematory
- big wooden statues. Which APPARENTLY were not there last year, but are now. Gross.


Sorry Ebenezer Walden. I don't like you.

All in all. Very positive. We are anxious to get inside for ourselves.

Cupcakes: Earl Grey and Lemon

So, I have a test run for you!

This week we made Earl Grey cupcakes with lemon-honey icing. We were both craving something light and citrus-y, and this recipe sounded interesting enough.
For the cupcakes, I adapted this recipe.



Earl Grey Cupcakes

- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 bag Earl Grey tea
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- zest from 1 lemon

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix dry ingredients, including loose tea. Beat half of dry mixture into the wet. Then mix in the milk, lemon juice, and zest. And then combine the rest of the dry mix. Stir until just combined. Line cupcake pan, and fill cups about 2/3 full. Bake 20-25 minutes at 350. Cool before frosting.



For the icing, I just mixed half a cup of confectioners sugar, 1-2 tbsp. lemon juice, 2 tbsp. honey and some extra zest. Mix to the right consistency and drizzle over cooled cupcakes.

So, what do you think, Joey?

Haha..

Yes, they're pretty yummy.
My only concern for them as a wedding treat is that they're not really a show-cupcake. They taste wonderful but they're kind of beige-tastic. I think if I were to make them for the wedding I would do a buttercream frosting instead, to give some height. And then probably fancy them up with some sprinkles and whatnot.



What should we try next?

Love,

Gabby

Wedding Cupcakes

So, cake.

This is something I definitely think we can do ourselves. I'm pretty confident in my baking abilities, and I know that I'll have some enlisted help. But I'm not so sure I can crank out an enormous, tiered, frosted mountain of cake. Which is why we've decided to go with cupcakes.
They're cute, there's no need for slicing and serving, and making them will be considerably less work than baking, assembling and frosting a huge wedding cake.

This is what I'm thinking:






(images from marthastewartweddings.com)

Cute, right?

More than anything, I want them to taste really good. Wedding cake usually seems to suck.

I've linked to the blog ming makes cupcakes, and I'm starting to try some of her recipes. The Flourless Beet Chocolate Cupcakes (#31) are SO GOOD. We've made two batches in the past two weeks. Yeah.



Anyway, I'll be testing out recipes occasionally. I'll try my best to post our findings.



Love,
Gabby