Chocolate Pops for Wedding Favors

One of the most fun parts of planning a wedding is picking out favors. You can really make a big impact with a small trinket. Favors can be grouped together in a beautiful container such as a wicker basket, a painted pail, a silver bowl or a glass apothecary jar. Or you can do favors at each place setting for a finishing touch to your tablescape. Whatever way you choose to display your favor, guests certainly seem to enjoy them!

I've had the opportunity to help many brides come up with wedding favors, small bags of candy with tissue paper, chocolate pops, hershy's kisses wrapped in tulle, bags of coffee beans wrapped in beautiful paper with a monogram sticker, even a full "candy bar."

I think my favorite so far has been the "chocolate pop" on a stick. These favors can be bought by many candy boutiques in the Twin Cities such as Candyland off of Wabasha Street in St. Paul. http://www.candylandstore.com/aboutus.html

However, these favors are easy to make on your own! With a little elbow grease and some tools from Michael's craft store you can create your very own chocolate pop to coordinate with the theme of your wedding. Michael's has a variety of Wilton chocolate molds. They also carry Wilton lolli-pop sticks and Wilton cellophane bags.

Simply buy a few huge bags of chocolate chips, place them in the chocolate molds and bake in the oven. Then put the lolli pop stick into the chocolate molds and put them into the freezer. After they have hardened you can either decorate them with frosting, sugar sprinkles or a different color of melted chocolate! Wrap the finished favor in a cellophane wrapper and tie with a ribbon!

This project can be time intensive but it really is very cost effective and easy to do. If you are looking for a tasty favor to treat your guests with and something that easily coordinates with your wedding scheme, this is a great choice.


PHOTO CREDITS: CHOCOLATE.COM, ACHOCOLATECELEBRATION.COM

Vendor Spotlight - FIVE Event Center

Five Event Center is located in the heart of Uptown, just off of Bryant Avenue South. Although I haven't yet had the opportunity to do a wedding here I did go to see this space because it is definitely a unique location for weddings and special events.

Five was formerly the 5th Precinct Police Station in Uptown Minneapolis. As you can imagine, it blends old world architecture with contemporary and sophisticated decor. It boasts rich colors, sleek stainless steel features, bold textures and unbelievably romantic ambiance. Anyone that appreciates exposed brick and hardwood floors would feel very comfortable here.


When you first enter Five, you are invited by an intimate bar with rich plum hues, a fantastic staircase perfect for pictures and really great bathrooms. Yes, I said really great bathrooms! It isn't often that you find a space where one of the celebrated features is the luxury loo. This is something to brag about, your guests will definitely appreciate the atmosphere throughout the space...in every nook and cranny.

As you head upstairs, you are greeted by a retro cool light fixture that is the perfect backdrop for pictures. Once you reach the 2nd level you are greeted with another stunning room. There are great spaces for an escort card table, cake table and entertainment set up. In addition, there is a service bar on the second level as well. The tables and chairs are so beautiful that you wouldn't need to have linens to have an effective event but with such great colors it would be so much fun to work with colorful linens.

Another great feature about Five is that you can hire any licensed caterer for your wedding. They do have a preferred vendor list but if you do want to work with your own caterer that is an option as well. They also have an i-pod capable system so you could have your i-pod play during your cocktail reception and offer a DJ or live entertainment for the dance!

Five can 200 for a seated dinner and 375 fora cocktail reception. They also have the option of hosting your ceremony there. The 2nd level is perfect for ceremonies, then after the wedding guests go downstairs for cocktail hour while the upstairs is transformed into a reception space. Parking is also included with a valet.

I was very impressed with this venue and would recommend it to any bride that wants to mix the traditional with the modern to create a truly unique wedding. For more information contact them at 612-827-5555 or email five@fiveeventcenter.com. To check out photos of previous events visit the website at www.fiveeventcenter.com.



PHOTO CREDITS: Matthew Blum Photography

Vendor Spotlight - Celebration Generation Cakes

Marie is truly an artist and she has even come up with Chai cake. Celebration Generation cakes are unique because their flavors are so original. Not only that, they do awesome design work. She has flavors like Raspberry Dream, Pina Colada, Banana's Foster and Turtle Chocolate! They are all heavenly.

Although they don't have a storefront, Celebration Generation has proven they are a leader in the events industry. They won the ICON 2008 Award for best cake design, and the famed judge was none other than Sylvia Weinstock. Celebration Generation operates on custom orders. They do cake tastings but they box up the samples for you to take home after stopping by their industrial kitchen. Yes, for those of you wondering, CG is a licensed through the state of MN.

Marie and I connected because we are both small business owners in the growth stage of business. We are absolutely passionate about what we do and we both work hard to stay alive in a very competitive industry. You will find that our pricing is often times better then our competitors.

As I mentioned, Marie has very original flavors for her cakes and this definitely carries over into the styles of her cakes. Of course, she can do a more traditional cake but she definitely caters to the bride that is looking for something unique. She's done everything from a funky retro cake to the traditional white on white cake. She is also an expert in special event cakes and groom cakes.

Finally, Celebration Generation insists on delivering all of their cakes. They want to make sure that all the hours and hard work that they've put into each of their confections makes it to your event unscathed. They can also match your cake to your wedding colors and you can custom create your cake with the help of Marie. In addition, Marie is available to meet you at a location convienent to you for initial consultations. I find that my brides love that I come to them and I'm sure it is true about their baker as well.

In closing, I hope you will check out Celebration Generation cakes. They do great work! http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/about.html


Photo Credits: Celebration Generation