My baby brother Norman got married.
I guess he’s not a baby anymore.
And he married a wonderful woman, Stefanie.
She’s beautiful…
Inside and out.
I love these two.
For the wedding Stefanie’s wish for the favours were wedding cake cookies inspired by this Martha Stewart photo:
Here’s our version:
150 of them (plus ‘in-case’ extras)…
One was put on each place setting at the reception tables.
We also made cupcakes for a cupcake tier.
The top tier originally was supposed to have this super tall cake on top made by Konstadin of Cakes by Konstadin, who is genius at making life like gumpaste roses…
But I’m such a clutz… the cake toppled over (my fault), in transition, and my friend Dianna of Yours to Savour, came to the rescue and whipped up another small cake for me, and I used Konstadin’s rose for the top. Fewf!
A few of my cousins and Aunt, who flew over from Europe for the wedding, helped put all the cupcakes together the day of.
This is how we always dress when putting cupcakes together… Seriously, not really, that was shortly before the ceremony.
Here we are morning of assembling.
Cupcakes flavours were; carrot, vanilla and chocolate. The flowers were from Petra International. (See my flower post on Petra International, here).
*
Making Wedding Cookie Cakes
Guess how many cookies we made?
1000.
Yes, that’s right.
One thousand cookies.
150 guests at the wedding, multiplied by 6 cookies per cookie cake, and 100 extra cookies in case of breakage etc. (Especially with a clumsy person like me around!).
Any ideas how much butter?
This much:
Thanks to all the wonderful people on Facebook who helped me out with suggestions on where to buy butter and the favour boxes!
Here’s my recipe if you like. But, I do have to say that these aren’t the kind of cookies which can be made ahead and stored in your freezer.
The 150+ little gumpaste flowers on top were easy to make though. Here’s a video on the same process. All I did differently with these, was spray them with PME pearl lustre spray at the end. I was even able to make them weeks ahead and store in a cool, dry spot. (Sorry about the photographs again – phone pics).
My cousin Silja from Switzerland, my Mom and I made the cookie cakes together.
The cookies for each tier were 2″, 3″ and 3.5″
After baking and cooling 1000 cookies, we stacked them in matching layers of two and adhered them with white royal icing.
Instead of flooding 500 cookies with royal icing (only covered 3 cookies per cookie cake), I decided to use rolled fondant instead.
For that many cookies, it was much faster to roll the fondant out and use circle cutters.
You’ll notice we cut the smallest circles out of the largest circles to save fondant. The largest circle was going to be covered by the next layer of cookies anyways.
A thin layer of clear corn syrup on each piece of fondant…
500 fondant circles on 500 cookies later, then took all the finished stacks and adhered those together with royal icing, and topped each with a sugar flower.
Thank goodness good family friends (family, really), Pia and Alfons, came to help with boxing them.
It took the 5 of us about 3 hours to finish:
- taping the ribbon to the bottom of each box with a clear circle sticker, to help keep it in place
- gently placing cookie cakes in boxes
- tying first a knot, inserting Love is Sweet tag, and finishing off with a bow
Cutting 150 ribbons to the proper length, assembling the boxes, cutting the vellum paper to fit in the bottom so that the cardboard didn’t get greasy, and punching out the Love is Sweet tags, was done ahead (Thanks, Mom and Silja!).
Oh, and the adorable tags were from the Etsy shop Confetti Printables. Easy to customize to the desired colors and Holly was so prompt and lovely to deal with. After I’d purchased the design in the matching wedding colors, I went to a print shop to have them done on cardstock. The corresponding circle punch was from Michael’s. The clear boxes are from The Box Depot. We used the 4″ by 4″ by 4 1/2 ” box.
All in all it was a fun, community effort getting these wedding cookie cakes done. I realized even more how blessed I am to have good family and friends. How amazing was it as well that eleven relatives on our side alone, flew over from all over Europe to come celebrate! Here they are to the left of Stef and Norm.
And Stef and Norman’s wedding day… so special. (There aren’t too many pics of me because I shy away from photos anyways, and the ones I am in… I’m such an emotional person… I was teary-eyed in so many of them).
And not a beautiful, teary-eyed, like Stef walking up the aisle with her Dad. I love this picture! (Here come my happy tears!)
Isn’t she absolutely stunning!
And my lovely mother and brother walking down the aisle. I don’t know why, that’s what started getting me so emotional… my little brother, all grown-up, walking down the aisle with my Mom. I’m so proud of him.
I love these two.
One of my favorite shots of the wedding, just like one of my own fave wedding photos, is this one where the just married couple gets pelted by traditonal Swiss wedding candies… Under each wrapper is a sweet saying for the couple. Let’s just say that the candies aren’t soft though!
Have I mentioned that I love these two?
If you’d like to see the dance that resulted in this photo, you can click here or below to find it on YouTube. Just a warning, the video is 15 mins long, so I’m mainly sharing it here for family or for anyone who is procrastinating from perhaps any of these; a) cleaning the bathroom, b) writing an essay c) doing your taxes d) all of the above. It’s really sweet (the video), and I enjoyed it, but I’m biased of course, and as I mentioned, I love these two.
All the best to you on your life’s journey together, Stef and Norman! I know your humour, sense of adventure, and love for each other will bring you through thick and thin, and if you ever need anything from your sister, just call.
Love is sweet.
xo,
Marian
p.s. Special thanks to Scarlett O’Neill for letting me use many of her beautiful photographs in this post. She has such amazing photography talent!
Kayleigh says
Beautiful video! Made me cry, they look soo happy together, wish them all the best for the future 🙂 x
Tatyana says
Oh Marian,
I was waiting to see these cookies. It was worth waiting.
What a beautiful and big job you did. Everything looks perfect.
You are so talented!
Congratulations to a beautiful couple.
P.S. Love your childhood pictures 😉
marian says
Thank you so much @ Erin @ Brownie Bites!
I’m glad I wasn’t alone in the tears @ Elizabeth; thanks for watching!
Hello @ gihan: How many tiers you will need will depend on each individual cupcake tier (they have different sizes). This one held about 85 (so we had extra cupcakes in the back in case we needed to refill). The silver cupcake liners can be bought at Michael’s Craft Store, GoldasKitchen.com and probably wouldn’t be hard to find at your local baking supply store. (if you have one 😉 The cake stand came together with the mirrored circles and pieces in between, it was from England. Maybe if you google mirrored cake stand in your area, you will find one close to you.
Oh and the cookies for each tier were 2″, 3″ and 3.5″
Hope that helps! xo
marian says
Awwww, @ Sandra, thank you! xo
Yay, @ Kayleigh, I wasn’t the only one tearing up! 😉
Thank you lovely @ Tatyana!
Debora says
Marian, las fotos, la boda, las galletitas, la presentacion, una belleza, todo precioso… Mucho trabajo pero ha valido la pena. Te felicito!!
marian says
Hi @ Vanessa: We finally have a draft schedule for you! For every day below, there were 3 of us.
Day 1 – made the dough and rolled it out.
Day 2 – made the fondant circles, boxes, and vellum paper inserts
Day 3 – baked the cookies. Once the cookies cooled, using corn syrup, put fondant on every second cookie and adhered the matching cookie circles together with royal icing. Then stacked the cookies into cookie cakes, and adhered with royal icing. Attached decorative flower on top. Packed in boxes and tied ribbon (There were 5 of us on this day).
A few things done ahead:
* labels ordered, printed, hole punched, and the circles also punched out
* ribbon cut to right length
* little flowers for the top made ahead
That’s the jist of it. Hope that helps! =)
letizia says
I am English general.
Beautiful wedding cakes and wedding scenes, you do the heavy nice work, i like you are any vieod ,thank you share.
Christene says
Did you make the cookies 1/4 inch thick? How do you get the cookies to come out so uniformed. I freeze my cookies for at least 20 minutes before putting them in the oven, but to no fail they are never consistent. Do you have another trick?
Marian (Sweetopia) says
HI @ Christene: The more you roll out the dough or the more you work with it, the harder it is to prevent spreading, so for those cookies, when they came out of the oven, we cut them again with the cookie cutter.
There are some tricks I use though, and for the most part the cookies didn’t spread. Here they are:
https://sweetopia.net/2011/04/top-8-tips-on-preventing-cookies-from-spreading/
Christene says
Hi…Thanks for the information. How thick did you make each cookie? @ Marian (Sweetopia):
Marian (Sweetopia) says
HI @ Christene:
Just shy of 1.5 cm
Christene says
Thank you! @ Marian (Sweetopia):
kellypea says
Marian, it was wonderful to meet you at BlogHer Food this past weekend. You are a lovely young woman with a bright personality — and clearly quite talented! This is such a wonderful telling of an important milestone in a family’s life and I’m sure yours is quite proud of you for your efforts.
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Hi @ kellypea: It was nice meeting you this past weekend, too! I would have loved chatting with you a bit more. Next time! =)
Kate says
Hi Marian,
Apologies if you have answered this question somewhere in the comments already – About how much fondant was needed to cover that number of cookies? Thanks!
Lupyhouse says
Happy Wedding
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Hi @ Kate: I am so sorry, I didn't actually track exactly how much I used, buuut approximately I'm guessing… I went through 5kg bucket and a little of another one for sure. It may have been more… I really should have tracked it but I was thinking about so many other things too. I would recommend making a test batch of cookie cakes anyways, to see how everything works out for you and seeing how much fondant you use per cookie cake (and then multiplying by the amount you'll have to make). I'm really sorry about my vagueness on this one!
Christene says
Hi…you said earlier you cut cookies again after baking..did you do it when they were warm or cool? Thank you for the help!
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Hi @ Christene: Great question! I cut them when they were warm.
Tya nelson says
Where did you get the boxes?
marian says
Hi @ Tya nelson: Here you go:
http://www.theboxdepot.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?search=action&keywords=acetategb&template=Templates%2Facetategb.html
jane says
@ marian:
which size box did you use? thanks
marian says
Hi @ jane: We used the 4″ by 4″ by 4 1/2 ” box.
ashlyn says
oh my goodness that video was amazing. it brought tears to my eyes and i don’t even know them. so wonderful to see true love. thanks for the post and what a cute cookie cake idea… :o)
Avery says
Hi! I absolutely love the cookie cake idea! I was wondering….what kind of dough did you use?
marian says
Awww, thanks @ ashlyn!
HI @ Avery: Sugar cookie dough.
Krista says
I love these and I’m going to make them for my wedding reception! What size of cookie cutters did you use?
Hanh says
Hi Marian,
I’ve been reading your blog and am a subscriber and have learned so much from you. I just wanted to thank you for this post because it’s helped me with my sister’s bridal shower. I made my sister the wedding cake cookie and it turned out really gorgeous; all the gals raved about it. Your detailed information, the cookie size, assembling technique, label and box was exactly what I needed to know, thanks so much for helping me make it successful!
marian says
Hi @ Krista: The cookies for each tier were 2″, 3″ and 3.5″:)
@ Hanh: How wonderful! Thanks so much for letting me know – that makes me happy!
Milka says
I love these wedding cookies and all your blog. The wedding film is fantastic. It was such amazing to hear our polish “sto lat” :)I had tears in my eyes… Is Stef comes from Poland? It’s so touching, cause my baby brother got married this year too, and my “these two” look almost like your “these two” 😉 We wish you all the best and happiness. Regards, Milka
marian says
Thank you so much, @ Milka! Yes, Stef’s parents come from Poland 🙂 and I’ve learned to speak a little Polish so far.
I feel your feelings about your baby brother getting married too! It’s a special thing, isn’t it. I wish you and your family all the best and happiness too, Milka. xo
nikko says
hi! may i know what kind of paper/board you used as “cake board” for the cookie cakes? i have a similar order for a wedding and i’m worried the cookies will leave oil marks if i just use ordinary board paper. thank you!
marian says
We cut a sheet of vellum paper to go on each board, @ nikko:
Mirtha says
Hi Marian,
What a beautiful wedding! Thanks for sharing with all of us. I truly enjoyed it. Our daughter is getting married this June and I was thinking of making these either for the wedding favors or for her Bridal shower favors. You did a fabulous job and have inspired me. = )
I was wondering where you purchased the little boxes from and approximately what size were they? I have not found anything like them on line.
Thanks again for sharing your special family moments.
Mirtha says
Hi Marian,
HELP!!!
I did my first attempt today at decorating cookies and making the wedding cookie cakes. I followed the recipe on your site for both the sugar cookie and royal icing. First problem, was that the cookies expanded and some were wider that others. Is there a trick to rolling out the cookies so that the thickness is consistent? Your cookies looked so nice and even and sizes were consistent, so not sure if you cut them once they came out of the over to achieve the exact same size on all of them?
I did the 10 second test to check the consistency of the icing and at first it was perfect, but after a few hours it got very runny and was not holding it’s shape while I was pipping. What causes the icing to get runny while in the pipping bag?
I can send you pictures of what I did, I was just doing a trial run, so any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
marian says
Hi @ Mirtha: The box size and where I got them is in a link in the post.
I’m guessing the next comment is yours too? Cookie dough which has been handled a lot (i.e. the scraps you roll out a few times), tends to spread more when baked. When the cookies come out of the oven, while they’re hot, use a cookie cutter to re-cut them. Not as nice of an edge, but I had to do that sometimes too.
The icing will get runny from the temperature of your hands on the piping bag. Maybe take a break or refill the bag with freshly mixed icing.
Hope that helps!
marian says
Just realized, @ Mirtha, that the box size isn’t written in the post – I must have answered it somewhere in the comment section. Please leave me another comment tomorrow to remind me and I’ll dig out my ‘souvenir’ one to measure.
Mirtha says
Hi Marian,
No worries about the size of the box, I figured it out. I do want to know if you have any recommendations for buying royal icing mini drop flowers or royal icing rose buds on line?
Thanks!
marian says
Hi @ Mirtha:
I’ve put in the post where I got the ones I bought and there’s a link to another post about them too (above in post).
xo
Yenny says
Felicidades que belleza, el trabajo y la boda me encanto, muchos éxitos para la pareja, todo lo mejor que Dios los bendiga
Lura says
My girlfriend’s daughter has requested these for her wedding shower. Can you recommend a favorite fondant that taste fairly good to use, please? Thank you!
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Hi @ Lura: I live in Canada, so I think there are different brands available locally. I used some fondant from a local baker’s warehouse and I tried Satin Ice and liked them both. Maybe if you tried a few local fondants (busy a small amount) taste them, try rolling them out, and go from there. Hope that helps! xo
carolina gamiz says
Delicious Wedding, Delicious Cookies, Delicious Cupcakes. Precious truth. I’ve seen it several times and each time I like more
Greetings from Barcelona (Spain)
Tammy says
Absolutely Beautiful…..(Everything)…
marian says
@ carolina gamiz, @ Tammy: Thank you! xo
Mal says
Thank you for the link for the boxes! I saw the Martha Stewart idea as well and had spent several weeks trying to find boxes.
Marian (Sweetopia) says
My pleasure, @ Mal.
Sharon says
Dear Marian,
Thank you for sharing all the useful info for the cookies (recipe, boxes and sixes). I was wondering, one recipe makes how many cookies? I am thinking to make this for my friend’s wedding which has about 80 guests.
Love your blog and appreciate your willingness to share recipes/ tips and tutorials!