Sweet Seduction: French Macarons

French macarons are a sweet confectionery filled with a silky smooth butter cream or ganache filling, sandwiched between two soft thin cookie crusts. These versatilely flavored and colorful treats are light, airy and delicately delicious! French macarons make great wedding favors. They are also a scrumptious substitute to the traditional tiered cake or cupcake tower. These delectable little desserts will seduce any sweet toothed gourmand or cookie fanatic. I am a bit surprised that macaron madness has not swept the wedding scene.


Pierre-Hermes, creator of the World's finest French Macarons


Pom Pom Macaron Favor set by Sparkles Macaron via Etsy


Rainbow tower of French Macarons

The Details pt. 1

Life is all about the details. Weddings are no exception. As discerning urbanites, we wanted an escape from the mundane. More importantly, we wanted our wedding to be uniquely about us. This was by no means an easy feat to accomplish as what was expected from us was a very traditional Cambodian wedding. And yet somehow everything came together for us. We got what we wanted and so much more. Our theme? Moni & Aaron.

The primary colours for our wedding were Fuchsia and Teal. A vibrant shade of pink made perfect sense for a spring/summer wedding. I also loved how the fuchsia complimented the color teal my husband choose. We both love teal and our home is evidence of that - we painted the accent wall in our living room teal. Our kitchen is also a shade of teal with white trimming. So yeah...we heart teal! We also used a lot of gold in our wedding as a accent colour. Gold is a classic rich colour used in Cambodian weddings.

Concept wise, we wanted to keep things clean, simple, modern but also fun and whimsy. The colors and cultural influence created a marriage of modern meets lush jewel tone seaside soiree.

Teal Satin linens were much more inexpensive to buy than to rent. We also purchased fuchsia linens for the specialty tables (dessert bar, consumption bar, escort table and card table). The colors complimented the centerpiece decor. Our dinner set up was pretty basic and simple - not cluttered since with 7 courses we needed ample space on the table. Chopsticks were also provided by request. The disposable origami napkins were chic and cheap. As a Origamist, it added the perfect touch to our table setting.


I've always considered flowers to be an important aspect of a wedding. They bring color, texture, warmth and aroma to the ceremony and reception. Our venue is a blank white canvas so we used bright bold colours to paint life into them. The roses came in every shade of the rainbow which made it an easy choice for flowers. They are also available year round and are relatively inexpensive so I highly recommend brides to use them. Peonies are one of my favorite blooms and lucky for me they were also in season. Their lush fullness and vibrant pink hues are so dreamy. The billy balls aka Craspedia flowers and bear grass added texture and a whimsical look to the centerpiece.

- Special thanks to Sherry from Wholefoods University in Providence for turning my vision into a seamless reality.


We alternated the floral centerpieces with fuchsia Lotus candle holders made from capiz shells. They were small but had a big impact. Lotus flowers are significant symbols in Asian cultures especially in Buddhism. They represent elegance, beauty, purity and grace. Many of our guests loved them. We used soy candles because of their longevity - as oppose to using paraffin wax candles. It was also an eco-friendly choice too. The non-floral centerpieces helped cut down on the cost. They also last longer than fresh flowers so guests took them home as a keepsake favor.


We eschewed from the traditional choices for cake toppers. I didn't want a generic porcelain figurine, flowers or a monogram letter. Luckily Etsy provided a host of personalized options. We choose the custom clay couple from Etsy artist, Mudcards. she created cute cartoon figures of us. My husband wore his favorite sports team jersey under his suit while holding his xbox controller. I wanted to make sure to his other favorite hobby, tennis was also represented. I decided to have my figurine wear a traditional Cambodian outfit since I had no intentions of changing from my white wedding dress into one. My way of paying homage to our roots.


We had another Etsy artist create us a fabric scroll for us to use as a sign in guest book. We have a space spoken for it on one of the walls in our living room. It has the signature of all of our loves one on it. The Apsara monogram from our wedding invitation suite was also used in our paper luminaries and reserved cards. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of our luminaries from the wedding. We used mini picture frames I found at Target for $1 a piece as table numbers for our reserved tables.


Since we had no assigned seating for our guests, I had place cards made only for us and the bridal party. I had an Etsy artist laser cut their names in gold cardstock (our accent color). Our names doubled as decor at our reception which made for some nice pictures. I still have our place cards in the living room.



As I mentioned before, we had no assigned seating arrangement but we did reserve tables for some of our guests - mostly for the out of towners and our friends who are more accustomed to the Western style seating arrangements. I made a manzanita tree with the names and table numbers but one of the hiccups was we lost the bag containing the origami cranes with the names of our guests and the hanging crystals. Luckily, my day of coordinators quickly crafted paper punches with names of the guests and their table numbers. If time was on our side, I would have requested fresh blooms to decorate some of the branches.

The personalizations continued with the luminaries. I had a Etsy wedding and my penchant for paper things and hand crafted goods made up much of our decor. The Apsara luminaries (not pictured) and the custom name luminaries were placed in one of the many glass windows overlooking the beach. We used led lights for safety reasons to light them up. Our coordinators set up the name luminaries right behind the bar. It was the perfect place to greet our guests. We were careful not to go overboard.

Eye Candy

I am not a big fan of the tiered wedding cake but I love this unique spin featuring mini two tiered cakes and a untraditional design. The gum paste flower is a super sweet detail!

The Cupcake takes the Cake!

I know most people think cupcakes are elementary sweets but with the rise of gourmet cupcakes, the resurgence of this popular dessert is making a comeback in a very big way, despite being a bite size treat. I mean what is there not to like about cupcakes? They are cute, whimsy, and affordable - making them the purrfect alternative to the traditional tier wedding cake. The cost cutting cupcakes come in a mini, regular or giant size and can be highly personalized with elaborate decorations or colorful details. Gourmet cupcakes use haute ingredients like Madagascar bourbon, Mexican ganache, Nutella Swirl to just name a few. They can be arranged on a cupcake tree or assembled in different shapes for a creative presentation. And unlike a heavy tiered wedding cake, they are easy to transport and serve, which means the "cake cutting fee" will be waived by your caterer and guests can easily wrap up the left overs at the end of the night in a cute little goodie bag.

Pepe and I have narrowed down our choices to a few cupcake specialist in the R.I area. We really love Banana, Chocolate and Coconut cake flavors with some sort of complimentary filling. The cupcakes will be in addition to the other sweets we will be serving at our reception.

- Creative Cake Company (Newport)

- The Bakery Boutique (N. Smithfield)

- Sweet Somethings (Smithfield)

- Sin (Providence)

Cup cakery vendors were chosen based on positive reviews, flavor variety and proximity to our home or venue.