Just Desserts

The desserts from my shower warrant their own post because they were nothing short of spectacular.

I don't know if I ever really explained my love of owls to you guys, but owls are my thing.  They have been since about 2005, which is about 5 years before you could really find a ton of owl items in mainstream shops.  I used to rely mostly on ebay to build my owl collection, and now that you can walk into just about any store and find something owl-y, my collections have grown considerably.  I was worried initially that my shower would be owl themed. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I was worried it would be more like a baby shower than a bridal shower - since owls are found on lots of baby items these days.  My worries were unfounded and my champagne themed shower was just the right amount of sophistication that I was hoping for.  However, there was no way that owls weren't going to make an appearance - and they did in a BIG way.

Without further ado, my shower cake.  Made by the ever-so-talented Diane Michelle:

Owls & Books - it's doesn't get much more "me" than that! 

 And the back was just as detailed:

Can you believe the detail on this? I love the veil on the bride owl! 

The cake was brought out in the middle of the present opening marathon, so that the dessert table could be set up and finished by the time I was done opening all the gifts.

Posing with my MOH

Making silly faces, maybe asking "Do I really have to cut this??" 

The first cut was hard, I didn't want to destroy such an amazing cake! 

Once I had made the first cut, the cake was whisked away and sliced for the dessert table.  As the gifts were finished, my bridesmaids announced that the dessert room was open, but I was to be the first to see it before anyone else.

I walked in and saw this:

My amazing dessert spread - all made by my MOH

Checking out the desserts - in awe. 

The cake was three tiers, with two flavors.  The top and bottom tier were pumpkin cake with caramel buttercream (I also love all things pumpkin.).  It was so delicious, it tasted as good as it looks!  The middle tier was an almond cake with rhubarb jam and amaretto buttercream. YUM. Some cakes look really nice but don't taste very good; Di's cakes are equal parts beautiful and delicious. 

Then we had the rest of the desserts:

Macarons - my new favorite dessert! 

Scones! (I didn't get to try these, but I am sure they were amazing.)

Mini Cupcakes with lemon cake and lemon almond buttercream 

The owls are edible, but there is no way I'm eating them. They are rice krispie treats covered with fondant.  Diane tells me that they will petrify and I can keep them forever, in a shadow box or some sort of cabinet and they will not go bad. 

 I got a nice sampling of all the desserts (except the scones. I meant to try them, but somehow I missed them.) and was so impressed by the amount of time and energy that went into the creation of this amazing dessert spread.

But wait... there's more!  My favors were also an edible dessert. Diane made the cookies, and some of my bridesmaids got together the Friday before shower to pipe and flood the cookies to make these adorable edible beauties! 

I clearly LOVED my favors. 

 I know the desserts at my shower were off the hook, and how extremely lucky I am to have a friend who can do this for me.  I can not even begin to express my gratitude to my bridesmaids for all the work they did, and can't wait to shower THEM with the gifts I've been gathering for them over the past year! My awesome bridesmaids really went above and beyond for my shower, and I love that these ladies will be standing beside Mr. Ly and me on the most important day of our lives.

A thank you note doesn't seem to be enough to express how much this shower meant to me, how do you thank those who go above and beyond your expectations with such generosity and kindness?