WIPA Whaaa???
If you are not in the wedding and events industry you might not know what I am talking about. WIPA stands for Wedding International Professional Association. It is a networking group for wedding and event professionals around the globe who have chapters in specific cities and hold quarterly meetings and events. Basically it is an excuse to get together in a pretty environment, drink and eat to our hearts content and have fun with our industry "Friendors" (Friend + vendor).
Look Out! It's Big Foot!
The theme for November's meeting was PNW vibes (full greenery, natural elements with a modern flair) and was held in Seattle at The Collective, which is kind of like a WeWork space. Seattle Planner and Wedding Guru BreeAnn Gale from Pink Blossom Events, took the creative lead on this one. Together we came up with some really fun ideas for a Fall PNW Dessert Bar. And you bet Big Foot cookies were the stars of the table.
The Dessert Table
The menu featured:
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Butterscotch Brownies
Salted Caramel Cake Pops
Apple & Cherry Hand Pies
Chai Spice Cupcakes
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
Fern Themed Sugar Cookies
Evergreen Tree Sugar Cookies
Yeti Sugar Cookies
Featured Vendors
Photography // @entwinedportraits
Planning // @wipaseattle
Rentals // @grandeventrentals
Tree + Plant Rentals // @analogfloral
Stationary // @sablewoodpaperco
Venue + Catering // @collectiveseattle
Desserts // @seatownsweets
DJ & Photo Booth // @orion_ent
Videographer // @bestmadevideos
Speaker // @kirstenpalladino @equallywedpro
Featured Speaker & Topic - How to Be LGBTQ+ Inclusive
Kristen Palladino was the featured speaker for the evening who helped educate our community on how to be LGBTQ+ inclusive to our clients and prospective clients. And she provided some really great tips and suggestions to implement keywords on our website. I am proud to say that most businesses that I have encountered are LGBTQ+ inclusive in the Seattle area.
{Shameless Plug} Here at Seatown Sweets, we stand by that too. Love is love - I would be THRILLED to have more LGBTQ+ couples come to us for their wedding. If this speaks to you, please reach out to us, because we would love to work with you!
I remember the first Gay wedding I did back in 2019, Sydney & Sarah at Black Diamond Gardens. It was May 11th and it was the warmest day of the year, clocking in at over 80 degrees, not to mention this very was in a green house. It was a toasty one but oh so gorgeous. I will have to post some pictures of it. It was so dreamy.
The Set Up
Because the space was more of a café style room, the tables were a bit more spread out. But the mural wall behind the tables was absolutely stunning. For the platters, I used my black metal stands which looked very cool with the mural background and the wood tables. In fact, this is how my house is styled - warm woods meets black metals.
To add to the fun, I was 28 weeks pregnant YAY. So I wasn't moving too quickly and I admit this set up took a lot longer to finesse than normal. But in the end I was happy with how it all turned out.
Let's Talk More About the Desserts
Now you are probably thinking, hey that dessert menu above looked delicious tell me more. And I couldn't agree more.
With Fall in the Pacific Northwest, I selected some classic flavors like our Salted Caramel Cake pops - a chocolate cake pop dipped in salted caramel chocolate, which is a staple in the bakery. As well as our Pumpkin Cupcakes and Chai Spice Cupcakes available only during the fall. And let me tell you, they are delicious. The pumpkin cupcakes feature a cream cheese buttercream frosting. The chai spice cake is steeped with a chai spices in the cake but also a chai spice soak and to top it all off, chai spice Swiss buttercream. This cupcake will warm your soul right up.
In addition, I made chocolate butterscotch brownies. Chocolate and butterscotch together are one of my favorite things. But there is no cookie in the world than I love more than chocolate chip cookies. I want to eat the dough and all.
Did I mention Hand Pies?
What the heck is that you are wondering? Well it is basically a pie cookie. We roll out a pie crust, cut them with a round cookie cutter, and then add our pie filling. These hand pies featured cherry and apple filling. Because what screams fall more than those flavors?
Lastly, my signature sugar cookies. I had so much fun making these whimsical fern theme and I wish I got better photos myself but they turned out beautifully. And the yeti cookies were just a crowd favorite, everyone was talking about them. And we would be called the Evergreen state without our beloved trees, and so there were tree cookies.
I spy with my little eye...
See me and my little baby bump in the background...
