Mr & Mrs Bates

7-14-11

 Ok so I finally finished putting together this entry!!!  There just aren't enough hours in a day.  I haven't posted anything since Valentines day in part because I was gaining weight from all the taste testing and leftovers.  Don't quote me but, I think it's against the law or something to throw out sweets? 

  But the wonderful thing about creating a candy buffet, which is what I like to do the most, is the fact that most of the candy on the buffet is bought.  I don't have to make anything unless I choose to so there's no need to taste test and there are no leftovers.  So having said all this, here's a small candy buffet ( it was supposed to only be for 12 children )  that I did for Erica, a coworker of mine, who got married on 7-9-2011.

BEAUTIFUL !!!

  One thing I've learned from doing this buffet is that creating one in specific colors is a lot harder than putting any kind of candy on a buffet. The buffet I did for Latissa (posted 9-13-10 "Fishers of Men") had an assortment of colors.  Doing it in hot weather is also a big issue.  I had one order for candy that was $37 and $38 to ship it due to the heat.  Needless to say I didn't place that order.

  Erica's wedding colors were blue, silver and white which are the colors of the Dallas Cowboys.  There weren't any Dallas decorations around but I did notice some stars on the wedding cake as well as in the buffet.  It was about the colors NOT the team. 

  No disrespect to ya though Dallas...

  So here are some shots of both the candy buffet as well as some individual shots I took as I was creating the buffet.  And before I get started, I'd also like to give a GREAT BIG SHOUT OUT to T. who helped me pull everything together.  Since I've been working extra days and so many hours T was right there buying things that I needed or that she thought might work on the buffet.  T helped me around the house so I could focus on the buffet. T mowed my lawn, did my laundry, organized shopping lists for me and so many aspects in helping me out that I'd have to create another post just to acknowledge all her assistance.  T has a lot of creativity herself which she contributed in the buffet and I think she would make a great business partner.  T really made it happen.

This was the first thing I created.  It was a Tootsie Pop bouquet. 
The top silver ones were Blowpops.  None of the flavors were the typical
flavors.  These were Mango, Watermelon, Blackberry and a bunch more.
I liked the way this shot looked like there were wings in the background.

 Since July 4th was so close to the wedding there was no shortage of blue and silver stars to accessorize.

Since I wasn't going to be placing any chocolate orders, due to the heat,

I got a little creative with what I could purchase locally. 

This was a stem of Reese's flowers.  I used blue & white foil and the back side of the foil sheets were silver.

See there it is.  I put 3 Reese's on each stem.  The silver side of the foil kind of created a glare 

And of course I had to add some star gems to the vase.  You can actually see the Reese's from this angle.

 These were gumballs placed on top of sugar.  We added another bag later when we set up.

These were the cones T and I came up with.  This was a joint effort.  We were going to fill them with blue cotton candy, which we did but there's more to the story which I will mention later......

Blue Raspberry Licorice and Sour Punch Belts & Straws.

This was something that TOTALLY turned out NOT the way I saw it in my head!!! 

It almost didn't make it to the buffet and that's ALL I have to say about this piece of work.

And since I was running out of time this shot wasn't taken with the vase decorated.

Now this one did have the decorations and label on it which I wish I had done for all the individual photos.

I know this wasn't the correct shade of blue but Erica didn't mind.

And what would a buffet be without Gummi Killer Sharks? 

 I had two different sizes and shades of blue because I bought them from two different sources.

I was going to just pile them on the platter but I thought it looked really cool the way I swirled them in a circle.

I saw this vase in another buffet and when I ran across it at Hobby Lobby... I HAD TO HAVE IT!!!!

These were silver, blue & white Sixlets. 

I would've prefered M & Ms because they taste better but

 it would've cost a whole lot more and I didn't want the order delivered all melted. 

Then there was the large Martini glass filled with Jelly Bellys

French Vanilla and Blueberry (if I remember right?)

OK now here we go with the actual buffet shots......

Remember the Cotton Candy?  Well let me clue you all in...it not only melts in the heat (which I ALREADY KNEW)

but it WASN'T HOT in the lodge and it not only melted but TOTALLY EVAPORATED INTO THIN AIR.

It was as if we never put it in the cones at all.  We had another bag which I hadn't opened but

somebody got "sticky fingers" and walked off with it...Yes PUN Intended.

I surrounded the Tootsie Pop bouquet with some Hershey candy bars that I wrapped.

This was a copy / PROOF of the wrapper that I specially ordered.

I didn't know that this scripture was read at the wedding.

I didn't get to go to the actual wedding but Latissa said the Pastor read this at the ceremony.

I really liked the bow attached to the Gumball / Cotton candy bowl.
You can see one of the candle lights on the top layer of suckers.
To the left is one of the smaller martini glasses which we would've refilled as needed.
There were Vanilla Tootsie Rolls & Hershey's Cookies and Cream Kisses in the 2 small martini glasses.

I was trying to get more of the bottom layer in this shot.

I really wished I would've gotten an individual photo of the Toffee / Rock candy vase. 
I thought it looked very elegant the way I glued the ribbon to the side of the vase.

I loved these spoons too. I used them on Latissa's buffet.
I used 5 star shaped dishes which came in perfect for the theme.

Another disappointment that I never got an individual shot of the Mr & Mrs Bates sucker tree.
The base of the Cupcake Shooter tower was lined with Buttermints.  I added the white stars to the blue mints.
 

I really liked this candle light that T made into a flower.  There was a little boy at the table who kept looking at it
and wanted to touch it but he thought it was hot.  I picked it up so he could touch it. 
Later I thought that might have been a bad idea because he might try touching a REAL candle in the future?

The smaller martini glasses were a nice touch. 
Since they really didn't hold that much candy, we figured we could just add more as they emptied out. 
That never happened though because of the misunderstanding of the head count of children.

This shot showed more of the edible silver glitter on the Cupcake Shooters.

I tasted some of this Rock candy when another coworker brought hers to work and it wasn't Raspberry. 
It was Cotton candy.

T did a great job on the balloons too.

These were the treat containers to put all the candy in. 
T punched the stars around the edges for me to save me some time.

I made two kinds of suckers.  The blue & white Bride & Groom suckers were vanilla / cotton candy. 
I labeled them vanilla cotton because we didn't think the cotton candy flavor was strong enough.
The white & brown Wedding Cake suckers were just vanilla and chocolate layered.

This was one of my favorite shots.  I made vanilla & chocolate Cupcake Shooters with cream cheese icing.

I was so disappointed that I never got an individual photo of these because I was running short on time.

I sprinkled the middle & top with edible silver crystles and some tiny white sprinkles.

I kind of rushed the ending because the guests were arriving.

If I can get a copy of Erica's videographer I'll try to post it with this one.

I know the buffet was video recorded & photographed because I was standing there while they took shots.

 

Mr & Mrs Bates

Here are some shots from T's camera