A-LIST-February Special Wedding Issue 2012
By Joe Ricchio
Photographs by Kari Herer

01 Cookies
Few things will excite your guests more than a dazzling array of apricot-pistachio biscotti, lavender shortbreads, and both chocolate-espresso cookies and sea salt chocolate-chunk cookies with walnuts. Imagine the appreciative grins on the faces of your wedding guests when you inform them that the champagne toast will be performed with glasses of milk instead (or tap water for the lactose intolerant).
auroraprovisions.com

02 Cupcakes
Many brides complain that choosing a single flavor for their wedding cake is one of the most difficult wedding decisions they have to make, and some have even cancelled entire ceremonies and locked themselves in tear-drenched seclusion simply to avoid this soul-wrenching, panic-inducing process. Now there is hope: cupcakes. A multitude of flavors, from red velvet to coconut cream, can be showered with edible 24 karat gold leaf and stacked into a centerpiece formidable enough for any grand ballroom.
eastendcupcake.com

03 Whoopie Pies
There is nothing that screams “Maine wedding” like stacks of whoopie pies that have been shaped into mussel shells and garnished with edible pearls. Cranberry Island uses superlative ingredients that take the innumerable whoopie pies that you’ve eaten since childhood to the next level. Maybe you should also hire comedian Tim Sample to keep your guests in stitches before they dance the night away to original masterpieces performed by none other than legendary folk group Schooner Fare!
cranberryislandkitchen.com 

04 Gelato Cake
For me, the thought of ice cream cake conjures up images of clowns and the choo-choo-train-shaped creations from Baskin Robbins that I enjoyed immensely while growing up. This was, of course, long before I tasted the creamy, silky perfection of Gorgeous Gelato’s version. I am now completely confident that, if I were to ever get married, there would be simply no cake better than a gelato cake, in any shape or form. Who cares if it melts while we are enjoying the army of break-dancing mimes that I hired to provide the evening’s entertainment?
gorgeousgelato.com

05 Cheesecake
Occasionally, a unifying theme is necessary to settle differences between rival families, such as “everyone loves cheesecake.” Whether you hail from the house of Montague or Capulet, there is no better peacemaker than a three-tiered key-lime, peppermint-stick, or Oreo-flavored cake covered with a plethora of delicious toppings. The only drawback is that post-feast dancing and merriment may occur at a somewhat sluggish pace.
bellacheesecakes.com

06 Vegan and Gluten-Free
Vegan guests everywhere will be ecstatic to find out that they no longer have to sulk in a corner and stare longingly at other partygoers while they hungrily tear into large slabs of festively decorated wedding cake. Bam Bam has made an art form out of gluten-free baking, with plenty of vegan-friendly options available in multiple flavors. I cannot guarantee, however, that the prime rib entree will be tofu based.
bambambakery.com