Posts by Nathan Cox25

Everything you could ever need in Chicago—even a specialty bakery

The Peter and Anne hall looks 😲
It’s gorgeous 😍
But honestly, it hits me a bit weird—maybe it's just because I grew up in Chicago where we don't skip the appetizers before the soup, or where you can actually get decent lamb and roasted pork.
The seating layout is fine, though—it isn't shaped like a T or an L, so nobody ends up stuck in a blind spot missing the action.

Actually, they won't let you fly under the radar unless you have a registered business and can issue an invoice 👍

I mean, once you actually commit to picking out cakes, they usually give you samples.
I haven't had any luck getting freebies yet—I’ve just been buying them myself since we still can't make up our minds.

Google actually comes in handy sometimes 🤣
Everyone keeps raving about those crunchy pastries at the bakery over by the Mediterranean Coast marina, but I have no clue what they're actually like—their website won't load for some reason 🤷
I guess they probably just have the regular stuff too 😁

Why don't you check out the Wedding on the Mediterranean Coast thread?
A three-tier cake in Chicago runs at least $800—give or take—for about 100 people.

Look, everyone brings their own cake, but usually we grab one from a bakery—you know, because they actually provide a receipt and handle the tax stuff properly.
You should probably just ask if it needs to be a professional purchase with a formal receipt, or if a homemade one from a godmother or a neighbor would fly.

maybe 🙂

Do you have any idea which small local spots you're talking about? Everywhere we've gone lately, people seem obsessed with getting those little paper receipts with their pastries—I guess it's just a way to shift the blame if someone gets food poisoning, right?
My mother-in-law is one of those people who’s always baking for everyone—back when my sister-in-law got married, the whole family returned the favor with enough homemade treats for two weddings, yet they still ended up having to buy basic snacks for the little ones.

So she runs her own small business? Man, we could've easily scored about ten homemade cakes and a full spread of pastries for the wedding for free—but nope, since the hotel won't budge without official invoices and paperwork, we're out of luck. 🤷

Why not just ask at Starbucks?

Some friends of mine had one once—three tiers, but they were definitely heavier, and the whole thing seemed to lean heavily to one side, like every single layer was tilting in the exact same direction rather than being level.
It looked fantastic, though.
The cake was from Magnolia Bakery.

My old man was there once—prices were 😲
I think they were about $40/lb for the pastries. I’ve got it written down somewhere.

I’m pretty sure they don't do the boxing up in those little containers—they probably just prep everything in the back. At least, that's my guess from when we toured the venue; they pointed out a specific station near the counter where they handle all the packaging.
🤷

Raymond Martinez4, I actually bought some PVC gift boxes locally for my mother-in-law once.

placidscout9 said:Luckily, the cake is already bundled into our hotel rate, and honestly, it looks incredible... I’m still on the fence about desserts, though. If I just stick to what the hotel provides, we’ve got $30 pounds of sweetness ready to go. From what I’ve been reading, if other places are offering $23, it might not even be worth the headache of hunting down a specialty bakery just to obsess over dessert menus. The funniest part? Half of my mom’s relatives are amateur bakers who usually whip up all the treats for weddings, but apparently, under these new regulations, you need some official certification now. It’s like they won't let a regular person bake from their own kitchen anymore. I just hope we can somehow find a way to wiggle our way into getting that certificate

I assume you'll need a receipt too... honestly, just get the dessert spread at the venue and let your family and friends whip something up at home. It'll all get eaten anyway, don't sweat it.

Carol Richardson15, thanks for clearing that up—I finally get where it fits now... after catching up with my old man, turns out he used to work in that same building where Monica is—he was always grabbing cookies there... passed by it every single time we were in Ann Arbor
thanks again 👍

sure thing
thx 🙏

So, how does one actually get a hold of Monica?
😁
We aren't exactly familiar with the Ann Arbor area.

Everywhere we went to try those cookies, we had to pay up. Nobody gave us free samples—well, except at the state fair.

It really depends on what the younger crowd decides to do.
My sister-in-law grabbed 25kg of sweets just as a joke—and to hand them out to everyone.
We’re going to pass out treats to all the guests, though we might tuck away a little extra gift for those who went above and beyond helping with the wedding, or just for our favorites.