Brides today choose many different types of wedding desserts — not just wedding cake.

Piping hot donuts, banana pudding shots, cookies and milk are just a few items that we have served recently in lieu of wedding or grooms cake.

See the Mini Dessert Video for other ideas.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Espresso Beans

Of course CUPCAKES are still very fashionable:)

Get More Brides Symposium

With Special Guest, Rick Brewer
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
7-9 PM - $10 per person
(Networking begins at 6 PM, Refreshments Provided)
1418 Church Street
Nashville, TN 37203
Rick Brewer is no stranger to the Wedding Industry. Rick has been in the wedding industry
since 1992 and has accomplished the following:

•  Worked one on one with over 300 Brides and their Weddings as a Wedding Vendor

•  Worked one on one with over 700 Wedding vendors from all facets of the industry

•  Authored “Seven steps to a Stress Free Wedding”

•  Has successfully published 2 Wedding magazines and 2 Wedding Websites

•  Been a Keynote speaker to groups such as Association of Bridal Consultants and other wedding

professional organizations

•  Is the author of the “Get More Brides Business Success Kit”

•  Has produced numerous Bridal Shows

Rick has worked one on one with some of the Great Wedding businesses as well as the not so great and has
formulated what works and what does not work with regards to marketing and sales in the Wedding
Industry.
“Hi, I’m Rick Brewer. You cannot work closely with the best, the worst and all levels of in between of
Wedding Professionals and not see the trends of what works and what doesn’t work in the wedding Industry.
I have had a unique position of getting to see inside the successes as well as implementing strategies which
worked with these professionals. Dedicated to your Success!”
This great event is being brought to you by The Music City ADJA

For more information, call Kelly Farmer @ 615-804-3397
The Music City ADJA

INFORMATION FOR RELEASE

Contact:    Kellie Bryson

Main Event Productions

615.321.2384

MAIN EVENT PRODUCTIONS PROVIDES PRICELESS EVENTS FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES

Nashville, Tenn., January 27, 2010– Main Event Productions is awarding local non-profit groups a free party in the year of 2010.  The events will be held downtown at Events at 1418, a beautiful event space operated under Main Event Productions.

Main Event Productions has deemed 2010 the Year of Giving to honor many organizations for their hard work and efforts to make Nashville a better place to live and work.  A Catered Affair, along with Events at 1418, will provide an entire evening of free food and entertainment for the local businesses.

Many applications for the charitable occasions were accepted and 8 parties will be given.  Local non-profit organizations receiving the complimentary Year of Giving include YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee, Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Middle TN, Tennessee Voices for Children, and many more.

A Catered Affair has become one of the most recognized caterers in the Middle Tennessee area, offering a wide range of menu options.  A Catered Affair, along with Events at 1418 and The Bake Shoppe, make up the up-and-coming Main Event Productions located in the heart of Nashville.  Anything needed for an event can be done in one stop at Main Event Productions with our helpful team.

We are pleased to announce the Year of Giving and hope that it will be a long-established tradition in the years to come.

2009 seemed to bring a fun new trend for many of our wedding receptions - pre-set salads with buffet service.  Many wedding clients sometimes go back and forth on what type of service to provide for their guests’ dinner.  It is a myth that a plated meal is always less / always more expensive than a buffet service — but more about that in another post.

One way to have a higher level of service without breaking the bank is to offer a pre-set salad followed by a dinner buffet.

Pre-set salad can be in a vessel - like a martini glass as well as a traditional plate.

Lobster Martini Salad

Caesar Salad Martini

Hearts of Palm Salad by A Catered Affair

Avocado, Spinach and Daikon Radish Salad

Pre-set Salads

Garden Salad with Beet Curls

A pre-set salad allows the guests to find their seat and relax for a moment.  Once they have finished their salad, they are then welcome to mingle and visit or go straight to the buffet - they choose how to complete their meal.  The client does not have to incur lots of additional fees for additional waitstaff - because it is preset.

Obviously, this level of service is less formal than a fully served meal but a little more service than just a buffet.  We want to help our clients find the best balance for their guests and their budget.

Look what the chefs are up to today

Pink Pasta

So Chef Gary and Chef Scott are experimenting for an upcoming tasting party we are hosting.  Leftover beets grated up is what they used to color the pasta.  What a beautiful and eye catching dish!

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

The Bake Shoppe is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that The Bake Shoppe is among the very best for beautiful pastries and cakes within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at, or visit our website

Tags: awards, wedding cake

Events @ 1418 is THE location for many special events.  Last month we had one of our very supportive clients (our very first non-family client!)  in for their annual holiday party.  Each year we strive to help them have a different experience.  If you scroll way down, you can see photos from their cooking class dinner.

This year we produced dinner and a murder.  The murder was set during the 1920’s and the guests really got into their roles - what great costumes!

Phil Thornton with Phindy Studios captured the fun and here are the images for you to see.

Murder Mystery Costumes in Nashville

Themed Decor for Dinner and a Murder

Gangsters in Events@1418

Important documents helped the guests play the game

Appetizers from A Catered Affair

Bartender plays his part in the murder mystery

Plated Salad

Evidence to help solve the murder

Invitation document for the dinner party

More great costumes

Team of A Catered Affair facilitated the guest activities and played along

The guests met at the host’s home in Murfreesboro where Judi ( see above photo) provided appetizers but her main role was to get the guests into their respective roles.  Little did we know just how little prompting would be needed to get these party people going.  During the coach drive to Event@1418, guests continued to role play and visit.

Upon arrival guests received passed hors d’ oeuvres and cocktails while moving to the next stage of the “game”.  The murder happened before the main course was served and much sleuthing then ensued.

I won’t tell “who done it” — book your own Murder Mystery at Events@1418 and let the catering team take care of your next event!

We had the pleasure to be a part of Weddings the Bridal Show this past weekend at The Nashville Convention Center.  Last week we showed a sneak peek of the new wedding cake designs that our decorating team created for the show.  Here are the final results.

We designed these new cakes off of beautiful wedding dresses from Arzelle’s . These dresses gave us inspiration to show many different ways that you can incorporate your dream wedding dress into your dream wedding cake!

Here is a look at all the new cake designs  we took to the show!  a BIG thank you to Kristyn Hogan for taking these photos

Cake inspired by pleated wedding dress with a silver broach.

This beautiful leaf pattern was inspired by a lace overlay that was featured on a dress at Arzelle's

This cake was inspired by a dress with beautiful flowers and drapes that flowed down the side of the dress.This breath taking design was hand piped to replicate the detailed lace on the elegant wedding dress.

This breath-taking design was hand piped to replicate the detailed lace on the elegant wedding dress.

This cake was inspired by 2 dresses that we loved and wanted to create a design that brought several patterns together as one.

Off premise catering is fun, exciting and challenging.  The Parthenon is a great venue to host an event.  One special perk is that the rental fee is tax deductible - what a great way to save money just by booking an event!

A Catered Affair has helped many clients produce wonderful parties at The Parthenon.  Please enjoy this short video clip of setup to party time.  This particular event was produced with Destination Nashville - one of Nashville’s premier event companies — they are a very successful, nationally recognized destination management company located right here in Nashville.

Buffet Station

Clients want different service styles for different types of events.  Sometimes spacing in the event venue does not allow for the square footage needed for buffets and their footprints - and plated meal service is necessary.  Sometimes the client wants to share a higher level of service with their guests - and plated meal service is necessary.

table setting for dinner service

Plated Dessert Ideas by A Catered Affair

getting ready for plated dinner service

Buffet dinner parties can be very versatile — allowing for a wide range of experiences.  Guests can enjoy thematic events, specialty buffet stations and interactive food experiences.

Sandwich Station for a Tiffany Blue Sweet 16 Event

Creole Catfish Appetizer Station