Mad for Macarons

I love macarons. Specifically Ladurée macarons, but any will do really so long as they are made with care. In another blogger bee life, I would have loved to have blogged as Miss Macarons from the tea party generation. Macarons were present on the day Mr. C and I got engaged. We were at Versailles and of course Ladurée has a small boutique inside the palace to satiate your sweet tooth. There is nothing more decadent than sitting on the beautifully manicured grounds of Versailles or the whimsical gardens of the Queen's Hamlet and munching on some dainty little macarons in all the colors you know Marie Antoinette herself would have loved. I remember my first visit to Versailles in the summer of 2011. I was there with my stepsister and I knew I had to try the macarons I had seen photos of so often online. I sat on the lawn munching away thing, "This is the life." My stepsister, however, was not as impressed. Well, more for me! 

I knew I wanted to try and have macarons present at our wedding, either as favors, features of our dessert table, or both. Sadly I just didn't know if it would be possible. I'm not as hardcore as Mrs. Perfume in thinking that I could bake my own. Not only do I already have a lot on my plate right now, we also don't own a stand mixer which I feel is a pretty crucial tool in the creation of macarons. I also didn't know of any shop or bakery in Athens that sells them. 

My first taste of macarons at Versailles.

Luckily a friend of mine in Atlanta discovered a Korean bakery called Mozart that makes and sells their own macarons. Mr. C and I ended up paying the bakery a visit for a little test taste and they were certainly delicious! It doesn't hurt that the bakery is next to a really awesome Japanese ramen restaurant. I miss real, authentic Japanese ramen so much. 

I put Mr. C in charge of contacting the bakery and obtaining quotes. He even drove into Atlanta a few Saturdays ago and placed the order, but not before picking up eight macaron samples so I could pick which colors and flavors we would purchase. He called the baker back with our decision and paid for the order over the phone. What an awesome man I am marrying! I'm just glad that the favors are taken care of and that I will have mounds of gorgeous macarons at our wedding! 

Right now each guest will receive their own individually wrapped macaron while we will have extra macarons on the cake table as decoration. I bought a few domed glass platters at thrift stores and antique shops so that we could stack them and make it look like a scene straight from Sophia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette. 

This is how they will be wrapped and presented for guests -- one sitting on each place setting. We will add our own flair with hand-stamped thank you tags.  I'm so glad that not only will we have edible favors (supposedly the most popular) but also favors that really reflect our theme! 


What are you using as favors at your wedding?