PittsburghMagazine.com - “Beyond the Cookie Table” Talia Tonti and Zac Albright
Bakery: Debbie’s Deluxe Cookies and Cakes, Bride’s MotherReception Venue: J Verno Studios
Photographer: Rachel Rowland Photography
On top of the 5,000 cookies Talia Tonti’s mother made for Talia’s cookie table, she also made a six-tier white cake with buttercream and raspberry filling and candied almonds. Special for the bride’s gluten-free diet, the top layer was made gluten-free for the cutting of the cake tradition. The third layer of the cake was a gold, geometrical frame and the other layers stuck to the theme with gold, geometric patterns painted over the white frosting.
“I did not want my cake to look like a typical wedding cake. It had to stand out and be different, and my mom succeeded”, says Talia.
Wedding Cookie Table Contest Winner
It’s not uncommon for a bride’s mother to make cookies for her daughter’s wedding. It’s less common for her to make 7,200 of them.As the owner of Debbie’s Deluxe Cookies and Cakes based in Cecil Township, Talia Tonti’s mother, Debbie Tonti, was well-equipped for the task. But she also was thrilled by the prospect.
“She’s been doing this my entire life — making wedding cakes and doing other people’s weddings for as long as I can remember. My husband and I had been together for 14 years, so she was super excited to finally make a table for us and make it the best anyone has ever seen,” says Talia, who married Zac Albright on April 13, 2019 at J. Verno Studios on the South Side.
The decision process on what cookies to include on the table was simple.
“Basically, I said, ‘Whatever you want to do,’ and she took on this challenge and she put every single cookie she has ever made in the past on the table,” says Talia.
With 50 different cookie recipes in her repertoire, Debbie covered the table with a variety of options, including some that were gluten-free for Talia and a few of her guests. Talia’s favorite was her mother’s peanut butter balls.
Talia and Zac have lived in Los Angeles for 10 years so many of their guests were from California. For their West Coast guests, Talia and her mother designed a sign detailing the story of the cookie table tradition. “They don’t have the tradition there, so no one had any idea what it was. When they showed up to the reception and saw it, they thought it was crazy,” says Talia.
Article Source: https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/made-with-love-our-cookie-table-contest-winner/
PHOTOS BY RACHEL ROWLAND PHOTOGRAPHY