Something Blue Part I: Becky & Ryan’s Wedding

From left to right: Chef Ashley with bride Becky getting-ready selfie; Chef Ashley’s maid-of-honor speech; the wedding party at Lincoln Park Zoo.

When most people hear the word, “caterer,” they think of weddings. It’s the average Joe or Jill’s go-to reference because just about everyone has either been to or been in a wedding.

Weddings boil down to one special day that requires months of preparations and decision-making. When the big day finally arrives, all eyes are on the bride and groom… and the vendors. But for Blue Plate founder and CEO, Jim Horan, weddings don’t evoke thoughts of pressure and nervousness. Rather, he thinks that it’s an honor to be part of these and other life occasions and celebrations.

In the summer of 2018, Blue Plate Pastry Chef Ashley Harriger had not one but two important weddings. In June, she stood up as maid of honor in her friend Becky’s wedding, and in August, she walked down the aisle to celebrate her own nuptials.

Ashley and Becky’s friendship began roughly six years prior in the Blue Plate kitchens that were formerly located on West Van Buren Street. With rolled-up sleeves and flour-dusted hands, they forged a friendship over pastries. Eventually, the two friends shared an apartment in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood and continued to work side-by-side for “a million hours a week,” churning out handmade desserts and other sweet bites. “We worked together, lived together, went out together,” said Chef Ashley. “We were each other’s ‘significant others’ and ‘wing women.'”

One evening after work, Ashley and Becky grabbed drinks at a neighborhood spot. It was that fateful night, with Ashley as a witness, that Becky met Ryan. Fast-forward to June 2018 when Becky and Ryan wed in the courtyard of the Chicago Illuminating Company, with Chef Ashley by their side as maid of honor… and wedding cake baker!

For Chef Ashley, it was a special honor to make a fellow pastry chef’s wedding cake, which–over the span of eight hours–she beat, baked, and frosted in Blue Plate’s kitchens on West Fulton Street. Becky and Ryan chose a vanilla cake with one layer of lemon curd and one layer of raspberry jam that was finished with buttercream frosting. Using a scraping technique, Chef Ashley layered the watercolor-hued buttercream frosting colors.

From left to right: The full wedding cake; a close-up of Chef Ashley’s wedding cake; the groom’s cake.

Seizing on a few spare minutes before the ceremony, Chef Ashley assembled the four-tiered cake in her bridesmaid’s dress in Chicago Illuminating Company’s onsite kitchen. At Becky’s request, Chef Ashley also made a surprise groom’s cake for Ryan featuring his favorite cupcake flavor, chocolate cake with whipped peanut butter filling. A chocolate ganache glaze, buttercream University of Michigan logo, and their last name on the back finished the cake. The couple also offered a mini sweets table by Blue Plate, with one item–the Eton Mess, a traditional English dessert–offering a nod to the bride’s British heritage. This version of Eton Mess included a fruit compote and meringue.

From left to right: The mini sweets table; mini Eton Mess desserts; candy box.

Keep an eye out for Something Blue: Part II with photos and highlights from Chef Ashley’s wedding in mid-August.