Fourteen days, 18 pounds of butter, 13 different varieties = 800 cookies.
(I lost track of how many pounds of brown sugar, white sugar, flour and eggs)
I have to admit it took me a while to get on board when my son and bride-to-be informed me they wanted milk and cookies served at their wedding reception. Especially when it heavily involved ME!
“Can’t you just make the cookies, Mom”?
I did, about 800 to be exact. My friend…my dear friend, Sue, baked 100 of her fabulous homemade Oreo cookies and I ordered about 200 more from a local bakery. Just to help with the “overload” my mind was
feeling at the time. Yes. I did freeze them all.
Emily wanted a “Shabby Chic” feeling to her garden wedding.
I searched antique and consignment shops for 3 months looking for fun baskets and platters to display the cookies in. The shopping was the fun part.
Bride and Groom insisted on good ole’ oreo’s.
They were not the best seller. I had most of them left over. My grandson was happy to take the off of my hands.
Sue’s Oreo’s. She told me they would be the first cookie to go…she was right.
Guests were starting to arrive while I was trying to snap a few photo’s. I was rushed. Extremely rushed.
Cellophane bag was removed after taking this photo.
These cute little things are called paper lollies here is a link on how to make them. I am not a crafty person what so ever. However, I did manage to make these, which means they are super simple.
My son created these cute labels for the bags that we put the ginger snaps in. The grooms favorite cookie.
Ginger cookies recipe just click.
I put the paper lollies in half pint milk bottles then filled them with sugar to hold the lollies in place.
My great-grandfather had a dairy farm near Park City, UT. My father worked on that farm and had
stashed some fabulous antique milk bottles away that we used in our display for the lollies and a few
flower arrangements.
Aunt Erma’s famous Chocolate Drop Cookies.
Recipe can be found here.
I threw in walnuts just for my family. I’m so proud of them for loving nuts. I’m even more grateful that none of my children have nut allergies.
Sorry Spen.
Future blog post for “The best Oatmeal cookies”.
I need to blog these delights as well.
Mexican wedding cookies and Black & Whites disappeared quickly.
My favorite part of the display was the milk. I was lucky enough to find about 100 half pint milk bottles at a local consignment shop. So dang cute I can’t stand it! They even came in their wooden crates. I’m pretty sure they had been sitting in a barn somewhere, by their looks. They were pretty dirty. I soaked them for days then scrubs them and put them through the dishwasher a couple of times. Viola! Darling don’t you think?
The milk bottles were NOT intended to be a souvenir. For some reason I didn’t think that anyone would keep my bottles. For the individuals that carted off my milk bottles, I would really like them back.
They were promised to someone else for their wedding and they are not easily replaced. Please return them. Geeeeez!
I purchased the milk dispensers from Pottery Barn. We served regular, strawberry and chocolate milk.
Just as guests started to arrive the shelve I had placed the milk bottles on started to tip.
Plan B. Place the serving jugs on the table. Oh well.
Love the paper straws.
Strawberry milk was the #1 choice.
The brides family also had a soft serve ice cream machine. I didn’t have the time to get photo’s of the ice cream display. Ugh! It was so cute.
The photo was taken by a friend. I wanted to show the oak hutch with the paper ice cream cups. Son #2 designed a wrap for the cups. We cut out 350 and taped them onto the plain paper cups. They were so cute. I wish I had a close up. Inside the drawers were the cutest wooden spoons.
Happy Mom. Happy Son. Great day.
(disregard girls doing the “vogue” in back ground – so funny)
You did such a nice job! Everything looked amazing!! I love the tip for keeping the milk cold, that is brilliant. I'm trying to do this on a much smaller scale for a graduation party. I'm in the area, and wondered if have you seen anyplace that is selling milk bottles because they have become more popular. Thanks, Briana
Thank you so much. It seems like I have seen them all over, but the last place I noticed them was Zurchers, but I'm sure they are overpriced there. This is what they sell at Zurchers: https://www.amazon.com/Event-CircleSquare-Vintage-Bottles-12-pack/dp/B01EUQGJ5Y/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1493333162&sr=8-8&keywords=8+oz+milk+bottles
I think Amazon might be higher priced. It seems like Zurchers was $1.30 each???
Michaels has them for $9.99 for 6 bottles with lids.
I found these at Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Estilo-Dairy-Reusable-Glass-Milk-Bottles-With-Straws-And-Metal-Screw-On-Lids-10-5-oz-Set-of-6/102742558
I hope this helps in your search. Best of luck to you.
what was the tip for keeping the milk cold??? Ive been reading all through your blog and cant find it…could you advice me?
I froze bottles of water and floated them in the milk. The milk stayed nice and cold.
Could it all be any more perfect!? So beautifully done! My daughter is in love with this whole idea! I bet you never thought you would be in the milk bottle renting business, but I wondered if they are still a possibility? We live in Logan and will be having a wedding the beginning of August. Thank you so much and thank you for sharing all your ideas! This is our first wedding so I appreciate all the tips!
Hi Karen, I'm so sorry I have stopped lending them out. Too many people love to keep the bottles as a favor from the wedding. They are vintage and I can't replace them. I was down a crate of bottles, I had a drink dispenser come back broken and I stressed over them too much. So I decided that I wanted to keep them in the condition they were in. If I can help in any other way, please let me know.
Where did you get your bags for your ginger snap cookies?
I did a google search for "glassine bags" I ordered a bulk box of about 1,000. It was much cheaper. I'm sorry I don't have the link. It's been about 3 years.
Ha ha…my kids worst nightmare…another Janet Barton! Send me more info through "contact me" at the top of the page and we can connect regarding the bottles.
I found your post and we love this idea and are using it as a template for my daughter's wedding in April. I live in Utah county and I am wondering if you still loan out the small milk bottles? BTW in looking at your blog and Google+, I believe we share the same name. Thanks, Janet Barton
The cookies are looking delicious !!
milk bottles
mini milk bottles
Hi! My son is graduating from high school this month and loves Oreos. We are having a graduation open house (I hear its a mid-west thing, we live in Michigan) He wants an "Oreo bar" and I have been trying to come up with ideas for displays, etc. Thank you so much for this blog! You have given me some great ideas, and relieved a little stress!!
You are such a good mom. What a fun idea. Good luck.
Where did you find your 3 tiered stand? Love love this whole set up! Thinking I'm going to do this for my daughters 3rd birthday. I just purchased the mason jar drink dispensers from Kirkland's.
Hi Meg, I found the 3 tiered stand at a local store in Salt Lake City called Deseret Book. Oddly they were using it as a displa. Luckily it had a price tag on it and they sold it to me. It's quite large. I love it. This is such a fun party to do. I hope you have a great party for your little girl.
I think we started out with 15 gallons of milk for 350 people. 1/3 of each flavor. The bride was purchasing the milk so I'm not sure if they had to send someone for more milk or not. We did have left over milk. We just planned on 8 oz per person.
What an adorable idea.i think we wil be doibg this for my daughters wedding. I was wondering how far in advance you stsrted baking te cookies.
I started baking two weeks before the wedding. They froze beautifully. Good luck.
Hi Janet…just came upon this site..very cool..solved the cold milk dilemma..don't know if anyone has mentioned a solution to the milk bottle dilemma but I served milk shakes this past 4th of July to watch fireworks..I have saved all my Starbucks Frap bottles over the years for cute vases to use in multiples and they were perfect for single serving milk shakes as well..yes making the milk shakes ready to serve was sort of a pain but only had to serve 15 people.
I love the idea it great. I was coping the giant Oreo reciepe down but for the filling the amount of butter is missing so could you let me know. Thanks Tonya
Ooops. So sorry about that. Add 1/2 cup softened butter to the filling. I'm so glad you caught that error. Thanks.
We love your reception ideas so much, we're stealing them all for my brother in laws reception in September. Would you consider renting out your milk dispensers? The reception is in Sandy.
Perhaps. Do you want just the milk dispensers or the milk bottles too? Unfortunately people like to keep the milk bottles, so I hesitate lending those out anymore. I'm just loosing too many and I can't replace them. I am willing to lend out the dispensers. Shoot me an email at simplysogood@hotmail.com and we'll chat.
Hi Janet, What a fantastic job you did! It's all about the details and you certainly saw to every detail! We've been planning our daughter's wedding and are serving milk and cookies and all of your hard work and great photos are so helpful! I have searched hi and low for milk bottles (first choice old, but would even settle for new) and then came across your blog. Any chance you'd consider lending or renting? We live locally so i know that part is not a problem!
Thank you for your kind comment. It was a fun wedding and so memorable with the milk and cookies theme. The only hesitation that I have lending out the bottles is that people seem to think they are "favors" and take them home. I keep loosing the bottles and I can't find replacements for them. Well, I can find replacements, but they cost about $10-20 each at antique stores. If you can find a way to keep people from taking them, then you may use them. My nieces friend used them for her wedding and my brother was standing guard at the door looking for people taking the bottles home. He nabbed about 20 that people were trying to take. I'm almost down a full crate from lending them out. Let me know if you have a plan. Good luck on that wedding. My daughter is getting married Aug. 24th and I'm seriously going crazy. So much to be done.
Janet – this is beautiful and I'm totally stealing many of your ideas. Also, great job on the "effortless" look – that takes more work than most people realize. You can find very cute 4.5" glass "vintage look" milk bottles at Save-On-Crafts. Here is the link: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/milkbottles2.html
They are $1 each if you order 6 or more. They are not always in stock and tend to sell out fast. I've seen the same bottle on other sites for much more. I just ordered some this morning for my son's wedding.
Great tip. Thank you so much. good luck on that wedding.
This is such an incredible feat! First of all, the idea of a cookie wedding is brilliant. Secondly (and most importantly) your execution is impeccable! Love this!
Wow this all looks incredible, it must have took so much hard work but it's definitely worth it. I would love something like this for my wedding, may have to get several family members and friends to help me out to achieve something near this though!
Thank you for your comment. Yes you will definitely need help from friends. Anything to relieve stress on your great day.
Wow!! How amazing!! Such a great idea!! Where did you get the 3 dispenser containers for your milk? They look like big mason jars – love them! What a blessing you are to your son and daughter in law!! A beautiful act of love. Andrea
I purchased the milk dispensers from Pottery Barn last summer. They are still available and on occasion go on sale. thank you for your kind comment.
So adorable. My daughter is having a cookie bar at her wedding in October. Can I ask did you serve a dinner also. My daughter is insistant that we not need to serve a dinner she just wants a cookie bar. Which is ok with me but I feel a little guilty not feeding everyone.
This is just adorable! What a fantastic theme. As an avid cookie-baker, this would be right up my alley. So impressed!
This is the best execution of this theme I have ever seen! Simple and heartfelt, yet not simple at all, I LOVE it and so appreciate all of your tips and ideas. The frozen water bottles in the milk (GENIUS!) So from someone who has staged quite a few events, I know how much work goes into making something look this lovely and effortless, I am in awe and you rock!! Huge congratulations on your sons marriage too 🙂 Andrea
This is about the nicest thing anyone has every said to me. Thank you I really appreciate your comment. It was so much fun, but a ton of work. It's nice to year from a professional.
Absolutely stunning job! And yes, the first thing I noticed was the girls in the background and I thought "what the what?!?" LOL just darling…congrats!
Thank you, thank you.
Did you freeze the cookies prior to baking or after? I'm hoping to use this theme with my daughters upcoming grad party and want to have as much done in advance as I can.
First I baked the cookies then put them in plastic containers that I bought from Walmart. I started 2 weeks prior to the wedding. All of the cookies froze beautifully. Good luck. Sounds like a great graduation idea.
Did you freeze the milk? or did you wait until the last possible second to put it out?
I did wait until the last second to put the milk in the containers, but I, also, froze bottles of water and I just dropped them into the milk. I wanted to keep it super cold without diluting the milk. It worked!
Have you shared Sue's Oreo Cookie recipe? I am doing a Milk & Cookie Graduation Open House for my daughter. I love all of your ideas… I will be using them in Alabama!!
What a fun idea. I wish I lived in Alabama so you could use my milk bottles! Here is the Oreo cookie recipe: Super easy. You can make them as big as you want. I just use ice cream scoops to measure out the dough. I have made mini ones and huge ones. Good luck.
Giant Oreo Cookies
2 packages Devils Food Cake Mix
4 eggs
2/3 cup oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix until well blended. roll cookie dough into 1 1/2 inch balls (I just use an ice cream scoop). Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Let cookies cool 5 minutes on pan,
the remove to cooling rack.
Filling:
1- 8 ounce package cream cheese softened
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
In medium mixing bowl blend cream cheese and butter. mix in powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread filling over the bottom side of a cooled cookies, then place another cookie over the filling, sandwiching the filling between the
the filling between the cookies.
Ooops forgot an ingredient:
Add 1/2 cup softened butter to the filling.
My daughter got engaged last night and is getting married on Dec 15. We live in Stansbury but my son lives in Provo. She has looked at your post for weeks and loves it. Her fiancee grew up on a diary farm and wants to do cookies and milk. I would love a copy of all your recipes and would love to know if I could rent your bottles and the milk containers. What a darling idea. Did you make the cookies ahead of time and freeze them. Any tips would be greatly appreciate.
thanks so much
Keeping the milk cold was one of my greatest concerns as well. Nothing is worse than warm milk. I used frozen water bottles. I wanted something very cold without freezing or diluting the milk. They worked great. I froze several bottles both 16-oz and 8-oz. I only needed 1 16-oz frozen bottle in each dispenser. Work great and the milk was very cold.
My daughter is getting married in October and we are serving milk and cookies along with other things. How did you keep the milk cold? This is one of our number one concerns.
Congratulations! I have a daughter getting married sometime this summer myself. Send me your e-mail address and I'll forward whatever info that I have. Hopefully I can help.
we saw the link on pinterest last night and absolutely have been dreaming about it since! My daughter had planned her imaginary wedding reception last summer and it had to do with serving cookies! She at that time had no man. Well ,things changed and fast, so it looks like maybe June. I want to copy your ideas, I live in Centerville so have access to the same stores. I have a few questions, one: cookies-what were the favorite and maybe what would you not do. two: how did you keep the milk cold in the glass jars. three: did you have tables for the guests to sit at and if so what was your center pieces. You seem to be such a nice person to share all of your ideas. Thanks so much
I do lend things out. BUT you'll have to give me one of your twins if any of the bottles turn up missing. I have found them very expensive to replace. Give me your email address and we can connect and you can tell me who your mother-in-law is. You can use whatever I have. Sounds like a fun party.
Ok…I'm just dying over this!! It's incredible…every single detail! I wish I could envision these things on my own! I want to do a milk and cookie bar for my twin's first birthday. Do you lend things out to strangers?:) I read the part about how you found the milk bottles at a consignment shop so I went looking last night and had no luck! I live in Pleasant Grove…my mother in law lives in Sandy..maybe you know her?
I found them at a consignment shop in Salt Lake City. What a find! They were about $2.50 each, which is a great deal, if you have checked into buying them. I'm happy to lend them out, if you happen to live in Utah.
Congrats on that new grand baby. They are so much fun. We are expecting grandbaby #4 in June. We are so excited.
You have such creative ideas!!! I am preparing a baby shower for my daughter who will is expecting our first grandbaby in July. Question for you…where did you get the individual glass milk bottles? They are adorable!
Utah people, indeed! 😉 thanks for your help!
Hi Caitlin, We purchased milk at a local grocery store. I didn't like the chocolate milk I would go for Costco on the Chocolate milk and we used 2% milk. I purchased the liquid Nestle strawberry milk mix and we made our own strawberry milk. It was much cheaper that way. We just used napkins. Small plates would have been a good idea, but I had noticed at a friends wedding that people started to cart of platefuls of cookies and cupcakes. So tacky , but they do it. We went with napkins simply for that reason. I didn't want to run out of cookies. Is it Utah people or what???? Good luck on the wedding.
Can I ask you how many gallons of milk you used. We are doing this for my daughter's wedding in April and I'm trying to get a ballpark amount.
Wow, what a fun reception! My sister is getting married in Provo in just two weeks and is doing milk amd cookies at the reception. Can i ask where you purchased your flavored milks and what did you serve your cookies on…plates? Thanks so much!!!
hahaha…thank you so much. I'll will pass this on to Sue for sure. you have made my day. I really wish I could get some use out of all this stuff. I would love to lend it out to someone. I can hold on to it for 10 years 🙂
Oh my stars! You are amazing! Your son is amazing! Your new daughter in law is amazing! Your friend Sue is amazing! What an amazing, amazing, amazing idea! I love it! My daughter is only 10, but I'm going to remember this for when she gets married in at least a decade.
Love this so much and some of your recipes I signed on to follow!
Thanks janet..i am really happy that you visited my blog…Happy to hear that you love indian foods a lot…
Thank you, Aarthi. I have meant to tell you how much I have loved your blog. We love Indian food. My son and I have tried some of your recipes and love them. You are the queen of Indian cooking.
WOW…THIS LOOKS SO YUMMY…I LOVE EACH SINGLE PICTURE…LUCKY SON…HMM…
…and my last!
Thanks, Emily. My first DIY wedding.
Oh my goodness! Everything looks amAzing! Congrats on a fantastic job!
Thanks, Amanda. Congratulations on that boy your are expecting.
gorgeous reception! A feast for the eye as well as the stomach. . . what a great mom to do such a lot of work for her son. I can't wait to get the recipes for those cookies. Yum!
I guess all of the work does pay off. Thank you for your kind remarks.
Suddenly I wish I was not married just so I could rope my mother into this idea! How wonderful… Certainly a memory to last a lifetime and a theme that can be carried through their anniversaries and life events… Good job!
What a great mom and beautiful reception!
It was great to see you, Amy. So sad about the cookies.
I was so, Ann Marie, so very sad that you were in England instead of Utah. If I had the choice of England or Utah…well I wouldn't have been at the wedding either. Welcome home.
It really was the prettiest reception ever! Great job Janet! We were in such a hurry that i didn't even grab any cookies 🙁 They looked delicious though!
oh ya, congrats to Matt!!!
I heard about the milk&cookies wedding, and was sad, very sad to miss it. BUT I had no idea YOU made all the cookies. Now I am weeping that I wasn't back in Utah in time for this. 🙁
COOKIES IS <3