Hot take: wedding cookies are better than wedding cake. One thing I learned while planning our wedding was that there are no rules. We don’t like cake, so why spend the money on a wedding cake?

Still. I definitely wanted some kind of dessert for our guests, even if it was a bit more alternative. And the perfect option fell into my lap when my cousin, Jenica Alfano, started a custom sugar cookie bakery! She handmade the most beautiful sugar cookies for our wedding, taking inspiration from our florals and wedding colors, mixed in with individually hand-painted cookie versions of a custom stamp I used on all of the paper goods. They were such a big hit on the wedding day - I’ve heard multiple tales of guests sneaking extras in their purses to-go!

A colorful wedding bouquet — Photo: Gracie Marie Photo | Florals: Blush + Bay

Custom wedding cookies on a wooden display — Photo: Gracie Marie Photo

Custom wedding cookies surrounded by a candy bar at a wedding reception — Photo: Gracie Marie Photo | Venue: Woodlands

I may have the DIY skills when it comes to crafts and design, but Jenica certainly has the talent when it comes to baking and cookie decorating! I wanted to sit down with her and hear about her cookie-making process, how she came up with the name Cookie Thief (so cute!), and what the process was like making our wedding cookies:

What made you want to start The Cookie Thief Bakery?

I'm a nurse as my full time job and last fall I started a new position - I transferred from the Emergency Department to the Medical ICU full-time which meant I lost my seniority and had to go back to nights. I'm terrible at nights and really struggled the last time I was on them because I kept flipping my schedule on my days off and never knew when I should be asleep vs. awake. So my husband recommended that I try to stay up at night on my nights off and not flip my schedule. I struggled because it's hard finding activities to do at night that aren't watching TV or reading. I would fall asleep reading and didn't want to spend my whole life watching TV! I decided I needed a hobby I'd enjoy doing by myself at night and had been following other cookie accounts on Instagram. I wondered how hard they were to do and signed up to take an online class by Kirkies Kookies to learn how to do them and just kinda fell down the rabbit hole. I decided the best way to keep making cookies and not become 500 pounds was to start a business so that I was making cookies for others. I love that it's a creative outlet that wasn't fulfilled by my day job!

How did you come up with the name? It’s so great!

I wanted to incorporate my dog, Pippa, into the name of my bakery because I'm ridiculously obsessed with her (she was in my wedding and everything!). I was having a hard time coming up with something though, and my husband suggested The Cookie Thief Bakery in honor of Pippa since she loves being our shadows in the kitchen and is available for any carbs or meats that are dropped on the floor! (no veggies though!)

Colorful custom cookies for a wedding dessert table

Out of these wedding cookies, which design was the most difficult to do?

Believe it or not but the logo ones were the most challenging. I hand painted those with food coloring mixed with vodka. Your image was projected over the cookie with my projector. It's such a beautiful emblem but very detailed and just took a lot of fine motor skills and concentration!

What is the process for making your cookies?

It's a multi-day process. I make the dough on Day 1 and then roll out, cut, and bake. I usually do the base layer the Day 2 and finish with the details on Day 3. I photograph and package on Day 4. With royal icing there's meringue powder in the frosting which sets and hardens when exposed to air but you have to leave them out to dry for 8-12 hours prior to packaging so that they don't smear on the plastic. Thankfully, by icing the cookie and leaving it on a cookie sheet to dry it seals in the moisture on top and bottom and they really don't dry out at all.

How many cookies do you eat each week? Because if it were me, I’d have at least one per day!

Haha! It used to be way more. I know I'm biased but I think this dough is delicious and makes amazing cookies - what's the point of spending so much time decorating a cookie if it tastes horrible?!? That being said, having done this for almost a year now I'm probably only eating 1-2 cookies a month now because I'm around them all the time! (And my pants thank me for it!)

Do you have any future cookie designs you’re excited to try?

I get stupidly excited about pretty much every order I get because they're all so different! However, I really want to do a Schitt's Creek themed set and more florals. Your wedding was the first time I did florals like that and they were so fun! I'd be totally fine just recreating your cookies, with slightly different spins so every order is unique, forever!

Check out all the latest cookie designs cooked up by Jenica by following @thecookiethiefbakery and if you live in Colorado and want to order custom cookies of your own, visit The Cookie Thief Bakery website.