Happy Halloween and Happy Wedding Day!

Bright, dark, goth, elegant, and funky....all sorts of cool things to call this stylish wedding cake. Thanks Valene, I really enjoyed designing your wedding cake. Congratulations!

***UPDATE!***
What a pleasure to find this in my in box this morning:

"The cake was gorgeous and was a huge hit at the reception.
I really do appreciate the time and effort you put into it.
It looks exactly like the drawing you did of it.
Everything was amazing!
I will recommend you to everyone."

Bye October!

This month has flown by! Lots of great wedding cakes, lots of great clients, and lots of new business came in for the coming months! Here are pics of the two weddings I had the great pleasure of making cakes for. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Martinez, and Mr. and Mrs. Topper! Thanks for allowing me to be a part of your special day!

This is the wedding cake created for Kyrstin, whose outdoor evening reception was candlelit and romantic. She provided the florals and topper, which really wasn't a topper, but a cute little bride and groom that perched on the middle tier of her cake. Covered and accented with my delicious fondant, this is probably my favorite wedding cake to date, as it is classically detailed, and just screams ROMANCE!

This was a really fun cake to create. I suggested hand made sugar soccer balls in the bride's colors of gold, cranberry and ivory, and it was decided to just do gold, with cranberry as a ribbon wrap around the base plate. I am glad we went that route, as the gold highlights on the soccer ball gave a glow that made this fun, whimsical, and all about the bride and her love of soccer! Offset meringue butter cream square tiers allowed the soccer balls to look randomly placed and a bit off kilter like someone just lobbed them up onto the cake. Thanks Shane and Rocky for the opportunity to create something really special for you!

Halloween night brings on gothic romance with Valene's three tier red and black mixed shape wedding cake. It will feature intricate hand twisted scroll details and lots of stripes and beads in red and black. Really looking forward to working on this funky wedding cake! Davena and Elizabeth are on deck with weddings on the first weekend of November, and lots more to come after that!

Have a great week everyone, and check back Halloween night for pics of Valene's awesome wedding cake!

New wedding cake wrecks!

Ch-ch-check it out! Jen has posted some "great" new 'wedding cakes gone wrong' on her blog, Cake Wrecks! Sad and funny, and unfortunately, all too common nowadays. Brides, do your homework, don't let this happen to you!
See the wreckage here!

Haaaapppy Friday!

What a great week! Wedding season is in full swing, and begins today with a beautiful pure white 3 tiered fondant cake for Chelsi! She knew exactly what she wanted for her cake, and gave me ribbon to match the wedding bouquets and a beautiful silver monogram topper. I've had these safely tucked away for quite awhile now, and am very happy to finally bring them out for her big day! Some fresh gerbera daisies finishes off the cake in a really cute fashion. Wow! What a nice venue-poolside at the Q.

I've received some inquiries about the next tasting date, or rather when it will be and I confess, I do not know yet. Tentative plans are for early December, but possibly earlier....maybe later. I'll do my best to nail this down very soon, don't worry.

Some new cake toys arrived in the post yesterday, and I'm ready to settle into the studio late tonight and have some fun! Pearl molds, snowflake cutters, new metallic air brush colors, the final pieces to my extensive letter cutter sets....lots of stuff to play with! And, several hundred little purple sugar paste tiles to cut for next weekend! Have a great Friday, and see ya' next week.

Oh, one more thing. Check this out: One of the few things I will never make. Yeeeeeah, could it be any creepier? Yuch!

Happy Monday!

After a nice cake free weekend and some great play time with Grady and Mike....we're off and running! I'm really excited about Chelsi's wedding this Friday, as she came to me nearly a year ago to plan her wedding cake. And a big welcome to Catherine who is getting married in late December! We're creating a fondant covered beauty for her in shimmery silver snowflakes....it will be delightful.

Here is the only thing I worked on this weekend, a dummy cake preview for a "long distance" client next winter. Yes, next winter! It's never too early to secure your date.

Interesting Advice!

I was directed to an "interesting" internet article this morning regarding cutting costs on wedding cake. I don't know anyone is isn't on a budget these days, and I am all up for saving a buck whenever I can, so check out some of the highlights from the article, and my thoughts and suggestions as well!

When discussing flavors/fillings/icings....
"Nixing fancy or multiple fillings is one of the easiest cheap wedding cake ideas there is."
I give brides free reign over fillings and frostings when they place their orders with me. Let's say you are having a three tier cake; you can have up to 9 different fillings in that cake if you want! Extra cost?

$0. Z-E-R-O. Really. Next!

When discussing square and round shaped cakes....
"Square cakes versus round will feed more people per tier, but is more labor intensive as the sides have to be "built up" and sharpened in order to create the square shape."
Square cakes absolutely feed more people, no doubt about it. I would imagine though, that the only decorators out there that charge more for a square cake, are ones that don't have a good system down, or the experience to get them sharp and straight in a decent amount of time. Well, I do. So no, you would never get charged more per serving for ordering a square cake. That's just plain ridiculous. Next!

Charging by the cake?
"If you can find a baker willing to charge by the cake rather than the serving, you can get much more cake for your dollar by going with the square."
Again, square cakes do have more servings. But cakes are charged on a per serving basis, not according to the shape of the pan it was baked in. The only appropriate deviation from this pricing system would be carved and 3-D cakes, where the cost primarily involved is in the labor and detailing. Next!

Speaking of top tiers....
"Serve the top tier!! Did you know that when you give your headcount to your baker, he does NOT include the top tier in that count?!"
I absolutely include the top tier when quoting a wedding cake. I don't want to charge you for cake that isn't going to be consumed on the night of your reception. If you want extra cake to freeze for a whole year, no problem, I'll make you an extra one! But most people take me up on my offer for a FREE 4" anniversary cake made fresh for you on your 1st anniversary. Next!

Ahhhhh, that dreaded nasty fondant!
"It's extremely labor intensive on top of being the 2nd layer of icing, therefore significantly more expensive (around 40% more) and it tastes about as good as an old shoe."
I only suggest fondant when the design you want dictates that it be used. Nothing worse than seeing a cake with a bunch of splooshy buttercream details that probably looked awesome on the inspiration cake, because they were....made of fondant! And my fondant is absolutely delicious. I'm not surprised anymore when brides who taste it gush over how wonderful the flavor and texture are, and how the difference is night and day from other samples they've had. Price difference? I'm not going to nail down such a general figure as above, but it is typically 50 cents more per serving. I don't think that even comes close to 40%. Next!

Discussing fresh flowers as a simple way to jazz up a cake:
"It was actually very beautiful as is, but she took a few hydrangeas to place on top of her cake, and it was stunning!"
Guess what? Hydrangeas are a toxic flower and shouldn't be placed on your cake unless you have a very strong barrier between them and your icing. Which I rarely see anyone do. Also, is your decorator going to trim, wash, and wrap the stems of your flowers before placing them on your cake, ensuring that no sap or bleach leaks into your cake? I worked in a florist shop, I can tell you what collects in those buckets.

And my favorite one of all. Trust me, this is word for word from the article, no elaborations or exaggerations added. Hmmm. I barely have words for it. Not!
"Lie to your baker. He doesn't need to know it's a cake for a wedding! When the word "wedding" is mentioned, the price automatically goes up - and this goes for any vendor or professional you are dealing with. Tell your baker it's an anniversary cake, celebration cake, Arbor Day cake, TGIF cake, etc. etc. etc. It doesn't matter. Just don't mention wedding, if at all humanly possible."
It matters not to me whether it is a wedding cake, an anniversary cake, or a baby shower cake. The recipes, the equipment used, the attention to detail remain the same. I don't charge more because you say the word wedding. Ever. The only things that affect pricing are servings needed, and the level of design. Simple as that. Have a great weekend everybody!