How to Choose Your Wedding Cake

Submitted by Margorie Chambers; Cake Art 

Most people who come to me have never ordered a wedding cake before.  Each new client faces the same dilemma; where do I start? 

The popularity of cake decorating shows on television have brought new dimension to the art of cake baking.  The choices are unlimited.  Since most brides bring their mothers with them to consultations, I witness a definite generation gap when it comes to ordering a wedding cake.  Back in the day, a cake was generally selected by the color of the piped roses on the cake.  This certainly isn’t the case today.  There are many choices of shapes, flavors, designs, and more.

The starting point for selecting a wedding cake is determining what type of bride you are.  Are you romantic, glamorous, earthy, modern, or traditional?  There are definite design elements to consider for each of these styles.  A modern bride might choose lime green with watermelon polka dots on her cake, whereas the glamorous bride might prefer black ribbon and rhinestone brooches around each tier.

What kinds of things do you like?  If you love bows and lace, or Victorian style nick- knacks, you are a romantic.  Sugar paste drapes, or bows and lace would suit you well.

A farm or outdoor wedding could lend itself to a cake with hand-crafted gerbera daisies, or branches and birds, made with sugar paste; a beach wedding, a cake with seashells.

If you are a trend setter, you will want the latest trends in cakes.  In our area, black and white has been popular for the past few seasons.  In order to make the right choice, the cake should reflect the style of the bride. 

What does your dress look like?  You and your groom will be having pictures made with the wedding cake.  The cake and the dress need to compliment each other.  An ivory dress can look dingy next to a pure white cake.  A lacy dress needs a lacy cake.  Sometimes the dress itself is the inspiration for the cake.  I can duplicate patterns or parts of the dress on the cake.

The flowers must match as well.  I go to great lengths to match colors.  Providing swatches and scraps of ribbon to your cake baker will assure that the colors are right. 

The size of the cake is determined by the guest list.  Asking your cake baker “how much is a three-tiered cake” is too vague a question.  It all depends on the size of the tiers, the flavors of the cake and icing, and  the intricacy of the design.  A 16″, 14″, and 12″ cake can serve 200, while a 10″, 8″, and 6″ cake will serve approximately 50.  The size of the tiers determines the amount of the servings and the design is adjusted to fit that.  The cake should be chosen for the design and not the number of tiers.

Planning a wedding cake is very involved.  Many brides I talk to look in a magazine or catalog and pick out a design.  I prefer to custom design for the bride.  I consider my cakes to be commissioned works of art; something personal and special for a specific person.

A wedding cake makes an important statement at the reception.  The first thing guests will do, when they arrive at the venue, is to look for the cake.  It is the centerpiece for the celebration.  The planning and execution of a wedding cake takes hours of skilled work.  It’s an honor for me to be included in this part of creating family history.  I take it seriously.  This is why I ask lots of questions.  I want the cake to be the perfect complement to the bride and the reception.

Personalization and custom work, this is what I offer at Cake Art.  Call me today for your consultation.  423-542-3950 or e-mail at cakeart@charter.net.

Thank you Margi for an enlightening post on how to choose a wedding cake.  Your cakes are gorgeous! ~ Pam

Communicate with Your Wedding Vendors

If you are a bride who has taken on the role of wedding planner, please allow me to offer some advice.  Communicate with your vendors!  During your initial consultation with them, they will ask you the time and date of your wedding.  This is the time and date they will go by when planning their schedule and hiring their staff.  If your are planning pretty far in advance, it isn’t unusual for the time to change an hour or two.  While you might not think it important to notify your vendors, believe me it is!  Not telling them can result in you not having your caterer arrive on time, or even have the food ready for your reception.  If your florist is going by the original time, then you may not receive your bouquets in time to walk down the aisle with them, or the florist may still be decorating as your guests arrive.  

One bride changed the day of her wedding the week before the wedding, but she failed to tell us.  Another one never signed a contract with us or told us she wanted us to do her flowers.  She called me from the church that morning!!!  You can call us miracle workers, or you can chalk it up to one more good reason to hire a wedding planner/coordinator, who is used to dealing with details like this on a daily basis.

For helpful guidelines and tips for saving money, go to:

 

 

App for iPhone/iTunes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hire Professionals for Your Wedding

Tricias Bridal & Pageant,  submitted these stories from her experiences with brides on a quest to save money:

 “I have a friend who’s doing my photography.  She is not a professional or anything, but I think she’ll do a great job.  She promised to provide me all the shots on a disc for a small fee and I can print whatever I like. “   Let me tell you how that money-saving deal turned out. The last time I talked to the bride, they had received three discs with the pictures.  One of them worked–sort of. While disc number one had a few images, the other two were completely blank. This money-saving deal turned out to be quite disappointing.  The wedding is now just memories; the special moments are preserved in the minds of those who attended.  There are no wonderful pictures that capture the poignant moments.

“I’m buying a bridal gown from a ‘Big Box’ store to save money.”  Currently, I’m re-designing–to the best of my ability–a gown that was purchased at a “Big Box” store with the reassurance from the sales associate that it was a unique gown. It was unique until it showed up in an advertising promotion plastered all over bridal magazines and the “Big Box” website! 

“I’m printing my own invitations to save money”, or “my great-aunt-Susie Q is having my invitations printed as a gift”.  I’ve seen variations on how this project turned out.  The latest was one  whose invitations were worded incorrectly, and the return address was on the bottom of the envelope back, not on the back flap!

The invitation sets the tone for the wedding, whether formal or informal, so convey this by choosing an appropriate invitation.  Remember to have an addressed, and completed invitation weighed at the post office, to  be sure that you affix adequate postage.  One bride wondered why she wasn’t receiving any RSVPs.  It was because nobody received and invitation, and she had failed to put a return address on them.  And please don’t forget to put stamps on the respond envelopes! It is a breach of etiquette to ask your invitees to purchase their own postage.

“I don’t need anyone to coordinate or direct my wedding.”  Unless you want your special day to look like a three-ring circus with no ringmaster, find an experienced, professional director/coordinator to take care of the details, establish a wedding-day itinerary, and make sure everyone is aware of where they need to be and when. A wedding procession should run like a well-oiled machine–not like a fire drill.

 

‘ What I’m trying to say is leave it to the professionals!  Your wedding day should be an enjoyable experience–not a nightmare that requires survival skills!’ ~ Tricia Edwards

Wedding Bloopers

Hours are spent planning a wedding, but no matter how much planning one puts into assuring that their day goes smoothly, it’s the things that aren’t planned that make the best memories.  These videos depict some unexpected occurrences at the wedding.

The best advice I can give any bride or groom, is to be flexible, because no matter what goes right or wrong about your special day, by the end of it you will still be married!

 

Weddings Need a Statement Piece

Fresh flowers are expensive!  If your favorite flowers are cost prohibitive to use everywhere in your wedding, or if your budget doesn’t allow for flowers on your guest tables, consider having one statement piece at your reception.  Place the arrangement in the room, so as your guests enter the room, it will draw their eye.  The buffet is often a great place to have such an arrangement. 

Though this arrangement was used on guest tables, it is an example of something that would work well as a statement piece.  The special lighting accents are what make it stand out in a crowd:

www.richardminkphotography.com

 

Including fruit in the buffet centerpiece is a lovely way to compliment the food.

 

Your wedding cake can also double as a focal point of the reception hall.  Everyone looks for the cake, so why not highlight it!

This cake was done by www.susiesweddingcakes.com

Photography by www.advancedphoto.com

 

 

 There are many ways to save money on decorations for your wedding.  With a little thought and ingenuity, you can have a knock-out reception without breaking your piggy bank.

Vintage Glam Wedding

We generally have an  all-or-none policy; meaning that if you contract with us to do your decor and flowers, we do both the ceremony and the reception.  The reason for this is that if someone asks “Who did your flowers?”, we get credit for our work, and not that of someone elses.  A case en point.  We did the flowers for a lovely outdoor wedding.  Without our knowledge, a relative of the bride added a cheap, garden arch with pink, yellow, and white tulle and plastic flowers all over it.  She also wrapped bushes and shrubbery in tulle.  It looked like little ghosts randomly dotted all over the field.  We made sure she got ALL the credit for her creation!

My name is on our product and floral design, so it’s important that I know any additions that a friend or family is planning to make.  We want consistency in quality, color, and design.  So, it was out of the norm for me to agree to let Meredith do her own reception.  I did so without hesitation or reservation, because I knew her mom, and knew it would be tastefully done.

Meredith wanted a vintage look for her wedding ceremony, and an Old Hollywood Glamour look for her reception.  The centerpieces that she wanted could easily be a DIY project for her. and could be made in advance for convenience and time management, plus she saved $$ in labor cost.  She should be very proud of her efforts, because they turned out fantastic!  She made the Ostrich feather centerpieces, and added the special effects lights, inside the Eiffel Tower Vases.

The wedding ceremony was held at Meredith’s church, First Broad Street United Methodist Church (far right in photo), in Kingsport, TN.  The church is a historic church, located on Kingsport’s famed Church Circle.  The circle has four churches on it.  The 4th church, shown in the second photo, is now a Fine Arts Center.

Church Circle

 

Autumn at Church Circle

 

Meredith’s colors were purple and green.  Sometimes purple flowers will photograph a lot darker than they actually are, but most of these in the slide show below are pretty accurate.  We pay attention to detail.  Notice the jewels inside the calla lilies.  We also added jewels to the greenery on the pew markers.  Also in the bridal bouquet, are Bouquet Jewels.  The window vase, at the church, is accented with wire swirls.

 

Purple is becoming more popular with brides for 2010.  Bling in the bouquet, and on the stems, is still hot as well.

Photography: Brooke Roberts Photography ,from Brunswick, GA

 

Cake: Gayle Bogart, Kingsport, TN

 

Church and Bridal Party Flowers: Pamela’s Exclusive Floral & Event Design, Kingsport, TN

 

Reception: Ridgefields Country Club

 

Meredith and Jansen

Favor Your Wedding Guests

Guest favors add the finishing touch on any event.  There are so many fun choices. If you haven’t discovered Etsy, then take time to visit there.  It is a great resource for brides, and for shopping in general.  You can find everything from furniture, housewares, and woodworking, to purses, needlework, and everything in between.  Most items are handcrafted, so are one of a kind.  I found these very kewl lip balms there. 

Flavored Lip Balm

 

The sweet scent of these soaps will linger long after the wedding.

Scented Soaps

Both men and women will like this organic take-home; a heart shaped bird feeder. 

Orangic Bird Feeder

I particularly like the idea of this plantable heart.  You can use as a place card, or as a tag on the favor.  The guests will be sure to remember you, when their wildflowers start to bloom.

Wildflower Seed Plantables

With just a little thought and some preparation, you can have custom wedding favors, too.  There are so many ideas onEtsy, and other wedding blogs.  Some of my personal favorites are:

Style Me Pretty

 

The Ritzy Bee

 

June Bug Weddings

 

Wedding Bee

 

Be Spoke, A White Box Blog

 

Bride Tide

 

Southern Weddings

 

Polka Dot Bride

 

 

Ugly, Ugly, Bridesmaids Dresses

Have you ever gone through your parents wedding album and laughed at the styles, way back then?  Or, flipped through a high school annual to realize that the clothes you wore, and thought were so hot, are subject to peals of laughter?

I can tell you that I have seen my share of ugly bridesmaids dresses!  I know someone who has been a bridesmaid seventeen times, and she can tell you that very few of those dresses were a flattering style, or a pretty color.  I found this image at Three Times a Bridesmaid.  This 80’s style dress didn’t look much better on the actual bridesmaids!

It’s easy to find dresses like these.  You can probably look in your closet and bring out two or three.  I don’t know what comes over brides!  These normally very chic and hip, fashion conscious divas, lose all sense of reason and style when it comes to selecting the formal wear for their attendants.  This isn’t always true, of course, but even if they choose a great color, the style isn’t flattering to all body types.  The moans, the groans, the rolling of eyes that I have heard and seen from these young ladies, is sad.  To add insult to injury, they are asked to pay some outrageous price for a dress they will wear only once…begrudgingly. 

Brides, forget about choosing a dress that they can “wear again”.  It isn’t going to happen!  Do, however, be conscientious of their pocket books.  Young brides have lots of young friends. They all get married around the same time.  It gets expensive to be in a lot of weddings!  By the time your attendant buys the dress, shoes, travels, and buys you a gift, they are into your wedding by several hundred dollars.  More than likely, they have just started a new job, new marriage, or had a baby.  They do not have a lot of discretionary income.  Keep that in mind. 

Oops, I started chasing a rabbit there.  Back on topic, I started looking for dresses in current catalogs.  Don’t get me wrong, I would have a hard time choosing from all of the truly amazing gowns available.  I did find a few that I felt will be viewed in a few years as “What was she thinking?” dresses.  Granted it all comes down to personal taste, but here are my choices for ugly NEW dresses:

 

This poor bride looks like the crochet needle is stuck in her back!  Much like Scarlett O’Hara, when she made the dress from the green drapes, this designer obviously grabbed the tablecloth!

Ahhh, the blousson!  I’m sorry, I know this is a trendy style, but it won’t be around for long.  Once again, I believe that this was once the window treatment in a little girl’s room.  At least it doesn’t have a big butt-bow, and the shoes are cute.

Oh my!  Mary, Mary quite contrary, where does your garden grow?  Around your neck!

That I find these dresses ugly, is neither here nor there.  As I said, it is a personal taste thing.  I will say that while they are not my faves, they aren’t inappropriate.  This is another consideration, when choosing your or your attendants dresses.  Make sure that they are appropriate. 

 Through my scavengering around on the web, I came across this most inappropriate wedding dress.  If I were the florist for

that wedding, the bouquet would be wide and cascading and would strap onto the bride, around her waist.

 

Don’t embarrass yourself and your guests by overexposing yourself.

Who let this poor girl out of the house, or dressing room for that matter, looking like this? Why didn’t her mother, or friend, or bridal consultant tell her this would not be good for her?  Now, her wedding picture is all over the Internet.  I doubt that is what she wanted. 

When you go to select dresses, take one or two people with you, whose opinions you trust.  It can save you time and money, and your attendants a whole lot of sleep.

If you were amused by this post, you might also like Ugly Dress

Outdoor Wedding Rained Out

Saturday was an example of having to resort to Plan B.  The weather was iffy from the get-go.  Scattered showers throughout the region made the decision to move the outdoor wedding at The Oaks Castle indoors.  The sun would shine, then the heavens would open up with thundering rainstorms.

The decision was made at the last moment possible, to allow decorating and setting up of tables and chairs inside.  The castle has a couple of covered terraces, which was nice for tables and chairs.  The wedding was intimate and sweet.  Guests didn’t seem to mind standing for the ceremony, and there was plenty of casual seating for the reception.

If you are planning an outdoor wedding, you must have a Plan B.  For as much as you just know the weather will be perfect on your wedding day, it can be inclement.  Pray for the best, but prepare for the worst case scenario.

I invite you inside The Oaks Castle for a tour.  If this doesn’t put you in the mood for a wedding, nothing will.  I apologize in advance for my little boo boo of dropping the camera. 

Happy Plan B planning!