A Patterned Wedding

I’m excited, guys! Etsy has started their own collection of gorgeous weddings! Who is better to do that than Etsy?

This wedding post is in honor of such a delightful new source of funky big days. This wedding is a bold statement. Brightly colored, fanciful patterns, there is no limit to the amount of fun going down here.

Adorable right? The bride, believe it or not, is on the right! No white dress for this lady. I love bold brides like this, she’s dressing in her own flavor–all the way–yet she still stands out.

The fresh flavor doesn’t end there though. The colorful chaos extends to every tiny detail of their day. Look at their cute table settings (they were catered by a taco cart, love that idea!):

The cake embodies the day, I think. Lots of textures, lots of colors, all layered together. The cake stands seventeen inches tall (serves about a hundred and forty people) and is layered with colorful fondant frills, lace, tassels, fringe, and pleats. Topped with some gum paste “paper” flowers.

I love how full of personality this wedding is! They deserve a cake that is as nonconforming as they are.

That’s why my flavor choice would be a roasted pineapple cake with cinnamon frosting. Nom.

Beautiful photos compliments of Structured Pieces.

A Lake Front Wedding

I let my boyfriend pick a wedding this time and he went straight for the blog Style Me Pretty. I’m not sure if this is a blog he follows regularly, or how, exactly he knew of it, as my boyfriend isn’t exactly the type that follows wedding blogs but… moving on.

In the end, I’ll still give him props for good taste. He never runs out of that. Just look at how stunning and cleanly elegant the tables look:

It’s got some personality, but stays pretty classy. I’m lovin’ it. There’s tons of little details that add just a bit of spunk to a light, bright day. What I took most of my inspiration from was the sign above, the boats below, and the beautiful blue of the bridesmaids dresses.

Cute place settings, right? The cake would be, in all, twenty inches tall and eleven inches wide at the base. It would serve around a hundred and fifty people. The outside would be blue buttercream and the bottom tier lined in chocolate (modeled to look like real sticks) that would extend above the tier’s top. On top would be two little canoes holding between them a banner with the bride and groom’s name or “Happily Ever After”, or something else entirely but just as cute.

I am also loving this new infatuation with baby’s breath. We all knew it was a great accent flower, but bundled by itself is fresh and spontaneous.

I think I would go with a vanilla cake and white chocolate mousse filling.

Thank you to Yazy jo for the beautiful photography (you should check out this website, very impressive). And of course go to Syle Me Pretty for more details on this beautiful wedding.

Deana and Hans: A Modern Twist

My friends Deana asked me to design a cake for their wedding since they never had one! No cake at a wedding?! Gasp. But never fear. A fantasy cake will do. And who knows, maybe around their anniversary I will be bored.

What struck me about this lovely couple’s loving day was the fun mix of the very classic and the modern. They got married in Las Vegas, a very glitzy town, but the local they picked is very elegant. Color scheme leans toward classic white black and red with those luscious red roses. Just look at her dress, lace to veil: all mod and class.

So that’s what I was going for in their cake. It’s a smaller cake: eight inch diameter and ten inches tall. It would serve around 45. But I went with white fondant with intricate white hand-piping and a larger spray of gum paste red roses on the top. Elegance, class, but infused with the modern taste of taller tiers and simple designs. The piping and fondant calls on the huge, intricate cakes of the past.

A happy couple deserves a happy cake!

And I knew you might ask… flavor? Well, of course it’s Hans, so I’m thinking I’m going to have to go with a Stranahan’s whiskey chocolate cake with a lightly infused vanilla chocolate ganache.

Now that’s a romance.

Thanks, Deana!

Pink Orchids

It’s no wonder that orchids symbolize luxury and fertility: just look at it. One of the most versitile and exotic flowers, orchids are a very popular in weddings. This doesn’t make them common place, however, because there are so many different kinds to choose from. Just to give you an idea, I misplaced the original picture of the orchid I was imitating so I tried to find a similar one, and these were as close as I could get:

In some cultures orchids symbolize genuine affection, and in others they represent mature love. No matter what meaning you’re going for here, the orchid fits.

If you are planning on having orchids as a part of your wedding, make sure you photograph the exact kind you want to give to your cake decorator.

The top picture is of my gum paste orchid. The middle I took myself at the Chicago Conservatory. If you haven’t been there, I highly recommend you go if you are in town.

An Intimate Country House Wedding

I want to live at this wedding’s venue. Talk about a gorgeous atmosphere, and this couple really used their surroundings to their advantage: not a lot of extra detail was needed.

But please: check out the dress. Yes, it’s traditional white, but it really pulls out the bride’s personality. Hence the cake: fairly simple, playing off of the embellishments on the bride’s gown. The white cake will be a matte white, but the black gold and turquoise drops would shine like the beads on her dress. Partially around each tier is a strand of baby’s breath which is pervasive as little details in the ceremony and reception.

The cake would stand two feet tall, the base layer has a diameter of eight inches and it would serve around eighty people.

Side note that has nothing to do with cake: I love the “photo booth” trend, whether it is in a photo booth or not. Look at this cute idea that adds some quirk to an already quirky hand-out:

So cute.

Flavor choice for this one: a simple light vanilla cake with lavender buttercream.

…and they lived Happily Ever After.

This wedding was beautifully photographed by Jo and Simon of Shoot.

Thank you to Rock My Wedding, who has the full wedding’s album.

A Bright Backyard Wedding

I thought this wedding was uniquely beautiful. I loved how happy the couple was! Until I found out that it was just an idea board for a backyard wedding. Good actors. Anyway, I bet if it was a real wedding, the couple would look just as happy; who could help it with all the bright colors around?

The wedding is whimsical, fun, and unique, which stands out in every little detail from their dress, to the tablecloth, to the dish-ware and place settings. Since the wedding is already full of so many details, I wanted the cake to pop but blend in instead of adding another element. This cake is therefore a simple, 8″, one tiered cake (I thought a wedding like this would have a dessert bar, so I made the cake smaller to save room for all the other delicious offerings). Since the display is not classic, I don’t want to go for the classic fondant; instead the outside would be covered in white buttercream with yellow buttercream splotches that match the tablecloth.

The flowers would be gum paste fuchsia daisies (like in the picture below) and bright blue forget-me-nots with large grey feathers to match. The cake would serve around 24. But of course, if there’s a dessert table, not all of your guests are going to go for the cake.

How ’bout a Meyer lemon cake with fresh raspberry filling?

Thanks to Tinywater Blog for the beautiful set-up. I don’t usually do weddings that aren’t “real”, but this one was too cute to pass up.

A Top Hat Wedding.

I ran across this beautiful wedding on the wedding blog Ruffled. It originally caught my eye because it was held in my home state: colorful Colorado. But what a unique and beautiful wedding it turned out to be.

Ruffled described it as a vintage 1920s wedding, but I couldn’t help but think it was leaning to Victorian Steam Punk. Am I wrong?

Either way, the most striking feature of this lovely couple’s lovely day, was their portrait together (above). Her tiered skirt, reminiscent of the ballet, mixed with the lines and edges of his suit tails and hat created a striking photo. And I thought to myself: what a striking cake that would make.

I designed this three tiered cake to mimic the playfulness, yet sophistication of the event, clearly playing off of the dress. The ruffled layers would be edged in the goldy yellow of the bridesmaid dresses, and the top tier would reflect the popping purple of the groom.

This cake would be made entirely edible and would serve approximately 85 people. The photographer of the wedding is obviously amazing: thank you Erik Clausen!

And flavor? A walnut cake with chocolate frosting sounds just enough classic with just enough quirk.