From Sketch to Centerpiece! Part 1

When you walk into the reception venue after witnessing a beautiful wedding, whether it be a ballroom, an outdoor tent or a hall, one of the first things a lot of people look for these days - besides where they're sitting, and who they're sitting with - is the cake. Wedding cakes are HUGE right now, and most guests are always interested to see how big or small the cake is, what colour it might be, are there flowers, is it plain, simple, etc. What people may not realize though, is the process that is taken to go from an idea inside the brides head to an edible work on art on that cake table at the reception hall, that is later eaten during dessert or the late night buffet.

I thought I would use a couple of our most recent weddings as examples :)

The first being a wedding that took place on May 26th, 2012 at Stanley's Maple Farm in Edwards, Ontario. When I first met this couple at their consultation in September 2011, I thought they were the most adorable couple I had ever met. The way that Erin and Trevor looked at each other, and even communicated with each other, is something that you don't see everyday - this was true love. Now with regards to their cake - they weren't 100% sure on what they wanted the cake to look like, but they DID know 2 important things. They wanted the cake to be simple, and Erin wanted there to be flowers on the cake to match the flowers in her bridal bouquet. Erin and Trevor gave me 2 pictures, as shown below and put their trust in me to put those two "wants" together, and deliver a beautiful cake to their wedding.

In addition to coming up with a completely custom design for this incredible couple, we also came up with some new flavours! This required a couple of our sample boxes, one of which Erin came to the Ottawa Bridal Show to pick up from our booth. They wanted to try a lavender buttercream - this is something that I've never tried, or even heard of - but we will do anything for our brides :) I was able to get in Lavender Flavour Oil, added it to some of our swiss meringue buttercream, tinted it a light purple, and voila! Now I will admit, it smelled like a bubble bath here in the shop when we first made the buttercream, but it tastes wonderful! So light, so organic and natural - especially when paired with our lemon cake!  They tried it, and they loved it, using it for 2 of their 4 tiered wedding cake.

The day before the wedding in May was here before we knew it! We really wanted to match the flowers and especially the colours of the flowers as best we could. It took a lot of mixing and matching of petal dusts and paints, rearranging of the flowers on the cake, adding some little filler flowers and taking some out - but all-in-all we were super duper happy with the result of their cake when we were finished with it. Check it out below :)

                                                                                                                                                            

We've spoken with the bride Erin since the wedding and heard that both her and Trevor LOVED the cake "it was absolutely perfect!! everyone loved it! sooo beautiful!! Thank you again for going that extra mile for us!" - Erin Cowper-Johnson

This is just one example of how an idea that our bride Erin had for her cake, using a few different pictures, became one wedding cake - one that we absolutely love :)

Stay tuned tomorrow for more Cake From the Country, and how one bride took a Marie Antoinette Theme for her cake to the next level :)

Miranda xoxo