From Sketch to Centerpiece - Part 2

Throughout the consultation process for a wedding cake, 9 times out of 10, the bride and groom (mostly just the brides) want a sketch drawn of their cake. Understandably so - this gives them the piece of mind that the designer listened to everything they talked about with regards to what they wanted in their cake, and they're able to change something that they may not be sure about, before the cake itself is made the week of the event. As someone who has never taken a single art class before in her life, this part of the wedding cake process I did not sign up for; however, I've practiced, practiced and practiced my little heart out, to try and produce sketches that actually look like cakes, and not just a stack of round or square boxes. Sometimes I need a couple drafts to get it right, and sometimes I surprise myself the first time. I've come to realize that doing a sketch for a bridal couple is an extremely important aspect of a consultation, not just for the couples benefit, but for mine as well when it comes time to actually creating the cake. Having that picture next to you when decorating the cake has proved to be extremely useful, and I find myself doing up little sketches for even smaller celebration cakes. Who knew?! :)

The cake I want to use as an example today, was custom designed for an amazing couple that was just recently married on June 30th, 2012 at the Glebe Community Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. Angela and Christian were such a fun couple to work with! When they came in for their consultation, they actually brought a fair number of friends/family members with them to help decide the flavours of the cake; however, when it came down to the design of the cake, Angela knew exactly what she wanted :) They were basing their wedding on a Marie Antoinette Theme - how amazing! "Let Them Eat Cake"! Before the consultation, I had been emailing Angela back and forth about the design, with her sending me a few pictures she had found online, with a few details that she liked from each cake. We had come up with quite an elaborate design/sketch, but when she came in for her consultation, she had changed a few colours, a few of the flowers, so an additional sketch was in need, and this happens more often than you think! Below is the first copy of the sketch, with the original design and colours, as well as the second copy with the updated details.

As you can see, she took all of the pink out of the cake, added more simple white and switch a few of the sugar roses with sugar CasaBlanca Lilies. We thought that both designs had incorporated exactly what she wanted, but the second sketch, had more of a wedding elegance to it. Had we not done the original sketch, who knows if we would have switched the colours/flowers, and if she would have been as happy the day of her wedding, as she was with the second design. This is why some form of a sketch - not just black/white - but one with colour, is such an important part of the wedding cake designing process, and one that not many people think about. Couples spend a large amount of their wedding budget on the cake, and you want them to not only have the confidence in you as their designer to give them exactly what they want, but to know that their money is being well spent on the perfect cake.

Here is the picture of Angela and Christian's Marie Antoinette Themed Wedding Cake! As you can see from the picture of the actual cake, the "Fleur-de-lis" didn't make it onto the cake as my mould for the piece went missing a week prior and I wasn't able to get another one in on time, and so we switched it up with some really pretty gold cameos - which fit perfectly with the theme of the wedding. *Adaptability* Also, very important for a wedding cake designer, but we'll hold off on that for another week :)

The topper that was put on the top of the cake was an incredibly gorgeous Marie Antoinette China Piece, which played a big part in the colours that we chosen for the wedding - so pretty :)

Congratulations once again Angela and Christian, we wish you both all the best in your future together! :)


For the rest of you, thanks so much for reading, and stay tuned next time for more Cakes From The Country!

Miranda xoxo