Let Them Eat Cupcakes

While wedding cakes are still one of the most beautiful features of your reception, cupcakes are holding their own as a popular trend in 2010.  If you were concerned they wouldn’t be elegant enough, look at  what some decorators are doing with them to enhance their beauty and make them fit your reception decor, including a cake at the top of the display for tradition.

I love the fact that they included a crystal monogram on the top of the cake and for added elegance, they have the crystal trim surrounding each layer.

Black and White is still a very popular color scheme for weddings, and this display of cupcakes looks gorgeous.  There are also black and white cupcake wrappers if you’re doing it yourself,  that will enhance even store bought cupcakes.

The Cakery’s display, above, uses Filagree Cupcake wrappers on some of the tiers.  Notice they also have a cake at the top, which is a touch I really like.  Since the Filigree wrappers come in black and white, I can see alternating them on each tier for a black and white color scheme wedding.

These cupcakes by Blue Cupcake  represent a wonderful Summer or Springtime wedding.  A lovey cake at the top, and the cupcakes bring a smile to my face as they are still very elegant, yet suitable for an outside garden wedding.

If vivid colors (a big trend for 2010) is your fav, look at the above cupcakes by Blue Cupcake, for inspiration.

I enjoy the fact that you have so many options available to you to suit any budget.  You can have one of these wonderful bakeries do them for you.  You can bake your own and have fun decorating them yourself.  You can pick up cupcakes from your local bakery or even supermarket and use the gorgeous new cupcake wrappers that come in a wide variety of designs and colors to enhance them.  It’s great when there are so many choices.

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Dessert Buffet – A Yummy Wedding Trend

The new trend in reception treats,  that keep your guests coming back for more,  is the Dessert Buffet. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to give up on having a gorgeous wedding cake if you really want one, but it can save you money to have your cake made smaller for your pictures and cake cutting tradition.

There is no end to what you can serve on a  Dessert Bar.  Cupcakes, pie, bite size brownies, rice krispy treats, cheesecake, etc.  Big taste can come in small packages.

1- Keep the servings small and presented beautifully.

2- Give a nice variety of tastes to satisfy your guests preferences.  Even some sugar free selections would be nice if possible.

3- Chocolate covered strawberries or a chocolate fountain with fruit, marshmallows, cut up pound cake is another wonderful presentation.

4- How about cookies with milk in cute glasses?

5- Make sure you have boxes to send home with your guests for their goodies from the dessert bar.

For the DIY bride, or a reception on a tight budget,  this is a wonderful idea.  You can have a dessert reception mid afternoon or after the dinner hour so guests will know they will not be fed a meal.  Make sure you note that in the wording of  your invitation “Dessert Buffet Reception” following.

I love this idea for your bridal shower or engagement party too if you still want to do a traditional wedding cake for your reception.

Now for the inspiration:

This is a brilliant idea (I can’t take credit for this one, but I love it).  Use your favorite pie recipe to make these miniature “pies” on a lollipop stick.  Wrap the top with cello tied with a bow and put them standing up in an attractive container or make an “arrangement” with them by inserting the stick into a piece of styrofoam which can be disguised with crumbled oreo cookies (that is my idea).  Use a round cookie cutter to cut the pie dough out, use your favorite pie filling, crimp the edges, and make these little pies as would any pie, except make sure you insert the lolli stick before baking.

Boxes for all your guests to take home their desserts are available in 10 of your  favorite colors and a variety of sizes.

Gourmet Rice Krispie Treats come in different choices including Rice Krispie Pops and Decadent Chocolate Covered Rice Krispie Pops.

Individual Cupcake boxes are also available.

For an elegant way to present your cupcakes, there are many styles and colors of cupcake wrappers to make them look elegant.

Now, this is fun!!

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DIY Cake Decorating With Flowers

Are you wondering how to decorate a DIY cake with Fresh Flowers but don’t have a clue how to do it?  I came across this article this morning that I thought would be so helpful to my readers I just had to share it.

Written by Kristin Brancaleone of  The Treasured Petal a very talented florist, who I just discovered and love her work.  These are the tips she gives for decorating your cake with fresh flowers:

Step 1: Select the flowers you’d like to use. Now this is kind of a bummer- most flowers are indeed toxic to some extent. I think the only common wedding flower I didn’t see on the on that list was roses. Hmm. That doesn’t leave us with much, right? Keep in mind that there are some flowers that are considered more toxic than others, including ivy, delphinium and kangaroo paws, so try to avoid those. Thankfully, this method really reduces the flower-to-cake contact, so you don’t have to lose sleep over this.

Step 2: Cut off the stems completely, leaving just the flower head.

If you’re really concerned about your flowers making any contact with the cake, you can cut a small circle of cellophane, a little smaller than the flower head. Then pierce it with the toothpick and shimmy it up to the flower head so it acts as a barrier between the cake and the flower.

Step 3: Take a clean toothpick and poke it into the bottom of the flower.

Step 4: Simply insert the toothpicks into the cake and voila! Couldn’t be easier! The best part- it doesn’t leave a huge gaping hole in the cake like a flower stem would.

Thank you Kristen, I know many brides will find this information invaluable.

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DIY Unusual Cake Toppers- This “Takes The Cake”

Last week I posted an article about personalizing your cake topper….making it unique and meaningful to the two of you.  Little did I know just how creative some of you can be.  I realize this is not for everyone, but obviously these brides have a story to tell that inspired their very own, hand made cake toppers.  I thought you’d get a kick out of seeing them.  Have you seen or designed a unique cake topper?

I actually think I’m speechless and that doesn’t happen very often, if ever

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Cake Toppers – The Crowning Glory

Now that you know the design and flavors of your cake, it’s time to decide what you want to have on the top of your cake.  Of course there are the typical Bride & Groom figurines, but nowadays there is so much more.  Enamel Crowns, Crystal hearts, etc.

If you both have a good sense of humor you can find cake top figurines that are fun filled such as the Bride feeding cake to the Groom.

Or if you’re having a beach wedding you can find a cake topper in that theme.

Crystal covered Monograms and other designs have become very popular to add some sparkle and personalization to the top of your cake.

For those of you who need some inspiration and want to DIY, I hope these ideas will get your creative juices working:

1)  Use things that are associated with you as a couple.  It doesn’t have to be a cake topper per se, but you can repurpose it if it speaks to you as a couple.  If you travel a lot, look at favors that are mini suitcases that can be placed on the top of the cake, for example.

2)  Champagne grapes are tiny grape clusters that can be incorporated into some flowers at the top and put on each layer of the cake.  Or you can put ribbon around the bottom of each layer and a cluster of champagne grapes.

3)  Check out flea markets and garage sales (and mom or grandma) for old fashioned broaches.  Sterilize them with some rubbing alcohol and mix them up and insert them into the sides of the cake.  Make a cluster of flowers for the top with a broach standing up.  Experiment.  I’m sure when you start looking at jewelry with new eyes you will be inspired.

4)  Did you get engaged in Paris or going there for your honeymoon?  There are 3-D paper cut out Eiffel Towers that would work great on top of a cake.  Actually, there are miniature Eiffel Towers that would work too.  You need to be careful about the weight of whatever you use.  You don’t want it sinking in to the cake.  To avoid this, if you are a DIY Wedding Cake bride,  a round flat white plastic disk can be purchased in  the cake decorating department of a craft store which can be placed on top of the cake to support whatever you are putting there.  It can be disguised by frosting over it and removed before cutting the cake (make sure you tell whoever is in charge of distributing the cake  that it’s there).

5)  A cute box in a whimsical shape can be used.

6)  If you love the look of sugar flowers, but wouldn’t even dream of trying to make them, you can buy them online at  Sugar Flower Shop .  They will even custom design any flower you want if you can’t find what you’re looking for on their website.  You won’t believe the assortment they offer.  It can make your cake look very expensive even though it’s home made.

I received the following email from one of our customers.  She inspired this article so I thought you can see how creative brides can be:

“Hi Eileen, nice job on your blog – wish I’d seen some of those tips before my wedding last August!  But I’ll certainly forward it on to my son and daughter-in-law-to-be (they’re getting married in October).

Attached is a picture of my cake with the Adirondack chair favors I bought from you. (We had hydrangeas on the tables.) Linda.”

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Wedding Cake: Tips and Advice

Your wedding cake is the focal point of your reception.  What is the vision for your wedding cake?  Things to think about are, how many guests will you  have, what is the overall design of your wedding?  Will it be formal, casual, beach themed, lots of bling?   How many tiers do you  like?  What colors are in your wedding?  What shape do you prefer?

Gone are the days when people thought a wedding cake was just there to look at and take pictures cutting it, but it really tasted awful.  Today, there are so many choices of filling, frosting, fondant and flavors of cake there is no reason why the cake shouldn’t taste as good as it looks.  In fact, as Branwin, a cake baker  says,  ”It should taste even better than it looks.  Otherwise it’s like wrapping a pet rock in beautiful wrapping paper and giving it to someone”.  Choose your bakery  3-6 months before your wedding as they get booked up way in advance.  Here are some helpful  tips as you think about your wedding cake:

1)  Choose your cake after you’ve chosen  your wedding dress and decided on the decor.  The cake should enhance the  overall look of your reception.  Make sure you do a tasting.  Bring the groom or  someone else whose opinion you value, to help you decide.

2)  Have pictures of what you like and what you don’t like with you when you visit the bakery.

3)  Bring samples of your fabrics with you.  Also helpful are pictures of your bouquet flowers and centerpieces so the baker can be inspired with the elements that make up your wedding. The cake designer can imitate the lace or trim on your gown, the colors in the dresses of the bridesmaids, something you loved on your invitation, etc.

4)  Since it’s the focal point of your celebration, make sure it’s prominently displayed.

5)  Confirm with your baker,  in writing the date, time and place where the cake is going to be delivered.  Get their cell number and make sure they have a number where someone can be reached at the venue.

Of course we are in an age of trying to save money while our event still has the special look we’ve dreamed about.  A money saving tips is once the guest list is compiled and you’ve determined how many guests you will have,  have your baker (or mom if she’s making your cake) make up  sheet cakes  that are  kept in the back and  used to serve your guests.  Your display cake can either be smaller to reduce the cost, or it can be a styrofoam cake decorated to your hearts content, with one layer being real for the cake cutting ceremony.

I love the simple, classic designs of these cakes.  I hope you enjoy looking at them.

What I love about the above brown cake with flowers is Wendy offers the beautiful, edible cherry blossoms or dogwood flowers for sale online so if you are having your cake made by a friend or relative, they can add these to the cake for a very professional look. There are other designs as well to choose from.

If you’d like to send your guests home with a piece of cake,  you can use individual cake boxes.

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Cupcakes: Wedding Cake Alternative

If you are on a tight budget, spending thousands on a wedding cake might be out of reach for you.  Many brides are now choosing beautifully decorated cupcakes as a lovely alternative for their shower, engagement party or wedding.  They can be store bought or you can make them yourself.  The fun comes in when you are creative in decorating them.  Even if you are “cupcake decorating challenged”, you can always use a beautiful edible flower on the top to give them an elegant look.  The question is though, how are you going to display the wedding cupcakes?  A perfect solution is found at Cupcake Tree where you can find stands in both square and round.  A large stand can hold up to 300 cupcakes, a small one as few as 40 and still look great. As you can see, they can be decorated to give you an elegant look in lieu of a wedding cake and can complement your party or wedding no matter what the theme or color. cupcaketree’s website even gives you tips. For those of you who are trying to be “green” it’s good to know the stands can be recycled.  I hope these ideas will inspire you:

For your bridal shower, you can insert beautiful faux diamond engagement rings into each cupcake.  If your decorating abilities are limited, you can always use beautiful cupcake wrappers which come in many designs and colors.  Have fun!

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