Sometimes meeting customers happens when you might least expect it, as was the case with this couple.  I had the pleasure of meeting the groom’s sister Jessica when she worked at my local Hendersonville, TN  bank.  She knew what I did for a living and her mother hired me to make her baby shower cake and goodies a few years back.  At that time Jessica and Nathan’s parents still lived in Indiana and we connected over the phone because I had moved to TN from Indiana as well.  When Nathan asked Rebeka to marry him, I was thrilled that there wasn’t a question as to who would make the wedding cake. 

Wedding favors-fans-for a very warm day!

Peacock feathers and blue hydrangea were prominant throughout

Rebeka-the beautiful bride!

Nathan and Rebeka were to be married at Nathan’s parents home on a beautiful summer day.  They had moved to TN not long after that baby shower a few years ago and have a wonderful spacious home overlooking the lake-perfect for a wedding!  The couple are very relaxed and laid back and had chosen a non-traditional square cake covered with dark chocolate ganache and white chocolate pieces in a mosaic pattern with accents of tiny blue and white fondant blossoms and fresh raspberries.  The cake was a delicious combination of Sour Cream Almond with Raspberry filling, covered with chocolate fudge buttercream and dark chocolate ganache-a wonderfully delicious combination.

Beautiful and non-traditional mosaic design

Deliciously close!

Rebeka and Nathan cutting the cake

Nathan’s mom Carol has exquisite taste in decor and details and knew immediately that she wanted a few things to accompany the cake.  She loved my white chocolate wedding mints and assorted cookie trays featuring several kinds of butter cookies, cake truffles, and other treats.  The party would be turning into a backyard barbeque later, so I also made lemon butter snowballs and raspberry shortbread bars for after the ceremony.

White chocolate wedding mints

Gorgeous cookie assortment

Laurie Carpenter Photography captured the entire day in her camera lens and graciously shared all of the photos with me.  All of the photographs in this blog were taken exclusively by her.  She does a beautiful job!

The happy couple!

Thank you Nathan and Rebeka for allowing me to be the sweetest part of your day!

I had the utmost pleasure of meeting Miss Jessica through Carly Rager Event Planning  in Clarksville who incidentally has some terrific photos of this wedding on her blog!  I took Jessica some of her favorite cake samples and she was hooked.  You just cannot go wrong with my delicious Carrot and Red Velvet cakes!  She had a few ideas in mind and some combined pictures but basically wanted me to run with it.  Jessica had originally wanted a topsy turvy cake but decided against it when planning her decor and budget.

The reception was at the beautiful Cumberland Room in Clarksville and it was decked to the nines!  Sango Village Florist outdid themselves with the beautiful displays of flowers and the couple had rented a few fun pieces to make their reception truly unique.  I especially love the tall benches and fluffy pillows at a reception.  It transforms and ordinary place into a funky lounge atmosphere.  Very cool.

Such a fun addition to a reception area!

Turning Point Productions once again videotaped the event and Danielle was brilliant as always.  Photography By Shea took amazing photos and while I haven’t seen them all, the cake picture is so great I’m using it in my next advertisement with Clarksville Bride Magazine.  Thank you Beth Cullison for that soon to hit the stands bridal guide by the way!

Jessica’s main colors were a mossy avocado green and pink but the flowers incorporated pastel peaches and pinks with touches of green and yellow.  They were really gorgeous but I’m extremely partial to peach roses and there were an abundance of those. 

Simple tall centerpiece for the table

Gorgeous peach roses from Sango Village Florist!

Sweet bouquet from Sango Village Florist

Jessica’s bridal cake was a four tier round  in varying shades of  moss green, beginning with a light color on top and ending with the darkest shade on bottom.  I love this look on a four tier cake and have used the same deepening of color for show cakes.  I think it really draws a lot of attention and is a beautiful look for a bride that doesn’t want a traditional looking design.  Jessica’s cake featured a cherry blossom vine and pastel blossoms.  The flavors were Red Velvet, Strawberry, and Carrot with Cheesecake Buttercream-all delicious!

Four round tiers with varying color and cherry blossom branch

Sweet fondant and gumpaste pastel blossoms-all edible

Josh’s Groom’s Cake was a toolbox made of traditional Butter Cake with vanilla buttercream and fondant.  It was accented with chocolate tools and handpainted with edible colors.  I always enjoy making the toolbox-such a fun cake!

Bride and Groom cakes

Jessica and Josh, may your love blossom more each and every day of your lives together!

The sweet couple!

Whitney and Travis…what can I say about Whitney and Travis?  They were a very fun-loving couple and very involved with every aspect of the wedding.  I met this couple through the amazing Carly Rager Events and Coordinating in Clarksville.  Be sure to click on her link to see some terrific pictures of this wedding!

The reception took place at the beautiful Cumberland Room in Clarksville.  Joan of Art Photography made sure the couple looked their very best and Turning Point Productions captured the day on video.  Danielle of Turning Point Productions does such a terrific job of editing video and knowing the perfect moments to show for the highlight reel as you’ll see farther down on the blog. 

The cake was extremely important to both Whitney and Travis and they both had ideas of exactly what they wanted.  Those ideas didn’t necessarily come together until talking with them in detail about what each expected.  Whitney loved LOTS of pearls, Travis thought it needed toning down just a little and have a few pearls.  Whitney loved the look of an offset square cake and Travis wasn’t quite so sure.  They both loved some color, fondant ribbon draping, and the flavors of the cake. 

We came up with a plan together after I showed them a lot of different examples of designs.  They were to have a five tier square, offset slightly all the way up with aqua pearls and aqua fondant ribbons.  The flavors they chose were traditional white and with no filling and milk chocolate with chocolate ganache and chocolate crunch filling. 

Whitney and Travis 5 tier offset square with aqua pearls and ribbons

It was a perfect day for their wedding and a wonderful evening seemed to be had by all.  I’m told that Whitney has since learned that she is expecting-congratulations to both!  I’m embedding Danielle’s highlight reel to show the BEST moment ever captured of a groom’s face upon trying my cake-absolute delight!

Whitney and Travis, may the life you share together always make you want to get up and dance!

I first met Katrina and Alonzo at a bridal show and they were truly a blessing to work with.  Katrina only needed to look through a book and focused on what she wanted from the start.  Alonzo already knew exactly what he wanted for a groom’s cake.  They were such a sweet couple and stayed on my mind because of how they treated one another during our consultation.

The reception was to take place at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro and it was a beautiful day for it.  The staff at Embassy Suites was fantastic to work with and Alysia Jones, coordinator extraordinairre for the day was terrific.  I had the utmost pleasure of meeting the bride’s parents while I was setting up the cake.  They were holding hands, walking around the reception hall and touching everything lovingly.  I must say it warmed my heart to see the bride’s parents so happy.  They watched me put final touches on the cake while they talked a little about Katrina.  She seems very blessed to have a wonderful family. 

Katrina and Alonzo had chosen a 4 tier square design to feed 175 people.  They had flavors of Vanilla, Extreme Citrus, and Sour Cream Almond with the Groom’s Red Velvet cake to feed 50 servings.  Their colors were Sunshine yellow which matched the Alfred Angelo bridesmaid dresses, sage, and charcoal.  The cake featured yellow daisies and callas with leaves and ribbons in the sage and charcoal colors.  It was placed on a table with a charcoal runner  and yellow back lighting that set it off beautifully.

Katrina and Alonzo-four tier square with fondant stripes, handmade gumpaste flowers and accents.

Alonzo had chosen his own cake design and I loved making it come to life!  He wanted a clock or watch face with the time and date of the wedding showing and the words, “Until the end of time”.  Is that not the sweetest thing you have ever heard?  My heart melted just a little for this couple as he told me about his thoughts for his cake and they held hands across the table.  Awwww!!!

Alonzo's groom's cake-Til the End of Time!

The Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro is a beautiful place for a reception and the ballrooms are some of the easiest to get into for a delivery aspect.  They are right on my top of favorite places to deliver to now!  All in all it was a wonderful experience to enjoy a little piece of this couple’s day. 

Katrina and Alonzo, may your love shine like the sun until the end of time!

I met Allison and Alec after Allison’s mom had found me last March.  When we got together for the consultation there were several people to help make decisions but Allison already had a pretty clear idea of what she wanted for a cake.  It was such a fun meeting and nice to see how parents can still get along, even when they are no longer together, and make decisions with their children as in Alec’s case. 

Alec had a pretty good idea of what he wanted which was something to do with the Florida Gators.  He’s a huge fan and as we talked awhile, I knew I was going to convince him to go with a fun Gator head.  I couldn’t wait to make that cake!

Allison and Alec held their reception in the Portland First Baptist Church gymnasium.  I was so surprised when I arrived to find it looking like anything but a gym!  It was full of pretty tables, massive hanging paper lanterns, and the cake tables right in the middle of the room.  They really did a wonderful job of making it look like a fancy reception hall.

As I was bringing in the cakes I couldn’t help but notice a large easel that was covered up with a cloth.  Of course I had to peek when I was finished and couldn’t resist finding some information about the photograph that had been hiding.  It was a gorgeous bridal portrait of Allison sitting on an incredibly preserved old red pickup truck.  If you know me at all, you know that I’m into classic cars and am impressed with anyone who loves a vehicle enough to painstakingly restore it to its better than original luster.  This was one that I couldn’t possibly ignore.

Evidently this truck was the same truck that Allison’s mother, the beautiful Ms. Martha Hicks learned to drive on as a teenager.  It belonged to Allison’s grandfather who kept it in the family.  Allison looked so beautiful on that red truck, I had to take a photo of the photo just so I could share it on my blog!  What an incredible tribute to her family heritage.  I just love it.

Allison sitting on her Grandfather's truck

Allison’s flowers were heavily made up of green hydrangea with pink lillies, stephanotis, and a few callas.  The large centerpieces lit up and were set on mirrors.  I know they looked exquisite at night.  She had menu cards at each place in their colors of ivory and black with their tempting buffet options typed up neatly. 

Gorgeous florals

Mirrored bowls with callas

Place menu cards

One addition to a reception that I always love to see is a kids’ table and this reception did it right!  The table was set in the back and filled with all kinds of wonderful little trinkets to keep kids occupied for hours!  It was decorated brightly with a balloon centerpiece-a true party place for the little ones.  There were bags filled with light up toys, coloring books, snacks, and candy.  My 18 yr old, Jessica, who came along to help me set up really wanted to be a kid at that table.

The Kids' Table!

The cake tables as I mentioned were in the center of the room and were the only tables (besides the kid’s table) decorated to stand way apart from the rest.  The groom’s table was clothed in his Florida Gator colors of blue with an orange runner that the Gator head rested on and the bridal table was covered with sparkly black sequined linens that shone like diamonds in soft light.  It was a beautiful setting for Allison and Alec’s five tier round wedding cake.

The cake was a palette pleaser of Sour Cream Almond, Traditional White, Strawberry and Extreme Citrus.  It was covered with ivory vanilla buttercream and dark chocolate black fondant ribbons with alternating scrollwork and dotted pattern.  It was topped with gumpaste flowers made up of tiny green blossoms with a few powder pink larger flowers.

Allison and Alec's 5 tier timeless beauty

The Groom’s cake was my delicious Red Velvet (yes, a bleeding Gator head!) filled and iced with Cheesecake buttercream and covered with handpainted vanilla fondant.  I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I had making this cake.  I literally sent a picture of it to my cousin, another huge Gator fan, at…well, I’m not going to tell you what time it was when I finished it the night before the wedding but I should NOT have been texting in the middle of the night!  It was just too fun to not show off.  Alec was very pleased with it and that’s all that mattered to me.

The Groom's Cake! Red Velvet for 100

I left for a week of the Tennessee River 600 just after I delivered and set up Allison and Alec’s cakes and it was a trip well deserved.  It’s been a busy summer.  While I didn’t relax nearly as much as I would have liked, it was still really fun to show off the cake pictures after I drove to Knoxville to begin the trip. 

Don't you love this view?

Allison and Alec, may you always laugh together, embrace your similarities and accept the differences, and polish your love daily like that beautiful old truck so it will never rust or fade.