I’ve got to hand it to Clarksville-they have brought me some of the most wonderful brides I have worked with.  Blaire was no exception.  I met with Blaire, Chris, and Blaire’s incredible mother Bonnie in January.  They were on the ball, knew what they wanted immediately, and were a pleasure to work with.  They were not afraid to tell me when they did not like a flavor or idea which is helpful to me and let’s me know what can be improved in the future. 

Blaire and Chris planned to have an elegant and classy black and white decorated room with a little lime green and eggplant thrown in for color but Blaire’s heart was set on a zebra striped wedding cake.  I was SO excited about the cake after working with Michelle Bommarito of the Food Network Cake Challenges because zebra is her THING.  She had taught tips and tricks to really make the black POP and shimmer but I digress.  Bonnie and Chris were not sold on the zebra stripes and Blaire second guessed herself.  

She emailed a month or so later to change her mind to a traditional design.  While I knew she was trying to please everyone, she was not following her heart in the process.  I wouldn’t step on toes, especially when Mom is paying for the cake, but I encouraged her to think about it and try to talk to her loved ones about what made her happy.  Another couple of months went by and she was FIRM about changing the cake back to zebra stripes.  She didn’t care if other people thought it was just too different-she LIKES to be different!!  She chose tiers of Traditional White, Milk Chocolate, and French Vanilla with traditional buttercream.  The zebra stripes were made of Dark chocolate fondant brushed with black sanding sugar and midnight shimmer edible glitter.  The tiers were wrapped with eggplant ribbon and set of with a beautiful crystal studded topper. 

Chris’s cake had been set in stone from the time of our first meeting.  He loves sushi and I had brought them a fun design with fondant sushi on the cake.  When it came time to make the sushi, I decided I didn’t want to make it from fondant because if they actually popped it in their mouths, they may not love the taste and texture as much as they would love it in chocolate.  I mixed up a few batches of modeling chocolate (as seen on Ace of Cakes!) and began playing with it until I think it was pretty close to perfect.  I made four different kinds of sushi, a “ginger” flower, a hunk of wasabi, and a small dish with soy sauce all from chocolate.  I have to say that it was almost too much fun to stop.  Chris’s cake was a marble cake with chocolate fudge buttercream with chocolate flecks.  Yum! 

Blaire and Chris also chose dark chocolate dipped sandwich cookies with white chocolate monograms as favors.  They were placed in small white boxes that Blaire dressed up with black ribbon and a large rhinestone.  The boxes were stacked in a wedding cake style and they looked absolutely stunning.  I KNOW they tasted great too. 

The new Hilton Garden Inn was the reception site and I don’t think it could have been more perfect.  The staff was very professional and courteous, the banquet room was beautiful, the entire place was white glove clean, and it is SO easy to find just off exit 4 in Clarksville-yippee for that!  

I need to give a shout out to David Presley-the flowers were gorgeous and I couldn’t resist snapping a shot of the centerpieces.  The happy couple was also thrilled with Alex Adames of Adames Assoc. Productions (Sound Express) who rocked the house with 80s music and inspired Chris to rock a mullet. 

Now, for a personal note…I never focus on a disability but of course I knew right away that Chris has MS and is mostly confined to a wheelchair.  The planner, Carly, had made a platform to hook on the wheelchair that Blaire could stand on to ride around the room as they were announced at the reception.  I knew that Blaire and Chris were reading information, eating the right foods, and exercising in the hopes that Chris would feel strong enough to stand during the wedding.  When they sent me a picture of their first dance as husband and wife I lost it…I’m crying again now to even think about them standing and swaying on the dance floor-Chris’s cane and chair nowhere in sight.  I highly doubt there was a dry eye in the room and I noticed behind the couple, there was not a single person sitting as they danced. 

Blaire and Chris, you will have so many ups and downs as a married couple but during those downs, I ask you to focus on the strength in that exact moment and remember what your love and faith can endure.  You two are truly an inspiration. 

Blaire and Chris, may your love together always be as empowering as it was on your wedding day!

I had the absolute pleasure of making an incredibly unique wedding cake for a really fun bride on Halloween.  Jaime and her mother Mary came to me a few months ago without a specific design in mind.  We looked through several photos together until we found a design that Jaime fell in love with from Martha Stewart’s Wedding Cakes.  It’s a small picture that would almost go unnoticed but Jaime had a vision and she LOVES stripes so it caught her eye. 

The original picture is actually done in brown and ivory-very earthy and muted so when Mary was trying to picture Jaime’s colors of Pool and Apple, it was just difficult.  Because the colors were bright and bold, I wanted to be sure Jaime would be happy with the final outcome as well.  I designed a computer generated image in Wedding Cake Design Pro to see what she thought.  I changed the patterns on the tiers 4 different times and sent her all the images.  Over dinner and two phone calls we designed the custom cake of Jaime’s dreams. 

Jaime chose a six tier design with alternating tiers of stripes, polka dots, and diamond patterns.  Jaime loves strawberry cake so she chose alternating tiers of traditional white butter cake and strawberry cake with strawberry filling that was divine if I do say so myself.  She and Mary agreed that the almond buttercream was delicious so it covered the entire cake and I used white chocolate fondant tinted in her colors, chosen from David’s Bridal, for accents. 

Michael is a huge Rachael Ray fan and after we discussed the possibility of an EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) bottle, Rachel’s kitchen, or and orange stock pot, Jaime decided it might be best to incorporate one of his favorite dessert flavors and keep the design a little more simple-with a picture of Rachel Ray on Boston Cream Pie cake-layers of yellow cake with vanilla bean pastry cream and covered with thick chocolate ganache-YUM!  It was difficult to find a picture of Rachael Ray that wasn’t racy as she evidently did a spread for a men’s magazine…but that’s another blog!  LOL  I’m sure Michael’s cake tasted divine. 

Jaime and Michael were married at the Clarksville Country Club and I wish I had taken pictures of the venue.  It is an absolutely beautiful location somewhat hidden from the mainstream of Clarksville.  It was extremely clean, professional, and the bride’s family let me know that Matt was terrific to work with.  The colors of Pool and Apple looked gorgeous together and really popped in the incredible sunlight on Halloween. 

I will miss talking with Jaime and Mary and hope to keep in touch.  They always make me laugh.  It’s so great to work with a family that knows how to enjoy one another’s company and can laugh at themselves and each other.  It was like hanging out with my own mom and sister-miss you girls!  I know Jaime and Michael will have the best luck this year as it rained like mad on Halloween morning but cleared up beautifully by afternoon. 

Jaime and Michael, when the years have passed and the newness of your relationship has faded, may you ALWAYS want to play tic tac toe together! 

Last weekend I had the pleasure of dealing with a terrific family through the referral of another local decorator and friend.  She was unable to make a cake for the family due to Fall Break plans and asked if I would be interested in helping them out.  Raegan’s aunt Cathy from Ta-Dah Design in Hendersonville was purchasing the cake as a gift so I dealt with her and Raegan’s cousin Amy on design and details. 

The wedding and reception was held at The River Church on Stewarts Ferry Pike in Nashville.  This church has a full catering kitchen, a cafe-type area with booths and tables for receptions, very nice buffet area for food and wonderful pieces of furniture to hold the cakes and punch or hors d’oeuvres, in addition to a beautiful church. 

Raegan had chosen a four tier round wedding cake design with ivory quilted buttercream.  I placed hand rolled fondant pearls rolled in super pearl luster dust at each interval, making the quilting stand out beautifully.  The second tier was wrapped with a dark chocolate fondant bow. 

Miss Becky, helper and day planner, called to move the scheduled deliver up by several hours so the bow I had made for Raegan’s cake had not properly dried and I needed to modify a new one.  The family was very pleased with the results although it was not the bow I had originally planned.  

The cake was alternating tiers of Traditional White and Strawberry with cream cheese buttercream.  The Groom’s cake was a simple marble sheetcake with the Oklahoma University logo and vanilla buttercream.  I loved how the Groom’s cake was displayed with his prized OU autographed football. 

OU Groom's Cake

Displaying the Bride’s cake was quite a feat.  The family had put together a beautiful table with ribbons and lights under a round glass table top.  As the bride’s dad Ronnie and I set the cake on the table, it looked as if it were leaning.  We quickly discovered it was the table.  We moved it the cake quickly and decided what to do with the table.  I will not leave my cake until I know it is secure, so I hung out, watching and taking pictures of the process.  When the family decided on a table and decorated it, you’d never know there had been a different original plan.  It was lovely. 

Raegan and Wesley, may your love and devotion always run as deep as The River.