Whitney was a lucky survey winner at Clarksville Brides.  She filled out a simple online survey about the Clarksville Weddings magazine and won $500 towards goods or services for her wedding.  Whitney had planned a destination wedding but was having a local reception so she chose me to make their cake. 

I met with the couple and Whitney’s mom in April to discuss their cake plans.  Whitney already had a design in mind from Sedona Wedding Cakes with some minor adjustments.  The cake was to be white with black fondant ribbons and leafy design with apple red gumpaste roses.

Whitney and Drew's cake under the arbor-so pretty!

Whitney and Drew’s reception was held in Hopkinsville, KY, at Oakland Manor.  I had never been to this venue but found it to be a diamond in the rough!  Melissa Jones, who owns and runs the place with her daughter and son-in-law is a pleasure to work with and the venue is really nice.  The grounds are lush and beautiful with plenty of trees and flowers.  The building itself has plenty of room for about 200 guests and I’ve heard the food is unbelievable.  They have weddings every weekend and cater as many as 10 events in a weekend.  I honestly don’t know how they do it all with only 5 on staff.

They have been in business for years but do not have a website as far as I can tell, which is why I was so pleasantly surprised about how nice it was.  You rarely find a place without a website this day and age but Melissa is old school and just too busy to get something together.  There is no slow down in sight at Oakland Manor.

Whitney and Drew chose flavors of vanilla cake, vanilla with raspberry filling,  and chocolate with chocolate ganache and crunch filling, all covered with vanilla buttercream and were very pleased with the flavors.

Closer view of the cake

Congratulations to Whitney and Drew!  May your similarities and differences always be black and white!

Sometimes I am so wrapped up in weddings I forget to photograph and post all of the awesome cakes I make on a weekly basis.  I need to take the time to post some fun ones from the past couple of months.

A family friend celebrated his accomplishment of Eagle Scout in August and I made a cake and cupcakes to mark the event. 

Matthew's Eagle Scout cake

Matthew had earned 21 badges to earn his Eagle and I recreated all of the badges in fondant to place on cupcakes.  This was a lot of work but well worth the effort as I made his mom cry upon delivery.  The moment I live for!

Eagle Scout badge cupcakes

Baby showers are always some of my favorite cakes.  What a fun event!  This cake I had created years ago for one of my friends but changed it up a little upon request from a new customer.

Baby shower alphabet quilt cake topper

I love when kids I know from school are able to get a birthday cake from me.  They are so excited and that makes my job so worthwhile!!  Angry birds has all of the kids buzzing still and this cake was SO much fun!

Red angry bird

Another special one for a friend was a simple polka dot and zebra cake that just turned out so cute I had to post it!

Pink polka dots and zebra stripes-a winning combination!

Tinkerbell is always popular and while I planned to make all of the fairy friends in fondant, it was extremely humid that weekend and they just didn’t want to dry. 

Tink and friends

Rather than take a chance, I  bought the fairy friends, along with Tink, and made blaze out of fondant so he could fly around on a wire on the cake.

Blaze on Tink and friends cake

My son’s birthday was celebrated recently and he is NOT a fan of cake.  He LOVES my homemade brownies though so I covered the brownie with ganache and make Perry the Platypus to his specifications in buttercream on top.

Perry the Platypus brownie cake

AND my last photo is my own handsome hubby making homemade brownies for the very first time ever.  He’s such a hottie, isn’t he?!

Hubby making brownies

I love my job!  Thank you to my customers for making it so much fun!

The middle of July brought me Stephanie and Ben.  I can’t tell you how excited I was to make this couple’s wedding a little sweeter.  Stephanie and Ben won a contest in Clarksville sponsored by Q108 and Clarksville Brides for a almost completely free wedding.  Ben entered the contest for the couple and beat 60+ more couples with his plea for a wedding.

Ben and Stephanie were both overseas at the time, defending our freedom in the military.  I honestly couldn’t be more proud of this couple and was thrilled to know that they won the contest.  Covered with Icing gave a wedding cake valued at $350 for the contest.  I met with Stephanie when she came back from Iraq in May, along with her best friend who had been keeping things under control at home while the couple was gone.

Stephanie was anything but a typical bride.  She wanted lots of color, something completely crazy and off the wall.  Together we designed an upside down square wedding cake covered with brightly colored fondant cutouts in hot pink, orange, bright green and peacock blue and accented with fondant Gerbera daisies in the same colors.  To be fair, I need to add that Stephanie and Ben’s cake was valued quite a bit higher than the certificate I gave, even after the military discount, but the price of my freedom is worth way more than a few hundred dollars of cake.  They gave me a gift and I simply reciprocated.

Stephanie and Ben's finished cake with backlighting by Foley

Stephanie wanted Ben to have a groom’s cake that was basically a big mud pit because Ben loves to go mudding in his truck when they are at home.  His cake didn’t make quite the statement that hers did but it would have been difficult to take center stage away from her cake.

Ben's grooms cake

My friend and fantastic wedding photographer, Bethany Ann, met me at the venue, the Riverview Inn, to photograph the setup process.  We had bartered services prior but I’m pretty sure I got the better end of the deal.  She is such a sweet person, asking questions and trying to only shoot my good side during photos.  Bless her heart!

First step-make sure that center is completely level!!

My friend Danielle of Turning Point Productions taped the event and shared it recently in the Clarksville Brides blog.  The couple was married right in front of the cake, so you can see it throughout the ceremony.  Click to go right to it!

One tier on, three to go!

I had a great time making this unique and truly custom cake and learned a lot in the process.  It was my first upside down cake. 

Making sure the tiers were the same distance apart

I did use several tips and tricks I learned from Kaysie Lackey when building this cake, but some I just had to make up as I went along.  I am not used to buying my cake supplies from Home Depot but the employees there were VERY helpful after I explained what I needed.

almost done!

Once again I want to thank Q108 and Clarksville Brides for the opportunity to meet Stephanie and Ben and also the happy couple for giving me such a fun challenge!

Flowers and borders will finish it off!

Stephanie and Ben, may your marriage never be turned upside down!

Fourth of July weekend brought another fabulously busy weekend full of sweet brides and happy occasions. 

Friday I had the pleasure of making special desserts and cakes for a retirement party.  Ms. Debbie was retiring from NES and her husband Rick had contacted me 6 weeks in advance to make the sweets for her party.  Rick had very specific ideas about the cakes.  He wanted three separate cakes in three different flavors.  One was to be the dome of the NES building, one a cake with Debbie’s life events and one was the fun retirement cake to show what she’d be doing after retirement.  He also wanted bars, cheesecakes and other sweets to go along with the cakes.

Chocolate covered strawberries, cake truffles, lemon bars, rasberry bars and mini cheesecakes-oh my!

I had so much fun with this event!  Rick made the planning process really fun and gave me a lot of ideas for the cakes.  Debbie’s after retirement cake included a book as she wanted more time to read.  The bottom cake was shaped like Alaska as she plans to take an Alaskan cruise.  It also showcased several flags of places she would like to go such as Italy, Aruba, and Jamaica.  It had hangers because Rick thinks she should have plenty of time to organize the closets.  HAHA.  The NES tower featured a real light in a sugar dome on top and the clock pointing to 5 for quitting time.

Cake and sweets for Ms. Debbie's retirement from NES

I had the pleasure of making an anniversary cake for the happy couple a few weeks before the party and I dropped it off for them so I could see the layout for the party.  They have a beautiful home with a lot of space for catering and cake setup and Rick had built a new gazebo in the back for the party as well.  Gorgeous! 

Thank you Rick for finding me and for letting me help make Debbie’s party super sweet!

Saturday’s wedding brought me Kaitlyn and Abram who I had met with over a year prior to their wedding!  Kaitlyn knew the cake she wanted from the beginning and never changed her mind, except for the color.  Abram wanted to incorporate both the Vols and the Braves in his cake so in the beginning we intended to do a sheet cake that was basically split down the middle.

I surprised the couple by making a two tier cake for Abram with the Vols orange in a checkerboard pattern on the bottom and a baseball field on the top tier.  I made a miniature football and full size baseball out of rice krispy treats covered with chocolate and then fondant and decorated accordingly.  They were so much fun and really cute.  I had learned a few tricks in making them from the Sweet Southern Ladies during cake classes in March. 

The Vols and the Braves-brought together with cake!

Kaitlyn’s cake was a four tier square with flavors of Lemon filled with lemon curd and Sour Cream Almond, all covered with Cheesecake buttercream.  It was a damask cake, all handpiped in black.  She wanted it accented with fresh flowers that were left for me at the reception site. 

Kaitlyn's four tier damask cake

I loved Kaitlyn’s simple and beautiful tables, covered with turquoise linens and damask runners with short vases of white flowers.  They were so pretty!

Kaitlyn and Abram's sweet centerpieces

Kaitlyn and Abram, may you remember your vows and live by them always!

Shandy and Ryan were married on Sunday, July 3 at The Mill at Lebanon, another of my favorite venues.  I absolutely love all of the wood and nostalgia of that place!  I met Shandy back in February just before she had back surgery.  She wanted to take care of all of her wedding details before she would be out of commission for a few months. 

Shandy went through my photo album and found a design she loved, but we changed it up to make it truly her own.  Shandy loved the idea of a cake that was separated by a glass container, containing flowers and lights showcased on the cake.  The wedding was red and black so we decided on black fondant ribbons wrapping her square tiers and fondant red fantasy flowers mixed in with gumpaste red lillies.  We added small black branches to the mix and made it sparkle with edible glitter.  Shandy loved the glass stand with aqua beads and LED lights so I set up her cake accordingly. 

Shandy and Ryan's unique 3 tier design

Ryan is a huge Purdue Boilermaker fan so she decided to surprise him by ordering the Boilermaker Special for his groom’s cake.  If you don’t know, this is a train engine that is very specific to Purdue.  She asked that I put a funny face on the engine, so I included the mascot’s face, Purdue Pete, on the front. 

Ryan's Boilermaker Special groom cake

I had so much fun making Ryan’s cake!  The details of the engine were really fun for me.  The wheels, smoke stack, and other details on the black, yellow and gold engine made it come to life, but Purdue Pete on the front really made it fun!

Shandy and Ryan, may you always use perfect teamwork in your marriage!

Thank you all for making my 4th of July weekend such a memorable one!

Fathers Day weekend brought some incredible weddings to Covered with Icing.  What’s even more incredible is that all of my brides from that weekend were sweet girls I met at Wedding 101 at the Factory in Franklin.  These three brides were all really terrific with beautiful venues.

Friday’s wedding was Meredith and Jay at the Governors Club in Brentwood.  This was my first time at that venue and it was spectacular!  The Pleasant Hill Mansion is a beautiful place with lots of gorgeous dark wood and antique furniture.  The grounds are pristine and the wood is polished to a sheen.  There are several different shaped tables for cake placement and french doors throughout. 

Meredith loved the idea of a mixed shape bridal cake wrapped with fondant ribbons.  We went through several mock-ups of her cake before we finally got it right but Meredith was very visual and that’s okay.  I am that way too, but with cakes I visualize them in my head.  My job is to bring that visualization out for my brides in every way I can.  Meredith’s color was “watermelon” from Waters and Waters, but to me, it was salmon-a lighter peachy pink color that looked gorgeous on all of her bridesmaids!

Meredith and Jay's bridal cake

Meredith and Jay chose flavors of Vanilla with Raspberry filling, Red Velvet, and Strawberry, all covered with Vanilla Buttercream for the bridal cake.  Jay’s cake was his grandmother’s Caramel Cake recipe which is basically a butter cake with delicious Caramel filling.  His cake was a Titans ballcap with a fish hook on the bill just as he always wears.  I surprised Meredith by making fondant brooches for her cake, bringing in the silver from the stand.  She was thrilled with the results.

Jay's groom cake

Thank you Meredith and Jay for allowing me to be the sweetest part of your day!

Jenny and Jon were married on Saturday at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens in Nashville.  Cheekwood is a really naturally beautiful venue with potential to be exquisite, as it was for Jenny and Jon’s wedding. 

Jenny and Jon chose a cake design from Gadd’s Special Cakes by Michael, using their initial monogram font that was throughout the wedding and reception.  It was a cake to feed 150 servings.  It was a vanilla cake filled with chocolate ganache and raspberries, covered with vanilla buttercream.  Jon’s cake was a replica of his favorite guitar, using the same cobalt blue color that the couple wanted to accent the reception.  His cake was milk chocolate filled with chocolate fudge buttercream.

Jon's groom cake

The bridal cake, though it looked like a fairly simple design, was harder to achieve than I would have liked and I will admit that I struggled to copy the font.  I will have a better plan in motion for next time!

Jenny and Jon's bridal cakeCheeky couple

Jenny and Jon, may love strum your heartstrings always!

Caitlin and Jon were married on Fathers Day in Franklin with the reception held in Jamison Hall at the Factory.  Jamison is one of my favorite venues in Franklin as it is easy to load in, it’s spacious, and it is a terrific venue with all of the brick and beams.  I just love the look of this place.  It can be dressed down and casual, or very elegant and contemporary. 

Look at this gorgeous arrangement!

Caitlin and Jon were having a very large wedding with a five tier round cake and cupcakes as table centerpieces, placed on pretty glass pedestals surrounded by photos of the happy couple.  Whew, I think that was a massive run-on sentence but it’s just going to stand as is.  Caitlin was the most laid back bride ever, choosing a homemade style cake with icing swirls and sparse fresh flower accents.

Caitlin and Jon's bridal cake

Caitlin wanted only vanilla cake and cupcakes, all covered with cheesecake buttercream.  Caitlin’s accent colors were navy and sage but her flowers were beautiful and unique in all colors.  The flowers were just amazing and done by Ms. Terri Wood.  I had the pleasure of working with her at a previous wedding and her work is out of this world.  I love her choice of unique flowers that are not commonly seen at other weddings.  Terri put together tiny arrangements for the cake that I was in awe of.  They couldn’t have been more perfect and really set off the giant white tower.

Caitlin and Jon, you are a beautiful couple inside and out.  I was blessed to be a part of your special day!