I had the pleasure of meeting Brittany at the Clarksville Brides Bridal Show last January.  She was actually one of the brides that won the chance to dive into my cake for a diamond pendant!  Brittany loved my cake from the start and did not have a problem coming up with ideas for her custom design. 

Brittany, second from left, is ready to dive into the cake at the Clarksville bridal show

Brittany and Justin were to be married at the Cajun Lake Lodge in Burns, TN.  It’s a trek from Hendersonville but well worth it.  This is 35 acres of beauty!  The grounds are spectacular and the buildings are perfect for any kind of wedding.  I highly recommend checking it out if you haven’t been there.

Brittany liked offset squares and wanted her colors of turquoise, hot pink, and black represented in the cake.  Brittany was decorating with hot pink gerbera daisies,  which are my favorite fondant flowers to make.  They accented the cake perfectly.  Justin’s cake was to be three poker chips, covered with fondant as he is an avid player and they had fantastic chip favors made up with their name and date.  They couldn’t have been cuter!

Justin's poker chip groom cake, three single tiers of caramel cake covered with fondant

Brittany chose Pink Champagne and Chocolate cakes for hers and Caramel cake for Justin.  The Pink Champagne cake has been a huge hit this year, after bringing it back for the bridal shows last January.  It is a fun and unique flavor, delicious with Cheesecake or Vanilla Buttercream.

Brittany's bridal cake, accented with turquoise and black ribbons and pink fondant gerberas

Brittany was such a sweet and down to earth bride and it was a pleasure to meet with her and Mrs. Buchanan. 

Brittany and Justin, if you’re going to bet, always bet on love!

Corrie was such a pleasure to meet with!  She was honest about what she liked and disliked in both taste and design during her consultation in October.  She was planning her wedding from Birmingham, Alabama so she needed to have meetings and consultations when she was in town and planned everything accordingly.

She and David were having a traditional church wedding and reception at the Crievewood Baptist Church in Nashville, a very large church with a beautiful reception area.  They were expecting around 250 people so we decided to combine servings of cake and groom’s cupcakes to make up the total number of servings they needed. 

Corrie loves bright pink and the cake was to reflect that in gumpaste hydrangea accents and fondant monogram.  Her tables featured the bright pink flowers as well that really made the reception area pop with color. 

Corrie loved my Sour Cream Almond Cake and chose to keep the entire cake in that flavor, covered with Almond Buttercream-yum!  The groom’s cupcakes were chocolate and strawberry, with the same flavors of buttercream on each, accented with the “Z” fondant monograms.

Corri and David bridal cake

Corrie and David groom cupcakes

I have to mention that I wish I had taken a photo of David’s sister’s cheesecakes that she made for the reception.  They were mini cheesecakes that a pastry chef would have a hard time holding a candle to.  You have no idea how bad I wanted to dig in while setting up!  Absolutely spectacular!  One of these days I’m going to try to duplicate her handy work and yes, I will post to my blog when I do!

Corrie and David, couples like you make my job easy!  Best wishes to you always!

Memorial Day weekend brought me two terrific brides and beautiful weddings.  Both Francesca and Phillip and Alyssa and Josh were married that weekend in two very different settings with unique cakes.

Francesca and Phillip met with me back in early February after a bridal show.  They were very particular about their cake and were great at picking out specific things they liked and didn’t like in every cake they tried, particularly the Five Flavor Pound Cake.  Most people are able to pick out one or two of the flavors, but to taste all five (almond, vanilla, coconut, orange and lemon) it quite impressive. 

Francesca had found a photo of a cake online that she really liked, but with a few changes to make it her own.  She and Phillip wanted a piano groom’s cake for Phillip, as he is a very accomplished pianist and musician. 

Their colors were pool and platinum, both from David’s Bridal.  The cake had a beautiful array of both colors.  Francesca, Phillip, and their best man were sold immediately on the five flavor pound cake, choosing vanilla for their other flavor for their 3 tier cake and chocolate for the groom.

Francesca and Phillip bridal cakeFrancesca and Phillip piano groom cake

Francesca and Philip piano groom cake

Francesca left me a terrific review after the wedding and let me know that people were actually standing in line for seconds on the Five Flavor Pound cake.  Yes, my friends, it IS that good.

I wish them the very best and know Phillip will make beautiful music for them always.

Alyssa and Josh were married at the Clarksville Country Club on May 28th.  I met Alyssa through Carly Rager Event Planning.  Alyssa’s colors were hot pink, tangerine and lime and she wanted the cake flavors to reflect her colors.  The couple picked flavors of Strawberry, Orange Creamsicle and Pistachio for their four tiered square cake. 

Alyssa was unsure of what she wanted at first, so we narrowed it down a little at a time.  Ultimately, Alyssa found a photo that she loved online, changing it up with her own colors.  Her cake featured thin fondant ribbons of alternating hot pink and orange, set off with beautiful fresh flowers.  The tables at the country club were set with large square glass vases and flowers, so Alyssa’s cake stand was a large square piece of glass held up with 4 square vases, my favorite look.

Alyssa and Josh bridal cake

The Clarksville Country Club is still one of my favorite venues to the north, with beautiful options inside and out.  This cake was in the center of the ballroom, a first for me, and couldn’t be more perfect.  Alyssa’s colors and flowers were just gorgeous and made the room come to life. 

It was a beautiful day and the perfect end to a successful wedding weekend!

I had the pleasure of meeting Jessica and Tony nearly a year prior to their wedding through another one of my brides, and Jessica’s cousin, Lindsey.  Jessica and Tony were one of those couples that just made me smile to be around them.  Jessica was a very laid back bride and Tony loved to talk about “his girl” and how amazing she is.  That always makes me happy as it reminds me of my own husband and the sweet way he talks about me.

Jessica had her design in mind immediately.  She liked a square twisted cake with damask print.  Her main color was ivory and she preferred everything slightly understated but classy.  She was not interested in flowers or a topper on her cake.  Jessica wanted a three tier cake to feed 100 people and she and Tony were both very happy with my yellow sponge or Butter Cake.  They originally wanted strawberry filling but later changed it to chocolate ganache filling and were very pleased with the change.

Tony is a lighting technichian for Gary Allan and he knew right away that he wanted his cake to look just like one of his concert lights.  After taking one bite of the Chocolate Chip Cake, he was hooked on his flavor as well.  We discussed ideas about the light and he let me know I could borrow one to get a better idea of what it looked like in real life.  Let me tell you, lighting is really cool!!  I had some great ideas for his cake and was excited to tackle it.

Jessica and Tony’s reception was held at the Loveless Barn.  It could not have been more perfect for them.  The Loveless staff are the exact definition of a class act.  TomKats Catering Group turns out fabulous food all over the country and the Barn is no exception.  Also, it’s called a “barn” but is so far from looking like a barn on the inside-what a gorgeous venue!  I absolutely loved this venue and can’t wait to get back in again.

Jessica’s cake was hand-stenciled with a damask pattern on buttercream.  This is typically done on fondant covered cakes but Jessica was hoping to keep the fondant off of her cake and I obliged.  It’s somewhat more of a delicate process on buttercream and you must be very patient to keep the lines clean.

Jessica's cake-clean and classic

Tony’s cake was partially carved styrofoam and partially cake, all covered with black fondant.  The top of the cake was covered with white fondant and wrapped to give it a lip like the real light has.  I made over 90 multi-colored and clear sugar gems and placed them in the exact pattern as on the model.  The light was completed with tiny color changing LED lights around and in the cake.  I think that was my favorite part.  The lights were placed where they could easily be removed prior to serving and the staff had specific directions for doing just that.

Tony's light cake

Jessica and Tony’s colors were accented with Tangerine and Magenta, which looked magnificent with all of the black and white, as well as with all of the wood inside the Loveless Barn.

Jessica and Tony, thank you so much for choosing me to make your special day sweeter.  May you always light up when you think of one another! 

I had such a great time figuring out exactly what kind of cake would make thrill this bride!  Katy’s mom came into town from out of state and the three of us put our heads together in January to come up with a great idea for Katy and Justin’s wedding. 

Katy was not a traditional bride so nothing was really grabbing her.  She liked different elements but couldn’t really picture her cake in her head.  I gave her my book for inspiration and she kept going back to my miniature bride and groom cakes that I had made for a show.  She asked if I could make those in larger versions and I knew that would be really fun.

We decided she would have both a bride and groom cake with total servings of 150.  She gave me a photo of her dress so I could use it for a guide, especially for the skirt of the cake.  Her dress was beautiful and appeared to be covered with soft flowing ruffles.  Katy told me she would be wearing red shoes and I knew immediately that it would be fun to show her red toes pointing out from under the skirt.

Katy's bride cake with skirted fondant, disco dust, painted royal icing and edible red shoes

Justin was wearing a traditional black tux with a red tie.  I knew I wanted his red tie and vest to be featured, along with a small red rose on his jacket. 

Justin's Groom cake with black fondant, red tie and vest and red rose on lapel

Katy and Justin changed their venue just weeks prior to the wedding after a dispute about their choice of bands, so they settled upon the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville.  For those who haven’t been into the Hard Rock since the flood, you should really check out the changes.  I love the upstairs venue and Velma was terrific in planning the reception in a short time. 

Katy chose flavors of Red Velvet with Cheesecake Filling, Traditional White, and Dark Chocolate with Chocolate Fudge Filling, all covered with Almond Buttercream and fondant.  These cakes were so much fun to make and I’m thrilled that I was a part of Katy and Justin’s special day.

Bride and Groom

Katy and Justin, may your marriage always ROCK!