UltraViolet this Wedding Season! It’s not purple, lilac or even violet. This wedding season, we are talking about the trending and energy-provoking color, ultraviolet. Ultraviolet has been officially named Pantone's 2018 Color of the Year and we could not be more excited to see how this bold and royal color is going to be used in the wedding community! Described as “inventive and imaginative”, ultraviolet is a wonderful color to incorporate into everything from your wedding party attire, floral decorations, down to the detailing of your wedding cake. You might be thinking, but how do you tastefully incorporate such a vibrant, bold color into your wedding without it being overpowering? Whether you’re not afraid to go all out or are just looking to use this color sparingly to highlight small details, here are a few of our suggestions and ideas to use this striking color in your special day! Venue and Florals If you’re looking for a simple way to use ultraviolet into your wedding, think about accenting the details of your wedding venue with flowers that naturally come in ultraviolet hues. Fresh florals pack a wow factor and give your atmosphere a dose of romance and elegance. Lilac, bellflowers and sage are all great options for tying in shades of ultraviolet. Sprinkle the aisle of your ceremony with fresh spring flowers, or incorporate them in table centerpieces at your reception. Overall, when it comes to your venue, think about how using ultraviolet can highlight the theme of your wedding and how it can contribute to your vision for your special day. Wedding Party Attire Another way to incorporate this eye-catching color in your wedding is using it in the your bridal party’s attire. Your bridesmaids will look stunning in these ultraviolet bridesmaid dresses from Dessy. You might be wondering, what tux or suit could groomsmen wear to compliment this prominiate color? I recommend something more subtle and casual, like a grey suit from The Black Tux’s wedding tuxedo and suit rentals. Grey has a way of pulling in the colors of your wedding, especially purple-inspired tones, without being contrasting or overpowering. For a subtle matching accent, use ultraviolet in your groomsmen’s ties, socks, or vests. Standing together, your wedding party will look perfectly paired (and dressed!) for the occasion. Your Wedding Cake If you want to incorporate ultraviolet into your cake a new trendy way is through watercolor. By adding a light splash of color to your cake it will make your cake pop and give it that extra little flair! If you prefer a more natural way to add ultraviolet to your cake fresh floral is a perfect choice. An all white cake is a timeless tradition and by adding natural ultraviolet flowers to adorn your cake your elegant cake will be one you swoon over for years to come. Want more insight and tips for your wedding? Check out The Black Tux for lots of helpful information.
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There is so much advice online today about what to do and what not to do when planning a wedding. It's easy to get caught up, and overwhelmed, with all the advice. However, sometimes previous brides can offer some great advice. So, today I wanted to talk about the top 3 biggest regrets brides have when it came to their wedding cake:
Regret #3 - Not ordering enough cake. It seems like an easy way to cut money, by skimming on the cake slices a little. "Most people won't eat the cake" is a comment I hear often. Ahhh...but a great tasting cake...they will and they do. By trying to skimp on the servings somebody gets left out. Aside from the couple, family are the most important attendees at the wedding. And since they are usually busy helping with the wedding or mingling with guests they are usually the last ones to eat too. Which means, family (and the couple) are the one's who end up not getting a slice of that yummy cake they had been dreaming about for months. Regret #2 - Focusing more on the glam of a cake and less about the quality or taste of the cake. It is very easy to get caught up in all of the spark and pizzazz of some cakes, especially fondant or sculpted cakes. I'll be honest, they look really cool. But oftentimes to make a cake look like that you have to manipulate the cake, making it more tough and dry (or even using non edible parts of the cake). Many brides who chose a flashy cake wished they had gone with something a little more simple and realistic. While they did get a lot of "oohs and aahhhs" about the look of the cake, most guests were less than impressed with the taste of the cake and much of it went into the trash at the end of the evening. If brides could do it again, rather than spending thousands on a "wow factor" cake that ends up in the trash, they would save some money and order a more traditional styled cake that guests inhaled! Regret #1 - The biggest regret from some brides when planning their wedding cake...not hiring a professional. The common consensus that most brides who used a friend to make their cake was that they were displeased with the overall look. While many brides said the cake did taste good, the look just didn't have a pretty look to it, or that it looked unpolished. If they could do it over again, they would forgo the friendly gesture and hire a professional to make their cake. And then there are those tragedy cakes too....the leaning cakes or cakes that ended up on the floor because the friend-baker has never made anything larger than a birthday cake and doesn't understand the structure of a multi-tiered wedding cake. Engagement season is here and before you know it 2018 will be too. Are you starting to get ideas for the perfect cake for your wedding? Here are a few cake designs that brides are currently swooning over: Drip Cakes - Naked cakes have been a popular design choice for several years and brides love of the naked cake isn't going away. However, adding a chocolate drizzle (or even a white chocolate or colored drizzle) is quickly becoming the new craze! Gold Flakes - Gold started making a comeback in weddings a few years ago, but recently the love of gold flakes on a cake has caught the attention of brides everywhere. And yes...those little flakes are REAL gold. Color Blocked Cakes - White used to be the hit for weddings. Then brides wanted color on their cakes. Now brides are still loving the white look of a cake, but adding just a pop of color, almost like a watercolor effect. The cake above and below are great examples of color blocked cakes. Texture - Texture is another trend that brides just can't get enough of. To add to the texture trend though, brides are mixing up their tiers to incorporate multiple trends in one cake! Check out the cake below! We have the ruffled texture bottom tier, the metallic gold drip on the top and middle tier, and the color block on the middle tier. Super trendy, and yet still elegant and beautiful. Add the gorgeous fresh flower cascade to soften the cakes image and voila!
Today's blog was inspired by y'all! I have been noticing a question popping up with more and more brides, so I thought I would discuss it and hopefully it will help out more brides who have been thinking about it but haven't thought to ask (or maybe who haven't considered it yet, but now will) .
The question: "What flavors of buttercream icing do you have?" The answer: Whatever you want within reason. Well, that's the short answer at least. Buttercream is buttercream. All you have to do to make a buttercream flavored is to add an extract. So that super fancy, orange cream buttercream icing....that's just buttercream with orange extract in it. Sorry to ruin the fanciness of the name, but it is what it is. My traditionally flavored buttercream cakes are Vanilla Buttercream and yes, they are flavored with a clear vanilla extract, so not to distort the white color. However, if you have another flavor in mind let's discuss. It's a simple fix to getting you the flavor you wish. I have done peppermint buttercream (Christmas is coming up...what a lovely addition to your holiday wedding). Almond buttercream is another popular option. Amaretto buttercream, pistachio buttercream, orange buttercream, pecan buttercream and much more. Basically, as long as I can get my hands on the extract the flavor is yours! When thinking about your cake flavor, if you want to add an extra little pop to your cake, consider adding a flavoring to your buttercream! Naked cakes have been all the rage for probably the last 2 years. And it is a cake trend that is still going strong after all this time! However, did you know there are different styles of naked cakes? Yep! There is more to the naked cake then meets the eye. Here are a few different ways we can make a naked cake. The Truly Naked Cake: This cake is completely naked on the outside, meaning there is no icing. Most brides choose to place icing in between each of the layers to give those with a sweet tooth their sugar fix! However, some choose to put a fruit filling in between the layers to and allow it to gently pour over the sides of the cake, giving it a more organic look. Since this style cake is very unique, most brides choose to adorn their cake with fresh fruit and maybe even a little powdered sugar. The Semi-Naked Cake: Technical term - it's a dirty iced cake. A lot of brides love this middle of the road naked cake look. There is a small amount of icing around the top and sides of each tier, allowing for some icing on the cake but still leaving most of the cake exposed. Since there is some icing on the outside of the cake more brides go for a fruit filling, however a buttercream filling is still a popular choice for this style cake. Flower adornments are more popular with this style cake. Another popular idea is to mix the fresh fruit with the flowers. It's a beautiful mix! Thick Semi-Naked Cake: Currently, this is the most popular style of naked cakes. The top and sides of the cake are pretty much covered in icing, however it is so thin that the cake is still exposed underneath. This is a beautiful look. And...bonus! For the bride who is worried that the cake will dry out without icing (little tidbit...it might a little because the icing acts like a glue to hold the moisture inside the cake) this will be the best option because the cake still has a small layer of icing on it. Either fruit or buttercream fillings are a great choice for this cake, although most brides still choose a buttercream filling for those icing lovers! This cake also is gorgeous with either fruit or flower (or both) adornments. So if you are considering a naked cake for your wedding go the extra mile and look at the different styles to see which one fits your wedding the best!
Pinterest! I have a love-hate relationship with you! It's a great source for ideas and planning! I know! I'm all over it when it's time to plan one of my children's birthday parties or redecorate something in my house. And being a visual person myself, I love when brides bring me photos so I can physically see their vision. However...please don't be married to it! There are several reasons a beautiful pinterest cake won't be so beautiful in real life. One, it's a fake cake. Most posts on pinterest are styled shoots. This means they are fake. As one who has made plenty of mock cakes in her lifetime I guarantee you there is not an ounce of buttercream on that beautiful 5 tier masterpiece. However, there is hot glue! And lots of it!! The lovely moist Vanilla cake will taste more like hard styrofoam if you try to steal a bite too...making it the perfect cake for that 90 degree outdoor wedding. This doesn't mean that the cake can't be beautifully created in a real life edible cake, but it may not be. Or, elements may not be. So be open to any suggestions or ideas your baker has. They want you to love your cake. So if they suggest a change, trust that. Two, you are wanting to change a concept of the cake that will change the entire look. Sometimes we think that by making one small change to a design it won't impact the entire look, but sometimes it does. Talk with your baker about that to see if your idea changes will effect the entire look of the cake. She'll be honest with you. And if she suggests another change, be open to it. Three, it's a custom design that somebody else created. A lot of cakes on pinterest are pretty scrolls or textures. And some cakes are custom works of art carefully designed by a baker. To steal their idea and replicate it tier for tier would not be a very courteous thing to do. However, we can always take elements or concepts of their work and apply it with our own designs to create a similar cake without taking the artistry of another baker. Themed parties are the best! I mean, I love them! But sometimes working with a copyrighted theme can be difficult without infringing on the laws that protect the creator of the image. The struggle to create a perfect themed cake (whether it's for a birthday party, baby shower, or even grooms cake) is real. I mean sure, we could fudge a little...who would ever know. But, honesty and integrity should be the center of every business model right? When I get a call from someone wanting a themed cake one option is to purchase the characters and create a theme around the character. Most people don't understand what I'm saying, so today I'm going to show you! Meet Elsa, Anna, and the other crew of Frozen! My guess is you already have! The Frozen craze has been going on strong for years and isn't fading among the little's of today. But how do you give your little princess her much desired Frozen cake? Simple. I purchased a Disney Character Box from the Disney Store ($15 for the set). It also came with a troll, but we didn't want him on our cake. So then we began to design our cake around our characters. The blue cake with the white chocolate drizzle creates the overlook look of the movie. We placed Elsa at the top, just like she was on the mountain and surrounded her with some blue isomalt, just like her castle. At the bottom we created some snow capped trees and placed some of the other characters around the base of the cake. Then there was Olaf...in his summer attire. Since Olaf is my favorite snowman, we had to use him on the cake. So, we created part of the cake to resemble the summer...just like the end of the movie (or Spring if I remember correctly). Creating some green grass, green trees, and a little waterfall (because the ice is now melted) we formed the perfect little scene for Olaf. And there you have the perfectly adorable Character cake!! And let's not forget the bast part...the flavor. Well, this particular cake was a yummy French Vanilla cake with a fresh strawberry and cream cheese filling. No great looking cake is complete without a great taste too!! One of the fun parts about choosing a custom wedding cake designer for your wedding is that your cake is just that....custom! You are not limited to a selection of cakes from an album, but are free to dream and create a design that is perfect for your wedding! It's unique and one of a kind! After all, you don't necessarily want a cake that 5 of your best friends have chosen as well.
I wanted to share with you a design that I will be creating for one of my February 2018 couples. We met last week and over an hour long consultation designed the perfect cake for their one of a kind wedding. Their wedding has somewhat of a dragon theme and they wanted to incorporate that into their cake. I had a great time coming up with ideas and designing their cake with them...and I'm even more excited to turn it into a reality in a few months. This cake will resemble a mountain, with more icing on the top cascading down to a semi-naked cake at the bottom. Powder sugar will dust the cake, almost giving the cake a snow effect. Adorned on the cake will be colored isomalt crystals in various colors, shapes, and sizes. We will complete the look with a dragon on top of the cake. I get so excited just thinking about how fun this cake will be to make, I cannot wait to show you all pictures! Do you have any fun or unique ideas for your wedding cake? If so, let's get designing! Today, I'm turning the tables a bit. Face to face consultations are so important when designing a custom cake. I ask a lot of questions and some probably seem like they aren't important for the cake...but they are. As your cake designer I don't want to just know about the cake. I want to know about the entire wedding. Why? Because as we begin to discuss design elements to your wedding day I can help guide you on what small decisions to make concerning the cake that will tie it into your reception flawlessly. Some couples get thrown off guard when I start asking a few of these questions, but rest assured it's not just small talk. I'm learning about your wedding so I can guide you through all the millions of pinterest ideas floating around there!
A few of the questions I might ask are:
If we haven't sat down together for a private consultation and tasting contact me and we can set that up! I would love to help you design your ideal wedding cake! I see many blogs with advice on how to save money on a wedding cake. While some of them are great tips, most of them are horrible. Here are some of the most popular money saving tips that won't save you money:
So, now that we're all bummed from the busted bubble, here are some proper ways to save money on your cake:
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AuthorKayla grew up in the wedding industry and has grown to love all things wedding. Please enjoy reading her thoughts and experiences as she continues to walk in family tradition. Archives
July 2020
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