Five Theme Ideas for Your Wonderful Winter Wedding Cake

If you are having a winter wedding, you may be thinking about your cake. Do you want a wedding cake that doesn’t take the season in to consideration at all or do you want to embrace the season and have a cake that will be “at one” with it? If the latter sounds good to you, I have five wonderful winter theme ideas to share with you for your winter wedding cake design:

Winter Wedding  Cake Themes:

Sparkly
Snowman and Snow woman
Gingerbread
Nature
Snowflakes

If you are having an evening wedding, a sparkly wedding cake might be a good choice to capture the season and be appropriate for your level of formality. Silver and clear crystals are especially appropriate for winter as they seem to echo ice, snow and all things wintry more than other metals.

The snow couple cake works well for an informal winter wedding or if you just like the idea of a snow couple. This type of cake can be whimsical and add a lighthearted touch to your cake.

Gingerbread is a traditional winter treat and a gingerbread wedding cake can go from simple to sensational. There is no limit to the amount of detail you can include.

The beautiful berries, pine cones, pine branches, etc. that are prevalent in winter are perfect additions to your wedding cake. If you have a plain cake you can give it a wintry theme by adding decorations from Mother Nature and voilà … you have a winter wedding cake!

Snowflakes are magical and beautiful and are a perfect addition to your winter wedding cake. They lend themselves to some sparkles, if you want sparkly snowflakes!

More winter inspiration can be found on our Winter Wedding Cakes and Cupcakes Pinterest Board and Winter Wedding Ideas Pinterest Board. And our popular blog post: Five Must-Have for Your Winter Wedding.

If you’re having a fall wedding you might enjoy Wedding Cake Ideas for Your Fall Wedding.

Collages created by Sher Silver.

Click collage for large view and click again for an even larger view!

Photo Sources: Sparkly: [1]The Cake Blog, Jenna Rae Cakes, Victoria Anne
Photography [2]Wedding Bee [3]Raise the Cake [4]The Cake Guys [5] The Pastry Studio – Photography by Sherri Meyers – Snow Couple: [1] Little Miss Cake Maker [2] Jacques Pastries [3]dawn.nixon1 Flickr [4] Jacques Pastries – Gingerbread: [1] Inspired by This [2[Wedding Wire [3]My Cake Art by Margi Chambers – Nature: [1]Cakes Decor [2]  – Wedding Chicks [3]The Cocoa Cakery/Photographed by Samantha Erin – Snowflakes: [1]Carlo’s Bakery [2]Pink Cake Box [3]Kelly Ann’s Cake/Flickr

 

Wedding Cake Ideas for Your Fall Wedding

If you are having a wedding in autumn you may want to consider a wedding cake that fits the season. Even if your wedding isn’t a fall-themed event, you may still want to have a wedding cake that reflects the season.

As you decide what you want your fall-themed wedding cake to look like, you may want to consider one of these three themes for your special cake.

Pumpkin Theme
Woodsy Theme
Fall Foliage Theme

The pumpkin is a quintessential fall symbol. As shown below, there are many ways you can incorporate pumpkins in to your wedding cake from making them the centerpiece of the cake to having them serve as a cake topper. Pumpkin-themed cakes often include fall foliage as well.

If you don’t want a wedding cake that “screams” fall but yet want one that fits the season, you might want to consider a woodsy-themed wedding cake. A woodsy-themed cake uses natural elements such as various ferns and acorns along with colorful leaves. As you can see in the first cake on the second row, there are fall leaves with acorns along with woodsy elements. And while this cake definitely works perfectly for autumn, it is a subtle approach to the season.

Fall foliage is a natural for a wedding cake. And it combines perfectly with flowers, as shown in the second photo on the top row. There are many ways you can use seasonal foliage/leaves in a fall-themed wedding cake, as shown in the collage below.

 

Collages created by Sher Silver.

Other Exclusively Weddings’ blog posts to help you with your fall wedding are Let Mother Nature Decorate Your Fall Wedding, Orange Color Combinations For Your Fall Wedding, White Pumpkins for Fall Wedding Decor, and Autumn Wedding Decor.

More fall wedding ideas on our Pinterest Board – Fall Wedding Ideas

Photo Credits: Pumpkin – Nicole Benitez Photography, The Knot, Tasty Fusion, NA, Lovin Oven Cakery – Woodsy – Rustic Wedding Chic, NA, Cake Central, Wedding Clan – Foliage – NA, NA, Brides.com/Mike’s Amazing Cakes/Joshua Gene Photography, Bridal Guide

Your Wedding Cake – Six Trends You Don’t Want to Overlook

Your wedding cake is one of the main attractions at your reception. Not so long ago brides were opting for cupcakes instead of a wedding cake; but if the large amount of wedding cakes on Pinterest is an indication, brides are still loving having a “real” wedding cake.

I have to admit that I am a big fan of wedding cakes. One reason is that you can buy cupcakes throughout your life, but when will you ever have an occasion as special as a wedding to choose a spectacular and special cake!

In looking at our Colorful Wedding Cakes Pinterest Board and its over 600 photos and looking on Pinterest in general,  I noticed that there are six trends in wedding cake styles.  There are a lot more options, of course, than the categories below; but these are the styles that are trending. I hope this blog post will help you narrow down what you are looking for and help you find “the cake of a lifetime!”

• Six Wedding Cake Trends:
  Metallic
  Sequined
  Ruffled
  Ombré
  Black
  Unfrosted
  

Metallic Wedding Cake:  Metallic cakes can be gold or silver …. or even copper! They have a dressy look so they are probably best for an evening or more formal wedding. Some in the collage below are almost all metallic, while others have just one or two metallic layers.

Sequined Wedding Cake: Another dressy cake that is on-trend is one with icing that looks like sequins. If, in general, you love things that sparkle … why not have a wedding cake that sparkles!

Ruffled Wedding Cake: Ruffles are girly and fun and this cake style can work with just about any wedding.  This look offers lots of options such as small ruffles all the way to really large ones. I have examples of each style in the collage below. Ruffles work wonderfully for ombré cakes, as you can see in the collage below this one.

Ombré Wedding Cake: Ombré colors are ones that go from one shade to another from dark to light or light to dark. As mentioned, above, the ruffled style works really well for the ombré style.

Black Wedding Cake: A very dramatic looking wedding cake can be accomplished using black icing. A black cake can easily look goth and unless that is what you are going for, be sure to have lighter elements on the cake as shown in the collage.  And if you love the last cake in the collage below, here is an interesting blog post about the baker’s inspiration for the cake and how she created it.

Unfrosted – Naked – Wedding Cake: Unfrosted wedding cakes (also called naked wedding cakes) are a rather new style. Unfrosted cakes work really well for rustic weddings because they have such a natural look. Some brides are afraid of this style because they are worried that the cake could dry out because it doesn’t have frosting. If you want more information on cake #4 below or unfrosted cakes in general, The Cake Blog features this cake and shares some tips from the baker at Carried Away Cuisine. One tip is how to keep the cake from drying out: “She coats the cake itself with a clear-drying citrus glaze before torting and filling. This protects the outside edge without changing the overall appearance.”

Click collages to see them full size.

Collages created by Sher Silver.

Photo Sources: Metallic: [1]Rosalind Miller Luxury Wedding Cakes [2]Cloudberry Bakery [3]Cake Maison – Photography by Danni Beach [4]The Cake Parlour [5]Bride’s [6]Sugar Coutour [7]Rosalind Miller Luxury Wedding Cakes – Sequined: [1]Photography by In Design Imagery [2]Connnie Cupcake/White Cakery Co./Wedding Bells Magazine [3]Cotton & Crumbs [4]Sweet Element [5]Cotton & Crumbs – Ruffled: [1]Style Me Pretty [2]Le Torte di Renato [3]Wedding Cakes by Jim Smeal [4]Maggie Austin [5]NA – Ombre: [1]NA [2]Wedding Chicks/Patty Cakes/Kristyn Hogan Photographer [3]Matt Montalvo Photography [4]Style Me Pretty/Wings of Glory Photography [5]Style Me Pretty/Anna Routh Photography [6]Renee Sprink Photography – Black: [1]Cake Central [2]Bride’s [3]Bride’s [4]The Wedding Cake Shoppe [5]Wild Orchid Baking Company/Mark Davidson Photography – Unfrosted: [1]Style Me Pretty/Naomi Kenton Photography [2]Southern Weddings/CynKain Photography [3]A Piece o’ Cake/Kelly Braman Photography [4]Carried Away Cuisine/Natalie Bell Photography [5]Bride’s/Preston Bailey [6]Green Wedding Shoes/Katherine O’Brien Photography

 

Five Perfect Designs for Your Beach Wedding Cake

If you’re having a beach wedding you are probably going to need a wedding cake! Beach wedding cakes can range from a very creative, elaborate beach theme to a subtle beach design or simply a “beachy” color.

Most cakes for beach weddings usually fall in to five design styles:

Embellished with:
 . Beach Chairs
 . Shells & Starfish
 . Tropical Flowers

. Nautical Design

. Ocean Colors

Even if you aren’t having a wedding on the beach but are a couple who loves the beach, you might want to consider a beach-themed wedding cake, too!

Beach wedding cakes often include edible sand and other beach symbols to create a scene. There are several ways to create the edible sand. I’ve read about good results using crushed graham crackers, either alone or mixed with a little brown sugar and a chocolate graham cracker. For lots of recipes, just Google “edible sand”. The Wilton website has a very good tutorial on making beach-themed cakes.

A pair of beach chairs is an addition that is often seen on beach wedding cakes. This embellishment really makes it clear that this is a beach wedding! The chairs are usually the centerpiece of an entire beach scene that includes edible sand and seashells. The two chairs are a perfect symbol for representing the bride and groom.

With seashells and starfish, there is no mistaking that this is a beach cake. The design can be subtle as seen in the first and last photos in the collage below or more obvious as seen in the other designs.

Tropical flowers are an entirely different look from the beach chairs and shells & starfish designs. You can go from a sophisticated look with orchids or for something casual, as seen in the last three photos below.

A nautical-themed cake works for a beach wedding and for any venue that has water. It also is a fun cake theme if you enjoy water sports, boating, etc. Even though all of the cakes below have a nautical theme, they are very different from each other ranging from whimsical to sophisticated.

If you want a beach-themed cake but want the theme to be subtle, just go with ocean or beach-related colors and a design that simulates waves or beach symbols.

Collages created by Sher Silver.

Click each collage twice for a full-size version.

More Beach Wedding ideas are on our Pinterest board and over 75 cakes on our Beach Wedding Cakes Pinterest board. Some great beach wedding ideas in a prior blog post, too!

Exclusively Weddings has lots of great beach wedding accessories.

Photo Sources: Beach Chairs: [1]Designer Cakes by Deb [2]Lilo Cakes [3]Just Desserts [4]Gateaux Cakes [6]Clara’s Designer Cakes – Shells & Starfish: [1]Wedding Bee [2]Brenda’s Cakes [3]Wedding Bee/The Cake Zone [4]Sweet Cheeks Baking [5]Cake Central [6]Wedding Wire – Tropical Flowers: [1]Rock ‘n Roll Bride [2]-[3]Martha Stewart Weddings [4]Gateaux Cakes [5]Frosted Petticoat [6]Jay’s Catering Co. – Nautical: [1]Calamity Cakes/Cake Central [2]100 Layer Cake [3]Golly Gosh Cake and Cookies [4]City View Cakehouse [5]Ruffled Blog [6]Anna Vasilyeva – Ocean Colors: [1]Treasured Memories Photography [2]Bride’s [3]Learn Cake Decorating Blog [4]Martha Stewart Weddings [5]Cake Girls [6]The Pastry Studio

 

 

 

Colorful Wedding Invitations . . . With Cakes to Match

The wedding invitation you choose will help set the tone for your wedding, so finding the perfect invitation is obviously an important wedding-planning task. And when you find that very special invitation design/color that is just what you have been looking for, chances are that you will also love it interpreted on to your wedding cake.

To help you see the possibilities of using your invitation design/color on your wedding cake, I’ve put together a dozen options in a variety of styles and colors by pairing an Exclusively Weddings’ invitation with a coordinating cake from our Colorful Wedding Cakes Pinterest board.

First up is Chevron.  Chevron is definitely trending for 2014! We see it in women’s fashion, home décor, accessories …. just about everything! And of course Chevron is also popular for wedding invitations and it is a design that will translate with perfection on to a wedding cake.

At least one chalkboard accessory is seen in most all rustic and casual weddings from signs to caketops and of course cakes and invitations, too!

Roses have been a popular wedding flower for generations but yellow roses takes it up a notch for a modern look. Watercolor Roses, as seen here in yellow, is an easy transition on to a stylish, ombré, wedding cake.

Cherry Blossoms are perfect for a spring wedding as they signify the beginning of spring in many areas of the U.S. The artistic cherry blossom design is particularly gorgeous on an invitation and equally so, on a wedding cake.

For a splash of color or for accenting a vibrant palette, you can’t go wrong with a poppy …or a few!

For a little fun, go with a “Lucky in Love” invitation choice! The pink and cool-tone green translate easily in to a yummy wedding cake design, too.

Purple is always a popular wedding color and the rose is a popular wedding flower. The Watercolor Roses design combines both favorites for a design that works both for an invitation and a cake!

If you are having a beach wedding, you may want to use seashells in your décor, cake and in your invitation.

Sunny colors of gold, green and pink in your wedding invitation can be translated in to a floral design in your wedding cake. For spring and summer weddings, this is a palette that is a perfect fit.

Lace is a popular accent for weddings in 2014 and it works equally well in the design of a wedding invitation and wedding cake.

A monogram is always in style and it is trending strong in 2014. And you can’t go wrong with black and white. A black and white Damask design with a monogram is the ultimate in classic style!

It seems like every few years gold is a top trend and now it is happening in 2014! Gold is perfect with neutrals white or ivory or paired with a choice of pink, mint green, navy, and more! Nothing dazzles quite like gold!

For more details on the wedding invitations that are shown in each of the pairs above, just click the hyperlinked text in the verbiage that is above each photo. It will take you to the invitation’s product details page on the Exclusively Weddings’ site.

If you want to order free invitation samples, this page on the Exclusively Weddings’ website will get you started. (By the way, they are 100% free when shipped within the U.S. No credit card is needed.)

Collages created by Sher Silver – Exclusively Weddings
Click images for full-size versions.

Photo Sources:
Invitations: All invitations are from the Exclusively Weddings’ website.
Cakes: [1] Coco Cakes [2] Hang Out Cakes [3] Toot-C Cake Shop [4] Cake Photo Ideas [5] The Cake Whisperer [6] Belgiques Cake Gallery [7] Jelly Cake [8] Cake Central [9] Wedding Wire [10] Flickr/Cristina [11] Flickr/Tish Perez [12] Laura Ashbrook

30 Ways to Have Your Dream Wedding for Less

New Blog Feature! For the next ten weeks I will share three money-saving ideas in each blog post for a total of 30 Ways to Have Your Dream Wedding for Less. In addition to listing my tips, I will give you resources and photos so you can actually use the tips! I hope you will enjoy this addition to the blog!

In this first post in the series, I’ll cover money-saving ideas for your wedding cake, bouquet and reception tables.

Tip 1.  Wedding Cake. This week’s three money-saving wedding tips starts with the wedding cake. Choose an alternative to a large, elaborate wedding cake and go with a small cake instead. A small cake will require less work in making and transporting than a large one and will therefore cost you less; however, it will still be fine for your ceremonial cake cutting. You may be wondering what to serve your guests if you have a small wedding cake. Here are a couple options: Cupcakes. Cupcakes are less expensive and require less expertise than creating a wedding cake. And by serving your guests cupcakes, you will avoid a cake cutting fee from the venue, which can be around $1.50 per person. Sheet Cake.  Another option is to supplement your small cake with a sheet cake, which is cut “behind the scenes” and then served.  A simple sheet cake is less expensive to make and easier to cut than a multi-tiered wedding cake.

Our Cupcakes Pinterest board has lots of photos to help with ideas.

The photo below is  from Taylor and Andrew’s wedding and shows how a small cake with cupcakes can work wonderfully!

Photo Source

Tip 2.  Bridal Bouquet. There are several ways to save on your bridal bouquet with varying degrees of savings. I’ll start with two very obvious points: A small bouquet will cost less than a large one and flowers sourced locally will cost less than flowers flown in from far away. If your budget is very small, I suggest that you pick up “cash and carry” flowers and tie them in to a hand-tied bouquet. I searched the Internet to find you a tutorial on how to make a hand-tied bouquet. The one I found has easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions. My favorite tip from the site is “Practice beforehand. Don’t wait until the day before the wedding to give bouquet making a try”!
Hand-Tied Bouquets

If you work with a florist, be sure and let her know your budget and be willing to use flowers that are less expensive such as roses instead of orchids. Using fillers of greenery and/or baby’s breath in the bouquet is a way to stretch your budget, also. We have two Pinterest boards with lots of bouquets to help with ideas. Be sure to show your florist (if using one) photos of bouquets you like.
Colorful Bouquets – White Bouquets

The bouquet below is a hand-tied rose bouquet with the addition of sprigs of rosemary.

Photo Source – Click to Enlarge

And if you are getting married in early spring, you may want to consider a Daffodil bouquet. Daffodils are profuse in the spring in many areas of the U.S. and you might even be able to get them at no cost at all. If you have enough time, you could even plant bulbs yourself to harvest in time for the wedding. In the photo below, the addition of a decorative wrap and embellishment elevates the look.
How to Make a Daffodil Bouquet

Photo Source – Click Photo to Enlarge

Tip 3.  Large Reception Tables. By using larger, and therefore fewer, tables you will need fewer centerpieces and tablecloths. Along those lines, I especially love the idea of long, rectangular tables because they create a “family-style”, friendly ambiance and therefore encourage conversation.

Sometimes when using round tables it can be difficult to get a “decorator” look with DIY centerpieces. But long tables are very forgiving! You can use plain bottles or bottles decorated with ribbon or twine and add cut flowers and your tables will look lovely. Empty wine bottles, beer bottles, and other glass bottles will work just fine. Check with local restaurants and see if they will give you their “empties”. Our DIY Centerpieces Pinterest board has lots of ideas as does our Wedding Reception Tablescapes board.
Photo Source – Click Photo to Enlarge

Additional Resources in My Other Blog Posts:
More photos from Taylor and Andrew’s wedding are in this blog post:
Taylor and Andrew’s Rustic Wedding

Wedding Bouquet Shapes
DIY Wedding Centerpieces
Wedding Cupcakes and Mini Cakes

A Cake For The Groom

Everyone is familiar with the traditional wedding cake and almost all couples have a sumptuous creation. Another dessert that you might want to include is the groom’s cake. The groom’s cake is a great addition to the wedding dessert selection and one that will surely delight your groom.

A groom’s cake is typically a surprise for him from his bride. The flavor is most-often chocolate and the range of designs is endless.

Designs for the groom’s cake seem to fall in to three groups. One is to have a rich, chocolate cake in a traditional shape with accents of chocolate-dipped strawberries. Another is for the cake to be decorated suggestive of a tuxedo. If you don’t want to go with the complexity of a custom design, the chocolate cake or tuxedo cake is a good way to go.

If you have access to a creative baker, you can work with him/her to design a cake with a fun theme that reflects the groom’s hobby or special interest. Even though the wedding cake tends to follow tradition, anything goes when it comes to the groom’s cake!

Choosing a groom’s cake that reflects the groom’s favorite hobby is a perfect way to include his hobby without making it part of the overall wedding décor. For example, sometimes a groom will want to have a hunting theme or race car theme but in most cases these types of themes don’t work well for a wedding and reception. Having a special groom’s cake that goes all out to showcase his theme may be the answer.

Your groom will likely be thrilled to have a cake made with him in mind and will surely appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Chocolate and strawberries are a popular combination for the groom’s cake.

A cake that is reminiscent of a tuxedo is also a popular design.

For a design that will surely “wow” your groom, choose to replicate his hobby, college team, sports team, or any other of his favorite things!

And if you want to incorporte the groom’s cake with the wedding cake, you can go with something entirely unique like this cake!

For more ideas for your groom’s cake, see our Pinterest board where we have over 150 cakes to inspire you. Follow our boards to make sure you are updated with our most recent pins: Groom’s Cake Board on Pinterest

Credits:
Collage 1: A Cake To Remember, Karamata, Wedding and Cakes, Simply Elegant Bridal, Provo Wedding Guide  – Collage 2: Liane McCombs, Sugar Delight, Cake Picture Gallery, Not2Crumby, Cake Picture Gallery – Collage 3: Vida Dolce Cakes, Kari Severson Machal, Brides.com, Catherine Ruehle, Delish, Carolina Cake Queen, fsumaria

Fourth of July Wedding

Fourth of July — a day of celebration — so why not celebrate your wedding on the 4th, too! If you are planning a wedding on the Fourth of July, you may want to think about incorporating a patriotic dessert in to your wedding reception menu. Since your guests may miss their usual July 4th festivities, this will acknowledge the holiday and give your guests the opportunity to celebrate!

You don’t have to have a red, white and blue wedding cake if that is not your style. It’s easy to add a more subtle patriotic treat to your reception menu. One way is to have red-white-blue-decorated cupcakes on your dessert table. Another is to have a patriotic themed festive dessert such as a pie, trifle, etc. Adding fresh strawberries and blueberries to something as simple as vanilla ice cream will give you a festive dessert with ease.

If you want a lot of oohs and ahhs, you can impress your guests with an American Flag Cake that when cut, reveals an American flag in every piece! There are instructions below on how to assemble the American Flag Cake. It can be served at the rehearsal dinner or perhaps used as the groom’s cake. It can also be a wedding cake for a more informal or smaller wedding or an additional wedding cake to your traditional one. Can you imagine your guests surprise when the cake is cut to reveal an American Flag!

A Fourth of July wedding can indeed be especially festive! And if you’re lucky, there will be nearby fireworks for a spectacular end to your big day!

Starting at the top and then left to right:
Better Homes & Gardens (recipe), Taste of Home (recipe), Sprinkle Bakes (recipe), The Girl Who Ate Everything (recipe), Annie’s Eats, Tidy Mom (recipe)

Starting the top and then left to right:
Martha Stewart (recipe), The Secret Life of a Chef’s Wife (recipe), Fancy Frugal Life (recipe), The High Heeled Hostess (recipe), Epicurious (recipe)

And now for the fabulous American Flag Cake!

What you need to bake: Red Velvet Cake- 1 (8 inch) and 1 (6 inch) tier White Cake- 1 (8 inch) tier Blue Velvet Cake- 1 (8 inch) tier.

1.  You will torte (basically cut in half lengthwise) all of these cakes EXCEPT THE VELVET BLUE CAKE, so 3 tiers total.  For detailed instructions on how to torte and level cakes, see Crumb Coat/Fondant Video Tutorial Part 1.

2.  You will need to cut out a 4 inch circle as a guide, place it on one of the 6 inch red velvet cake layers, and cut the cake down to a 4 inch circle. You will follow this step for 1 of the white cake layers.

3. You will follow step #2 for the velvet blue cake tier (remember that we did not torte this tier) except instead of pulling away the outer ring, you will pull out the middle circle so it is a hollow ring.

4.  At this point you should have: 2 (8 inch) and 1 (4 inch) red velvet cake layers, 1 (8 inch) and 1 (4 inch) white cake layer, and 1 hollow (8 inch) blue velvet cake layer that is twice the thickness of the other layers.

5.  Place an 8 inch red velvet layer on your plate.  Frost the top of the layer, place an 8 inch white cake layer on top, frost that, place a red velvet layer on top of that and frost the top.

6.  Place the Blue cake layer on top of the cake.  Then frost the 4 inch white cake layer and lower it into the middle of the blue velvet layer.

7.  Lower the 4 inch red velvet layer onto the top of the white layer in the blue velvet circle.

8.  Crumb coat the cake. Here’s a video on how to do that! Crumb Coat Video

Extra tips: chilling the layers will help prevent messy crumbs and hold the whole thing together better.  You might also want to coat the inside of the hollowed out blue velvet circle layer to better hold the inner stripe layers to the outer blue cake after its cut.

Cutting the Cake:

1.  CHILL THE CAKE!  As long as you put a good coating of buttercream/frosting on it the cake should not dry out.

2.  Use hot water and a hot clean knife. Between slices, clean the knife and slip it down into very hot water.

3.  Make sure the knife is completely dry after dipping it in the hot water.

Thanks so much to Kathryn of The Sugar Turntable blog for giving us permission to use her photos and instructions for this cake. All photos in the collage and instructions are from her blog.

For another set of instructions on how to make this spectacular cake:
Glorious Treats

Also, instructions from 17 and Baking.

Note: All three recipes vary slightly but end up with basically the same result.

Thumbnail at top of page: Style Me Pretty

Our Pinterest Boards have lots of wedding ideas. Our boards for Wedding Cupcakes, Food and Drink, and Wedding Cakes have additional July 4th photos.

Collage Photo Sources: [1]09 Beach Productions,[2]NA, [3]TidyMom, [4]Nest by Tamara, [5]Intricate Icings Cake Design, [6]Martha Stewart

An Unexpected Match: Your Wedding Invitation and Your Wedding Cake

When planning her wedding, a bride-to-be usually has to come up with many creative ideas and make lots of decisions. One decision that is made early in the planning process is selecting the wedding invitation. Since you’ve already spent the time and creative juices to choose your perfect invitation that you love, love, love, why not use its design for another important wedding decision: your wedding cake.

A few days ago as I was adding cakes to our Pinterest wedding cake boards, I noticed that many have designs that are included on Exclusively Weddings’ invitations. I put together pairings for you, so you can see the  possibilities . . .

The simple starfish design of this beachy wedding invitation can easily be interpreted on a wedding cake.
Imperial Starfish Invitation

The nautical feel of this wedding invitation carries over to the cake with colors and style.
Nautical Beauty Invitation

The sophisticated combination of yellow/grey and damask on this invitation will work perfectly for a cake, as well.
Delightfully Damask Invitation

The single Calla Lily can be turned in to a virtual garden of Calla Lilies on your cake!
Bridal Bliss Invitation

The pearlized seashells on the Sea Treasures invitation can be recreated to add lots of pizzazz.
Sea Treasures Invitation

The black and white damask design translates beautifully from elegant invitation to elegant wedding cake.
Delightfully Damask Invitation

The love birds and branches on the Phoebe invitation can be reinterpreted in several unique ways on a wedding cake.
Phoebe Invitation

The Garden Party invitation’s design can be enlarged to perfectly decorate a wedding cake and cupcakes.
Garden Party Invitation

The Celebrate invitation translates well to create a festive wedding cake.
Celebrate Invitation

Exclusively Weddings has several Boards on Pinterest that feature wedding cakes: Colorful Wedding Cakes, White Wedding Cakes and Beach Theme  Wedding Cakes. There are also cakes in our boards that feature wedding colors.

Exclusively Weddings on Pinterest. Be sure to follow us so you can get updates on our daily Pinterest pins.

Cakes – Credits:
(1)Weddingwire.com (2)Cloudberry Cakes –  Brosnan Photographic
(3)Cakes By Lorinda (4)Sweet Traders  (5)Projectwedding.com
(6)Jay’s Catering (7)MarthaStewart.com, mysweetandsaucy.com
(8)romanblas.com (9)Miss Ingredient

THE Purple Cake – Revisited

We’ve had so much “buzz” about February’s “Purple Cake” post that we wanted to do an update for you. The original post can be found here: The Wedding Cake That Went Viral on Pinterest. BTW, the cake’s Pinterest photo now has over 21,000 repins!

Also, we now have two Pinterest Boards for cakes: Colorful Wedding Cakes and White Wedding Cakes  …. over 460 luscious wedding cakes to help you choose your own special confection.

As mentioned in the February post, the popular purple/black cake was created by Jen Kwapinski of Jen’s Cakes in San Jose, CA. She kindly provided more details about the cake:
Design Name:  “Mod Damask”
Number of People Served: Approximately 100
Icing:  Butter Cream
Butterflies: Fondant
Trim: Satin Black Ribbon
Scrollwork: Hand Piped
Flavors: Top – Double Chocolate Kahlua Cake w/ Chocolate Mousse filling
Middle – Double Chocolate Kahlua cake w/ Chocolate Mousse filling
Bottom – Banana Cake w/ Bavarian Cream Filling

The wedding photographer was Ken Kato and he has graciously provided additional photos for inspiration and ideas. These new photos show the overall wedding décor and how perfectly the cake and décor complement each other.

The Wedding Cake That Went Viral On Pinterest

A few months ago, I was looking online for spectacular wedding cakes to pin to Exclusively Weddings’ “Wedding Cakes” Pinterest board and came upon one cake that stood out from the rest. Apparently I was not the only one who loved this cake … a luscious confection trimmed in purple and black. I pinned it about five months’ ago and watched as it was repinned again and again and again.

Its repin count reached 800 repins. I was thrilled.

Soon I saw 1,000 repins … 5,000 … 10,000 and now it has more than 15,000 repins and “likes” along with over 75 comments such as:

“I love the combination of piping and ribbon! Gorgeous”
“I love this cake. My dream.”
“Love the cake and the color.”
“AMAZING! LOVE IT!”
“Love this. So elegant!”
“Omg!!! I sooo love this cake. I am going to have to use this idea……”

From this sampling of comments you can see what a beloved cake this is!

This fabulous, three-tiered wedding cake was created by Jen’s Cakes in San Jose, CA, and photographer Ken Kato captured it perfectly.

I think you will enjoy seeing the cake in context with all of the other accessories that the bride chose to go along with it. If so, Ken Kato’s blog has lots of pictures for you!

I’ve had people ask about the purple sparkles that surround the cake. These are a material called Acrylic Ice Crystals. They come in a myriad of colors and are available online.  Google “Acrylic Ice Crystals” and you’ll see lots of sites that sell it. It really adds a lot of pizzazz to the cake table, doesn’t it!

The screen shot below shows the cake on our Pinterest board. There was a photo of another view of the cake on the photographer’s blog and about two weeks’ ago I pinned it, also. So, now are two views of this cake on our Wedding Cakes Pinterest Board. There are almost 250 cakes on this board.

Here is “THE” cake! The original one on the left and the 2nd pinning on the right. And Ken Kato, the photographer, kindly sent me a third shot, a close up, so you can see the detail.

[Click the small thumbnail at the top of the post to see entire cake full size.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPDATE: There is an updated blog post on the Purple Cake. The Purple Cake Revisited

Wedding Cupcakes and Mini Wedding Cakes

Yum, yum! For a dessert that is both pleasing to the eye and to the palate, we can always count on cake.  And the Queen of all cakes is surely …. The Wedding Cake!

Having a special dessert at a wedding has been a tradition for centuries. The wedding cake’s history is generally reported to have started long ago in the Roman Empire. The early cake was a flour-based sweet, which evolved in to the Bride’s Pie. It wasn’t until the early 19^th century that the Wedding Cake replaced the Bride’s Pie and it wasn’t long before the wedding cake started to resemble the dazzling creations we see today.

And the wedding cake is still evolving! There was a time not long ago when just one, traditional wedding cake was the only option. Now there are two more options: Wedding Cupcakes and Mini Wedding Cakes.

Even though cupcakes and mini cakes are small, if your choice is something  elaborate and detailed, you probably won’t see a savings in the preparation cost.  You will likely save on the cutting fee that some reception venues charge, though. When the wedding cake is not purchased from your reception venue, a fee of around $1.50 per person is typically charged to cut and serve the cake, which, of course, won’t be necessary with individual cupcakes and mini cakes.

While one big cake can be a “wow”, there is no lack of wow factor for the other choices either. There are many creative ways to decorate cupcakes and mini cakes to create a spectacular presentation! One trend is to have a small cake on top of a tiered stand, which is filled with cupcakes or mini cakes. The result can really make quite a statement and will be memorable for your guests.

Since the cutting of the cake is the first act that the bride and groom do together as husband and wife and is such a lovely tradition, having a small, single-tier cake decorated in the style of the cupcakes or mini cakes will allow you to still enjoy this special custom.

To give you lots of inspiration and ideas, we have pinned over 200 photos of wedding cupcakes and mini wedding cakes that you can view and enjoy on two of our Pinterest boards:
Wedding Cupcakes Pinterest Board and Mini Wedding Cakes Pinterest Board

The photos below show how creative you can be with the design of wedding cupcakes and mini cakes themselves as well as display ideas. We hope you’ll get some inspiration for your own spectacular wedding dessert!
Photos from Cotton&Crumbs; used with permission.