Janie of www.janiehaasevents.com was the one who brought Marissa to me. We hit it off right away! She knew exactly the look she was going for and was great at communicating that to me. We designed a cake to fit in with the decor that would incorporate silver, orchids and keeping with a modern but not stiff design.

The cake is white chocolate with pistachio buttercream and a layer of orange zest buttercream covered in vanilla swiss meringue buttercream and hand-made fondant. Silver ribbon is criss-crossed on the cake and it is then adorned with our hand-made sugar orchids.

So many talented friends worked on this wedding including John and Sarah of Spruce floral, www.sprucefloral.com, Jason Falchuk of www.bostonweddingfilms.com, and the lovely Sarah Bastille, www.sarahbastille.com. Thank you Janie for bringing us all together on this amazing wedding!

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I was thrilled when both their moms contacted me last month for their 30th birthday cakes. I thought, "Sure, we can fit in a simple birthday cake in March, no problem!" Well, there was nothing simple about this party! They were both surprised with a cake for each of them at Sonsie on Newbury street. Coincidentally they both share the same birthday, same year! This was just meant to be!

Laura's cake was a hand formed wine bottle in her favorite flavor, toffee mocha. A chateau is hand painted on the label and her family name as well as her married name are incorporated also.

Brad has a hand formed golf bag, similar to his own, in his favorite, spice cake with lemon curd and vanilla buttercream. The clubs are hand made out of sugar and the Tedesco logo is hand painted. 

 My gratitude goes to Donna Kim of the Perfect Details, http://www.theperfectdetails.com for introducing me to these very special families. We look forward to many more occasions with them in the future!  

When I first met the lovely bride Maria I knew she was detailed oriented and knew exactly what she wanted. When she told me she was having her wedding on Cape Cod I knew just who to send her to in order to interpret her vision. She called me right back to tell me how much she loved meeting designer Chad Michael Peters www.chadmichaelpeters.com and was excited to have him not only design the flowers but plan the whole wedding.

Chad created a natural and unstructured feel incorporating robin's egg blue and bright peach colors, natural branches and lots of candlelight. Tables had adorable birds nests filled with eggs sitting on bread plates. Chad sketched the original design for the wedding cake incorporating the blues along with a natural tan color and a pop of orange in the monogram. Lush fresh flowers adorned the cake along with two birds made out of sugar sitting on the top branch. The understated beauty of the details of this wedding were perfect for the relaxed yet luxurious setting on the water at the Wequassett. A special thank you goes out to my good friend Patty for sending Maria my way, it was the beginning of many other wonderful working relationships!

Sugar flowers are made from sugar paste (also referred to as gum paste) which is similar to fondant but can be rolled out thinner and hardens unlike the fondant that covers cakes. Technically they are edible but I suggest our brides and grooms preserve them or use them on an anniversary cake in the future.  Each petal must be cut out and rolled with a miniature rolling pin and either dried and applied to a stem one at a time or applied while the petals are still soft depending on the type of flower.

Sugar flowers can be designed from copying natural flowers but they can also be stylized to match design elements of the wedding, such as a flower in a lace gown, a ruffle of a dress or a whimsical graphic taken from an invitation or table linen. Often I am inspired by flowers I see in paintings such as the gorgeous flowing magnolias painted by Martin Johnson-Heade or the unique varieties seen in Asian art.  

At so many receptions I hear from my brides that their guests were amazed to learn they are not looking at fresh flowers. Consider using these special and unique adornments to make your wedding cake something that will be talked about for years to come!

The first cake we made was a three tiered round cake with hand made sugar paste "ruffles." Each ruffle was cut out and formed individually with a gum paste tool before being applied to the cake. The ruffles had to be applied before they dried to give it a more light and fluffy feel. The top tier was separated with a porcelain candy dish. For this cake Jessica's Country Flowers combined green and ivory versions of cattelyta orchids , lady slipper orchids, garden roses , mini hydrangeas and more to mimick the "fluffiness" of this cake.

The next cake had a more modern feel. Four tiers of square cake were covered in white fondant before being stenciled with a paisley design. Mimosa Fresh Floral Design arranged dahlias, smokebush, sarracenia and fiddlehead ferns in a vinage urn along with a bouquet of cymbidium orchids , sarracenia and leucadendron all in deep shades of scarlet for a more dramatic feel.

Thank you Boston Weddings for all your support! This issue is on newstands now till June of 2011.

The Liberty Hotel is one of my favorite hotels in Boston.  It has the perfect combination of old city charm since it was formerly a jail, and contemporary coolness. We have the luxury of working here often but never the chance to incorporate its unique architectural details into a cake until last summer.

My friend Chad Michael Peters of www.chadmichaelpeters.com happened to be planning and designing an over-the-top wedding for some fabulous clients and gave me the opportunity to make the wedding cake.  He was using the history of the building as inspiration for the entire wedding and incorporated these details throughout such as live statues of inmates and police officers and songs referring to jails and prisoners.

When it came to designing the cake Chad did not hesitate to add more jail themed details. The medallions are fashioned after the circular window in the lobby of the hotel. The gold "bars" refer to the many cell bars still remaining in the hotel. Each bar is finished with a "screw head" made out of gum paste. There is a chain around the middle of the cake and it is topped with a monogram and genuine crystals. The cake appears to be floating on a bed of fluffy hydrangeas and lilies. Thank you Chad for bringing me in for this wedding, it was a wonderful opportunity and one I'll never forget.  

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