Wedding Cake Topper to Make You Go awwwwwwwwwwwwww

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As a former cake decorator I have never been too keen on cake toppers. Most of the one I have seen are tacky. Then of course there are the new breed that are just offensive. I always tended to lean toward using sugar sculptures to match the rest of the artwork on the cake. But this one just makes me go awwww. I would actually use this. In fact now I want to design a cake to go with it.

Let’s see. 3 tiers in fondant with classic curved top edges. Make the fondant on the base tier the faintest robin’s egg blue, fade the middle tier down to almost white and make the top tier a pure white to match the birds. For a base border, in a dark straw/light tan combination pipe random woven bits with maybe a number 4 round tip to resemble a band of birds nest. Do a board to match in just the next shade darker robin’s egg blue and add maybe a tuft of grass or a two as an accent on the base.

Inside, hmmmm…oh I know! The vanilla pudding pound cake I used to make with a passion fruit ganache filling; add a touch of Le Grande Passion liquor to the soak and the butter cream base coat. Oh drool. Love it. Almost makes me want to bake again!

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DIY Madness

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Every now and then I run across a DIY project that makes me nuts. This is one of them. It is a ring bearer’s pillow made of stephanotis. Yes it is beautiful. Yes it will smell fabulous. Yes you CAN do it yourself. Should you? Well let’s take a little look at what they don’t tell you.

First off the let’s look at the flowers themselves. Stephanotis is beautiful alright but they are one of the most fragile flowers out there. They must be handled much differently from other flowers. As cited in the article there are special cotton tipped stems that must be used to keep them fresh. First you remove the natural stems and insert the moistened cotton tipped wires which you then wrap in floral tape. That is not as easy for a novice as it sounds since steph’s will discolor from the slightest touch. A florist knows to only touch them on the back side of the bloom. It’s also very time consuming.

The article calls for 150 to 175 blooms. I checked yesterday and the current wholesale price is $1 per bloom. Unless you have an inside connection to the floral wholesalers they aren’t going to sell to you. That means you will be paying retail, more like $2 per bloom. I’m betting that you aren’t going to find these bad boys at Costco either; so be prepared for a bit of sticker shock.

The second glaring inconsistence in the article is the use of floral foam. Makes sense on the surface but falls apart in reality. Literally. A 6” x 6” x 1” block of floral foam, once soaked will snap in half from its own weight. So now your little 5 year old nephew is carrying a very fragile, heavy, drippy thing that turns brown where ever he touches it. Good times.

Not only have you got a mess on your hands but it’s a mess you didn’t need in the first place. Remember all the work you did to remove the stems and replace them with the cotton tipped wires? Think about this for a minute; if the blooms have no stems how are they possibly going to soak up water from the foam? Besides, wasn’t the whole point of replacing the stems to give each bloom its own water source?

There are a lot of wonderful DIY projects out there; this my friends, isn’t one of them. Save your money and your sanity and find one that you can do in advance. In fact, this one might just be do-able out of silks. Now I’ll bet that is something you never thought you’d hear your Wedding Diva say. I did kind of shudder as I typed it.

The article is in the Aug Sept 2008 issue of Modern Bride, page 178. Sorry guys, but you know I call them as I see them.

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Pretty Hair Jewlery

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I received an email update from Lonni Tanksley to highlight these adorable new hair coils. Wouldn’t they look like tiny stars tucked into an updo? The coil design will see that they stay there no matter how much you dance the night away.

Lonni is an indie artist that with a shop on etsy.com. If you haven’t checked out her work you really need to give it a look. Her pieces are so light and airy that they make a perfect addition to not only your summer wedding look but for any time you want to add a little sparkle to your day.

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The Heart and Soul of Bridal

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The preview of the 2BeBride line was held in at the historic Union Station Hotel right here is sunny NashVegas in conjunction with 2Be University.

This is an annual gathering of all the salons that carry the line to connect and learn. In addition to a first look at the upcoming styles the salons are gathered to give input into any changes or additions that they feel their brides are seeking. I don’t know of any other line that is designed with this much input from the trenches. In a lot of ways, the gowns that ultimately make the cut and get into the line are a direct reflection of what you, the brides, are telling your bridal consultants that you want. How cool is that?

Another facet of this conference is education. Every year there are seminars and round tables on how to better serve you. Owners from around the country discus their triumphs and concerns in creating happy brides. High on the agenda this year was customer service. So much so that an expert was brought in to remind everyone that the whole reason brides shop at a salon is FOR the service.

Face it, you can buy a gown anywhere from the internet to that big box retailer; the reason you choose a full service bridal salon is because they make you feel special. They treat you like a queen and enhance this whole part of your planning experience. Really, isn’t finding your gown a huge and memorable part of your wedding planning? Or let me say, shouldn’t it be? If you don’t remember that moment when you saw your reflection in that perfect gown in that giant mirror for the first time you are missing something special.

If your salon doesn’t make you feel special, go find a 2Be salon.

Of course it wasn’t all work. You can not get a group of women together with this much in common with out having a little fun. That’s Terri’s assistant Kelly pouring the brew. Damn, I want an assistant.

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2Be Bridal Spring 2009 Collection

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I was invited this week to view the Spring 2009 collection from 2Be Bridal and all I can say is WOW! This is a line that has absolutely transformed since Terri Hilferty took over as the designer a little less than 3 years ago. Full of beautiful fabrics like silk satin and point de spree, gorgeous beading and amazing pleats, the line is one of the most diverse you will find.

2Be is a private line available in less than a hundred salons in the US and poised to launch in the UK with this collection. One of the things about a private line is that Terri is able to stay in close communication with her stockists and get feed back on what today’s brides are looking for but not finding.

I asked Hilferty what inspired her and she said versatility and romance. When she says versatility what she is talking about is that she finds out what today’s brides are asking her salons for and uses that as her jumping off point. So truly, Terri Hilferty has designed the 2Be line for the modern American woman. Terri believes that every bride can be cover girl beautiful in the right gown.

With today’s woman in mind, the collection is in the moderate price range and all of the gowns are available in sizes from 2 to 22, with a large part of the collection available in woman’s sizes up to 28W.

I’ll have more on the collection in the days to come, including the Nathan Taylor line of Social Occasion and Bridesmaids dresses.

Oh and yes I know my pictures leave a lot to be desired, I’ll have the studio shots for you later this month. The fashion shoot was only last week.

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Bridal Registry

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Are you having a hard time figuring out the whole bridal registry thing? Take heart, you are not alone. If you are one of the couples that can’t see the point or sees it as a greedy plea for presents, let me give you another perspective.

I had my sister on the phone yesterday and she was complaining about wedding season and asked “Christine, what is with these brides not registering?”

So here is the angle from your guests’ perspective. They want you to register, it makes their life easier. Face it; they don’t know what you need. This is especially true when you start thinking about friends of your parents, or people like your BFF’s mom. They want to do something nice for you, they really do.

Here is what my sis had to say on it ”Chris, I would have bought this girl a full set of All Clad but the only place she registered was at Target.”

My message to you is just suck it up and register at a few different places. Don’t do it for you, do it for the people you love.

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DIY Cake Stands

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A pet peeve of mine is seeing a beautiful wedding cake sitting on an ugly cake base. Oh come on, you’ve seen it: a board covered in aluminum foil that some poor florist has had to try to hide with greenery. Yuck Oh!

Well not any more! Martha has come to the rescue with a fast easy solution that you can do yourself and just take to your cake designer to use on your cake. You can find all the details here. I do have one caveat: add an additional foot in the canter of the stand. Wedding cakes are very heavy and if that board bows at all it can destroy your cake. Been there done that—been scrambling to find something to support the center of a sterling silver cake stand. Thank God for chefs that love me!

You have just got to love the people at MS Weddings; they come up with the best ideas

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Wonderful, Whimsical Invitations

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I don’t often talk about one of my clients on the Dish but Tear Drop Designs has me so tickled pink I just have to share!

The wonderful Holly Hatam has created the most unique line of stationery products I have run across in a long time. An artist in the true sense of the word, Holly creates for her couples wonderfully whimsical caricatures for their stationery. Adorable little couples that her clients become so taken with that they want to keep them for ever.

In talking with Holly I encouraged her to let them do just that. Today she has launched a whole new idea called LifeCycles. Holly will take your characters and create invitations and announcements for all the moments of your life.

“At TearDrop we realize that your wedding is just one experience in your cycle of life. That is why we have carried our character designs from our invitations to our baby announcements. Now you can carry your illustration of you and your spouse into the next cycle of your life! We will customize the characters to follow your unique personality and physical changes throughout the years. We make customized changes like adding glasses, making your hair shorter or longer, even adding a cat or a dog. We want our designs to totally reflect you and follow you throughout your life.”

Way to go Holly! I think you have a winner.

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