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Reflections on a *Crazy* career – BIG DAY!

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Today I am at home, awaiting 2 deliveries. The first is something I’m pretty excited about – it’s an order of promotional materials for my book release. In particular, the order includes custom bookmarks. Yes! I’ll have my own bookmarks! How insanely cool is that?

I used to love bookmarks when I was a kid. I loved going into book stores and pouring over their selection of bookmarks, weighing the options. What color tassle? Glitter, or no glitter? Unicorns? (Of COURSE I wanted glitter and unicorns!) Loved it.

The second delivery is something even more important, and I’ve been waiting for this day forEVER. My initial shipment of “The Spirited Baker: Intoxicating Desserts & Potent Potables” arrives today! I CANNOT wait to see them, the culmination of an insane amount of work between my husband (the photographer!) and I! Insane.. this feels so surreal.

Today feels like the biggest day of my life… well, second only to meeting/marrying my amazing husband. I’m such a dork about this.. but it just feels.. augh! Amazing, and nerve wracking, and everything!

So as I sit here waiting.. and waiting.. I’m reflecting on my career. It’s been a wild ride, and we’ve had some really fun, amazing moments! Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we? In no particular order, here are some of my favorite moments from the past few years: (more…)

Posted in Announcements, Commentary, Interesting, News & Events, Our Products | 1 Comment »

Completely Epic Engagement Photography

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

When you’ve been in the wedding industry as long as I have, it’s easy to start suffering from “been there, done that”. “Been there, SEEN that” is also a frequent occurrence!

My photographer friends are gonna kill me for saying this, but wedding photography is an area that can really suffer from that sentiment. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was when wedding photography started leaning towards the photojournalistic, and away from the stiff, posed, and painfully staged-looking photography that was so popular when I first entered the wedding business. I loved to see photographers and couples relaxing a bit, having fun with it, and taking more chances!

Engagement sessions, however, seem to have a bit of a hard time breaking out of the mold. While I’ve seen some great, warm, personal sessions, I still think that the vast majority of engagement sessions look more like senior portraits, or Sears/Walmart style family pictures. Very formulaic, take the couple to a park, kiss, hold hands, lay in the grass, whatever.

I have photographer friends. My husband did wedding photography before really settling into his niche of food & product photography, so I know how it is. I know that many brides feel that getting that style of photos is what they’re “supposed” to do in this grand ritual of getting married… and sometimes it can be hard to coax a couple out of that thinking. (The same applies to white cake, inside and out.. and cake toppers! LOL!)

(more…)

Posted in Commentary, Inspiration, Vendors | No Comments »

Cake Toppers: They don’t have to be as horrible as you think!

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

This blog entry is going to be a unique one for me – a positive blog entry about something I normally hate!

Yes, I am vehemently, rabidly anti-cake toppers. 99% of the time, I find toppers to look cheesy, cheap, and TOTALLY out of place on a cake. Most of the readily-available toppers in stores all look the same as they did 20 years ago, and they all sort of look the same. Yawn. They go completely against my belief that a wedding should be personalized, and truly reflect the couple.

Aside from the stand-alone cheese factor, the other thing that gets me is that they’re very rarely used in a way that complements the design of the cake. I’ve got almost 20 years of old school design experience, so things like jarring breaks in form, line, color.. it just gets to me.

I prefer toppers to be an extension of the cake design itself, usually made from the same materials. Sugar flowers that are also used throughout the cake design, not just plunked on top, for instance. An unbroken, balanced continuation of the design, seamlessly executed. If such a continuation isn’t possible – for whatever reason – I much prefer to have NO topper, whatsoever.

It IS, however, possible to incorporate a topper into the cake without it being cheesy OR jarring! It takes a little creativity, planning, and a talented cake designer.. but it can definitely work. Here are the two key points to remember:

(more…)

Posted in Commentary, Inspiration, Interesting, Random, Vendors | No Comments »

A Love Letter to the Goddesses of Cheesecake!

Friday, July 30th, 2010

There are two main truths you should know – or possibly already do – going in to this blog entry.

1. If you’ve ever seen me, you could probably tell that I’m someone who takes cheesecake seriously. This isn’t “Fat”, it’s CREDENTIALS!

2. Much like wedding cake.. there is an awful lot of crappy cheesecake out there. Also – again, much like wedding cake – it surprises me what some people consider “good” cheesecake. You need to try truly amazing cheesecake, to be able to have an accurate reference point. Again, see truth #1.


I bring this up because today is July 30th! You know what that means? It means NATIONAL CHEESECAKE DAY.

Growing up, my exposure to good cheesecake was hit and miss. It was rare to come across a great slice of cheesecake, and – even if I did – there’s no guarantee that a.) I’d ever be at the establishment again (travelled a lot!), or b.) the consistency was there, that my next stop at that establishment would yield an equally awesome slice. Sigh.

My lifetime quest for the most epic cheesecake came to an end when I met Amy and Tami from Muddy Paws Cheesecake.

So… where to start? Amy and Tami are complete sweethearts. Really, that’s probably an understatement. Love em! They’re two of my absolute favorite people in the local industry, no question. Any bride that hires them for wedding desserts is in VERY good hands.

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Photos courtesy Studio Laguna Photography

While my fangirling up about those two goddesses is completely exclusive of the fact that they rock the cheesecake like nobody’s business… this blog is about the cheesecake. So, let’s go there.

(more…)

Posted in Announcements, Commentary, Fellow Cake Divas (and Divos!), Interesting, News & Events, Vendors | 1 Comment »

W00tstock Awesomeness.

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

I had fully intended to write this blog yesterday, but I was a complete zombie. I’m *mostly* recovered now, so let’s see if I can do this thing justice!

Back in the beginning of March, I received an email from one of my tweeps. She excitedly told me that w00tstock was coming to Minneapolis, and “I don’t know about you, but I think w00tstock would be better with cake!”

Well, I had to agree, so I got a hold of Paul and Storm, the geeked out musical comedians in charge. Offered up some cake, they were interested, mentioned I’d have my husband – a photographer along with me to take pics… they asked if he’d be willing to be the official backstage photographer (Willing? Hell YES he was!)…
and we were on track for an adventure in epic geekery!

The plan was to make a surprise “Tardis” cake for Adam Savage & Wil Wheaton. Hubby would photograph the goings on, while I doled out samples of our caffeinated brownies and blondies (from our line of baking mixes. Cake would be served, geeking out would occur, and it would be an awesome night.

Monday was the day, finally! It had been difficult to not blab the details of the cake design itself, while I had been free to tweet that I would be DOING a cake. Everyone wants to know what it’ll look like, especially when it’s a.) Geeky, and b.) Intended for geek royalty! This blog entry is gonna get long and image-heavy, so click through to read & gawk! (more…)

Posted in Announcements, Brides, Cakes, Commentary, Compliments, Interesting, News & Events, Photography | 31 Comments »

Dear Wedding Industry…

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Dear Wedding Industry,

Hi there. I know that you and I have a weird relationship at times, so I think it’s about time to get some things out on the table with you.

First off, know that I’m not 100% against you. There are some beautiful things about you, that I admire. Some great, honest vendors that are a blast to work with – or just hang out with – who love what they do, are great at it, and take pride in making an honest living. That all is great, and I’ve never had an issue with it. So, that aspect of you.. this letter isn’t directed at you.

There’s this other part of you, the part that I don’t get along with. A big part of it is a lack of understanding. I just think we’re on totally different wavelengths. To be honest, it sometimes feels like you’re this inbred, greasy used car salesman cousin that I’m *supposed* to like/get along with, just because of some tangential, distant relationship. I’ve never subscribed to that sort of thinking even with blood relatives, so you’ll have to understand that it’s extra hard for me to relate to you in business.

We have to share the same air – and the same culture, market, contacts, etc – so I’d love to reintroduce myself, lay some ground rules, and hope that we can come to some sort of understanding going forward.

To all businesses, new and old: Realize that I’m my own person, and I do things my way. It may not be the way that anyone / everyone else does things, but that’s just how it is. Specifically:

- Understand that no, I do not exchange links with someone I have not worked with. For that matter, I don’t exchange links with someone I have worked with, unless I’m absolutely confident that they are an awesome vendor. Please realize that this is not up for debate. I really hate being made to feel like a douchebag, but I will say no to any requests from new businesses / anyone I haven’t worked with.

- Referral fees. Oh, this is a never ending source of annoyance. I don’t care how you choose to label it, I will never pay any sort of fee for a referral. I am a staunch believer in only referring the people that I trust / like to work with / do a great job / are honest / etc. As such, I would never accept payment for a referral either. I place a high value on the fact that my brides can trust that anyone I refer is *great*, and that I have no hidden motive for referring. This is something I am not willing to compromise on, period. To be quite honest, when offered the “opportunity” to pay to be on a “preferred vendor list”, I find it not only personally insulting, I see your business in a different light. I like doing business with businesses that have their brides’ best interest in mind when referring, not just “these are the vendors that have given us money”. It just smells really dishonest to me.

- If your email to me contains any “text speak” at all (unless used in a HIGHLY ironic way, intentionally), or is riddled with spelling and eye-gouging errors in basic grammar… I may not even respond to your email. Please show enough professionalism & respect to use spell check software if it’s a weakness of yours. That goes double for your website.

New Wedding Planners: Boy, you can really tell when there is an economic downturn, as the market gets flooded with wedding/event planner upstarts. Please understand this to be the (long standing!) case. You’re going to really need to work to stand out, and to earn the trust of established vendors. If you, yourself, are a newlywed, you’re going to need to work at least 2x as hard as other upstarts – if we had a dime for everytime we heard “I had so much fun planning my wedding, I decided to do it for a living”.. a lot of the wedding vendors out there could retire on the spot.

New Wedding Photographers: You have the same sort of flood working against you that the wedding planners do. Realize that many wedding vendors are totally inundated with emails from upstart photographers. It does get a bit annoying at times. If your website is professional, and your work is good, you’ll catch our eye. If you offer to work at ridiculously discounted rates (or free) to get your foot in the door, I roll my eyes and delete your email. If you want to be a pro, be a pro. If you want to be a volunteer, or to get practice.. weddings are NOT the venue to do it.

New Wedding Shows: First off, I don’t do wedding shows at all, sorry. It’s my own personal idea of hell, and really – it’s never been a good match for us. Most of our brides do not even attend shows. I do know a ton of vendors that are looking for shows to do, and would be pleased to pass your info along, if it looks like a good match. Lately, however, I’ve been getting a *ton* of promotional packages for new shows in the mail. If I’ve never heard of you, and can’t find information online… and if you obviously have very little marketing planned for, I’m not passing your info along. It’s sad, but I’ve seen a bunch of upstart shows as “a quick way to make some $”. Also, if you’re a show I’ve never heard of, and the organizer is an upstart photographer or wedding planner I’ve never heard of.. that goes double for you.

Wedding Websites: Wow, there is a new wedding website cropping up every 30 minutes these days, I’m sure of it. I could rant for days, but let’s keep this short and sweet. I straddle the line between Gen X / Gen Y, I’m a techie.. and I have a great understanding of how SEO works. The vast majority of emails I get from you are for eyesore sites, not at all that google-friendly, and feature GROSSLY inflated pricing. As an upstart, I am well aware of the fact that you need us wedding vendors *far* more than we need you, so please don’t expect us to spend hundreds of dollars on your beginner site, and please stop filling up my inbox. kthnx.

So… that’s just how it is. Those are my ground rules, take em or leave em. Ah, it felt good to get that off my chest, it all had to be said.

Truth be told, dear cousin.. I hope you clean up the aspects of yourself that I don’t like. In the meantime, I’ll be perfectly content to pick and choose, and just deal with the aspects I get along with and can enjoy.

Ciao!

Posted in Commentary | No Comments »

Weddings, The Industry, and “Trends”

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Like many wedding industry professionals, I find myself inundated with information about “trends” in the wedding industry. While some of these are actually important to me (usually to do with logistics).. it’s the idea of color trending that has me shaking my head from time to time. Maybe I’m just still burnt out from my years in the fashion industry, but I’ve never totally been able to wrap my head around the idea of planning around color trends.

It’s a long standing thing for me, I remember failing a project back in fashion school over my views. We were asked to write a paper on.. jeez, I think it was it meant to be “in style”. I wrote my paper on my own views – that to be really stylish, one should embrace their personality, appearance and go with what works for them. That it shouldn’t matter if a certain color is “so last year”. That if that’s the color you look best in, wear it, rock it, own it… look and feel your best, and THAT is what it means to have style.

Yeah. My instructors and I didn’t really see eye to eye on that at all.

All these years later, I find a constant stream of information on color trending for weddings. Purple, it seems, is the hot color for 2010. If purple is your color, whether favorite to wear or to see, or your favorite flowers happen to be purple.. hey, more power to you!

What I’m wondering is.. how much do brides really follow these trends? Do people really put aside their “favorites” to meet a trend? I swear, whenever I hear “(color) is the new (color)”, I throw up in my mouth a little.

Of course, this trend forecasting does have an inpact on availability of wedding related items. If your absolute favorite color was popular 2-3 years ago, it may be difficult to find a good selection of bridesmaid dresses in that color this year. It gets even worse when picking out tuxedo rental accessories, as they tend to be available in an even smaller selection of colors. Between that, and all the features written about trendy colors for weddings, I can see how it would be easy to give in and go with the flow.

Here’s the thing with trends, as I see it. Trends are dated, time sensitive. Look back at the 80s.. bright fuschia and teal taffeta, big pouffy sleeves, and butt bows were hugely trendy. How many 80s brides look back on their wedding photos and DON’T ask themselves “what was I thinking”?

Weddings are an amazing vector for personal expression. For most people, it is not only the biggest party they will ever throw, it will be the most detailed. Most people will never spend that much time selecting color choices for wardrobe, decor.. floral choices, menu, stationery, and everything, into one complete package. It’s a once in a lifetime thing.. so why let something as fickle as the fashion industry dictate what you want?

No matter what you see on the blogs, in wedding magazines, or on the racks… there are always options. Have your bridesmaid gowns custom made – it’s not always a more expensive option, and it ALWAYS gives you ultimate control! Not only can you choose the exact fabric colors and textures you truly love, you can have the gowns cut to really flatter your best friends. Not everyone looks amazing in whatever the cut-of-this-year happens to be (see pouffy sleeves and butt bows!). Be nice to your bridesmaids! Not only are they your best friends… they may ask you to be a bridesmaid for you in a year when “mustard yellow” is the hot new thing. Ew. Best to build up some karma points now!

The same thing goes for your own wedding gown. Do you have a style you love, that you’ve always dreamed of getting married in, and looks great on you? If you’re a “mermaid” style gal, and this year happens to be ballgowns (as an example.. cause I really have no idea what’s “in” this year, nor do I care!).. you rock that mermaid gown. So pastels & tiny flowers are in when you get married, but you love deep dark jewel tones and big, statement-making stargazer lilies? Go for it! I can all but guarantee you that none of your guests will be thinking “Ugh! Doesn’t she know that stargazers are SO last year”. .. and really, if they are.. your friends are losers.

To quote/paraphrase the ever-wise Madonna.. “Don’t go for second best… express yourself!”. No matter what the industry dictates, personal favorites are never “out of style”. Going with what you love will NEVER lead you to regret years later.

Never feel forced to use – or NOT use – a particular item, style, color, or whatever when it comes to your wedding. It’s your day… own it.

Posted in Commentary, Inspiration | No Comments »

Clarice – have the lambs stopped screaming?

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

So here it is! Tonight, we delivered our entry for the Minnesota Monthly Food & Wine Experience – the Czar of Cakes Challenge.

Bit of a spoiler – it’s not getting judged till Saturday, but I’m confident in declaring that we’re all getting our asses handed to us by Gateaux. Seriously. I’d recently heard a rumor that Robin from Gateaux had sold her soul to the devil. DEFINITELY starting to believe that one. (Though, when I asked her about it, she did tell me that the devil actually sold HIS soul to HER… that may explain MORE!).

Anyway, I HAVE to post photos! It’s been killing me to keep my theme and pics all hush-hush before the competition.

So, here’s the deal. In the course of our brainstorming: “What are our favorite foods?” “What would make a kick ass cake?” “What would be funny/different?”, etc.. we got slightly off track and thought maybe to look to other media for inspiration, rather than just restaurants and grocery stores. Any songs that feature a food theme? How about movies?

Well, at the suggestion of food related movies, one of us popped off a quote about Liver, fava beans, and a nice Chianti (there may have been alcohol involved in this brainstorming session).. and AWAY WE WERE. An idea that we were virtually GUARANTEED that no one else would think of, much less actually use: A Silence of the Lambs Cake

Like I mentioned in my latest blog entry, I honestly did float a few other ideas by a WHOLE BUNCH of people, a little part of me thinking I should probably be talked down from this idea. Nope. Bunch of enablers! Love em!

So, I set about working on all the fussy little details.. a bottle of Chianti (in the traditional style bottle!).. sugar “death’s head” moths, painted in cocoa… liver & fava beans out of fondant.. a fondant “radish rose” and sugarpaste sprig of basil for garnish… a fondant plate, gumpaste cutlery (all airbrushed with edible metallic silver luster!).. Hannibal Lecter’s mask.. and a brain. Muahaha!

(Editted to add – Been asked about the size a few times. The “man” is actually life sized, everything else is also “real” sized. The moths are about 5″ across, the cutlery all proper sized.. it was a monster of a cake!)
I will shut up and post photos now!

Obviously not a traditional interpretation of a “Food and Wine” themed cake, but hey.. Looking forward to seeing what the audience and judges’ reactions will be!

Posted in Cakes, Commentary, News & Events, Random | 3 Comments »

Czar of Cakes Challenge, or “I gotta be me!”

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Back in my figure skating days, I learned an important lesson: “When you’re going into a competition where you know you have no chance of winning/placing, just be yourself, have a bunch of fun, maybe do something crazy.. and no matter where you place, you lose nothing”.

It was that kind of thinking that was behind my Tremors themed wedding cake, for the Chocolate Show competition. The theme was animals, I’d been looking for an excuse to make a Tremors cake… grabboids are animals, right? :)

Anyway, if you follow me on twitter or are friends/fans on Facebook, you know that I’ve been preparing for the “Czar of Cakes” Challenge at the Minnesota Monthly Food & Wine Experience. The competition involves 6 local cake companies: Celebration Generation, Muddy Paws, Gateaux, Jessica’s Cakes, Queen of Cakes, and .. that other one. Only real rule is that the cakes have to be food / wine themed.

It took me well over 3 weeks to settle on a theme! We started with an initial brainstorming session, which produced 3 reasonably great ideas, and one “spectacular.. but has NO chance of winning, may get us escorted out, and probably will prevent us from ever getting invited back!” idea.

I tried to get into my competitors heads, when it came to weeding through the ideas. One theme was one that I could see Jessica doing, for instance. Another was one that I could see Gateaux doing. The 3rd was a really sweet idea that I definitely couldn’t see anyone else doing.. but I got really attached to the “spectacular but crazy” idea. Didn’t help much that the vast majority of my friends – in several different circles – are also kinda crazy and weird, and are enablers. LOL. Crazy idea it is!

I just put the finishing touches on the cake, and I’m really excited now! We’ll be posting photos on Saturday, can’t wait!

Posted in Cakes, Commentary, News & Events, Random | 1 Comment »

Token pre-Valentine’s Day blog. Awwww :)

Friday, February 12th, 2010

I’ll admit it, I’ve long been a Valentine’s Day curmudgeon.

Don’t get me wrong.. I have nothing against love, affection, showing appreciation for those you care about, romance, or whatever. I’m just not big on feeling forced to do anything, or ads that seem to.. well, encourage romance by way of guilt. Jewelry ads that seem to tell guys that they don’t really love their girl if they aren’t willing to express it by buying a “REAL stone” are particularly great for getting some eye-rolling time in! :)

Nope, I’ve always preferred the “Do something nice for my hubby, cause he deserves it / he had a rough week / *I* had a rough week / I feel like it / Saw something or had an idea that made me think to / etc way of romancing my hubby.

That said, the market really does get hit with an awful lot more “romantic” gift items this time of year, and I’m REALLY impressed with some of the ideas I’ve read about on Twitter, come across online, etc. Of course, I procrastinated WAY too much to actually order any of these for this weekend, but they’re all too cool NOT to share! Consider this partially my “fantasy Valentine’s Day wish list”, and partially me spreading some love to people/companies that I like!

First off, ThinkGeek.com is an amazing one stop shop for Valentine’s Day, IMHO. They have cool products year round, of course.. but major kudos to them for their VDay lineup! My Favorites:

Valentine’s Day Box of Mini Plush Microbes!
This was actually my #1 gift wish (to give OR receive!) this year, and actually would have been able to order in time, but they were sold out till this morning. Bah. Cutest thing ever! Admittedly, probably best for someone with a certain sense of humor – I’m sure some people would take offense at getting a heart box full of plush venereal diseases*. I, however, think it’s awesome! Click here for all of the details.

Plush Beating Heart – It’s adorable! What else is there to say? Click here for all those details

They have a ton of cool items.. check out their Valentine’s Day Gift list Here.

Next up, gotta give some love to my Twitter buddy, Geeky Clean. Sure, there are a million and one soap companies out there, and I’m sure many, many are just fabulous.. but she’s got a unique, awesome product. You know how it is. Nerd solidarity!

“Sexterity” soap
I’m not even into RPG, and I think this is awesome. “peach, cherry blossom and white jasmine” sounds amazing, and come on – super cute idea. My hubby is a reformed gamer, this would be perfect for him. You know, if I didn’t steal it for the scent! Also FTW: “Swine Flew” bacon scented soap and pretty much everything else they make.

I think their soaps would make amazing guest favors for any nerdy or geeky wedding, party, shower, or whatever – and she will do custom packaging! Mental note: Blog more about this later!

Now here is a company I recently found on Twitter, and I am COMPLETELY blown away by the talent here. I mean really, disgustingly talented. He carves fake pumpkins like this:

K, everything I said about no guilt Vday? 1 exception: Oh wonderful husband of mine, I know you’re reading this.. you know, if you *really* love me, you’ll totally order me a custom carved pumpkin, featuring Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Claws out, preferably featuring him in a tank top. Thanks! *mwah*

You can follow this ridiculous artist on Twitter HERE, btw.

Pumpkins a stretch for Valentine’s Day? Not in my mind.. and hey, it’s my blog! So… there. :)

Ah, the love continues! My favorite radio station just played Nek’s “La Vida Es”, which I think is the most romantic song ever. Maybe I’m mentally ready to celebrate this weekend afterall, feeling warm and gushy after the song.

How are the Mr and I spending Valentine’s Day, you may wonder? This year, we decided to have fun with it: White Castle, Boone’s Farm, and B movies. Cause that’s just how we roll every once in awhile :)

* I get a kick outta the way people talk about “VD” on Twitter, much in the same way I snicker when brides discuss their STDs. (”Save the Dates”, for my non-wedding readers!) Mature, I know :) Gotta take your entertainment where ya can, right?

Posted in Commentary, Gift Ideas, Interesting, Random, Vendors | 2 Comments »

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