To Top It Off...

These days, couples are choosing all sorts of thing to top their wedding cakes. From bride and groom figurines to monograms, flowers to tiny plastic animals wearing wedding day finery, the possibilities are practically endless. Are you more traditional when it comes to cake toppers, or would you rather go the creative route?

Check out these adorable tiny birds, found on Etsy:

So cute, right?

Or here's something more traditional, but still with personality.

How romantic!

If you want to use your last initial or a monogram, there are tons of options out there.

Or, would you rather have a humorous cake topper?

There really is no end to what you might put on top of your wedding cake. If you've used something unique to top your cake, let us know in the comments!

A Dessert To Remember

We’ve all been there. You’re at a wedding and it’s time to cut the cake. You turn to see the bride and groom, knife in hand, slicing through a six-tiered cake with white frosting.

Not your style? We didn’t think so.

If you want your reception’s dessert to be as personalized as the rest of your wedding, it’s time to break away from the mold and give your guests one more thing to remember you by.

Cupcakes have been a much buzzed-about trend recently, and provide an easy solution if you’re looking for that “wedding cake” feel without the price tag. A tiered dessert platter and frosting to match your wedding colors make these an exciting end to the reception meal. You could even have a matching mini-cake, to cut and share with your groom!

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Speaking of mini-cakes…

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These cakes definitely make a statement. Give a beautifully decorated cake, in miniature form, to each of your guests. Later, they can brag that they ate an entire wedding cake by themselves.

If ornate mini-cakes are out of your budget, consider something like these simple fruit tarts, or a dessert bar with an assortment of items to choose from. Added bonus: Instead of sitting at tables, guests can stand and mingle while they indulge themselves.

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If you’re open-minded, the possibilities are endless when it comes to wedding desserts. One kid-friendly option: an ice cream sundae bar with all the trimmings. Or if you have an evening reception, serve your crowd assorted small cookies with a shot glass of milk before they head home. Not sure where to start? Call your favorite local bakery and ask for a sampling of what they recommend for a wedding – no cake allowed!

Simple, Modern Cakes

Lately, I've been doing a lot of cake tastings with my clients and looking at BUNCHES of potential cake designs. Luckily for me, researching cake designs is quite possibly one of my most favorite things to do in life! :) My personal philosophy on cake design is that an understated cake design is timeless and the real star of the cake should be its flavor. However, that's just me. You might be more of an overstated kinda couple and want a fabulous, Ace of Cakes-like cake... and that's cool! Do what works for you and what is reflective of your wedding style.

When I look through pictures of cakes, my eye is immediately drawn to the simpler, plain styles that look slightly modern. This type of design will probably end up being less expensive than more elaborate, heavily-decorated designs - so if your budget is limited, go with a simply-designed cake!

Here are a few of my favorite cakes from ProjectWedding.com (click on image to enlarge):



{Top row: White modern cake with satin ribbon, White whimsy cake with rosettes, Light green & white textured cake; Bottom row: White smooth cake with rose topper, White square cake with brown ribbon, White square pink poppy cake}

Re-Cap: Cakes

While deciding what I wanted to post today, I thought I'd review some past posts. In the midst of browsing through older topics, I thought, "Hey! Why don't I give my readers links to all of the posts on a particular topic in one new post?!" Not a novel concept, I know, but hopefully helpful to you!

Today's re-cap: Cakes

The French Wedding Cake (October 2008)

Macaroon Croquembouche (November 2008)

Cake-tastic! (November 2008)

Bakery Bar Cake Inspiration (February 2009)

And to end this post on a sweet note, here is one my favorite cakes posted recently on With This Ring...

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Bakery Bar Cake Inspiration

This morning I came across Bakery Bar's website and had to share some of their cake pictures. While not the most elaborate cakes in the universe, their cakes are simple, sweet & modern. Just reading their cake flavor combinations makes me want to whip up a batch of homemade buttercream frosting so I can eat it straight from the bowl (no cake necessary)!!

Bakery Bar is located in Oregon, so an Indiana bride most likely would not have their wedding cake made through them, but the pictures are something you could bring to a local caterer as ideas of what you like.



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I love their cupcake displays - small cake on top for the classic "cutting of the cake", but individual cupcakes below. Eliminates the need to have a huge cake cut for all of your guests!

Valentine's Wedding Cake

It's been a while since I've posted a cake picture, and this one is perfectly suited for the romantical holiday we are about to enjoy tomorrow:






{Source: Cake Wrecks' Blog}

The decoration on this cake is made out of M&M's! So cute. My husband loves anything pixelated (i.e. old video game t-shirts), so this cake's pixel-like design would totally win him over.

I hope everyone enjoys their Valentine's Day - whether you're with your sweetie or with your best girlfriends!

Sweet Details!

Of course, Martha Stewart showcases only the coolest of the cool weddings, and I'm so glad I saw pics from this fun-loving wedding! [I know I've seen these pics before at some time in my life, but was reminded of them after viewing Ritzy Bee's blog...]

I'm in total love with the color palette, by the way...

How great are these placecards?? The couple created a unique button pin for each of their guests (that must have taken a while!!), attached them to some folded cream cardstock & their guests could wear the buttons around all night! Fun!

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This guestbook idea is so cute. They provided little envelopes stuck to each page of the guestbook for guests to slip little notes inside of... and then seal them up with simple little stickers! I'm thinking of using all of the colors in this photo as paint chips for my entire house... so cool and calming!

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Lastly, their cupcake stand is just too adorable. Understated and simple... sometimes the best way to go, in my book!

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Cupcake Bar!

Everyone pretty much knows the amount of joy a candy bar can bring to a wedding reception, but what about a CUPCAKE bar?!

There are a few brick-and-mortar cupcake bars opening up around the United States (Jilly's Cupcake Bar in Saint Louis, MO... The Cupcake Bar in Austin, TX... The Cup Cake Bar in Cary, NC), but I just saw a post on Weddingbee by Mrs. Avacado about doing a cupcake bar at an office party... which makes me think it should certainly be done at a wedding reception!

How much fun would your wedding guests have as they choose the cake flavor, filling, icing & topping of their very own custom cupcake?!? Great fun, I think.

Just check out these scrumptious-looking concoctions from The Cupcake Bar in Austin, TX:



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You could even do this yourself on a smaller scale for a bridal shower... pre-make the cupcakes, whip up (or buy) several types of icing (in the bride's wedding colors if you really want to make her happy), and load up on crazy toppings. Mmmmm.

Cake-tastic!

One of the most fun items on my wedding planning to-do list was choosing a cake. I don't know how many work hours were lost to browsing Brides.com's cake gallery... Cake-searching truly is an addiction! Speaking of cakes, I'd like to share a few of my favorite cakes with you...

First up, the inspiration for my wedding cake. There's something about a plain white cake with adornment that gets me every time:

Next, a beautifully simple square cake with ribbon trim.

Here is a GORGEOUS chocolate brown cake with sugar apple adornment.

And finally, the coolest idea ever: Reese's Pieces cake!

{All cake pictures taken from Brides.com's Cake Gallery}

Macaroon Croquembouche

I've already posted about the French wedding cake: the croquembouche. Over on Design*Sponge's blog, I saw the best variation on the French wedding cake: the macaroon tower! In your wedding colors, this dessert would be a perfect substitute for the traditional wedding cake ~ and delicious, too! While I was in Paris this spring, I had the most scrumptious pistachio macaroon at midnight in the outside courtyard of a corner cafe... oh, I want to go back so badly!

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Real Wedding: Ashley & Chris

As promised, here are some professional pics from Ashley & Chris' October 11th wedding... openField Photography took some amazing photos and were nice enough to create this handy collage! :) Thanks so much! To view all of the Ashley & Chris' wedding pics, here's a link to openField's blog post.

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Again, I should put a disclaimer here: I didn't come up with these wedding designs. These were all Ashley & Chris' creations - I just made sure everything was set up appropriately, kinda like a day-of wedding coordinator would do. It was so much fun to be a guest at their wedding!


Another disclaimer: I still need to post pics of their candy bar ~ it was so perfect! In fact, Ashley's candy bar was so cool, I told her she would have to be my "candy bar consultant" if my brides choose to have one! :)

The French Wedding Cake

The Croquembouche

Literal French translation: a crunch in the mouth... how delectable!

I just adore these cakes! Already in individual servings, this type of cake is functional AND beautiful. Here is some cake indulgence for you...



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A little Martha creation (below)... I love the spun sugar covering the puffy pyramid of Parisian goodness! Click the picture source link for the recipe!



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One more Martha cake for good measure... This one is from her Gateaux de Mariage wedding cake segment. This looks almost too good to eat!



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