A Planner Plans: Sweets for my sweet

Confession time. I am OVER wedding cake. Seriously over it.

I think after a certain number of years of exposure, just like anything, the novelty wears off. For me, that is the story of me and cake. I can't stand it. I can appreciate it, but give me a Viennese table full of brownies, cookies and pies and my heart is content.

So when it came to the great dessert debate, I realized Mr. Charming and I had a huge difference of opinion. Mr. Charming loves cake. Not just any cake but chocolate and not your average chocolate but roll over with your stomach cramping for ganache overdose chocolate. For him there was no other option.

I however, dreamed of s'mores. Roasting marshmallows, graham crackers and a bite sized morsel of chocolate along with a variety of cheesecakes.

Insert problem.

We arranged for our venue to offer s'mores but after months of consideration, decided it was just too messy.

So it was back to square one. Since I was obviously losing the battle on cake, I compromised and agreed to a small cake. 2 tiers, nice and simple, or so I thought.

I contacted Jen of Hudson Cakery soon after agreeing to serving cake at the wedding. Jennifer and I worked together on Bethany & Chris' wedding and I really just adored her. When we started developing options for the cake, she made it very well known, the possibilities were endless. Cake soon became yet another thing on the ever growing to do list.

This past week, Jen made a house call and brought with her what I affectionately refer to as sin on a spoon. Seriously. For tasting purposes, we were given a chocolate cake with oreo filling, chocolate chip cake with chocolate filling and an almond cake with vanilla filling, all with vanilla buttercream frosting.

I.DIE.

I seriously sat grinning ear to ear and confessed that I was totally wrong. Not only did we HAVE to have cake, we had to have lots of cake.

Our final selections, chocolate cake with a layer of chocolate and a layer of peanut butter and almond cake with a layer of cherries and a layer of crushed almonds. Add to that a variety of cake balls including cheesecake, red velvet cake, carrot cake with cream cheese icing and s'mores cake, and you have yourself a very happy Mr. Charming and #Giddyplannerbride.

This is Jennifer.


Samples of each cake. Are these not huge?


Cake pops (melted a bit in transition but delicious nonetheless)



I was wrong and I'm glad I was. Not only am I now looking forward to the cake, I'm now practicing a serious amount of restraint to not eat the entire sample. They were huge. In a good way!

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Wedding Cake Trends

Cake, mmm..... Who doesn't love it? These days, cakes are coming in all different shapes and sizes, how can you choose? My best advice is to consider this sweet treat yet another element of your decor, and design your cake in your Signature style. To give you inspiration, here are some of 2007's cake trends according to Sonya Hong of Butterfly Cakes:

Couture Cakes
Taking cues from fashion, cakes are incorporating rich satins and textures like lace, pearl and jewelry. Satin sashes, popular in wedding gowns, are a fabulous way to echo the gown design in the wedding décor.


Ethnic Patterns
From the runways, we see exotic, ethnic prints like Indian-inspired henna patterns making their way to everything from clothing to stationery. Why stop there? Put it on your cake too! Cakes look updated, unique. The simple, dressed down cake of 5 years ago has now been replaced by cakes with more of a “wow” factor.


Groom’s Cakes
A southern tradition, groom’s cakes are catching on. Honor the groom with a personalized, whimsical cake, either at the wedding or at the rehearsal dinner. If presented as a surprise, it has even more impact. Recent examples: baseball cap cake, fly fishing theme cake, “beer” theme cake, favorite cars, karate/snowboarding/surfing cake, sports themes -- like soccer, golf or baseball, poker theme.


Dessert Buffets
Changing up the traditional cake cutting, brides are opting for dessert buffets. For example, many smaller cakes decorated with one color scheme. Also, individual cakes, cupcakes, candy, cookies, and even pie are finding their way to the dessert course of many special events, including weddings. Creative displays using the same colored platters in various shapes and heights beef up the presentation.


Bold Colors
The white wedding cake will always be popular, but brides who want to have a truly memorable cake are adding lots of color to their cakes in unusual combinations such as chocolate brown, green or blue, or burgundy and silver. Black and white is another bold color combination that is catching on with many brides. It’s an elegant and timeless look that is still understated yet strong.

Pink Cake Box

I am a dessert fanatic; love them all, any kind, it's my second biggest obsession in life (shopping would be the first…)! But, like many of my couples, I'm not CRAZY about Wedding cake. Not that I haven't had some amazing cake tastings, I personally prefer a dessert buffet spread with petit four as options so that I can sample them all or a nice cheesecake topped with fresh fruit. However, I happen to be fortunate enough to live within pretty close proximity to The Pink Cake Box and they are definitely an exception to the rule. Not only are their cakes delicious, they are aesthetically pleasing (which is just as important to me). So, rather you're a cupcake girl like me or desire a traditional Wedding cake, definitely consider checking out some of their options; if for nothing else, you'll definitely be inspired!