The "IN BETWEEN" Stage...

I call the time  between Christmas and Wedding Season, the "IN BETWEEN" stage. This is typically the time (for most cake designers) when it is a bit slower in terms of cake and cupcake sales, but this is also a VERY BUSY time for me.  During this time,

1)  I hold all my wedding cake consultations, starting from October -November, and then once again from January to March. I really, really enjoy this part of my business. I enjoy meeting with couples and seeing their  ideas and drafting up designs for their wedding cake. Every cake I create, I try to bring a personal element of the client into the design.  Plus, the bridal couples enjoy eating cake.. that's the FUN part.

2) Inventory... this is when I go through my kitchen and all my wedding cake orders and see what I need to order for the upcoming busy wedding season. Sometimes, if I need a special cutter or mold, I need to order it at least 6-8 weeks in advance to make sure I get it on time. Sometimes a special piece of equipment comes as far as the UK.

3) This period is also the time when I typically attend bridal or trade shows. Right now, I am busy prepping for the upcoming CKNL trade show in April. It usually draws in around 16-20,000 people in a weekend. I sell on average around 600-800  cupcakes in one weekend. Last year, I had a smaller booth and I was tripping over stuff all the time. So this year, I rented a much larger booth, plus totally revamped my booth design. Sorry, no hints, I will post pics of my booth after the show.

4) VACATION... need I say more. With my husband working in the oil patch, the spring break up tends to be around April, which happens to land before wedding season. As a result, our family tends to take a family vacation at that time. Gives me time to recoup after standing on my feet for 3 long days at the trade show and relax just before the wedding season. Sleep and days off are not an option from May until September. Last year, we went to Punta Cana...

We're Only Halfway Through...

The month of July kept us hopping... it seemed this month was the month for cupcake orders.   The cake business is strange... it's like a pendulum. You never know how it will swing and how far. Some times I will go weeks without cupcake orders and think, "Hmmm... maybe the cupcake craze is over, then WHAM!!! I am hit with a rash of cupcake orders". Yep.. the cake business is certainly unpredictable.

Here are some of the orders we completed this month...

30th Birthday Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting... YUMMM!!!

 Smash Cupcake for a little girl turning ONE. Love the contrast between the colors. We also made coordinating cupcakes to match the cake. Her mom later wrote me, `` Jasper loved her cake and the cupcakes were a real hit. Thank you!!!!``

Pansy Cupcakes. These for a client whom I have made her birthday treats for the past 3 years.  She later emailed me saying, ``Thank you very much fo rthe beautiful Pansy cupcakes you had made for my birthday. They made my day very special. Thank you.``

AND, lastly, this was the HUGEST wedding cake I have made to date. This wedding cake was created for a very sweet bride. This 5 tier wedding cake was airbrushed in pearl dust and then scroll work and lace applique was applied to the cake which was then painted in champagne dust.  Unfortunately, I didn`t get a great pic of the cake, however, the bride has promised she would get me one.  The bride emailed me, the day after her wedding saying that the cake, ``It was absolutely incredible!``

Taking a moment to breathe...

Well, the month of June is now behind us and we can now catch our breath! It was SUPER busy here at Just Like Gram's.  We were so busy that I didn't get a chance to take pics of every cake that went out our door, but here are just a few.

Clifford the Big Red Dog Smash Cake created for Lana Hamilton Photography. Love the paw prints going up the side of the cake!

We created this hockey theme cake for a young man graduating from high school. It featured the colors and logo of his favorite hockey team... the Edmonton Oilers. Sugarpaste accents included hockey sticks, hockey skates, puck and a grad cap.

Here is another high school graduation cake we created for a young lady.  This cake was centered around the theme of music. The bottom tier was designed to look like piano keys, with scroll work and musical notes on the second tier. Topping it off was the grad cap with a gold tassel.

 I absolutely love the simplicity of this wedding cake. This 4 tier square wedding cake featured white sugarpaste blossoms at the corners of each tier which were wrapped with a green and overlapping black ribbon. Later I received this message from the bride,  "Thank you again Tara! It was perfect, delicious, and exactly what we wanted."

Another wedding cake that went out our door was this 3 tier square wedding cake. It featured simple scroll work  with a yellow and orange ribbon wrapped around each tier.

Received a call from a lady out of town who wanted to order some cupcakes for some friends. She chose a variety of theme, such as these Golfing Cupcakes. She later sent me a message saying, "LOVE them!! Thanks soo much!!"

Beer Mug Cupcakes

June...and We're only Half-Way Through....

One thing I have noticed over the years is that some years, June is quiet and some months June can be completely insane. You can never predict from year to year, what it's going to be like. In the past, I have had a ton of weddings in May with few in June, but this year.. the EXACT opposite. June seems to be THE month to get married. Let's also add in the fact that it is also graduation season and people don't stop having birthday's either. We are only half-way through June so I thought I would post some pics of the cakes we have completed so far.

Buttercream piped basket weave flower basket with all hand made sugar flowers.

The following three cakes were created for a client (and upcoming bride of mine) who planned a "ladybug" theme party for her little girl turning 1. We created a ladybug smash cake, ladybug birthday cake for the guests and additional ladybug cupcakes.

 














One week later, I created this wedding cake for the mom "the bride". She had a destination wedding and then came back to hold her reception. We chose a bold blue color her wedding cake with some simple white scroll work. Chocolate seashells and fresh orchids were added at the end to complete the overall look.

Another wedding cake created last weekend was the this ruffled cake complete with yellow ruffled gumpaste flowers. The bride requested a design by Maisie Fantaisie. The original design had pink flowers which we changed to lemon yellow. I also added additional ruffles than the original design.

An Early Start to Wedding Season...

About a month ago, I received a call from my good friend and wedding planner, Tammy of TLS Wedding Designs, about doing a wedding cake for a June wedding she was planning. Not a  problem... and a consultation was set up. Fast forward 2 days in which Tammy calls me and says the wedding was moved up by 5 months to the end of February. She now had 2 weeks to plan a wedding. Could I do the cake??? Fortunately, I had a light schedule that week so I was able to fit her in.

Over three-way conference calls, we managed to have a consultation over the phone and came up with a design that the bride was happy with. It was a small wedding, however she wanted a 3 tier red velvet cake utilizing different shapes. We went with 2 square cakes (one on the bottom and one on the top) with a round cake in the middle. Each square tier was quilted and turned so the point was facing to the front. The middle round tier was decorated with an edible sugarpaste ribbon in the shade of pewter silver with a monogram. To stay within budget we added silk red roses on top and few at the bottom to balance the design and complete the overall look.

I'M ON A BUDGET!!!

"I'M ON A BUDGET!"   I hear those words quite frequently when a bride comes to me to discuss her wedding cake. I do understand the whole budget issue, especially nowadays with the economy the way it is. Personally, I don't want to spend anymore than I have to either.  I cringe everytime I fill up on gas or buy groceries at the store. 

Remembering the time when I was getting married (has it been 13 years already?), I was one of those frugal, budget-conscious, do-it-yourself brides. I was a teacher-on-call and my husband-to-be was a student - IN FACT, he wrote his final exams the day before we got married. We paid about $5000 for our wedding (yes, I know that was 13 years ago, but there are ways to keep it simple and affordable). In fact, our move to Fort St John, was MORE expensive than our wedding once we added up all the moving expenses. To help trim costs, here are some of the things I did for my wedding

• made my own wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses. Both my sister and I CAN sew, and I made them a year in advance. It's a great incentive to keep your weight down.
• had a buffet dinner (it was a wild game meal so all our family chipped in with different types of meat)
• had our wedding/reception all at the same location
• was gifted the cost of the hall rental
• used to work with my caterer who is also a dear friend, so she prepared all our food FREE- I just had to give her the money for the ingredients
• purchased freeze dried flowers from a business going under, my sister did all the arrangements
• made my own invitations/decorations
• purchased my husband's wedding band from a business going under - which by the way, he doesn't wear anyway because of his job
• had a family friend be the DJ - I just gathered CD's from family members for him to play
• had a family friend who was a freelance photographer do our photography
• I did have a small wedding cake, plus desserts made by my grandmother

Being in the wedding industry, I am in constant contact with lots of vendors and have come to learn lots of budget-friendly tips.  So here's a few:

1) Guest List - Keep it under control!  The sure way to keep costs down is trim your guest list. For example, if dinner costs $15/person, just by cutting down 10 people from your list, you save yourself: 1 less table rental, 10 fewer chair covers, 10 less people to feed, 10 fewer party favors to make, 10 less alcoholic drinks to buy... you get the idea.  The rule of thumb I learned from a top wedding cake designer and caterer in Indianapolis is the 60% rule.  You plan for 60% of your invited guests.  Realistically, not EVERYONE is going to come.  When I got married my guest list was appx 180, but just under 100 showed up.

2) Plated Dinner vs Buffet Dinner - Overall, choose a buffet dinner where everyone can help themselves. For a plated dinner, you have to pay someone to put everything on your plate and serve it you and your guests individually.  Also, on the topic of buffet, think about your food. A simple buffet with one meat, one starch and 2 veggies is going to be cheaper than too many multiple choices.

3) DIY - Yes, I do believe there are some things that you can do your self and save money, i.e. organizing wedding favors, invitations. HOWEVER, I do firmly believe that there are some things that are better left to the professionals, such as your wedding dress, photographer, caterer and wedding cake.  I believe that you get what you pay for. If you want good quality stuff, then you should be prepared to pay for it.  I can't count how many brides have come to me at the last minute thinking that they could save money by having a sister, mom or auntie make the cake and then it didn't work out and had to have me do it for them.  So, yes, I do believe that you can honestly save money and do some stuff yourself, but be realistic and honest with yourself what you can and can not do.

4) THE CAKE - One important piece of advice - a fake cake is NOT cheaper! No matter what the wedding magazines say (by the way, those articles are not written by someone who actually makes cakes, but someone in an office).  A lot of people say, "well, you're not paying for the ingredients of the cake, so it should be cheaper."  Wanna know something?? Those Styrofoam pieces cost just as much as the ingredients do, plus I have to pay for shipping too, since I can't get them here in Fort St John.  Overall, you have the Styrofoam pieces (equal the price of the ingredients of the cake), plus the time for me to decorate them which would have been the same as if it was a real cake, plus sheet cakes you plan to serve sitting in the kitchen which is STILL cake that I have to bake and ice.  SO, to save money, go with a smaller cake (see the advice of guest list above) and forget the fake cake idea.

My overall advice (which is also what I hear from other vendors too): spend the money on what is most important to you and what you want to remember the most. What I remember the most from my wedding was my dress, the beautiful location (we saved money by having the ceremony, reception and pictures all taken at the same location), the pictures and the food (we had a wild game buffet dinner).  Save money on the little things that honestly no one will remember years from now (and neither will you....

FSJ Bridal Show 2012

This weekend I attended the 15th Annual Bridal Show in Fort St John. I had an amazing time and met tons of  new brides and got a chance to rekindle friendships with other vendors whom I hadn't seen awhile. Part of the fun of attending a bridal show is getting the chance to network with other vendors. Another first for me this year, was that I was accompanied by my 8 yr old daughter Elizabeth. She spent the entire day with me at the bridal show and then participated in the fashion show as one of the models. She was a great help to me setting up and taking down my booth. We had such a fun time that she wants to do it again next year. 

Here is a pic of my booth

We created numerous cake designs for the bridal show. I like to try new techniques to display at the show. Here are just a few of them... For this cake, I covered the entire cake in fondant and then covered in sparkly sugar, tied with a sugarpaste bow complete with edible brooch.

Since August is a BIG month for weddings here in Fort St John, I get a lot of requests for autumn themed cakes. I created this cake in chocolate fondant complete with sugarpaste leaves with a bit of gold to add an elegant touch.

I wanted to experiment with different textures, so this cake was created with a stucco texture. I completed the overall design with sugarpaste dogwoods dusted with pink and green centers.

I actually created this cake last year for another show but I never felt completely happy with it. The design was inspired from a picture of a wedding dress I seen in a magazine. The cake originally had a dark blue ribbon with a star shaped sugarpaste brooch. Unhappy with the design, I ripped off the ribbon and brooch and created this sugarpaste bow with a softer shade of blue with a pearly white sugarpaste brooch to match the lacework applique on the cake. Needless to say, I loved the new look.

Going with an organic nature feel, this 3 tier cake was created using olive green and ivory shades with a branch going up the front. Two hand painted birds were added for a whimsical touch.

This pretty 5 tiered yellow cake was another design that underwent several changes during the design process. I originally was going to put yellow and green whimsical swirls going up the side of the cake with the addition of butterflies. BUT somehow I just couldn't get the feel of it. So, I ended up changing it midway the design process. I piped scroll work all over the cake and then added pearl dusted embossed fondant flowers and leaves. It looked so bright, summery and cheerful against the dreary winter weather we are having right now. If I had to change things, I would probably still add a few butterflies here or there, pink maybe???

2011 Fort St John Bridal Show Part A

This month I participated in Fort St John's 14th annual bridal show. The bridal show was well attended with over 50 brides accompanied by their bridesmaids, moms, sisters and occasional reluctant groom.
Over the years I have been working on achieving a certain look and feel to my booth and I think I am finally getting there. It's hard to believe that this was my 5th bridal show and when I look back, I cringe because I still remember my first booth - 4 cakes with red and white balloons in the background. UGH!!! I really loved how my booth turned out this year complete with black skirting, lavender tablecloths and lavender draping. I even got a new sign made this fall too.
Overall the show went very well, I was busy answering questions and handing out tons of cupcake samples. I made over 400 samples consisting of red velvet with white chocolate cream cheese, chocolate with traditional buttercream, and vanilla with raspberry buttercream. I went home at the end of the night with about 2 doz samples to the delight of my family who quickly devoured them.

Part of this years bridal show, I handed out these great coffee mugs designed by Imagine That to all the brides who stopped by my booth. Each mug had a few pictures of my cakes complete with logo and contact information. The words "Bride" were written on each mug for that personal touch.

White Victorian

Since I have a soft touch for anything old, vintage and Victorian, I designed quite a few of my cakes for the show around this theme. The cake below featured white drop strings, piping and borders traditional of the 80's. To contrast the white look, I topped the cake off with deep red roses with a spray of pearl beads.

2011 Fort St John Bridal Show Part B

Here are the rest of the cakes I created for the Fort St John Bridal show.

Vintage Suitcase Cake
I created this cake using an assortment of handmade gumpaste flowers overflowing the top. To create a vintage feel, I brushed a mixture of vodka and warm brown gel paste on numerous times in varying strengths. Adding to the charm, latches were created from molds from some of my treasured brooch collection.
Simply White
This simple cake was created just for the sake of simplicity. I wanted to show brides the option of having a simple, yet elegant cake. Flowers were silk and the cake was decorated with a simple ribbon and scroll work.

Redneck Wedding Cake

This cake was created with a very specific couple in mind: my niece and her boyfriend. We are always teasing them about "when they are going to tie the knot". I always have said that if they were to get married, I would do their wedding cake. So, I thought why not design it for fun for the bridal show and show brides how they can personalize their cake. Since my niece is into horses, I designed the middle tier for her going with a denim look complete with belt, buckle and gumpaste flowers for the added feminine touch. The bottom tier was created just for him. He is a total fan of John Deere machinery and loves working with dirt and rocks. The top tier was to combine their love of hunting and shooting. I topped the cake off with modeled figures of the couple holding guns in their arms.

Ivory Brooch
This cake I ABSOLUTELY love, it is my favorite to date. The whole world of molds opened up before me when I was designing this cake. First of all, I wanted the look and feel of ivory and gold. I just love how those two colors go together. I then got out my trusted brooch and button collection and started playing around making molds. After narrowing down my design, I got to work and put all the elements together. The overall design included quilting, gold swiss dots, gumpaste bow, gold painted scroll work and hand molded cameo brooch and buttons.

Black Victorian

I know it sounds weird, especially in today's cake world, BUT I still love the look of the traditional cakes from the 80's. You know the ones with all the piping and scroll work. So, I decided to go with the design but give it a modern twist and make the overall cake BLACK with contrasting piping. Out came the molds again, in which I added molded draping, cameos and buttons to the design. To add to the final look, I brushed pearl luster dust on all the adornments to give it a polished look.

It's Half Over... Just a Little Bit Longer

Yup, wedding season is only half over and I still have August, September and October to go. Yes, I have wedding cakes even in October. Then a month to breathe and get ready for the Christmas rush.

RIGHT now, I am going to focus on this week, and then I'm outta here for a week off in Edmonton. When I say a "week off", it's just a week off from cak'n, but I'm going there to do my usual big FALL shopping trip and stock up on cake supplies, school stuff and do some early Christmas shopping.

Anyway, here are some of the recent cakes we have done here at JLG's.

I created this cake based on a design by a popular cake designer brought to me by the bride. Sorry, I don't know who it was. The bride opted for a 3 tier, instead of the original 4 tier design and we changed it to match her colors. My camera wasn't working properly, so Christina was kind enough to send me a picture of her wedding cake. Congratulations Christina and Tyrell!
She also sent me this lovely note:
Hi Tara! just wanted to say a huge thank you for doing such a great job on our cake! it looked amazing and everyone thought it was one of the best wedding cakes they'd ever seen.
and just so you know...all of it got eaten! I've never in my life seen a wedding cake get completely devoured. it was great!


This 3 tier square wedding cake was created this weekend. I loved the color combination of delphinuim blue and silver on this cake. The bride chose lfor her flavours: lemon cake filled with lemon curd and spice cake filled with white chocolate cream cheese.

This cake was created for a couple who were married abroad. They had a small reception when they got home and ordered this cute cake. The bride collects Mr and Mrs Potato Head stuff and asked if I could create a topper for her cake. Isn't that cute?

Lastly, we completed a cute baby shower cake for a baby girl. The client requested a "baby in a peapod" theme with polka dots. Butterflies were added as an extra touch.

Black Wedding Cake

I love it when the occasional bride walks through my door requesting a design that is "outside-the-box". When I met with Amanda last year, she presented me a picture of a wedding cake she liked but wanted me to use her colors: black, red and white. Her wedding dress even had black accents. So we opted for an all-black cake with white fondant stems and leaves accented with deep red roses. She chose carrot and red velvet cake for her flavours filled with white chocolate cream cheese. I absolutely loved how the cake turned out and is so far one of my favorites. Congratulations Amanda!

Wedding Cake Season is in Full Swing

Well, it's that time of year again and wedding cake season is upon us in full swing. Can't you tell from the recent lack of post's lately? Sorry!!! Anyway, here is a quick run down of some of the few we have done recently here at Just Like Gram's.

3 Tier vanilla cake filled with raspberry buttercream and covered in fondant. We added sage green ribbon and artificial calla lilies and grass. Simple, yet beautiful.

This 4 tier wedding cake was delivered to a wedding in Tumbler Ridge last weekend. Cake was covered in pale ivory fondant wrapped in brown ribbon and filled with fresh pink roses.

Cupcakes are still in demand these days as an alternative to wedding cake. The bride chose vanilla and chocolate cupcakes iced in traditional buttercream and raspberry buttercream and then each one was topped with a fuchsia gumpaste flower. The top cake was iced in ivory fondant with a simple monogram topped with fresh flowers.

It's time to step out into the BIG world now!

This week was filled with creating graduation cakes. Here are just a few of them. First one was created for a client's nephew who was into sports. He loved baseball, fishing and his favorite hockey team was the Calgary Flames. He was also the lucky recipient of a wining a full scholarship for post-secondary education. Congradulations!

Here is another cake I created for a client's daughter. She played volleyball.

We created this 4 tier square wedding cake this weekend. Bride's colors were dark blue and deep pink. Since she was having gerber daisies on top of her cake, we created gumpaste daisies to adorn the ribbon.