Let’s talk about your reception experience and how you can create a fun and memorable evening for you and your guests! Today’s featured vendor, Art of Sucre, has become a leader in the wedding industry when offering a unique and custom experience for her couples and their guests. Emily is not only an amazing business owner and cotton candy spinner, but one of my close friends. We go all the way back to elementary school, think back to 7th grade gym class. It has been so fun to continue our friendship and work together in the wedding industry! Emily has so much to offer and I am excited for you all to learn from her and her new spin on cotton candy! Grab your favorite drink or even a glass of champagne as Emily walks us through the art of cotton candy and how it can elevate your reception experience!
Meet Emily
Hi All! I’m Emily and I am the owner of Art of Sucre, an Artisanal cotton candy company! Yes, you read that correctly, my whole job is cotton candy and you could say it’s pretty sweet. See what I did there?
Before I dive into the sweetness, I wanted to share a little bit about myself! I am married to my high school sweetheart, Drew, I am an avid reader, and I have the best pup in the world, Fitzgerald. When I’m not spinning cotton candy I am all about game nights with friends or relaxing on the couch with a book in hand. I also am a huge fan of traveling. Drew and I try to travel to someplace new a couple of times a year, even if it’s just for a weekend! You mostly can say that I am a homebody at heart, but lover of adventure!
Now onto the sweetness behind Art of Sucre.
The Sweetness behind Art of Sucre
At Art of Sucre we do anything and everything cotton candy based. All of our packages are 100% custom to fit the needs of our clients. Plus, all of our cotton candy is made in house and therefore can be dyed any color! From cart service at private events, to pre-spun containers, mannequin heads (think cotton candy hair), glitter drink bombs to beverage toppers, we have given cotton candy a modern and chic upgrade with fresh flavors, creative toppings and a classic aesthetic. We simply love creativity and customization! We do all different types of events. A few of our favorites are professional sport teams suites, corporate events, and, of course, weddings!
Champagne Toasts
One of our most popular services, and my personal favorite, is our champagne toppers. We spin fresh, champagne flavored cotton candy and place it elegantly on top of glasses of champagne. When guests receive the glass they can simply pluck the cotton candy off the top and eat it alone or they can push it into the glass and watch the cotton candy dissolve. This is so fun because that means you can choose the color of your champagne toppers! This allows your guests to watch the color of the champagne change! Isn’t that fun!?!
Something else we are all for is edible glitter! This is one of our toppers that can elevate your reception experience. It has become one of our favorites and we think it adds something special to your glass of champagne! Just imagine dropping your pink cotton candy with edible glitter into your sparkling glass of champagne! It’s stunning and exciting to watch! These toppers are the perfect touch to elevate any wedding toast, signature drink or cocktail hour! Whether they are set at guests place setting or passed on trays they add a little touch of whimsy and elegance to any event.
A few people we have topped glasses for are the Cleveland Cavaliers and Browns, Elton John and countless weddings! I love being able to add an unexpected and unique element to any event! I mean who doesn’t love sugar, glitter, and champagne, right?
All in all, when it comes to your reception, focus on your guests and creating a memorable experience! Whether that is with our champagne toppers or hand spun cones, we look forward to offering you a luxury experience! Let’s toast to creating an evening that honors you and your guests!
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May 29, 2020
Continuing the bridal series, we are diving in with Sarah, talking all things wedding gowns and dresses! She walks us through the current dress trends for 2020 + 2021 and what to expect at your dress appointment. She lays out the full wedding dress boutique experience and how to feel prepared when choosing your dream wedding dress!
Meet Sarah and her bridal boutique shop, The Dress
Hi there Brides! My name is Sara Recker and I am the proud owner of The Dress Bridal Boutique located in Medina, Ohio. I started The Dress from the ground up in 2010 in a small boutique and have not looked back. I opened the shop just 6 months after I married my husband and the boutique became our first baby.
Fast forward 10 years and we are now a 3600 square foot boutique with over 11 staff members. We have a sister store called The Dress Rack and have been apart of some fun opportunities as a shop. For example, we were featured on a new Lifetime show called “Marrying Millions.” Episode four was our little claim to fame on national Television.
With all that being said, we are so thankful for all the experiences and clients over these past 10 years. We cannot wait to celebrate in a big way with our clients and vendor friends when we can. For now, we are focusing on how we can better serve you and our brides. We are excited to see what the rest of 2020 has in store for us!
2020 + 2021 Wedding Dress Trends
We LOVE the looks coming out for 2020 and 2021! Lots of sleeves, boho, and classic lace.Here are a few of my favorite current dress trends:
- Clean fabrics of satins and silks: mikados and cuts that flatter the body so beautifully
- Classic lace and texture: teh Sottero and Midgley line compliment this trend so well
- The boho look: a mix of distinctive details of lace with a dramatic sleeve or open back
The Wedding Dress Boutique Experience
As a bridal boutique, we make it our priority to focus on the bride and her vision. Not Grams, Mom or your MOH. From the start, we will create a space where your vision is heard and that everyone understands the direction of the appointment. At the end of the day, our goal is to make you feel beautiful and confident on your wedding day!
So how do we personalize our boutique experience to you?
In our boutique we service three brides at a time, which allows you to have your own private suite. Throughout your appointment you will have a stylist work closely with you. Your stylist will help you find a dress that encompasses your wedding day vision. One unique part of our experience is that our stylists select the gowns for you try on! In the first few years of opening, we found that this gives our brides the best dress shopping experience . It allows more time for our stylists to work with you and help you find the perfect dress.
All of our stylists are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to translate your vision into a dress. They know the fit and look of the dresses and how they look different on the body than the hanger. It’s the stylists job to show you a variety of gowns that fit your vision. Creating an experience that leads to brides saying yes to a gown they would have never tried on for themselves.
It’s about building a trust with your stylist from the beginning and letting them curate an experience that makes you feel and look like a bride. Helping you choose your dream wedding dress and bringing your vision to life!
How To Preserve Your Wedding Dress
There are several options to consider when wanting to preserve or place your dress in storage. Whether you are wanting to recycle your dress or keep it in storage, there is an option for you! Here are different options to consider when preserving your dress.
- Getting your dress cleaned: This is a very important step to do before preserving your dress.
- Recycling/ Reusing your dress: This is what Sarah personally did for her wedding dress. She had her gown made into a Christening gown for her four children. This allowed her to share a piece of her dress to her family and love on it a bit more. A few other ways you can recycle your dress are:
- turning it into a tree skirt for Christmas
- displaying it on a mannequin in a spare room
- taking a piece of lace from your dress and turning it into a handkerchief
- Storage/ Shadow Boxes
Take Time to Find Your Dream Wedding Dress
If there is one thing I can leave to all future brides, give yourself time to find your gown. Finding your dream wedding dress takes time and should not be rushed. I highly recommend purchasing a year to nine months out. If you are not given that time frame, that’s okay! Make sure to place wedding dress shopping at the top of your wedding planning list.
Always feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions, we are here to help anyone! All our love and well wishes to you all!
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May 22, 2020
I’m so excited to share this post with you! Before we dive into it, make sure you grab your favorite treat, because you will want one as you read this. Continuing the bridal wedding series, we are talking all things wedding desserts and cakes. Kelly of Sweethome Cakery gives a behind the scenes look of her business, current baking trends, and steps to take on choosing your wedding cake and desserts!
You are in for a treat!!
Meet Kelly and her business Sweethome Cakery
Hey, there! I’m Kelly. I’m married to my 3rd grade sweetheart. We have two little girls and are adopting our third this year! I’m a self-taught baker and am so grateful for the freedom of working from home that this profession gives me. With a college degree in Automotive Science and a background in mechanics, I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with baking 3 years ago but thank God you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!
Creating cakes, cupcakes and cake pops for people with dietary restrictions, learning and mastering new trends, and bringing joy to my clients’ events are my favorite parts of being a baker. My husband (aka my taste-tester) is a pastor and sometimes works unconventional hours, so you’ll find me baking away during my kids’ nap-time, after bedtime or bright and early in the morning. I truly love what I do and am so excited to share some of my favorite tips + encouragement for brides-to-be!
Choosing Your Baker
When searching for your soul-baker, combine a healthy amount of online reviews, personal testimonials and photos of what the baker can cook up for you. Creating a tasty and beautiful cake is the main bit, but there’s more.
You want a baker that strives to understand your vision, has experience and ideas to add, one who pays attention to your details and will be dependable on the day of your wedding to arrive and set-up.
If you or your family requires desserts that cater to dietary restrictions, have those specific restrictions in mind. Search for bakers that are experienced in such desserts. For example, gluten-free and dairy-free options are pretty common, but vegan and soy-free are tougher to come by.
Get a few quotes if you can! It takes work to put together a quote for a wedding since there are many factors in play, but it will be worth it to get a good idea of the amount you are willing to spend and what you can get for your money. Your baker’s skill set, experience, and quality of ingredients used will all factor into the price.
Current Trends for Wedding Cakes and Desserts
Dessert Tables
A delectable array of several types of desserts, encompassing many flavors that gives your guests choices. You can combine a smaller cake with cupcakes, mini-cupcakes, cake truffles or cake pops, all designed to flow together and fit the same style that you chose.
Semi-naked cakes
This is a classic that I hope never goes out of style. Semi-naked cakes can have a few different levels of frosting and cake showing, I always ask my brides to show me a photo of what they have in mind so I make sure I can get it right. These cakes are paired beautifully with delicate florals, fresh fruit or greenery.
Modern or Rustic cakes with statement toppers
These cakes demand attention with their smooth, frosted designs. You can choose thin lines for a modern look or large strokes for a rustic feel. Pair these with a custom cake topper for a beautiful balance of simplicity and boldness.
Drips
Caramel, white chocolate or chocolate ganache drips add texture and dimension to your cake. Plus an extra splash of flavor if you choose a fruit filling but are missing the sweetness of chocolate or caramel.
Flavor Trends for Wedding Cakes and Cupcakes
Choosing your wedding cake flavor can be a big decision, I know it was for me!! Kelly provides a few flavors that are her go to choices for her couples.
- Caramel cake with a salted caramel filling and vanilla buttercream
- Vanilla bean cake with a fruit filling and vanilla buttercream
- Chocolate or black velvet cake with a chocolate ganache filling and vanilla buttercream ** if the bride or groom want chocolate buttercream but they want a white cake, Kelly suggests putting the chocolate buttercream in layers**
- Lemon (or lemon poppyseed) cake with a raspberry filling and a speckled vanilla bean buttercream
- Red velvet cake with a white chocolate ganache filling and vanilla buttercream
Tips to Choosing Your Wedding Cake and Desserts
To help with the wedding cake process, Kelly gives you a few questions to ask your baker when you meet with them and are in the designing process! These tips should help ease the process of choosing your wedding cake and desserts.
Questions to ask your baker:
- Ask for a cake tasting box. I offer my clients a cake tasting box which includes 3 cakes, 3 fillings and 3 frostings. If they book their wedding with me, that amount they pay for the box gets applied to their final balance.
- Ask your baker if they will apply florals for you, and if there is a fee. Sometimes your florist can make arrangements specifically for the cake that can be placed the day of the wedding. In my experience, the florist leaves aside flowers and greenery for me to trim, arrange and place when I set up the cake.
- Ask your baker if they have a ‘pure white’ buttercream. When I design wedding cakes, I think about your wedding photos. I offer my brides a “wedding white” option of buttercream that is whiter than my regular buttercream, since regular buttercream has a natural yellowish hue.
- Do they offer fruit fillings for wedding cakes and cupcakes. If you want a fruit filling, request seedless. That will help you take worry-free photos after putting away some cake.
- Ask your baker if you can add a small order of special treats to help curb the cost. If you have guests with dietary restrictions, order just what you need for them and label it accordingly. Dietary restricted desserts are typically more pricey, so if you only need a dozen gluten-free cupcakes, don’t order an entire cake that is gluten-free.
- Contact your prospective bakers shortly after your engagement! Whether you find your bakers through word-of-mouth, social media or bridal blogs, make contact as soon as you can! Some of the best bakers book out months in advance for weddings because of all the work that goes into planning.
- When choosing your venue, think about your cake. Buttercream needs to be in an environment that is 70 degrees or cooler to stay stable.
- Meet your baker and count the cost! I like to sit down for coffee with my clients and talk through all the details together to make sure we don’t miss anything. This is also a great opportunity to tune the order to the cost my clients are willing to spend. Some bakers charge more for different flavors or fillings, buttercream flowers, etc. Find a baker that is willing to take the time to help you work within your budget.
In summary, when it comes to choosing your wedding cake and desserts, it comes down to knowing your wedding day style and favorite flavors! The rest of the details will come in place when you meet with your baker and start talking out the details!
If you enjoyed this post, you may also love:
http://anamaria-photography.com/tips-to-choosing-your-wedding-photographer/
Go say hello to Kelly: Sweet Home Cakery
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