Wednesday, July 2, 2014

On-Table Storage

The last blog showed a beautiful cake on an elegant silver plateau.  This plateau not only adds to the decor of the cake table and makes a smaller cake taller, but there is a hidden advantage to it.

Out of sight storage.

This view, from behind the cake table, shows you where I stored my cake cutting comb, my cake cutting knife - you can see the white handle on the right side - and extra napkins.

(Just a note to point out the knife I use to cut and serve the cake is not the same knife used by the bride and groom for their first cake cutting.)

I am not one of those "cake ladies" who whisks the cake into a back room for it to be cut in secret, out of sight from the guests.  In 30 years of cutting cakes, I have found guests enjoy watching the dismantling and cutting of the cake.  My highest compliment was a woman who came over to me and said, "I told my husband, 'You can tell she's done this for a few years!' It was fun just watching you!"  Since I do everything right there, I need everything handy and ready to go, but out of sight from the inquiring lens of the photographer's camera.

Before the cake cutting ceremony, I make sure everything is ready.  All of my tools are available but out of sight, hidden in my "secret" hiding place, the bride's knife is in place, a plate is available for the couple to place their first piece of cake, napkins are handy for them to clean their hands, and I have two cups of water close by so they can take a sip afterward.

In the last blog, I showed how the front of the silver stand is softened with the greenery.  In this blog, the back of the silver stand becomes my storage area and the bride and groom are assured of nice photos of a clean cake table!

Sunday, June 15, 2014

The Difference Greenery Makes

I recently did the wedding cake for a good friend and when buying the roses needed to adorn the cake, I was happy to see some ferns available for sale for about $0.59 each.  I picked up 6-7 of the ferns as a last minute decor for the cake table.

The extra impact greenery makes in any decor is incredible and for such a small price.  Here is the photo of this past weekend's cake with the greenery.

 The greenery adds a mat of color under the silver stand and I believe it softens the looks.  Without the ferns, the stand could look hard and cold, which is not the look we want on such a warm and fuzzy occasion!





Here are some with and without photos of a cake I did years ago showing how adding greenery can make a difference.

This one has ferns on the cake but notice how the table is pretty plain and not really eye-catching.






This one, however, with the greenery under the cake stand, adds a well-rounded look to the cake and (to borrow a famous phrase) kicks it up a notch!



The cost of a few extra pieces of greenery is that not great but I think these examples show what an impact just a few cents worth of greenery can add to a very special occasion!