Special Projects Editor Anthony Luscia and I found this adorable white chocolate teacup and saucer at an event at Dylan's Candy Bar .We filled it with white candy and used it as a cake topper for our upcoming wedding cake series "Art of Cakes" on the Style Network. Tune in tomorrow at 5:00PM if you're in the New York City area. Check local listings in your area.
Posted by Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge
When we started planning the wedding the first thing I wanted to figure out was the food. I’m definitely someone who “lives to eat” and not the other way around, so I had an absolute ball figuring out our wedding cake.
As soon as we decided to get married in Savannah I knew I wanted to use as many local artists (and students from the Savannah College of Art and Design) as possible so I headed directly to Cheryl Day at Back in the Day Bakery. I didn’t have to look up any names, ask for recommendations; I knew after a few visits to her beautiful shop downtown that she was the baker for me.
All images courtesy of Back in the Day Bakery
Cheryl runs a lovely bakery in Savannah that specializes in old-fashioned desserts and cupcakes. In addition to seriously addictive sweets (which are always topped with decorations like vintage plastic ballerina dancers) Cheryl’s bakery also serves lunch and makes a mean ham sandwich. Since we weren’t looking for ham sandwiches (yet), I visited Cheryl’s bakery with my parents when we visited Savannah together.
[Side note: when we decided on Savannah, and not Virginia (where I’m from), for our wedding I thought it would be important for my parents and I to visit the city together so they could see why I loved it so much. If you’re having any trouble with reconciling your family and your wedding location choice I really recommend a family trip. It gives you time to talk about everything, spend time together, and have them be a part of the planning in a meaningful way.]
Aaron and I agreed that we didn’t want a fussy cake—we wanted something that looked like your grandmother just made it and you could practically taste it because it looked so good. So when I met with Cheryl I decided to leave the cake up to her. All I gave her were simple instructions: we want it to look homemade, I love anything that looks like stitching or antique paper, and please, no birds (Aaron’s request). I decided that so many parts of the wedding would be control-freak-fests for me that it would be fun to leave this portion of the big-day up to someone I trusted.
Aaron and I are going back to Savannah in January to do tastings and cake flavor choices but other than that, the cake is going to be something of a surprise. I love that even though I’m running most of the planning-show there will still be at least one aspect of the day that is a surprise. And with someone like Cheryl in control I’m sure I’ll be happy with whatever she decides.
You can find more on Cheryl’s bakery, Back in the Day, right here.
Since there is so much candy around my house leftover from Halloween, I thought it only appropriate to do a candy-related post. Last week, Special Projects Editor Anthony Luscia and I attended an event at Dylan's Candy Bar in New York City in search of white candy for a cake story we were shooting the next day. Dylan was celebrating the opening of her new party space, which is right above her newly expanded candy mecca. The space can accommodate over 100 people for weddings, bachelorette parties, showers, etc. If you like candy, you may want to take a look at some of the ideas from the party, including trays and drinks with candy and a fondue bar. They have great wedding favors, too!
Me and Dylan
Remember we were asking for brides for a TV project we are working on?..well it is actually a cake special for the STYLE network. We are producing it in record time. It will start airing in December (we will keep you posted on the exact date) -- today (or should i say tonight)- was our first shoot date. It is 11:50pm and Anthony and I have just finished a cake topper segment- we will be posting about all the ideas and sources- but for tonight- we will start with Amy DeGiulio of the Sugar Flower Shop. She specializes in exquisite sugar flowers that you can order to put on your cake- perfect to embellish a plain cake and make it extraordinary..and let me also add how nice she is--its almost midnight and she is just starting her segment- and as you see- shes still smiling!
As you may have noticed from previous posts, we have been reaching out to anyone interested in being part of a TV special we're taping about wedding cakes. Special Projects Editor Anthony Luscia and I are quickly pulling together one of the segments to tape this week, and we're giving a lot of attention to cake toppers. We called many of our favorite sources and pulled inspiration from the Martha Stewart Weddings archives; I also ran around New York City looking for new ideas. One of my stops was the new Tinsel Trading Company store (you can order things online if you're not in the NYC area and can't visit in person). It's the MSW mecca for ribbons, trims, vintage and new silk flowers—I could go on forever. Marcia, the owner, gave me a quick tour of the new store as I picked out some materials for our segment (here's some of what I pulled). Do you plan to have something on top of your cake? If so, what? I would love to hear any sources you may have, too!
On yesterday's "Martha" show, I said I would share our favorite candy sources. Enjoy!
By-the-way, if you missed yesterday's show, tune in tonight on the Fine Living Network.
I just received a cute postcard in the mail that reads "Let's Top It Off"--
Elle F Designs cake toppers. Check them out -- I think they're great if you're
looking for a fun topper. ellefdesigns.etsy.com, 646-781-9543.
This morning I was checking out some of our fantastic new products from the Martha Stewart Celebrate line available at Wal-Mart. I came across our cupcake stand; it's a 3-tiered stand with decorative scalloped trim that could be used to display cupcakes, favors, or other treats. It even could be used as a centerpiece. I think I need to order one for my daughter's birthday party.
Do you ever crave something salty then, immediately afterwards, long for something sweet? We searched through our stashes of candy to find the ultimate salty-sweet chocolates, and these came out on top. They include the perfect combination of flavors to leave your palette, and those of your wedding/shower guests, satisfied.
V Chocolates has loads of salty-sweet favor options, including their Belgian chocolate covered almonds, pictured below. Our staff loved their caramel and pretzel treats, as well--they were gone within a couple of hours! With the large amount of candy and cake we have floating around our office, not often is there such a clear favorite as this set of sweets.
Since it’s now the hottest time of the year, nothing could be better than a day at the beach…or a wedding at the beach. We’ve come across some adorable shell themed candy that could work beautifully as wedding favors. But even if you don't live near the beach (or maybe you already have your favors), these sea shell chocolates are pretty enough to adorn your tables or buffet. Your guests will be happily surprised when they discover your décor is not only elegant, but edible!
