High School Sweethearts

March 11th, 2010

I have definitely been waiting a while to be able to post this wedding!  Right from the start I was super excited to work with this particular bride & groom because I actually had the pleasure of going to high school with both of them!  I was student body president and Ashley was president of her freshman class…to say the least we hit it off perfectly the first time we met during student council meetings.  My husband even ended up playing soccer with her husband Tommy too!  I absolutely love being able to make wedding cakes for people I know and help them celebrate their special day!  Ashley & her mother have amazing style and are incredibly gorgeous, so I knew the wedding would be one for the books…and boy was I right! They hired on an amazing team of vendors including Brooke Keegan, as the wedding planner, Aaron Delesie, who took the amazing photos, and Annette Gomez did the incredible floral decor!

Since this wedding will inspire and probably leave you wanting to know more I highly recommend checking out Style Me Pretty’s feature as well which gives lots and lots of details!  And just a warning…Ashley will most definitely make you jealous of her beauty so beware!

0067

0017

0047

0042

0007

0195

0008

The details in this wedding are what make it so special and you can really see how much love went into every aspect of it!

0699

0598

0303

0411

The florals for this wedding have to be some of my favorite so far…simply dreamy!

0721

0864

And the flower girl dresses were too adorable for words!

0790

0971

0789

California-Wedding-by-Aaron-Delesie-9

0712

0761

California-Wedding-by-Aaron-Delesie-12

0885

0998

California-Wedding-by-Aaron-Delesie-2

0735

California-Wedding-by-Aaron-Delesie-5

1056

1018

The reception design we just as gorgeous!  I love all of the earth tones mixed in with the blush pink!

1255

1256

1266

1304

1263

For the wedding cake Ashley wanted something elegant and dreamy!  She loved the idea of having sugar pearls and sugar crystals on the cake and her mother also found a vintage bride & groom cake topper, which I adored!  We decided on add one large sugar peony and let the cake rest of a simple clear cake stand, as if it was floating on nothing at all.

1275

1279

1290

I wish Ashley & Tommy all the blessings in the whole and absolutely love that they live right by my bakery so they can pop in and say hi once in a while!

1203

Winter Wonderland Photo Shoot

March 2nd, 2010

One thing I love about the wedding industry is that we get to do photoshoots! Photoshoots are a time where we can push the envelope, be as creative as we want, and really let our personal style and design come through!  From the first moment that I heard Jesi Haack, from Jesi Haack Weddings and Carissa, from JL Designs, were doing a photoshoot that was going to be shot by Jessica Claire I knew I had to be in on it!  Jessica wanted to do a winter wonderland style photoshoot and Jesi & Carissa really came through with a fun, new, and very creative styled shoot.  I love all of the scarves and pops of color.  To get more details on the shoot definitely check out Jessica Claire’s Website!

winter_wedding_photography_jessica_claire-100

One fun tidbit of info is that the gorgeous models are actually friends of mine! Darren & Alex did an amazing job & looked stunning!

winter_wedding_photography_comp4

winter_wedding_photography_comp2

winter_wedding_photography_comp1

Carissa’s flowers were so breathtaking I couldn’t believe it when I first saw the photos!

winter_wedding_photography_comp5

winter_wedding_photography_jessica_claire-033

winter_wedding_photography_comp15

winter_wedding_photography_comp13

The table setup out in the middle of the snow was just dreamy and Jane, from Olive Hue Paper, created such fun and creative invitations!  You can always count on Jesi Haack to find such great accent pieces, like these chairs!

8

winter_wedding_photography_comp7

winter_wedding_photography_comp8

For the cake I wanted to go simplistic with a pop of color, but I also wanted some movement on the cake, so I decided to go with petal tiers instead of round or square, to give the cake an interested shape. Then I put a grey pearl border around each tier and accented it with a large open purple peony!  I was really in love with how this sugar flower came out and thought that it was bold enough to stand on its own.

wedding_photography_snow

Picture 21

Here are some more photos of the gorgeous couple!  Jessica Claire’s photos are always so inspiring to look at and she definitely captures the moment perfectly!

winter_wedding_photography_comp16

winter_wedding_photography_comp9

winter_wedding_photography_jessica_claire-076

winter_wedding_photography_comp14

winter_wedding_photography_comp13

winter_wedding_photography_comp11

winter_wedding_photography_comp12

winter_wedding_photography_jessica_claire-085

They were such a great couple for this shoot!  As you can see from this last photo they were definitely up for everything!

winter_wedding_photography_jessica_claire-094

Thanks to all of the amazingly talented ladies I was able to work with…you always inspire me!

Figurine Sculpting Class

February 25th, 2010

Well, one thing I do look back on this year and am sad about is the lack of classes I was able to teach because I was so busy and overwhelmed with opening up a new shop of my own.  Now as much as I wish I could say that I am offering a class really soon, I can’t, BUT don’t worry because I have an amazing class that I want to pass along to all of you cake lovers!  I just found out from Kyla, who heads up the Capital Confectioner’s in Austin, Texas that they will be hosting a class here in Southern California.  The amazingly talented Lorraine McKay will be teaching you how to sculpt realistic figurines!  This is one skill that is very hard to learn by yourself and I highly recommend taking this great opportunity to learn under Lorraine.  She is offering four different classes at Classic Cake in Garden Grove.  To get all the information about the classes definitely check out their website!  Here are just a couple photos of Lorraine’s beautiful work!  Definitely let me know if you will be going to the classes!

DSC01553.JPG

Sugar Art 1409.JPG

Claire4.JPG

Sleepy baby 2.JPG

Sugar Kisses1.JPG

Hope lots of you can make it!

New Special Occasion Cakes!

February 25th, 2010

Although we do mostly wedding cakes at the shop we also love making special occasion cakes to help people celebrate that special day in their lives!  These types of cakes can sometimes require a lot more work and detail then wedding cakes, but I find that it’s all or nothing when it comes to them because when you say you will make someone a cake that replicates a real life item it either looks like it or not…not too much room for error.  With that being said, my big undertaking this month was a DJ Turntable Cake.  I was pretty happy with how it came out, but definitely underestimated the hours I would have to put into it!

IMG_8605.JPG

IMG_8608.JPG

IMG_8614.JPG

And since it was a 1st Birthday Cake we added a special element for the birthday boy!

IMG_8611.JPG

This next cake was for a 25th birthday party!  She loved peacock feathers and knew her color scheme, so we took that and ran with it!  My sister made the sugar flower and feathers and I think they are amazing!

IMG_1814.JPG

IMG_1804.JPG

IMG_1810.JPG

Kid’s cakes are a lot of fun too, but I try to make sure they still follow my style and don’t get too overdone…here is a Panda Bear Cake with tiny sugar flowers and butterflies!

IMG_8441.JPG

IMG_8459.JPG

My assistant, Louisa, made the Panda Bear and I think it turned out great! I love the half smile and cute little face!

IMG_8450.JPG

IMG_8453.JPG

Now sometimes people don’t have a lot of money to spend on a special occasion cake, but want something beautiful and delicious, so I always suggest the rustic style cream cheese frosting cakes with fresh flower accents because I think they are just as gorgeous in their own simplistic way!

IMG_8628.JPG

We also got to do a recent Sweet Sixteen Birthday Cake and she wanted a princess tiara crown and a bold sugar flower!

IMG_8408.JPG

IMG_8403.JPG

IMG_8407.JPG

Lastly one of my favorite cakes recently was for a small wedding we did last weekend.  My new intern, Kyong, is definitely an artist and when I showed her the design I wanted to have painted on the cake she did it better than I could’ve imagined.  I was also quite happy with this garden rose sugar flower I made.  I wasn’t sure how I would like the flower once it had the red tips on it, but I was pleasantly surprised…I think it made it pop and really showed the gorgeous petals off!

S&SCakefinal-7

S&SCakefinal-8

Well thanks for stopping by to check out my blog!  I’m currently in Texas and about to run off to my first day of class with Mike McCarey! We will be learning cake structure for crazy cakes and will be remaking this fantastic Big Bird Cake that Mike made for a Food Network Competition…wish me luck!

DSC_1071

Twilight Photo Shoot!

February 19th, 2010

Being able to collaborate on photo shoots with other talented people in the wedding industry is definitely one of my favorite aspects of my job!  I find that they give me a chance to push the envelope and try some new techniques and designs out.  This photo shoot was definitely an experience like that.  When Lina Wallace and Heather Ham told me about their plans for a Twilight inspired photo shoot I knew I couldn’t turn it down and then to top it off they said Meg Perotti was photographing it, so I knew the photos would be gorgeous!  Lina and Heather definitely thought this shoot through and have great back stories to all of their design and details.  They wanted to do their interpretation of what they thought Twilight’s wedding look might be like…we had all seen the darker side play out in photo shoots, but they wanted to do a lighter feel to it and do more of a forest, earthy look to it.  I have to say they did AMAZING!  Here ares some words from them describing the look…

We mainly took our inspiration from the fourth book in The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, Breaking Dawn, in which the two characters Bella and Edward get married. The wedding was described as taking place at the house where Edward and his family live in the woods surrounded by all white flowers. We also took inspiration from the iconic cover of the first book where hands are holding an apple. Apples were used as escort cards, candleholders, a cake topper, and our signature beverage, hot apple cider.

For our ceremony setup we had floating rose heads and crystals hanging from a tree with a simple white rose petal aisle.

For the bouquet, we used peonies, roses, lisianthus, dusty miller and bluporum tied with a simple white ribbon that had the words “so the lion fell in love with the lamb” written by our calligrapher, Calligraphy Katrina.

MegPerotti_Twilight_255

MegPerotti_Twilight_160

MegPerotti_Twilight_131

MegPerotti_Twilight_036

MegPerotti_Twilight_034

For the cake I knew I wanted to have some hand painting, but also some other 3D elements that popped off the cake.  My friend Heather did the painting part for me and then we made sugar molds to accent the side of the cake and also stuck on real lace pieces as well for texture.  And to top off the cake I thought a hand painted silver apple would be the perfect addition!

MegPerotti_Twilight_002

MegPerotti_Twilight_014

MegPerotti_Twilight_152

MegPerotti_Twilight_098

MegPerotti_Twilight_079

MegPerotti_Twilight_104

MegPerotti_Twilight_127

MegPerotti_Twilight_153

MegPerotti_Twilight_103

MegPerotti_Twilight_064

MegPerotti_Twilight_138

MegPerotti_Twilight_168

MegPerotti_Twilight_188

MegPerotti_Twilight_012

MegPerotti_Twilight_015

MegPerotti_Twilight_050

MegPerotti_Twilight_088

For the favors, we had several options including buttons with “Team Bella” and “Team Edward”, as well as miniature green trees and pashmina wraps in coordinating colors.

For our main tablescape we used all white flowers (roses, lisianthus and hydrangea) as well as some greenery (dusty miller and bluporum and a few succulents). We incorporated apples as candleholders as well as using floating candles in glass containers and silver candelabras. We had a lace table runner made by Sashes of love placed down the center of the table. We had menus made by our calligrapher with each guest’s name (Bella, Edward, Alice, Emmett, Esme, Carlisle, Rosalie and Jasper). We used a chocolate brown satin ribbon with a crystal broach at each place setting.

We also decided to do a “Luxe for Less” look to show brides how they could take a high-end tablescape and interpret it into something more reasonable for those concerned with their budget. Instead of the rented wooden tables we used a standard linen in camel. We used wooden folding chairs in an antique finish and used a single candelabra with a few floral centerpieces for a similar effect as the main tablescape.

We wanted to bring Bella and Edward’s wedding to life similar to how it is described in the book. We’ve seen other inspirations that are very gothic and dark using reds and blacks, but we wanted to show our interpretation of what their wedding would really look like with delicate, light, airy details.

MegPerotti_Twilight_222

MegPerotti_Twilight_217

MegPerotti_Twilight_225

MegPerotti_Twilight_197

MegPerotti_Twilight_202

MegPerotti_Twilight_231

MegPerotti_Twilight_214

Thanks to all the wonderful vendors that made this gorgeous photo shoot a reality!

Event Design: Lina Wallace – A Stunning Affair and Heather Ham – Events by Heather Ham/ Photography: Meg Perotti / Floral design: Lina Wallace Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Stationary: Calligraphy Katrina / Table Runner: Sashes for Love / Venue: Church of Our Saviour




More Valentine’s Day Treats: JL Designs + Sweet & Saucy Shop

February 10th, 2010

The pop-up shop that Carissa, of JL Designs, and I did at my shop this past Christmas was such a success that we decided to offer it to our customers for Valentine’s Day too!  When Carissa posted her Valentine’s Day florals to say I was blown away would be an understatement!  She is beyond talented and I truly think that if you want to give that special someone in your life a heartfelt gift what could be better than gorgeous flowers that fit their style and personality plus some delicious treats too!  So here are the details! Hope to see all of you this weekend!

jl-ss logos

when: friday february 12 and saturday february 13
where: sweet and saucy shop – 6400 stearns street, long beach
what: a variety of couture floral pieces, ranging anywhere from $20-$100
why: because you’re a last minute shopper and we are trying to make this easy on you…flowers AND sweet treats in one blow – come one!! it’s dummy proof! :)

we are taking custom orders that will be available for pickup at sweet and saucy on friday and saturday…so if you wanna save on delivery, you can still order anything in the collection and then come get it yourself…OR you can just be surprised at what’s in the shop…we will be creating some signature pieces at a lower price point along with our couture collection…you know, just for variety’s sake :) so there will be something for everyone!

but whether you want to pick up your arrangement OR you want us to deliver to your sweetie, either way

ALL CUSTOM ORDERS MUST BE PLACED BY 5:00PM ON THURSDAY FEBRUARY 11TH…

otherwise, you can feel free to browse the pieces at sweet and saucy on friday and saturday…but word to the wise, it’s first come first serve so to get a wide range of options, i wouldn’t lolligag!!!

email me if you are confused, overwhelmed or just plain clueless as to what to do…i am here to help :) carissa@jldesignsandevents.com

For the ladies in your life…

bombshell3

socialite3

caligirl3

romantic2

minimalist1

Now for the man in your life…

prep1

techie2

goldenboy4

hipster4
dude4
xathlete1
To place your orders with Carissa just visit her website!

Of course we will have lots of yummy Valentine’s Day treats for you as well, so place your orders now since we will be busy busy this weekend!






© 2008-2009 Sweet & Saucy Shop. All rights reserved. | Site ♥ 24 MEDIUM