That's a monster of a topper!

A monster cake topper? You bet! This couple asked for a special cake topper that had a personal meaning to them. They might be monsters but they sure are cute!

Dinosaur Love

I had a request for one of my trex cake toppers, but with a more realistic twist! It turned out adorably and we integrated part of the grooms uniform. The bride got a touch of class with pearls. That's dino love :)

Buying a wedding dress online?

You've been out to the stores and your not finding what you want. You may have a specific dress in mind, but if you live in a smaller city you may not get to try on the exact dress you want.

Here comes the online looking and shopping. Should you buy your wedding dress *gulp* online? The first thing I would start with is looking at reviews. Wedding Forums are a great place to start looking for companies or people who sell them online and to get reviews.

There are a couple different types of sellers, there are companies that sell brand name wedding dresses and are licensed to do so, you can probably save a couple hundred dollars on your dress by doing so. There are companies who claim to sell brand name wedding dresses, but most likely don't. The first tell tale sign is the price, if it's a fraction of the price that you would pay at a store, like $150.00 online and $1200.00 in the store it's a pretty clear sign it is a knock off. Also check their policies or proof of purchase from the designer. The next type of seller is those that sell wedding dresses at inexpensive prices, that look like the designer dresses, these companies are usually upfront that it's not the designers dress and it won't look exactly like that dress. And another way of going is custom made wedding dresses.

There are sellers who have images of dresses they currently make and are open to making other styles. This can be very hit and miss, it is very important to read reviews of the dress maker. And even after you've done a ton of research you will still feel like you're taking a leap of faith, and you are. Their prices are about 1/2-1/3 the cost of a dress at a store (all depending on the design, complexity and materials). One of the wonderful things about going this route is that you can have a custom made gown, you can make changes, pick your fabric, etc. This is the way that I went for my wedding. I had a custom gown made that was absolutely perfect for me. I did my research and eventually took that leap. We went over fabric, colors and I had to give her tons of measurements. The lady I used was Wendy from http://www.etsy.com/shop/ieie

I am only referring her based on my experience, which was really wonderful. You should still do research as well. When I brought my dress to the seamstress after receiving it, she was speechless. She couldn't believe the low price I paid and the quality of the stitching and fabric. There was honestly nothing wrong with my dress! I did have it hemmed a little, just in the front and part of the chest area taken in because I had lost weight since taking my measurements.

There are many ways you can save on your dress if you are on a tight budget, or can't swallow paying $2000 for a wedding dress. I've included pictures of my dress that Wendy made for me.

2013 the color of Ivory

If you've been shopping for a wedding dress you may have started to notice a change in the coloring. More and more, ivory is becoming the color of choice. But not everyone wants ivory or ivory doesn't look good with their complexion. You may find yourself stuck trying on a bunch of ivory dresses.

If you want a white dress be sure to ask what dresses are available in white before you start looking. Sometimes designers don't make them in both colors, or they may have alternate colors; blush, oyster, etc. You don't want to try something on that you might fall in love with and discover it isn't available in white. IF it is available in white, ask to see the swatch, they usually have a book of them. There are many shades of white, so don't assume white means pure white.

And for those who like ivory dresses, now is the time to start looking, as the selection for ivory dresses has never been better! In coming months we will most likely see even more!

Just the sweetest thing!

I had to share this, I got a request for a custom sculpture from a mom, her son wanted to get his girlfriend something special for their one year anniversary. She loves penguins, so it was only natural that he wanted something with penguins. What surprised me the most, is he's only 17, what a thoughtful young man, his girlfriend is very lucky!

Here's what we came up with :)

LEGO!

Kathrine and her new husband are fans of Lego, for their wedding they wanted to incorporate themselves and their Lego love. Here are their Lego cake toppers in action!

Just adorable a penguin and polar bear

Amber wanted a penguin and a polar bear. This cake topper was so much fun to create! I love how it turned out and it's going to be a great keepsake for her later. I would love to make more toppers like this :) I love the realistic cute style.

The Hunt is On!

Amanda wanted a great gift for her husband to be, and she got it. A hunting cake topper!

A little slice of wonderland.

Sarah sent me a photo from her Alice in Wonderland themed wedding. Her dogs got to be there in spirit with the much desirable desserts.

A bob cat and penguin oh my!

Kyla was kind enough to share photos from her wedding day, she wanted a unique combination of a bobcat and penguin.

A very unique cake indeed!

Here is a cake my bat cake toppers got to grace, they looked quite at home on this very unique and spooky cake!

My wedding the ups and the funny downs

My wedding has come and gone and I've caught up on my orders. My wedding was really good, overall there were no major problems, some minor bumps, but every wedding has them. The biggest one was I forgot my bouquet lol. I was standing up there and couldn't remember what I was supposed to be doing with my hands when I suddenly realized I didn't have my bouquet! And our main cake which was cheesecake turned a little wobbly because someone forgot to put it in the fridge after it was picked up. It wasn't able to support our cake topper, but that was ok, it still look good on the table. We got married on Friday the 13th, and nothing went horribly wrong :)

We did a few nontraditional things. Instead of a long isle we came in through an arch in front of everyone. We incorporated a cocktail ceremony, mixing mint and chocolate liquors. A gift to my husband was the Taiko band I hired for after the ceremony. He has a love of all things Japanese and this had a dramatic effect. I found that nontraditional entertainment is very affordable.

For our ceremony it was a rockabilly theme, so I had a dress change into a red pinup dress. The atmosphere was really relaxed and everything was outdoors. We had BBQ for supper which had options of pulled pork, brisket, and chicken. And for dessert there was 2 types of cheesecake and tuxedo mousse cake. There was no dance but there was was music and later in the evening we had Poi dancers with LED lights. We had a really good time, but it all went by way too fast!

And some of our professional photos :)

Wedding Colors...Rainbow?

At some point, most likely earlier rather then later, you will need to pick your wedding colors. If you just like color in general, it can be very hard to narrow it down. At one point it couldn't be more then 3, 4, or 5 different colors! But what if you can't decide?

Rainbow! What a great way to go. If you think it would be overwhelming or just too much, there are many tasteful ways of doing this. You can use a base color of black or white and use rainbow colors as the added pop of color. Your bridesmaids could each be one of the colors for their dresses, their bouquets could have the neutral base color and your bouquet could have the rainbow effect. Maybe you'll even splurge on yourself and get rainbow roses! Your center pieces could be on plain white table cloths, and they would have a rainbow of flowers or candy. Your desserts can have rainbow colors, you could arrange them so they move from one color to the next, instead of a random mass of colors thrown together. Let your imagination run wild!

Here is a great Rainbow wedding: http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2012/04/the-rainbow-wedding-to-end-all-rainbow-weddings-jen-ben/#more-112908

If you want more examples of rainbow weddings you can search for them on these great websites:

Offbeat Bride

Rock n Roll Bride

Edible Cake Topper or Keepsake Cake Topper?

You're picking out your cake and you're asked what you want to put on the top. There are so many choices available to you now. You can go with a traditional look with the plastic bride and groom, or you can go with another more personalized option.

First you need to decide if you want to go with an edible topper or a keepsake. The edible ones allow you to have flowers, figurines, etc. and it's edible! They are often made out of fondant or chocolate. This can make a nice snack for later, or you can freeze it to save it.

You can go with a personalized sculpture just for you, made the way you want it. When it is made from polymer clay, ceramics, wood, metal, etc. it is a keepsake topper, with minimal care these can last a life time. These are usually non-toxic, but I don't recommend trying to eat them. You can have anything created that you want and you will be able to display it on your mantel or shelf for years to come.

Which do you prefer?

Cakes, Cupcakes, Cake Pops or Desserts?

Weddings are getting to be more and more fun, there is so much to chose from! When you plan your wedding you will need to decide if you want to go with a traditional cake, or a little something out of the box.

Traditional wedding cake doesn't need to be super traditional if you don't want it to. You can make changes to designs, shapes, colors and of course your topper. You can also have a couple of different flavors for your cake, each tier can be a different flavor! The most common cake is round and often 3 tiers (depending on number of guests). If you want the look of a big cake but don't have the money, you can have fake tiers, that look like the cake but are not edible, this will help you to save some money. Cakes can be circles, squares, rectangle, heart shaped, many many other shapes and sizes and even topsy turvey! Your cake can also look like something now, like a dinosaur...ok maybe not the greatest for a wedding, but you get my point. The only problem with that is you can't keep the cake you end up eating that cake sculpture!

Many brides have started to incorporate cupcakes, cupcakes are great if you want to incorporate many different flavors. Usually the cupcake and the frosting can be customized flavors. You can also add things like candy, fondant shapes and other fun surprises to the top. And of course you can put little cake toppers on top too! If you don't want to go completely away from the traditional wedding cake, you can have a smaller feature cake that you can put your cake topper on top of, then surround it with cupcakes! There is automatically less cutting, and everyone has their own personal dessert, they can eat with their hands.

Cake pops or cake bombs are more new, they are a small amount of moist cake on a stick dipped in chocolate. They can be incredibly good! They are clean and easy to eat, assuming the cake is moist. These can also be decorated in a fun way, adding faces, characters, colors, patterns, etc. These are often a great accompaniment to cakes or other desserts.

For dessert think: Ice cream bar, pie bar, fondue, variety of desserts, etc. Anything you can think of for desserts will work, it is your day after all; pie, cookies, ice cream, fondue, cake, cupcakes, candy, cheesecake, cake pops, brownies, squares, chocolates, pudding, mousse, fruit, donuts, danish, cultural desserts, and I could keep going, but you get the point!

Remember this is your wedding, you can eat the things the two of you love to eat the most!

My Own Wedding

I will be getting married Friday, July 13th, 2012. I have learned so much through this process of planning my own wedding. When I created my business I set out to help brides and to help make sure they had something beautiful and custom made, but to also give them an aspect of their wedding they could have fun with and would find stress free. I had no idea exactly how much stress the bride is under until now. I'm incredibly glad that I tried to make the process of a cake topper as something fun, because I think it is exactly what is needed. My heart goes out to all brides! Try to have fun with the process and add your own sense of humor where ever you can.

Our theme is going to be Rockabilly, in red, white and black, with hearts! Only one month to go! We will be having fun with our decorations and with the day itself. We will have a fun backdrop that will be a big surprise to everyone, and a unique way of doing a guest book that has to do with the back drop. We will also have games that guests can participate in if they like. We are having Schryer's Smoked BBQ Shack cater the wedding, so we will be having pulled pork, beef brisket, smoked chicken and vegetarian. It's very much going to be a relaxed wedding, BBQ, sit around the fire pit and have a good time. It's going to be help at the Forestry Farm, and if things get out of hand the animal cages aren't that far away!

Just about everything is DIY, the flowers, decorations, center pieces, lanterns, etc. We are also trying to be eco-friendly with many of our decorations and center pieces being recycled materials. I am also going to create my own jewelry, do my own hair and makeup! Hopefully it all turn out ok! lol

I promise to post photos after the wedding. You can see my own cake topper and all the DIY touches.

Weight Lifting Cake Topper

This topper is a great way to add your own personality to a cake. Here Sasha and Nate took not only themselves, but also wanted to have their passions included. She is a firefighter, see her boots :) and he does iron man competitions.

And here you can see the drink luge they had, created by Fire and Ice Creations, who used my cake topper design as their inspiration!

Suzie's Bear Love Cake Topper

These adorable bears were created for Suzie, they will get to make 2 appearances, once at their small intimate ceremony and once more later for a larger reception. Thank you Suzie for letting me be a part of your day!

Catrina's Humorous Cake Topper

Catrina's super fun cake topper. Her husband loves computers so she wanted something that would reflect that and be humorous at the same time. Here we have the bride dragging her groom away from the computer! Thanks to Catrina for sending me a photo from her wedding day, it was wonderful to be a small part of her special day!

Jennie's Cake

Thank you Jennie from http://www.popculturedesserts.com/ was wonderful to work with and sent me pictures from her wedding! She has an incredible looking display of desserts mmm....

Bohemian Weddings

Lace is the big thing this year, from form fitted lace to loose and carefree. It's made way for more bohemian gowns and vintage designs.

Bohemian can make a great wedding theme if you're more carefree, it allows you to use nature based decor and base materials, like lace, burlap and flowers. Experiment for what is uniquely you and your Bohemia. If you're a DIY bride, this is a great time to show your stuff and to experiment. If you love the handmade feel, you can find almost anything on Etsy.

Great things to incorporate are flowers, hand crafted items. Shabby chic goes very well with Bohemian. You can cross this theme with the outdoors, a country setting, forest elegance, the indoors meet outdoors. Have fun with it!

You can save money with a Bohemian designed wedding by going with a simple wedding dress, using vintage or second hand items, DIY decorations or using nature as your decor.

Wedding Trends for 2012: Lace

Looking at 2012 wedding trends. One of the big things for 2012 will be lace! Lace can be incorporated into sleeves, whether they are long sleeves, cap sleeves or sleeveless but covering your chest up to your neck. Your dress itself can be fully covered in lace or only parts of it. You can use lace in many areas of the wedding, your table linens, decorations and many of those little touches.

Lace can help give your wedding a vintage look and a classic elegance. Lace can also be incorporated into your cake topper! If you have a bride and groom topper, the bride can have her dress look like your dress, lace included. You can use lace as a base for your topper, allowing you to incorporate the lace and have a topper of your choice. Or your cake itself can have all the lace on it :)

If lace is a major part of your wedding don't forget to add lace to your guest favors, center pieces, guest book, dessert table and where ever you want to add your touch. Don't forget you're supposed to have fun with your wedding planning!