Magazines, Menus, Cakes and Clients: Part One

It's funny, sometimes when you toil in relative obscurity doing what you love, trying to do something interesting and original to feed your soul, other people watch. They notice and watch without you knowing. Maybe they lurk a little on your blog, or check your website every so often. Maybe they friend you on Facebook to see what your life is like. I don't think of it as stalking, it's more like curiosity. I get it -- I do it. And lucky for me at least one influential editor of a national wedding magazine does it too.

I got a call from Editor X a couple of weeks back (I'll reveal the names when the article publishes -- rights issues, doncha know...), saying she'd been looking at my site and was aware of me for some weeks. I was surprised and happy -- she had me at Hello. Talk about shock and awe.

She asked if I would create a cake for one of four sets for a magazine shoot on Nov. 10. I had about a week to design and execute the cake, alongside my current client needs for contracts, cake tastings and sketches, but how could I say No? I mean, it's Editor X. From THAT magazine! I said Yes, had a couple of OMG moments, then set to work.

The theme of my set was "Vintage Glam." I was assigned to a team that included the best Southern Cali has to offer: Florals by Eddie Zaratsian at Tic-Tock (you might have caught him on "The Arrangement," a floral design competition show on the Logo Network). My cake was going to sit atop a pearl-encrusted handmade stand by Kathy Jo Peterson at Raise the Cake. Our coordinator, Sheryal Rozzelle of Unique Elegance, has coordinated the weddings of the best and brightest in The OC and beyond. Stationery like menus and table numbers came in from Tifany Wunschl at Gourmet Invitations. The impeccably professional photog team led by Annette Biggers from Triplecord Photography documented it all with flash and flare. Talk about a Dream Team.  

Our palette was champagne, ivory, very pale pink, and charcoal gray, with touches of black. Our goal was to glam up the space with sparkle and class, and I think we did a pretty good job of it. Here's a sneak peek of the bottom of the 5-tier cake I did for the shoot.

Alligator and pearls, silver and champagne. That's all I'm sayin'. When the magazine publishes, I'll do another post with pix as rights allow.

It was an incredible amount of work, but everyone's work hard/play hard attitude got the job done fast and beautifully. Big hugs and many thanks to the Editor, Sheryal, Eddie, Kathy, Tifany, Annette, our model Jaima (hope I'm spelling that right), and Stacey at Hitching Post PR. It was lovely to be included with such a great team, and I look forward to the next time we meet!