​The Dream Ranch is a new venue in Wolfe City, about 45 minutes north east of McKinney, and they are having an open house on Sunday, March 5, 2023 from 1:00 -5:00 pm. The venue will be open for tours with a variety of vendors set up to answer any questions you have about their services. I’ll be there with cake samples too. 

​The venue sits on 36 acres and features several outdoor spaces including a ceremony site, a barn that has been converted to the reception space, a pond with pavilion, and a three bedroom home with pool.  

​There is a triangular arch at one of the outdoor spaces which is a perfect background for a wedding ceremony. 

​The barn is 9000 square feet, and the horse stalls are a unique feature. They lead to an outdoor area with string lights – a great space for yard games or extra cocktail tables. The stalls would also be a great place for a photo booth, caricature artist, gift table, or even a coloring station for any kids attending the big day. 

​Inside the venue are dressing rooms for the bride and groom as well as plenty of space for your guests. 

​There is no fee to attend the open house, but please register for the event here https://www.eventbrite.com/e/532312750767.

​Venue - The Dream Ranch
​All photos by dreamranchevents.com

​When Hannah first reached out to me, she mentioned she was interested in a fall theme with pampas terracotta, and peachy blush colors. She knew she wanted a barely iced cake so the design process was quick. She selected Champagne cake with Lavender Blackberry buttercream. Hannah had two small arrangements pre-made so I just needed to add them to her cake. They were each wrapped to a pretty big pick. Normally I would disassemble and rearrange florals like this so they fit the cake better. However, pampas grass is very delicate and sheds easily, so I left them as they were and made a bow to cover the picks.

Shortly after her cake tasting, Hannah let me know that Preston wanted a groom’s cake as well. He had something specific in mind though – he wanted the cake to look like tooled leather and it was going to be Red Velvet.
​
Tooled leather has gone through an engraving or carving process creating a raised design on the leather which can be made into a belt, purse, saddle, or other product.

​To say I was excited was an understatement! I love when couples add personalization to their cakes, and I was sure that I could achieve the look Preston had in mind. I started the search for the perfect rolling pin as embossed fondant was going to be the perfect medium for this kind of design. 

​Hannah sent me pictures of Preston’s favorite cowboy hat which I replicated in fondant as a topper.

​I love how the finished cake turned out!

​They also wanted a variety of cookies at the wedding, and they were displayed on a cookie wall. Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, White Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, and Oatmeal Raisin were offered to the guests. This was a fun way to display the cookies, and the couple provided bags so cookies could be taken as wedding favors too.

The wedding was held at Bethel Rock in Leonard which is about 30 miles north east of McKinney. It is a gorgeous venue with an outdoor ceremony space and numerous photo opportunities. The reception venue is a converted home that has been professionally decorated creating a large bridal suite and the reception space. There is a separate groom’s building where the guys can play ping pong, Xbox, and air hockey while waiting for the ceremony to start. 

Congratulations to Hannah and Preston!

Venue - Bethel Rock 

River Road Chateau is having an open house on Sunday, February 26, 2023, and I am excited to be a returning vendor! I have partnered with this venue for over 7 years, and they are one of my favorites!

Looking at their gorgeous grounds, it’s easy to tell why I love when couples decide to get married here. First, there is the meadow where outdoor ceremonies take place. It’s a hidden clearing surrounded by mature trees with a stone entrance. The lush canopy gives ceremony an intimate feel. A beautiful wooden arch and chandelier are at the front of the meadow which can be decorated to coordinate with your colors. 

There is a French styled garden between the meadow and the venue, and it is the perfect place for portraits.  

​The reception venue has a stone wall creating a focal point at the back of the space. It is the perfect backdrop for a sweetheart or head table. 

There are bride’s and groom’s dressing rooms in the venue, or you can rent Belle Manor, the house next door. The house offers more room to spread out and you can even rent the home to stay in the night before or after the wedding. One of the features of the bridal suite is a claw foot tub. Photo opportunity!

 The open house will be from 1:00 – 4:00 pm on Sunday, February 26. You can tour all of the venue’s spaces, meet the venue manager, and visit with a variety of wedding vendors including photographers, bartenders, DJs, and caterers. Come say hi – you may even get a slice of cake! 

Venue - River Road Chateau
​Open House Planner - Fawn Hollow Events

Dessert tables have become very popular in recent years, allowing wedding guests a choice in their dessert on your big day.

​A dessert table is any offering other than the wedding and groom’s cake, and can range from a variety of cupcakes to a smorgasbord of treats. Popular goodies include, cookies, tarts, brownies, macarons, and cereal treats.

​Well, the desserts are small, so a dessert table will cost less than a wedding cake, right? Not necessarily.

When at a buffet, FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) sets in and you want to try it all. The same thing happens with a dessert table. A greater variety of desserts can lead to guests only taking a bite or two of more items than they would typically select.

​Can't you hear it? "Of course I'm going to get a mini cupcake, but I can't pass up on a chocolate chip cookie. Is that a chocolate covered Oreo? Oh, lemon tarts!" 

​So how many desserts do you really need? If you are offering a full size dessert like a cupcake or a full size brownie, count on 1-2 per guest. With smaller desserts like cookies, macarons, bite size brownies, or mini tarts you can count on each guest taking 3 items from the various options. 

​Right now, people are ready to get out and party after missing all the events that were cancelled during the Covid pandemic. The event planners I work with tell me that about 80% of the guest list are coming to the wedding. Not everyone will have dessert though, and your wedding cake servings factor into the mix as well. If you invite 100 people to the wedding, you won’t need 100 servings of cake and 300 mini desserts – unless you like leftovers.

Ready for some math?
​
So for your 100 invited guests, let’s say 80 come to the wedding. Only 80-90% of those guests will have dessert, regardless of what you offer. It will be closer to the 90% with a dessert table (again, FOMO), so you need desserts for about 72 people. The smallest three tier cake I make is 56 servings, and if we remove the cake servings, we only need mini desserts for 16 people. At three desserts each, that’s only four dozen mini desserts.

​If you want the look of that three tier cake, but want more dessert options for your guests, you can always incorporate a false tier into the wedding cake. The same size cake in the above calculation will look exactly the same but would only serve 24 if you replace the bottom tier with a fake one. Then you would need twelve dozen mini desserts to reach enough servings for those 72 people, which gives your dessert table a much fuller look. 

​The false tier is decorated in buttercream or fondant like the rest of the cake, so your guests won’t even be able to tell the difference. The only design a false tier will not work with is a naked or semi-iced cake. Can you pick out the false tier in this cake?

There are lots of options when it comes to dessert tables, and I’m always happy to walk through the details with my clients. If you would like to talk about a dessert table or wedding cake just fill out the contact form and we can get started.

Alexandra and Michael were married this past May at D’Vine Grace Vineyard in McKinney, Texas, and they used the planning services of Carolina Lopez Events. 

Venue photo courtesy of Hannah Way Photography.

​Alexandra selected a two tier cake with a smooth buttercream finish. Under that silky vanilla buttercream was our white chocolate wedding cake.  

In addition to the cake, the couple wanted to offer cupcakes to their guests. They chose two flavors - chocolate fudge with a ganache swirl and cookies & cream with cream cheese buttercream flowers. 

Between the cake and cupcakes, there were 122 servings of dessert which is a good amount for 135-150 guests, keeping in mind that not every guest will have dessert at a wedding.

Congratulations to Alexandra and Michael!


Venue: D'Vine Grace Vineyard, McKinney, Texas
Planner: Carolina Lopez Events
Venue Photo: Hannah Way Photography

A white wedding is classic. White dress, white flowers, white linens. It is a beautiful color choice for an elegant affair. 

​But color can bring a bit of your personality to the party. Pun totally intended there. You can highlight the season or your favorite colors. You could even incorporate a favorite sports team. For example, my husband went to A&M, and maroon was GOING to be at our wedding. Since we were married in October, it fit in with the season too. We decided on maroon, oranges, and ivories with a little gold – perfect for fall.

​Pantone is a company that regulated color for print in the 1960’s. They created a standard color system so companies could have consistent branding. Every year they have color of the year as well as seasonal colors which brands use to bring life to their products. 

What does this have to do with cake? The Pantone colors are highlighted at Fashion Week and in seasonal home furnishings. Both those influence wedding design – think bridesmaids’ dresses and décor rental. Those details also make their way onto the cake.
​
The Pantone 2022 color of the year is Very Peri, which is a beautiful shade of blue. Several color palettes include this color. I have seen these particular shades at several weddings this year.

​Recently, Pantone released New York and London’s Fashion Week trend reports for spring and summer 2023. They both feature the bright, vibrant colors you would expect for seasons of growth and a Core Classics grouping of more neutral tones. 

​I would put together Peach Pink, Blue Perennial, Summer Song, and a light ivory. Would you use any of these colors for your wedding?

​All photos in this post were taken by Sarah Tribett Photography. 
 
Bailey and Nik were married at the end of July at The Emerson in Kaufman, Texas. The reception venue looks like a sweet little white country home on the outside, but it is a modern blank canvas on the inside with white walls and a few black accents. I’m not sure how many walls were torn down to create the open and airy space, but there’s enough room for 150 of your closest friends to help you celebrate!  

​There is an onsite chapel that was designed by HGTV’s Leanne Ford too!

​Bailey and Nik chose a 3 tier buttercream covered cake with a smooth finish. The top two tiers were chocolate fudge cake with chocolate hazelnut buttercream filling, and the bottom tier was white chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream filling.

Bailey wanted the fresh, white flowers on her cake clustered together and extending from the middle tier. I made a reel on Instagram showing a hyper lapse of me arranging the flowers on this cake. You can find it in the BTS (behind the scenes) highlights.

​Bailey and Nik chose a pick style topper with their last name in a silver finish. I love these kinds of toppers because they can be customized and look so delicate. However, I also strongly dislike these kinds of toppers because they are Just. So. Darn. Delicate. They can be a bugger to get out of the packaging so they tend to snap easily. I can’t tell you how many times I have shown up to deliver a cake and been warned by a planner, mom, bridesmaid, etc. that the topper was broken. However, don’t let this stop you from ordering one – I carry superglue in my delivery kit, and your planner probably has some too.

​Sarah Tribett was the amazing photographer who took all the gorgeous pics in this post. I love seeing cake cutting photos, and she did an outstanding job of capturing the natural joy of the couple. These do not disappoint!

I especially love the "happy cake dance" pic!

Venue – The Emerson https://www.emersonvenue.com/     https://www.facebook.com/emersonvenue   https://www.instagram.com/emersonvenue/

Planner – Stairway Events https://www.stairwayevents.com/   https://www.facebook.com/stairwayevents   https://www.instagram.com/stairwayevents/

Sarah Tribett Photography   https://sarahtribettphotography.com/   https://www.facebook.com/SarahTribettPhoto/   https://www.instagram.com/sarahtribettphoto/
 
Are you ready to book your wedding cake consultation? Just fill out our Contact form to get started.

October 14 is National Dessert Day. It also happens to be my wedding anniversary, so I think we all have reason to celebrate and eat dessert first today!
​
According to nationaldaycalendar.com the origin of this celebration is unknown, but I for one am glad it exists. 

Here are a few interesting facts about desserts I found online (so surely they’re all true!).

• The word dessert is derived from the French verb “desservir” which means to clear the table.
• 150,000 gallons of water, chocolate, and cream were used to create the river in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
• The first written ice cream recipe was found in a 1665 cookbook.
• October 23 is National Boston Cream Pie Day… but it’s really a cake.
• About 186 million pies are sold in grocery stores in America each year.

What, no cake facts? My favorite dessert is actually not cake. Weird for a cake baker to admit, right? Not really when you think about it. I tested 15 or so recipes to find my go-to vanilla cake. Repeat for every other flavor I have on my menu, and well, after all that, I never wanted to see a slice of cake in front of me again!
​
I actually don’t have just one favorite dessert. It seems I love all the goodies that I don’t offer on my menu. When it comes to a little something sweet my heart belongs to ice cream, cherry pie, cheesecake, crème brulee, and tiramisu. What’s your favorite dessert?   

Once upon a time, my website had a blog component. I used it to not only showcase my orders, but to give really important details about what to consider when ordering your wedding cake. Budget tips, new trends, floral considerations. All the things.

Well life got in the way, and sadly, the blog died. If you have read my "About"  page, you know that we are a long time homeschooling family, and that takes up a lot of time. In my spare time (what's that?), I like to research curriculum, grade papers, and clean up science experiments that were left out. I also teach five baking, science, and cooking classes at our homeschool co-op once a week and help lead a couple units of girls at an American Heritage Girls troop.

I have loved the busy-ness of growing these little humans, but that baby who I jokingly blame for starting this business? She's a teenager now and sometimes goes on deliveries with me! The toddler I had way back then? A middle schooler! 

They're old enough now, that I'm not needed as much, and I can devote time once again to keeping up with a regular posting schedule. Well, semi-regular...I still have a stack of papers to grade and there's some icing in the mixer. ;) 

I hope you find the information I post helpful as you plan your wedding cake or dessert table for your big day. If you have any questions, you can always reach out, and I will be happy to help!