Manolo for the Brides

Yes, you read that right. I’m talking about cake hats. For those who want to top their wedding cakes with something other than the usual bride(s) and/or groom(s) statuettes, sparkle monograms, and anthropomorphic animalia, Alison Dawson of Toronto, Canada founded Chapeau de Gateau.

Dawson creates custom cake hats using the finest quality Mokuba ribbon, and each wedding cake topper is made with the couple’s wedding colors or theme in mind. Or, if you already have a cake design in mind, I’m thinking you could have a ribbon model of your wedding cake created in miniature. (Put a hook in it and you have a keepsake decoration — I’m thinking a wedding cake on your Christmas tree.)

I definitely don’t hate cake hats, since they’re rather pretty and you’re not going to see them on every other wedding cake. I do think they’re a bit silly, but these are wedding cakes we’re talking about here. How dignified can a cake possibly be? Conversely, how much will a wedding cake’s innate dignity suffer if you put a little fancy hat on it? My guess: Not much.

What say you?

When I went searching on this very blog for the overlap between weddings and wood (get your mind out of the gutter!), I did not think I’d find as much as I did. We all know that trees give their lives so that we can have wedding invitations that look like wood, but how about wedding invitations that actually are wood, like those from Oslo Press? From there, I found:

• flowers made of wood
• wood wedding cake toppers
• ring “pillows” cut from wood
• wood-covered guestbooks
• and wooden wedding bands

I never did think I’d see a wedding cake of wood. It’s not real wood, of course, but according to Melody Brandon of The Sweet and Saucy Shop, the bride and groom wanted it to look as much like real wood as a cake possibly could.

I’d say that she certainly captured the essence of real wood in this most unusual wedding cake. There were other cakes and sweets at the wedding, so the wood wedding cake isn’t all that big, but there’s a part of me that wants to think of it as being, oh, about as big as a pile of railroad ties.

With this level of detail, wouldn’t a giant wood wedding cake be ridiculously impressive? If not a bit odd to dig into…

We’re all for creative wedding cakes at Manolo For the Brides, especially those that are a reflection of the personalities of the bride and groom! But how, pray tell, do you cut and serve something like this?

Created by Cakes By Lynette (who makes beautiful cookies, cupcakes, and cakes), this wedding cake features the bride and groom, their attendants, and various beasties. Is it a creative way to present a dessert? Most definitely! Is it exactly the wedding cake the bride and groom wanted? I should hope so! And is it just a little wacky? I’d say yes, though I’d stress that there’s nothing wrong with that!

That said, creative wedding cakes like this one aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve seen many more classic tiered wedding cakes than I’ve seen weird wedding cakes, and I’ve been to a lot of weddings in my day. I’m wondering where you, the readership, stand on the subject. I’m not asking you to rate this cake in particular, but rather cakes of its ilk. Me? I think I prefer something in the middle — I like colorful tiered cakes, oddly-shaped ones for sure, but your basic easy-to-identify wedding cake.

What say you?

How freakin’ cute are these retro deer wedding cake toppers from Dear Girlface? Oh em gee, if The Beard and I hadn’t topped our cake with statues of our kittehs, these are what I would have wanted. And I usually hate wedding cake toppers!

Made lovingly by hand, as it says in the description, these adorable deer are crafted from high quality felt, ribbons, fabric flowers, and vintage buttons. Each deer is unique, but if what’s on offer doesn’t ring your bell, you can have yours custom made with your choices of colors, genders, and details like eye patches!

At six inches tall, no one will overlook your totally sweet choice of wedding cake topper. I usually scoff at wedding products that boast heirloom potential, but I could definitely see these standing the test of time — especially if they can be removed from the base and displayed individually (or played with!).

Once common only in the South, groom’s cakes have become more and more popular over time. And why wouldn’t they? More cake is pretty much never a bad thing at a wedding. It’s an opportunity to provide another flavor, and the look is usually less formal and more whimsical than the main wedding cake.

If you decide to have a groom’s cake, there are a lot of different directions you can go. You can celebrate the groom’s hobbies:
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In some ways, Lukka Sigurdardottir’s wedding cake wedding dress is the best of both worlds. Wedding cake. Wedding dress. White. Princesstastic. Very edible.

My logical mind says she’s just standing behind a huge mound of what looks like a lovely rainbow checkered cake — kudos to the baker! — but my whimsical mind really, really, really wants Sigurdardottir to be mired waist deep in a wedding cake wedding dress that she herself is consuming.

Doesn’t that look tasty? It wouldn’t be at all practical, but so little associated with weddings is, no?

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There are many you and your guests can enjoy wine at your wedding reception. If you’re a wine aficionado, you might choose a few of your favorites to serve rather than having an open bar pouring the venue’s house wine. Some brides and grooms who want to introduce their guests to wines they may not have had before will dedicate some corner of the reception space to a wine tasting table. And a multi-course reception menu might come with a wine that harmonizes perfectly with the meal.

There’s another way to serve wine to your wedding guests, however, and this is a method of delivery of which I’m entirely too fond. Namely, cupcakes. That’s right, wine cupcakes… for the vineyard-inspired wedding, perhaps? Or the wine lover’s wedding?

Wine cupcake pioneer Enjoy Cupcakes of California — don’t worry, they ship — has you covered if the thought of wine and cake in one easy to eat package makes your eyes light up. Imagine giving your wedding guests a choice between Ginger Lime Chardonnay, Strawberry Champagne, Cherry Vanilla Merlot, and Chocolate Blackberry Syrah cupcakes! Maybe even paired with a matching wine option. FYI: Wine cupcakes aren’t all Enjoy Cupcake does (far from it!) but it does appear to be a signature feature of their weekly storefront menu.

You can, of course, try whipping up a batch of wine cupcakes yourself, as there is no shortage of recipes online, like this one for Chocolate Cannonau Cupcakes with Mascarpone Icing. I’m thinking I might just give these at this week’s end.

Here at Manolo for the Brides, we are not shy of DIY. Our attitude is more or less ‘if you really think you can do it, why not do it?’ If you know how to sew, we see no reason you couldn’t consider making your own gown. If you can cook, we can absolutely see you doing self-catering. If you’re good at design, we think it’s a great idea to design and print your own invitations. We don’t often give instructions, but we encourage considering your own talents in creating your own wedding.

Me? I love to bake, and I’m really good at it. All the same, I never considered making a tiered wedding cake and decorating it myself. Why? Because while my cakes taste amazingly good, they are not ever pretty. I put the effort into the flavor. Decoration doesn’t come easy to me. I’m not good at prettying up my plates. If I competed on Top Chef, they’d throw me out for my sloppy plates about challenge two. I would never dream of giving you instructions on constructing and decorating a wedding cake…but there are plenty of sites out there with everything you need if you want to try making your own wedding cake.
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