Weddingbee Blog

Those of you that have been to Ann Arbor, Michigan (or even the Detroit area) may have heard about a very famous deli…

Yes, Zingerman’s. Zingerman’s is the most famous deli in Michigan, hands down. It also happens to be very close to our house! We go there a lot, and adore their fresh mozzarella, vinegar, cookies and deli food. Yum!

Almost everyone we know has asked us if we will be ordering our wedding cake from Zingerman’s. This past summer, Mr. Taffy got me a mini birthday cake from their bakery.

Isn’t it cute? (Don’t mind the cardboard circle underneath!) Mr. T supplied the cute polka dot candles.

At this point in my life, I was 50% not into fondant. I hate to say it, but after eating my birthday cake, I don’t like it at all! The cake was great quality, don’t get me wrong. But you may have noticed in my profile that I detest eating somewhat squishy food. This was the first fondant cake that I had eaten since becoming engaged, so of course, I scrutinized it. I just can’t get over my texture issues when it comes to fondant, and from what I hear, I am not the only one. Even normal, non texture-challenged people don’t love it! Lovely as it looks, it just isn’t for us.

I should mention another thing… cake is not our main priority within our budget. The design of the cake was high on our list, but we would rather hire an awesome photographer than the most expensive bakery in town. And unfortunately, Zingerman’s is just that - their wedding cakes start at $6.00 a person, and go wayyy up from there. It would have been a dream to go through Zingerman’s, but we just couldn’t fit it into our budget.

Enter Gwen’s Cake Decorating!

She does most of the wedding cakes for our venue, and was highly recommended by the coordinator there. (Zingerman’s was as well.) She runs her business out of her home, which means less overhead costs are transferred to the customer! Our cake, including delivery and set up, will be less than one third of the cost of a cake from Zingerman’s!

I met with Gwen in August, and she had prepared a small cake made with different flavors for me and my friend Bhavna to taste. Because Mr. T couldn’t make it, she sent me home with cake for him to try, too! The cake was delicious and fresh (she never freezes), and she offers many different flavor and filling options. Instead of freezing the top tier of the cake, which totally freaks me out (not only do I hate squishy food, I only refrigerate and freeze things in glass- I have a plastic phobia!), she gives you a free anniversary cake one year later. Also, she only works with buttercream frosting, freshly made.

Let’s rewind a little and take a look at our wedding cake inspiration: (I gave you a sneak peek with our save the dates!)

I scanned this from In Style Weddings, Spring 2008 issue

We love this design!!! We are going to have three tiers instead of two. We were a bit worried that the design would not translate in buttercream as well as it does in fondant, but after seeing Gwen’s work I am confidant that she can create a similar look with icing that won’t make me freak out. Here are some of her samples incorporating a smooth look with lines and dots in buttercream (sorry, these are small images!):

source for all three cakes

We think that she will do a lovely job! In fact, we liked the cake tasting so much that I ordered Mr. Taffy’s birthday cake from her in October! (Shh, we also used this as an excuse to try another filling flavor!)

Oh, and just because I’m a dorky designer, I had to throw in a funny design coincidence - this ceramic ring holder that I hand painted five years ago matches our cake design!

Crazy!

Did you have a hard time finding a cake within your budget? (And don’t even get me started on those cake cutting fees!!!)