Ashley & Jayme’s Proposal Cake

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Gummi
Photos courtesy of John Hook Photography
Jayme, a close friend of mine came to me back in March of 2011 with a super cute and thoughtful proposal idea!  He had seen the Proposal Cake I created at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and wanted to do something similar for his girlfriend Ashley.
He sent us photos of the beautiful engagement ring he had chosen and he wanted it replicated for the cake.  He chose our Yellow Butter Cake with Fresh Strawberry filling, and cupcakes in the same flavor surrounding the cake.  Everything was made out of sugar and we used real Swarovski crystals to decorate the cake.

It wasn’t until December 2011 that the plan was set into motion.  Jayme asked for my help, along with 2 more of our friends to invite Ashley to a girl’s lunch at the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu.  It’s one of Ashley and Jayme’s favorite spots to eat, but not mine so we had to tell her I had a gift certificate that needed to be used so she wouldn’t get suspicious. =P
In the meantime, Jayme organized 30 of their closest friends to be there ahead of time and participate in the whole proposal.  Jayme really went all out and even made a banner reading “Marry Me?” with two boxes to be checked – one said “Yeah” and the other “Heck Yeah”!
We all arrived at the Museum before Ashley so help set up and prep.  Jayme and his 30 friends gathered at the bottom of the grassy landing to wait in position for Ashley to arrive.  Then our friend Nora and I waited in the parking lot to meet Ashley as soon as she parked. 

Finally, after all that prep work, Ashley arrived and it was our job to walk her over to the landing so we could supposedly “check out the view”.  All of a sudden, as we walked toward the landing, we were serenaded by violin music and a photographer started snapping pictures.  Ashley looked out and we saw a wave of people, all holding balloons in front of their faces.  As she got closer, the crowd split and everyone released the balloons – and there was Jayme, kneeling on the lawn with ring in hand, with the banner behind him.  Ashley walked up and checked the “Heck Yeah” box.  It was such an amazing moment – there wasn’t a single dry eye in the crowd.

Afterwards we were all treated to a proposal-turned engagement lunch at the museum, complete with supper yummy food, champagne and mimosas.

Congratulations Ashley and Jayme for including us in this special time in your lives, and we can’t wait till the wedding!
Posted in A Cake Life, blog, Proposal Cake | Comments Off on Ashley & Jayme’s Proposal Cake

Jacob’s Pororo 1st Birthday

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Gummi
Photos courtesy of Studio 3511
Jacob’s father came to us with the idea of having a Pororo themed cake for his son’s 1st birthday party.  It was a traditional Korean 1st birthday party, and Jacob looked amazing in his dress robe. 

Being unfamiliar with Pororo, we set to work doing a little research – Pororo is a very popular cartoon in Korea right now.  The name Pororo translates to “the little penguin” and the show is based around a 5 year old penguin and his friends: Petty – a girl penguin, his best friend – a green dinosaur, a fox, polar bear, beaver, dragon, robot and 2 little aliens.  They all live and play in a winter wonderland ocean world.  We watched lots of YouTube clips to learn what this cute cartoon was all about! We LOVE that our cake design research includes watching TV!  lol, =P

The 2-tiered fondant cake featured Pororo and Petty as the main cake toppers.  The rest of the cake was decorated with all 10 Pororo characters – all edible and hand made out of sugar.  All in all, it probably took us 13 hours to design this intricate cake.  For their flavors they chose our Guava Cake with Guava Cream Filling and our Yellow Butter Cake with Fresh Strawberries.


 
 
  
 

 
 

Happy Birthday Jacob, and thanks for letting us be a part of your birthday celebration.

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Cakes with Fresh Flowers

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Gummi
Photo courtesy of Kaua Photography
Cake topper arrangement of white garden roses and ranunculus with green lithianthus and mums
When it comes to decorating a cake, there are many different options available.  Some couples choose a figurine cake topper, sugar or gum paste designs, but topping your cake with flowers is a timeless, beautiful and cost effective way to decorate.  They can be placed in between tiers as elevated lifts to give your cake added height and presentation.  Or your flowers can be arranged as bunches around the tiers for little detailed touches of color.  And of course, as a cascade draping down the whole length of your cake from the top down to your cake table! 
When using fresh flowers it’s important to keep the following in mind:
  1. Go organic whenever possible.  Florists use flowers from all over the world, and many countries do not have pesticide regulations.
  2. If you can’t go organic, have your florists wash the blooms and wrap or use picks on the flowers so they do not touch the cake.
  3. Always be sure to remove the flowers before serving.
Flowers like orchids and roses that have big, bright, colorful blooms and small stems are popular.  Roses and orchids are usually a popular choice for cake florals because they’re available in a wide range of colors and sizes are accessible year round.  Other widely used cake flowers are mums, gladiolas and ranunculus.  Be aware that some flowers should not be anywhere near food and can be toxic.  Flowers like lillies have pollen on their stamens and plumerias have a sticky sap from their stems that shouldn’t come in contact with food.  If you want to include these flowers on your cake, we will only use sugar flowers. 
Talk to your florist ahead of time as they can suggest flowers and colors to match your overall scheme.  Then upon delivery we will arrange the flowers on your cake.

Photo courtesy of Rachel Robertson

Extra large orange garden roses and light yellow carnations.  Notice the wonderful cake table bed of flowers arrangement under the cake stand! Cake table by Passion Roots

Photo courtesy of Heather Kato

Green Cymbidium Orchids flower cascade design
Soft pink and peach Ranunculus flowers.   
Red and Orange Anthuriums and Astromeria flowers
Sunset color scheme floral bunches arrangement.  Roses, orchids and filler flowers.

Posted in A Cake Life, blog, Cupcake Tree, Cupcake Wedding Cake, Fresh Flowers, Hawaii Wedding Cakes | Comments Off on Cakes with Fresh Flowers

Ashley & Grant – Modern Glam

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Gummi
Photos courtesy of Visionari
When Ashley and Grant met with us for their cake consultation they described their wedding as a having a “modern glam look”.  Their color scheme was a classic black and white with accents of fuchsia and purple, mostly achieved by uplights that really transformed the Waialae Country Club.  Todd from Always Flowers created beautiful tall orchid arrangements and clusters of tulips, calla lilies and floating candles for centerpieces.
 
 
For their cake, they chose a 3-tier black and white cake with white fondant.  We used lots of sugar details to decorate their cake from black bands and white pearls, to black lace appliques and Swarovski rhinestone bands!  The natural candle light was the perfect touch to catch the shiny sparkles from the rhinestones for that warm dramatic feel.  Ashley and Grant chose our popular Yellow Butter Cake with Coconut Cream Filling for their flavor, and provided their own black lacquer cake stand with hanging crystals.

This is what Ashley and Grant had to say about working with us “I had a great experience working with Kristin. When we began the design process we didn’t have a clear vision of what we wanted. Kristin and I emailed back and forth with ideas and finally arrived at a design that was simple but still very chic. Not only was our fabulous cake a show-stopper, the yellow butter cake with coconut filling and rolled fondant creation was delish. Thank you Kristin!”

Congratulations Ashley and Grant – we wish you all the best in your marriage!
Vendors:
Cake: A Cake Life
Venue: Waialae Country Club
Photography: Visionari
Flowers: Always Flowers
Linens: Pacific Party Rentals

Furniture: Pacific Party Rentals and Mood
Posted in A Cake Life, blog, Featured, Hawaii Wedding Cakes, Swarovski Rhinestone Wedding Cake, Waialae Country Club | Comments Off on Ashley & Grant – Modern Glam

Bryson’s 6th Birthday Ninjago Cake

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Gummi
Photos courtesy of Kristin Kato

Bryson’s mom Tammy came to us with a special request for his 6th birthday cake – a Ninjago cake.  For someone who doesn’t have kids we had to do a little research 🙂  We recorded several episodes of the cartoon and learned that it’s all about Lego people who turn into super hero ninjas and fight crime. 
There are 4 main characters – a blue guy, white guy, black guy and red guy (Bryson’s favorite which we put on top), each with their own special weapon.  We created each character and their weapon out of sugar and molded real Lego pieces out of food-grade silicone.  All in all it took us 10 hours to create the cake and all the detailed parts of it.
For their flavors they chose orange dreamsicle with vanilla cream frosting and strawberry vanilla swirl cake with fresh strawberry cream filling.
Bryon’s mom wrote us a thank you note and said “Everyone, especially Bryson, loved the Ninjago cake!  Bryson loves little action figures and even though I told him that the Ninjago figures on the cake were not toys, he insisted on playing with them after we cut the cake.”
Happy Birthday Bryson – we loved creating your birthday cake!
Posted in A Cake Life, blog, Hawaii Birthday Cakes | 1 Comment