Cakes on Parade!

As we approach the busy 6-7-8 weekend, we can breathe a sigh of relief – no Waikiki deliveries on 6-7-08 – and no parades! We recently learned that the “Pan-Pacific Festival Waikiki Ho’olaulea”, which takes place on June 7, 2008, is expecting 30,000 + participants, Kalakaua will be closed and traffic will be diverted starting at 5:30pm – brilliant! Don’t they know this is one of the busiest wedding dates of the year?

Wedding vendors are all too familiar with the Waikiki parades scenario. They seem to happen with more frequency than any of us wish. The closure of Kalakaua from Lewers street to Kaiulani Avenue affects most of the hotels. If we are to deliver the cake safely, we must park at least a block or two from the hotel -- not at their loading dock as usual -- then walk the cake through the parade to get to the hotel.

A few months ago we unknowingly encountered one of these parades. I think it was only 10,000 participants but the same inconvenience. It was one of our “wonky” style, topsy-turvy cakes with lots of handcrafted artistry which meant pulling the heavy cake on the cart is not an option, it would have to be hand carried to the Moana Surfrider Resort. We were instructed to park at the sister hotel, located “across the street” (more than a block away). Rick carried the cake through their parking lot, down several flights of stairs, and down a crowded street full of tourists, where we had to wait for a break in the parade to cross. We then crossed the street through the parade, with people pointing at the cake and making comments, (“Wow, is that a cake?! … “Look at the cake!”) then into the hotel.

We were determined to get our client’s cake there safely no matter what. When we arrived in the room, everything looked perfect, you could hear the violins in the background, the couple never knew about our commute, and we were still on time. We now have a parade schedule and refer to it each month to plan our alternate routes in advance and allow for more time. Looking back on this, I wish we had a videotape of the experience. YouTube anyone? …