SpongeBob Birthday Cakes Viewing Party, Pt. 2

All images courtesy of Dave Miyamoto & Company: Dave Miyamoto, John Hook and Michelle Miyamoto

Yesterday we posted the cake images from our Food Network Challenge: SpongeBob Birthday Cakes private viewing party, and today we are showcasing the rest of the party. We knew we wanted a location that had a Hawaiian/tropical feel that would work with a SpongeBob Squarepants theme, and what better place to do it than Hawaii's own Tiki's Grill & Bar, which has a tiki theme throughout the restaurant and the most amazing views of Waikiki Beach from the lanai. Rick and I have been working with Tiki's over the years and they have always taken good care of our clients. Michael Miller and Sammi Sovde worked closely with us to plan our big day. Our party was held outdoors int he beautiful Hawaiian sunshine, on the lanai and bar area of Tiki's Grill & Bar. It was a private party and all guests were asked to keep the details of the party confidential. The last thing we wanted was to have hundreds of people that we didn't know showing up and eating the cake intended for our guests.

Dave Miyamoto, photographer/owner of Dave Miyamoto & Company, who we've worked with regularly since cakelava opened, brought a team of photographers with him to shoot our event. Having Dave Miyamoto, his wife Michelle, and John Hook photograph our party was incredibly special to us. Dave and his team are so talented and are some of the kindest people we have ever met! After the party we received hundreds of amazing images from Dave Miyamoto & Company of us and all our guests. Unfortunately, we can't possibly show all of our guests here, but we have selected a representative sample of those who attended. We are so thankful to have these images and the memories of the day!

Aside from a perfect Bikini Bottom-esque location and an outstanding photography team, we also had a wonderful videography team, a high energy host/emcee and event coordinator who helped with the layout and timeline. Rick and I both have parents and siblings on the mainland who were not able to attend the party, and it was important to us to be able to share with them our experience and we enlisted Kai Media, one of our favorite videographers to shoot our party. Kelii and Keone Grace didn't miss a beat and they were so stealth-like we almost forgot they were there! Having an emcee for our party was important to us as well. This would allo us to enjoy the time with our guests and keep them entertained. Teley Brandon, owner of Showtime DJ's who is always the life of any party was immediately interested but unfortunately already had a commitment at another event and offered to have emcee Vic Harris attend in his place. We hadn't worked with Vic before and was happy to have someone hosting for us. Vic was all smiles at our event and was really pulling for Rick during the competition.

During the planning stages of our party, our good friend Laura Lewis of Parasol Events offered to help us in any way she could, and we worked with her to come up with a program and layout for the party. She was unable to attend, but we were thankful to have had her expertise to assist us. Another friend of ours Anita Hall, one of Hawaii's most celebrated vocalists offered to sing for our guests and we couldn't be more touched by her offer. Anita has an amazing resume which includes performances with Sting, Larry Carlton, Smokey Robinson and Herbie Hancock, and others. She has sang for Bill Gates at his wedding and performed for President George W.Bush to name just a few. Sadly, Anita had a family emergency and was unable to perform at the party, but we were so touched by her generosity and spirit! One of the most important components of the party was to be able to enjoy the viewing in High Definition, and we had HD installed for the party. Oceanic Time Warner Cable sent a A-team of technicians to install HD at Tiki's so our guests could watch all the drama unfold in high definition! A big Mahalo to Peter and Kealii at Oceanic!

It was a day we will never forget and we are happy to share some of the memories with you!






What's a party without the umbrellas. Mai-Tai's baby!


Just one of the many outstanding views of Waikiki from Tiki's!


close friends and Mai-Tais go hand-in-hand


good friends of ours at the reception table



Everyone loved posing with Patrick Star


That's photographer Rachel Robertson waving to the camera


posing with wedding coordinator Dianna Shitanishi


lots of posing that day. This time with The Gentrys and Yvonne and Alex of Yvonne Design



Emcee Vic Harris making us laugh


Photographer John Hook caught on camera!


SpongeBob Squarepants is smiling even when he's about to be served!


The man of the hour, Rick Reichart


and his leading lady, me!



one of the most tender moments of the day!


Getting lei'd once again



this little boy is gearing up for the show with his Coconut Pineapple Chunk cake





you tell 'em, Rick! ... That's photographer Chrissy Lambert in the colorful dress behind Rick


KITV News showed up to film our event


Michelle Miyamoto, combining work and pleasure


wedding coordinator Mona Hirata watching "Challenge" intently




Feeling like a Rock Star!



The view from Tiki's. Look at all those surfers!

Aloha, 'til next time!