Friday, May 30, 2008

Godzilla and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

In our line of work we receive invitations in the mail on a regular basis. The majority of wedding invitations are as one might expect them to be, elegant in style and to some extent, predictable in format. The invitations that make the biggest impact show creativity, and provide a glimpse into what's to come. You can imagine our excitement when we received a brushed metallic gold square envelope in the mail from our clients Ricki and Mike and upon opening it, found a CD jacket with images of Godzilla in what appeared to be a city on an island -- Waikiki perhaps, or maybe Japan? We were immediately intrigued!

The best way to decribe this matrimonial treasure of an invitation is to show it, and I can think of no better way than for the groom R. Michael Dolan (Mike), who provided the art direction and design of the invitation, to describe how it came to be. Mike told me he designed the invitation and the talented Samantha Hamilton, illustrated it. He wrote:

" The Godzilla concept came in a bit of a round about way. Since the reception room has such a strong Japanese theme (photo attached for reference) we were originally talking about just doing a woodblock style illustration of Waikiki for the image. It was a safe option, but once we got brainstorming about what we thought about when we thought of "Japan" we thought about Godzilla movies. So I talked to an old classmate about doing the illustration and we worked out the details. Since it is a destination wedding for our families we decided to put the CD of local music to try to get them in the right frame of mind for the trip."


We're lucky enough to own a hard copy of their invitation and can see all the components. What you can't see is just as special as what is shown above. The CD of music included contains mostly Hawaiian songs with artists such as Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Gabby Pahinui, Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu, and the Hawaii-based Jack Johnson, among others. The back of the CD looks like one of the many indie music CD's we own. And for their wedding cake, Godzilla won't be making an appearance, nor are we going the Japanese themed route, we're making a sculptural underwater invertebrate themed cake, which we're so excited about!

To inquire or hire this talented team for your next event their contact info is below:

R. Michael Dolan, Jr. - Art direction and design - http://www.stealingapples.com
Samantha Hamilton - Illustration - her blogsite - http://www.samskrits.blogspot.com/

Michael also wishes to thank Sallie Willams and Bill Wilkerson for the printing, and Rick and I like to thank Mike and Ricki for sharing with us their creativity and helping support ours.

Aloha!


Thursday, May 29, 2008

Antonio Gaudi and cherry blossoms




This striking pink, pearl and dark brown sculpted wedding cake was posted to our website late last year and was a result of a collaborative effort between our bride Bella, and Rick. Bella, who works in an architectural firm, desired a cake that would cause jaws to drop, and would draw inspiration from her favorite architect, Antonio Gaudi, a Catalan architect identified with the Modernismo movement of the late Nineteenth Century and the international Art Nouveau style. The result is the cake above. The theme was Japanese and cherry blossoms and the couple wanted to have items like the cake and their Chicago sign, that held significance to them, even if it didn't exactly fall in line with the motif. For the cake, the couple chose our Hawaii Five-0 and Guava Lava flavors. The marriage between the cherry blossoms, pink, pearl and dark brown colors and Antonio Gaudi, was a most unusual match that came together beautifully!

Stock photo of Antonio Gaudi building. Weddding photos courtesy of Chrissy Lambert Photography


Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Flame On!

It's getting hot in here, and not because it's 85 degrees outside. We're exploring fire as a theme in cake design. Whether it's the cake for the "Pyrodemon" or the 3-tier wonky style wedding cake with flames, fire cakes are hot, hot, hot!

This cake was so much fun! It was designed for a Rockabilly themed birthday party for a bunch of hipsters. Flames were not included but this lil' devil brought enough heat of his own.


"Jer" also loved Rockabilly and happened to be a firefighter.
Done in all black fondant, the cake sits on a base resembling a vinyl record.


The Pyrodemon cake was designed around a Circus Oz themed birthday party when the troupe was in town.


A fire-fighting themed birthday cake is most appropriate when both your parents are firefighters.


This couple went completely unconventional with their wedding and groom's cake (sculpted Naval Seal frog on our website) Using their colors of red, black and silver, Rick designed a funky cake in flames with the couple riding off into the sunset on the two lane blacktop below.


Joe rides a Harley and his license plate reads EZRYDA. Done in a style similar to Jer's black fondant cake, this cake made sure Joe's 61st "Birfday" was one to remember.


See most of these cakes and many more at our website. Aloha!


Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Pretty in Pinks at Lanikuhonua

While many people were off enjoying their 3 or 4 day holiday weekend, we were hard at work running from event to event. One of Sunday's weddings was at Lanikuhonua, one of our favorite places to work due to its natural beauty that lends itself as the perfect blank canvas to design an event. When we approached the tent, we saw a sea of softness in different shades of romantic pinks and reds.

Some of the pretty details: Custom pink linens and the chair coverings by Naomi at Les Saisons
monogram "VC" linen ivory napkins with pink holder, chivari chairs, calla lillies and some orchids in different sizes of round vases and small glass marbles, and the cake, all perfectly color coordinated.


The cake: Christina and Venelin's cake was done in a "quilted" ivory pearlescent fondant with
handcrafted pink calla lillies and red roses. Their monogram was placed on the center tier. Their guests enjoyed the Banana Blueberry Mascarpone and Strawberries Chantilly flavors.


Monday, May 26, 2008

"two birds" in black and white






Congratulations are in order for our couple Heather and Randall, whose October 6, 2007 wedding is being featured in the latest issue of Hawaii Bride & Groom Magazine. Heather and Randall's wedding was previously featured on our website which is now archived on our myspace page.

We loved their theme of "two birds" which was a song that Heather came across on iTunes that she had downloaded by accident, and when she listened to it, it sparked the idea of all things wedding. All the details of the black and white event were planned to work around the theme. Heather and Randall let the vendors run with their theme and gave few if any artistic limitations. Rick created the black and white fondant cake of their dreams, incorporating the graphic of the two birds found on their invitation and black and white handcrafted romantic flowers and playful sprays of edible beads on wires to add a whimsical element. For the inside of their cake, they wanted to have some bold color and chose vibrant Rainbowlicious and Banana Nutella.

The wedding was done in high style and perfectly planned by Mona Hirata of Weddings by Grace & Mona. Heather's gown was by Carolina Herrera and her sash was by Monique L'huillier. It complemented her patent white and platinum Jimmy Choos pefectly! Randall swore that his suit had to cost just as much as her dress so he wore a pinstripe suit by Armani. Fong at Floral Inspirations did the black and white floral designs and BBJ supplied the linens. All photos are courtesy of Christiaan Phleger and Lexi Mackenzie.


Friday, May 23, 2008

Wacky cake fun on Friday

What better time than a holiday weekend to unveil some cakes that make us chuckle. None of these cakes are ours, thank goodness.

The Wal-Mart cake:

He told them to write: “Best Wishes Suzanne” and underneath that write “We Will Miss You.”
One of my all-time favorite cake blunders, made by the fabulous folks at Wal-Mart.

The first time I saw this cake I nearly fell out of my chair. This cake has been written about on blogs all over the internet, and was the subject for one of my myspace blogs sometime ago. I like to keep the photo handy anytime I need a laugh.


The Herpes cake (or cookie, rather):

A close second to the Wal-Mart cake. The cookie cake says it all. They are truly sorry about the Herpes.


The Kitty Litter cake:

This is almost as gross as it is funny! We have a kitty and this looks exactly like his litter box.


Congratulations cake:

This cake is a mess. Are those supposed to be flowers, and how about spelling Congratulations correctly.


The lifesize bride cake:

As wacky and bizarre as this cake is, this cake is an incredible amount of work and was carried off pretty well. This bride will forever be remembered in cake history.


Enjoy the holiday weekend!


Thursday, May 22, 2008

Kendra and her Real Wedding

May 4, 2008
All photos courtesy of Chrissy Lambert Photography

Kendra contacted us in late 2006 for her May 2008 wedding. She was terribly excited about her wedding cake and when we heard her colors and theme -- ivory and pinks, soft and romantic, hollywood glamour, incorporating pearls and vintage components -- we were excited too! She relished in the planning aspect of the wedding, and we knew that her day would come together flawlessly, which it did. With the vendors she had hired which included Chrissy Lambert Photography, Monique L'huillier for her gown, Angel De Armas for cinematography, and Yvonne Floral Design we knew the wedding would a top notch affair.

Kendra & Jonathan had already been selected as one of our upcoming Featured Weddings on our website when I found out that The Knot website had beat us to it. :-) Their wedding was submitted by Kendra for consideration on their My Real Wedding section and it was selected. To see a preview of her wedding click here We will be showcasing much more of their wedding and the special details including their beautiful cake. We've loved working with Kendra and Jonathan over the past year+ and wish them both the very best on their new life together!


Wednesday, May 21, 2008

kids who take the cake, pt.2

Aloha! ...continuing from yesterday. Here are more kids who take the cake.


This cake was an underwater scene with the theme of scuba diving and beer -- clearly it wasn't for the little girl, but she looked as happy as if the cake were her own. Her smile got even bigger when they cut into their Rainbowlicious flavored cake.

This kid is one lucky birthday boy! His parents bought him 2 CARS themed sculpted birthday cakes, the Lightning McQueen and Towmater to help celebrate his Big Day.


Now this little guy knows how to eat our cake. Talk about devouring with abandon. Life doesn't get better than this!


This 9-year old girl was pleased with her custom decorated marine themed cupcakes. She had fun selecting which of the sea creatures to eat first.


She's as cute as her baby farm animals themed 1st birthday cake which matched her invitations and serving plates and napkins.


This adorable little girl came to our studio with her parents and we fed her some of our Guava Lava cupcakes. Her big eyes and cute smile warmed our hearts.

Hope you enjoyed these photos. You can see many more of them and their cakes on our website


Tuesday, May 20, 2008

When its the kids that take the cake, Pt.1

One of the supreme pleasures in making cakes is getting to see the reaction on people's faces when they see their cake for the first time, and kids, bless their hearts, tend to have a strong immediate reaction. Their eyes get larger, out comes their toothy awkward smile and then they want to get a little closer and reach out and try and touch the cake. Parents know this and they are often right there to guard the cake table. Some of our favorite cake memories have involved children. Parents seem to enjoy the cake ritual with their child, often having to lift them up to blow out the candles.

The Ohana album on our website is a celebration of people's reactions to the cakes. Cakes are usually delivered prior to the start of the event when things are quiet and the real party happens after we leave. We're thankful to all the parents who continue to send us their Ohana photos showing how happy they and their children are with their cakes.

This photo is heartwarming. A mother with her daughter, enjoying their "messy" cake for their get messy themed birthday party. Colorful and all edible, even the inside of the cake was colored, pink, Guava Lava.


Now that's a reaction! He was a big fan of Thomas the Tank Engine and according to his mommy, he enjoys seeing his cake on our website and says "My Thomas, My cake!" So cute!


Kids can be just as precious at weddings. Although this was the couple's special day, it meant so much to be able to share their cake cutting ceremony with their daughter.



What's better than 1 child at the cake table? Many children enjoying the cake! Watch out for those fingers on the right ;-)


This little girl is PDC (pretty darn cute)! She was very excited about her cake for her family's Christmas party -- love the big toothy grin!

more to come ...


Monday, May 19, 2008

From "DESTINATION i do" to ... I Do!


A couple months ago we were contacted by a bride who sent an email with the subject line all in caps "I LOVE YOUR CAKES". That's an attention getter if I ever saw one and was even more pleased when I opened the letter to "meet" the sweetest bride who started gushing with praise about our cakes. This bride was absolutely endearing on so many levels, not just because of the compliments but she had a softness about her and an enthusiasm that made her such a pleasure to communicate with. As we started discussing her cake, she mentioned her fiance's name and it was unusual enough that I would remember it. A couple weeks later Rick and I are in Barnes and Noble looking at wedding magazines and just happened to notice an editorial featuring this bride who was now a client of ours. Not only was she modelling inside the magazine, she was on the cover with her fiance! We also knew the photographers of the feature, Christiaan Phleger and Lexi Mackenzie. Just another example of how small the world can be. We want to give a shout out to our bride and groom congratulating them on their Destination i do magazine cover and feature. They will be married later this year, have an incredible cake in the works, and we are very excited to be part their Big Day!


Friday, May 16, 2008

Real Wedding: Twice as Nice on the North Shore

Candice & Timothy
Saturday, January 26, 2008
North Shore, Oahu

Photos by Chrissy Lambert Photography

Candice and Timothy chose red, black and white as their colors for their North Shore wedding. When we delivered their cakes, we saw a beautiful vision of red. Their decor and flowers were red with black and white accents, as was one of their two wedding cakes. Rather than have one large wedding cake to feed all their guests, the couple thought it would be fun to have two cakes, one that matched their color palette and had a elegant vibe with a tropical motif and the other one was FUN and anything goes. Candice and Timothy fell in love with Rick's and my wedding cake (the large pink one with the giant Tiki) on it and Rick was asked to recreate it. Up until this wedding it was never actually replicated for another bride, out of respect for our wedding. After living in Hawaii for 3 years, Rick decided it would be fun to make it again and Candice and Timothy were the perfect couple to have it. All components of both cakes were handcrafted, including our custom bride and groom surfing figures. They chose four flavors for their two cakes: Hawaii Five-0, Chocolate Dream, Totally Turtle and Guava Lava. Weddings by Grace & Mona coordinated the event that will be talked about for many years to come.

Vendors:

Photographer: Chrissy Lambert Photography
Coordinator: Weddings by Grace & Mona
Floral Design, custom linens and lighting: Yvonne Floral Design
Videography: Angel De Armas
Wedding Cake: cakelava




































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