Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Pretty Little Details - When Vendors Work Their Magic


Back in August when cake life was particularly hectic with all the summer weddings, we made this 6-tier fondant unusually shaped ivory, purple and gold wedding cake for one of our couples. This extravagant wedding was a last minute RUSH event which all the hired vendors had less than 3 weeks to pull it all together. This was no small feat. Thank goodness for the coordinator/event designer extraordinaire, Mona Hirata and her team with Weddings by Grace & Mona who worked long hours with the couple and all the vendors to create a spectacular event!

Special thanks to Yvonne Floral Design for the images!


Flowers galore! Yvonne designed these absolutely gorgeous tall centerpieces dripping with crystals for added bling.


Yvonne and Alex of Yvonne Floral Design worked their magic on the room with custom linens, purple/pink lighting and beautiful draping throughout the room. What a fantastic team they are!


The centerpiece on the parents' table. The custom name cards, table cards, and other paperie were made by the super talented Stacey of Emi Ink. Her work is exquisite!


The "N & D" monogram projected onto the dance floor was another special addition to the wedding created by Yvonne Floral Design. For this event, the cake was placed on the dance floor for everyone to enjoy! Other vendors working their magic, included The JW Marriott Ihilani where the wedding took place, Angel De Armas on Cinematography, and Blue Cheese Hawaii provided the couple's photobooth. Who says you can't have a little fun in a room full of elegance. The vendors who contributed to this wedding are people we work with regularly and we're thankful to be surrounded with such talent here in Hawaii.

Tomorrow we will have much to be thankful for as we observe Thanksgiving. We're thankful for our families and friends, good health, our relationship, and the support of our community. We're thankful for the creative process and that we can do something we love and be surrounded and inspired by talented people every week. Rick and I are thankful to all of you for supporting our blog and the comments you've left and letters you have sent us. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!


Aloha!


Monday, November 24, 2008

Under the Sea


We regularly receive requests for the "Under the Sea" theme cake. One such request came from our clients Rae and Keith, both scuba instructors, who wanted to honor their professions at their October wedding by having a beautiful underwater scene on their wedding cake. Their wedding took place at the beach, naturally, and they wanted to have their cake near the beach rather than at the reception which would later take place at a nearby hotel. Rick hand sculpted all the marine life shown on the cake and also made two custom scuba tank cake toppers with Rae and Keith's names shown nestled amidst the colorful marine scene. To keep the cake as vibrant and colorful on the inside as it was on the outside, the couple chose our ever-popular signature Rainbowlicious flavor to serve their guests. Thank you to Rae and Keith for including us in their special day!


Friday, November 21, 2008

Congratulations, Colonel Thomas!


Becoming a Colonel is a once in a lifetime promotion, and if you are one of the lucky few, like Colonel Ed Thomas, you get to celebrate with a cake. We recognize how special it is to be promoted in the military and we wanted to make sure Colonel Thomas' promotion ceremony was truly magical, a day he would never forget! Rick designed his cake to have a sculpted flag and a silver eagle -- perfect for a promotion to full bird Colonel in the Air Force. Colonel Thomas' wife and sons showed up at our studio to pick up the cake and were grinning from ear to ear and were so excited about the cake. We could tell how proud the boys were of their father, and how special this day was for the entire family. Congratulations, Colonel Ed Thomas! Enjoy your promotion!

Check out cakelava.com for more miltary and sculpted cakes.


Thursday, November 20, 2008

Next Featured Wedding Sneak Peek - Irene and Joseph


All photos courtesy of Rachel Robertson Photography

We had been eyeing our couple Irene and Joseph's wedding to feature on cakelava.com shortly after we saw their inspiration board of images and the cake was designed. Irene and Joseph were married on September 28, 2008. After talking to Irene about their color palette of fuschia, tangerine and yellow and hearing their location and vendor details, we just knew it was a Featured Wedding contender. Then Irene told us that Rachel Robertson was her photographer, and it was practically a done deal! Rachel's images are spectacular, vibrant and a perfect match to capture such vivid colors.

A wedding as lovely as Irene and Joseph's doesn't just happen, it is created, piece by piece, by a wedding coordinator/event designer, who in this case was the super sweet Aubrey Akana-Figueira of Savoir Faire. Irene was one of those wonderful brides who truly enjoyed the planning of her wedding and was excited about all the little details, which is always a pleasure for us to witness. She's also the type of bride to wear light pink on her wedding day -- Love It! -- and she looked gorgeous! Her excitement about the details definitely extended to their wedding cake, which was very important to the couple. They wanted a cake that was artful and would cause jaws to drop, and not perfectly symmetrical. She provided us her invitation which had a funky stylized flower design which we would add to the cake, as well as graduating the colors from darker to lighter. Irene and Joseph chose our Banana Nutella and Chocolate Dream flavors for their cake. Unfortunately, we weren't able to meet the California couple prior to the wedding because we were out of town on a TV shoot, but luckily got the opportunity to meet at the wedding!

Upon walking onto the grounds of the "World of Aloha" Estate at the Kahalu'u Fishpond, you are instantly transported to a breathtaking tropical paradise. This estate is not inexpensive to book, and quite difficult to find unless you are working with a coordinator in the know, but it is absolutely worth every penny! Rick and I were impressed with the beautiful colors and stylish set up of this event, and of course all the fantastic vendors!:

Venue: World of Aloha at Kahalu'u Fishpond
Coordinator and Event Designer: Aubrey of Savoir Faire
Photographer: Rachel Robertson Photography
Floral Designer: Michelle of Flowergirls
Caterer: Cater to Me
Rentals: Catering Connection
Officiant/Entertainment: Walt Keale
Custom Linens and lounge furniture: Les Saisons

Enough of the backstory, let's get to the images!











BIG THANKS to Rachel Robertson for the images!

Irene's Thank You note:

Hi Sasha & Rick,

I'm so happy I got a chance to meet you when I did because at that time I was just sneaking away from our guests to say hi to Aubrey and see how the reception area was decorated - perfect timing! How many times can I say thank you to you and Rick?? He did an awesome job and our guests LOVED LOVED LOVED the cake!

It was such a pleasure working with you and please feel free to use us as a reference anytime.

Thanks,

Irene

Irene and Joseph,

You two rock! We loved working with both of you and were glad to have met you on the wedding day. Wishing you both the best on your new life together!

-- Sasha & Rick

To see Irene and Joseph's Featured Wedding, visit cakelava.com in the next day or two.


Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A Cake with Fish, Not a Fish Cake


All photos courtesy of Visionari

If you've been following our blog, you'll recognize the names Reiko and Jason as one of our December Featured Wedding couple nominees. Although they didn't win your votes, they are a winning couple in our book! What we loved about Reiko and Jason's elegant wedding at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa, expertly coordinated by Sandra Williams of Finishing Touch, was the attention to all the little details, including their subtle "fish" motif. During our meeting with Reiko, she mentioned wanting to add fish on her cake without making it a "Fish cake", in other words, this wasn't a fish themed cake, but rather, a cake that happened to have some fish on it. Her fiance Jason has a nickname of "Fish" since he has the word in his last name, so they would have pretty fish touches here and there -- but not a "fish" themed wedding. We decided to go all white for their cake to keep the fish subtle and instead of making a single fish on the tiers, Rick went for a whole school of fish in a pattern reminiscent of ocean waves. To give the cake a little punch, Reiko wanted a funky shape, something unexpected for her guests. The couple went for color for the inside of their cake, with our pink colored Guava Lava cake and our Hot Fudge Sundae flavor. Reiko and Jason were gracious and enthused about their cake during the design process and just as sweet afterwards when they sent us this Thank You letter:

Oh my gosh.....

The cake you had made for us was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!

Not only Jason and I, but all of our guest were asking where on earth we had the cake made, and everyone just LOVED IT!! The cake was EXACTLY like the way we wanted; simple, stylish with white on white, and with the fish.... It was a difficult design that we asked for, but yet you made it just PERFECT. Thank you so so much!!! Wishing you all the best, and will be checking your websites for some more cool cake designs to come!!

-- Jason and Reiko -- September 2008



We wish Reiko and Jason many years of happiness!

Visit cakelava.com to see Reiko and Jason's wedding cake and many others.


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A Flowering Beauty


Being the wife of a talented cake designer has many perks, one of which is getting to see Rick's finished creation before anyone else. It's a ritual we have. Every cake he finishes, I get called into the kitchen to see it and he gets to see my jaw drop or the huge smile on my face. As husband and wife, it's something sweet we get to share together, before the cake gets shared with our client and their guests. I consider it a privelege and feel lucky to have this time with Rick.

Last month, Rick made this cake for our client Anamarie and Ben's wedding. It was a design both of us were excited about and I couldn't resist coming into the kitchen on many occasions to see the work in progress. When the cake was finished and I went in to see it, we both stood there, starry-eyed over this cake. The shape, the precise piping, the colors, I loved it all! The flower print motif was created by our couple, who used the design on their invitations and it worked perfectly for the cake. We'd like to thank Anamarie and Ben for providing us such a beautiful artwork to work from and wish them the best in their new life together!


Monday, November 17, 2008

Those Fabulous 1940's


Ever wonder why the number "40" often has the word "Fabulous" in front of it? Is turning 40 really that Fabulous? I guess I'll find out in a few years, but for now, there is one thing I do know, if you want to throw a Fabulous party, then look to the Fabulous 1940's for inspiration! That's what our client Nicole did when she chose the theme for her son Max's 1st Birthday party on Saturday night at the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island at Pearl Harbor.

Over the years we've done many theme parties, and this one was one of our favorites! Nicole really put some thought into the planning of this party and no detail was overlooked. Location, Location, Location! Is there a more perfect location for a 1940's theme party than at the Pacific Aviation Museum? Guests were asked to wear 1940's era clothing, and when our client Nicole greeted us, she looked glamorous and perfectly suited to the 1940's. I love the colors used -- navy blue, silver, white and black. Decor. Black linens, silver, blue and white balloons and an industrial hangar space filled with giant airplanes all around. Adorable teddy bears in aviator outfits for some of the centerpieces. Caterers were brought in from town (we saw sushi -- yum!) and a bar for the adults, and for the dessert, a cakelava Fabulous 1940's era sculpted airplane in our Bananarama flavor.

Kudos to Nicole for a wonderful party that her guests will long remember and so will we!

Check out this great space!





Our cake was on this table under the airplane right in front of the staff member taking a photo of it.

adorable centerpieces!






invitations with the 1940's plane that the cake was modelled after

flight simulators rented for the kids

the artist and his creation.

Check out cakelava.com to see many more custom sculpted cakes.


Friday, November 14, 2008

Sailing Into a Beautiful New Life Together


For most of this week, we've been profiling cakes that were made for events last weekend. Why not continue the trend today and show you a couple more. These two lovelies, a wedding cake and groom's cake were made for our wedding couple Bonnie and Chris, who were married at a home on the North Shore. These were the cakes we had to deliver immediately after the elegant French circus inspired cake profiled on wednesday's blog. Deliveries out to the North Shore are always a little more stressful, because the delivery time is up to an hour and a half and if there is heavy traffic due to surfing competitions, popular in the winter months, then it can take even longer. However, Saturday's delivery was smooth sailing, so to speak.

For their wedding cake, Rick designed a beautiful green fondant wedding cake with some taller tiers for the handcrafted phalaenopsis orchid branch to crawl up. We were pleased to see phalaenopsis orchids in vases under their tent and on the cake table. It seems obvious, I know, but sometimes we show up and months earlier when the wedding cake had been designed with a certain flowers in place and the sketch approved, the bride decides sometime before the wedding to completely change the flowers and not tell us. That's always fun. With Bonnie and Chris' wedding, everything was as discussed, and for Chris' surprise groom's cake, Rick made a sculpted sailboat exactly as requested -- wooden deck, sunrise shell on the sail, "Just Married" written on back of the boat, and fishing poles with a fish, in this case, a big marlin. I thought it was fantastic! Bonnie chose our Banana Nutella flavor for the sailboat and one of our signature flavors, Local Kine Special, a coconut cake with taro cream filling for their wedding cake.

This wedding had all the right components. A beachfront house on the North Shore, a gourmet BBQ dinner cooked by Chef Jason Paul, two gorgeous cakes, a bar, and 100 or so of their closest friends and family to celebrate with them. Looked like a fun time!


Well, I must have been on the same wave length as Bonnie because this morning, when I had already planned on writing about their wedding cakes, she sent us a email thank you:

Dear Rick and Sasha,

The cakes were absolutely AMAZING!!! The wedding cake was gorgeous and the sailboat was beyond perfect...the fishing poles and the fish were perfect and the sunrise shell was such a great touch! They were both better than I could have imagined...and tasted so good!! We got a ton of compliments.

Thanks again!!
My best wishes to the both of you,

Bonnie P

Bonnie and Chris,

You two were wonderful to work with! Thank you for giving us the opportunity to create for your special day. We wish both of you the best!

Sasha & Rick

Check out Bonnie and Chris' cakes and many more new additions on cakelava.com!


Wednesday, November 12, 2008

French Elegance and Cirque du Soleil Inspired


Saturday night was a bit of a circus -- literally. Our client Candes celebrated her engagement to fiance Milan in a beautiful, Cirque du Soleil inspired party in Diamond Head. She gave Rick carte blanche to design her a spectacular showpiece, using her wedding colors of soft pinks, lavenders, greens, and golds and incorporating an elegant Cirque du Soleil inspired whimsy. She was very open to design and wanted something her guests would be talking about long after the party -- mission accomplished! Shortly after the party Candes left us a voicemail saying how blown away she and her guests were by the cake. Rick had a great time making her cake and was excited about it. We were both thrilled to hear from Candes. This cake meant a lot to her and to us. She had originally tried to hire us for her wedding on the island of Lanai, but circumstances prevented us from being able to make her cake. Candes and Milan chose our Kona Toffee Crunch and Bananarama flavors to serve their guests. I wished we had taken photos of the decor but I was mesmorized by the live acrobat spinning in the ring and we needed to leave for a long trek out to the North Shore (nearly 3 hours roundtrip!). Quite the circus!

Candes and Milan, we hope you have an incredible wedding on Lanai and we'll be thinking of you!

See Candes' cake and many more new cakes on cakelava.com.


Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Happy Birthday Marines!


For the past two years, we've been commissioned to create a cake for the Marine Forces Pacific (MARFORPAC) Officers' Ball in honor of the United States Marine Corps Birthday, on November 10th. While many people are relaxing during their long holiday weekend, we're usually hard at work on their cake. This is an event we are extremely proud to be part of and take our responsibility to design, with as much authenticity as possible, very seriously. Last night's cake design was quite different than the one we made a year ago, and that was how they wanted it. Since our cake for 2007 was stacked high, they wanted us to make a completely different looking cake for 2008, incorporating some sculpted components and their emblem. Our client lent us her husband's cap as a reference for Rick, which he then sculpted out of cake. The cake was incredibly beautiful in person and this photo doesn't do it justice. When we arrived last night at the Ball, the General, who would be in charge of cutting the cake with a sword, specifically for these purposes, during the ceremony, was thrilled with the design and told Rick in his 20 years at these events, this was the nicest cake he's seen! Rick and I were both incredibly touched by this comment and it almost seemed like Rick was a bit star-struck by The General, as was I. We've met a number of celebrities this year at events, and this was just as magical a moment.

This year's cake flavor, like last year's was tropical. They chose our Coconut Pineapple Chunk,
which is also one of our favorite flavors. Last year they went with Hawaii Five-0. Shortly before leaving, we were offered some souvenir glasses from the event. They were a meaningful gift to us and we presently have them at our studio. We're looking forward to making the Officers' cake again next year!



2007's cake



We just uploaded many new cake photos at cakelava.com if you want to see some of our latest creations.

Aloha!


Monday, November 10, 2008

Dephine and Ray: Fall-ing in Love in Waikiki


All images courtesy of Bianca Photography

One thing I love about Fall weddings are the colors and the textures. We start to see more of the jewel tones and metallics, sumptous silk linens, and fall-inspired cakes -- I just love it! On November 1st, Delphine and Ray were married at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. Their colors were primarily ivory, olive green, golds and other warm tones. Their photographer Bianca Photography sent us these beautiful images of their wedding to share with our readers. Thank you, Bianca and Grant! Rick designed a cake for Delphine and Ray based on another cake in our portfolio, that they liked. The bow color was changed as was the pattern on the cake, which had a romantic swirls and small hearts. Nicole from Peony Floral worked her magic on the floral decor, as she always does. Nicole is so creative and makes such gorgeous designs, Rick and I will definitely miss her and Peony as she prepares to move to California in a couple months. We hope Delphine and Ray had a wonderful wedding and we wish them all the best on their new life together!








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