Going Green - The Incredible Hulk Cake

We had a lot of fun at this wedding. A standing up sculpted Incredible Hulk groom's cake and a blinged out pretty pink wedding cake, what more could we ask for! Our bride Porsche secretly ordered a groom's cake, which, if memory serves, was a Star Wars themed cake. Over the course of the months we were working with Porsche, the cake was changed to an Incredible Hulk, which Rick and I were both excited about. Making a standing up Incredible Hulk out of cake, with his gigantic muscular body, and hands big enough to strangle you wasn't easy, but this was Rick's third standing sculpted figure in the course of a month and he was ready to take on the project. This cake was pretty enormous and definitely commanded attention when we brought The Hulk into a beautiful reception room completely filled with pink, flowers and bling. We both had a chuckle when Rick ever so carefully placed the Hulk cake on the shantung pink linen table designated for it. Each time a guest or vendor walked into the room, eyes widened and jaws dropped. Porsche selected our Peanut Butter Fudgey flavor for her fiance's cake, which we hear was a huge hit with the groom. Congratulations to Porsche and Micah!

WordWorld Cake

It's one thing to make a birthday cake with pigs, bears, sheep and dogs, and quite another to have the shapes of those characters and their environment be made out of words. When we got the order for the PBS Kids "WordWorld" cake, we knew it was going to be difficult because each character's body contains the name of their species. The pig character has the letters "PIG" forming the shape of his body, the bear has the words "BEAR" and so forth. On top of the cake, Rick put the red barn, which from far away looked like a barn, and up close spelled the word "BARN." Making a multi-tiered cake with the different characters set in a scene was a time consuming design, and to have it on the same weekend as the Incredible Hulk and other difficult cakes was certainly challenging. The WordWorld Cake was totally adorable, and the presence of the word factor added that level of geekiness that made it even more endearing. Our client was blown away by the cake and we were really happy with it too.


Aloha, 'til next time!

Playful Jungle Animals Cake

The ever popular jungle animals theme always makes for a fun cake . Each time Rick does it a little differently and for this design, he went with the dimensional animals playfully placed on the tiers. He drew inspiration from our client's party invitation, handcrafting animals with a similar look and adding his own unique touches and style to the cake. The animals on the cake were adorable and our client loved it!


Until next time, Aloha!

This Book is So Money!

"The Wealth of Nations", is the title of the masterpiece written by Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith. First published back in 1776, the book advocates a free market economy and is considered to be the basis for modern economic theory. When we received the order for this cake, our client explained Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" was her husband's favorite book and she would be purchasing the cake as a surprise for his 36th birthday. She told us her husband is the CFO at a large hospital and deals with money all day long. There are many different versions of the book available, including the softcover book that has a profile of Adam Smith, but she liked the look of the earlier editions that are bound in leather, and would it be possible for Rick to integrate the two? That wouldn't be a problem. She requested for the book to be made in shades of green, the color of money. Rick sculpted the book and handpainted the cover. We don't use computer print outs, he did it the old-fashioned time consuming way, appropriate for a book published in the 1700's. Thankfully, the book is generally referred to by its shortened title "The Wealth of Nations", and not its original title "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations", which would be a whole lot of fun writing onto a cake! Happy Birthday, Paul. You're So Money!

Aloha, 'til next time!

"Cakes for a Cure" Fundraiser Calendar

Wow! We just got a glimpse of the 18 Month calendar that is being released starting Saturday, April 24th at the "Cakes for a Cure" fundraiser in Greenwood, South Carolina. "Cakes for a Cure" a huge fundraiser to benefit the American Cancer Society, will have something for every cake enthusiast -- Demonstrations by Norm Davis, Ashley Vicos, Zane Beg and Christine Schnee, to name just a few, a live cake Challenge, cake contest, cake and ice cream to enjoy, and gifts to purchase including "Cakes for a Cure" t-shirts, aprons and calendars. We are thrilled to be part of this amazing event! 19 cake artists, including Rick Reichart were asked to design a cake around the theme "With a Song in My Heart", based on a song of their choice. Calendars may be purchased at "Cakes for Cure" on April 24th for $20, or online through the relay for life website, click on "Cake Challenge Fundraiser" starting next week. T-shirts and aprons are already available on the website. For each calendar sold, $7.50 will be donated to the American Cancer Society. We're ordering multiple calendars and can't wait to see all the cakes! It's a must have for any cake enthusiast!

Aloha, 'til next time!

Dora the Explorer Cake

It was exactly one month ago that we delivered the standing up sculpted "Ramses" UNC Tar Heel groom's cake. Ramses was big and masculine and ready to kick ass and take names. Last weekend we went in a completely different direction for the standing sculpted cake with Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer. She was ordered for a little girl's birthday and Rick sculpted her out of our Strawberries Chantilly flavored cake. She may be a super sweet and cute little girl, but Dora is not easy to sculpt. She has a large sized head and a neck, which the head must sit upon. Rick wanted to capture the spirit of Dora and make her look like she's ready to take off on her next adventure! We heard from our client that the birthday girl was totally in awe of her cake and stood there just staring at it when she first saw it. We wish we could have seen her expression!



On the back side of the Dora cake, Rick added her purple backpack which she always brings with her on adventures. Now she's really ready to explore. Totally A-Dora-able!

Aloha, 'til next time!

Wedding Cake for Animation Addicts

We get our share of unusual requests, and that is of course, what keeps life interesting. Some requests cause us to wonder, "hmm, how do we make that work?" This wedding cake for our two clients obsessed with animation, gaming, and cute characters was one of those situations. Which came first, the request to include their wedding mascot of the cartoon rabbit and turtle or the three character requests, I can't recall, but I do know that marrying them together in cartoon matrimony was going to be tricky. The characters requested were Yoshi the dinosaur from Nintendo's "Yoshi's World" , Cookie Monster and Pikachu. When we met with the couple, Rick explained he could integrate these various characters into the cake. It was going to be cute-sy and kid-like because of the themes, and they were absolutely fine with that. He also planned to make a topper of their rabbit and turtle mascot for the cake. Since animation is all about fun and color, Rick decided to keep this cake in the same spirit and had the different icons associated with each character on wires popping out of the cake. When we delivered their wedding cake a few of the guests came up to look at the cake and thought it matched the couple perfectly, and after meeting the couple, we'd have to agree! Congratulations, Amanda and Chris!

Aloha, 'til next time!

"Cakes for a Cure" Fundraiser on Saturday, April 24th!

Now that our Food Network Challenge has aired and we're able to catch our breath, we are starting to get very excited about a fundraiser we are involved with next Saturday, April 24th, called "Cakes for a Cure" in Greenwood, South Carolina. "Cakes for a Cure", is an all-day cake extravaganza fundraiser to benefit the American Cancer Society. Patti Gagstetter, the Event Co-Chair invited us to participate in the event last Fall and we jumped on the opportunity to contribute to such a worthwhile cause. Being that we are thousands of miles away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and already had orders to fill, we were unable to attend, but were thrilled that Rick was asked to design a cake for their 18 month calendar of cakes which is being released at the event. We've written about the "Cakes for a Cure" fundraiser previously on the blog, but it's such an exciting opportunity for cake enthusiasts, we wanted to post it again to help get the word out! The fundraiser which will take place at multiple locations throughout Greenwood, South Carolina, will have cake demonstrations by 6 cake designers who have been on Food Network Challenge or TLC's Ultimate Cake Off: Ashley Vicos, Norm Davis, Zane Beg, Dana Herbert, Kathy Scott, and Christine Schnee. There will also be a live Mini-Challenge (3 hours, versus 8) between Kathy Scott, Dana Herbert and Michelle Fountain. We've also been told that 5 local Mayors will compete in a "Cake Decorating for Dummies" Challenge to decorate the best birthday cake!

The fundraiser has been promoted through ICES and American Cake Decorating Magazine, the Greenwood, S.C. Relay for Life Website, various cake forums and through those of us involved in this wonderful cause! Shortly after we returned from filming the "SpongeBob Birthday Cakes" Challenge, Rick started designing his cake for the "Cakes for a Cure" Calendar, and what a beautiful cake it is! The theme we all had to work with was "With a Song in My Heart" and each cake artist was asked to design a cake around the song of our choice. Rick's cake has not been posted on our website or blog and will remain a suprise until the calendar is released next Saturday.

If you are unable to attend "Cakes for a Cure" to purchase your 18 month calendar of cakes, you may order one (or many) directly through the website: www.relayforlife.org/greenwoodsc and click on the "Cake Challenge Fundraiser" tab. The calendar order form has not yet been posted but the t-shirts and aprons have been. Here you will find all the information you need for the 24th. We encourage you to please show your support by attending this amazing event and purchasing the accompanying t-shirts, aprons and calendars. Mother's Day is next month and these would make fabulous gifts!

Aloha!

Noel and Cameron's Indian Wedding Cake

All images courtesy of Absolutely Loved: Stefanie and Anna Riedel

You may have noticed if you visited cakelava.com recently that we have a new Featured Wedding couple, Noel and Cameron. Noel and Cameron were married on Valentine's Day at the Mid-Pacific Country Club, a beautiful private golf club with lush landscaping, and the most incredible views overlooking Kailua bay. Take a visit to their website and you'll see what we mean. If those premium views of Kailua's Mokulua Islands don't inspire romance, I don't know what will. (Of course we are a little biased, since Kailua is the home sweet home of cakelava). Noel and Cameron, a stunning looking couple chose the most romantic day of the year, at a super sweet location, and an A-team of vendors to help carry out their most romantic wishes. Photographers Stefanie and Anna Riedel of Absolutely Loved were a perfect match for Noel and Cameron. In the years we've been working with Stefanie, we've noticed she has a dreamy, romantic style to her photography that is so beautiful to look at. See yesterday's post to see a glimpse of Stefanie's wedding.

The beauty and romance were further enhanced by their floral designer, the talented Fong Tagawa of Floral Inspirations. Fong definitely had her work cut out for her with this wedding. With over 250 guests in attendance and a multi-cultural themed wedding combining Indian, Hawaiian, Thai, Spanish, and Chinese motifs and floral decorations, Noel and Cameron took their guests on a trip around the world without leaving Kailua. When we arrived on site, Fong gave us a "tour" showing us what she had designed for the different cultures -- Spanish for the lanai area, thai, Chinese and Indian inside, the exquisite Indian floral mandala for the ceremony outside, the bouquets and the list goes on. We were so impressed that in the heat of the day she had hand placed every flower on the ground to form a mandala inspired by their wedding cake.




Noel and Cameron booked us a year in advance for their Indian henna inspired wedding cake. They wanted to use red and gold, which also worked for the other cultural elements in their wedding, and Rick designed a gorgeous 5-tier gold fondant wedding cake with an intricate red henna inspired pattern on it. It was opulent, culturally inspired and very romantic. Fong created an elaborate display for the cake which included romantic red draping on top with flowers, crystals and lotus flower shaped candles in front. In keeping with the Indian theme of the wedding cake, Noel and Cameron chose our Chai Latte flavor for their guests.



Choreographing this symphony of romance was wedding coordinator Shari Dang of Shari Dang Weddings who did a superb job of pulling it all together! Congratulations to Noel and Cameron!



To see Noel and Cameron's Featured Wedding, visit cakelava.com.

Aloha, 'til next time!

Save Lives

It seems lately the lines between wedding cakes and celebration cakes are blurring. A wedding cake no longer needs to be tiered up or even look like a traditional "wedding cake." We've always attracted clients wanting something unsual, but recently there appears to be a trend towards sculpted wedding cakes -- remember our Compass wedding cake, Dave and Michelle's shipwreck island wedding cake, and the Turtle with the cupcake cake? Having a sculpted wedding cake is just another option for unconventional couples to personalize their wedding cake.

Stefanie Riedel, who owns Absolutely Loved is considered to be one of the top photographers in Hawaii and recently approached us to design a cake for her wedding to fiance Jonathan. Stefanie was having an untraditional wedding that involved gathering her and Jonathan's family and close friends to their North Shore home for a casual dinner and wedding cake. She asked Rick if he could design her a cake in a beach theme that would also honor her husband to be, who is a lifeguard as well as a minister. We decided to focus on the lifeguard/beach theme and she wanted to have the words "save lives" on the cake. Rick liked the idea of a lifeguard tube and decided to make this as a surprise for Jonathan. It looked so real, like you could just grab it and put it to use in the ocean!

Stefanie emailed us shortly after and told us Jonathan was blown away with his lifeguard tube wedding cake.

Oh my.............I can not believe your husbands talents..it looks just like a life saving tube ...... Jonathan saw it and felt so honored. Thank you so much!! It is amazing.

The images of the wedding were absolutely gorgeous! Anna Riedel, Stefanie's daughter who photographs for the company did an amazing job. How cute are Stefanie and Jonathan in their matching Vans sneakers! Congratulations, guys!

Images below courtesy of Absolutely Loved: Anna Riedel





Aloha 'til next time!

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!