Posts Tagged ‘Wedding’

Wedding cakes are created to look and taste fabulous, but sometimes flavor is compromised for style. When selecting a wedding cake, the perfect combination of taste and appearance should be paramount. The goal is that you and your guests admire the design of the cake just as much as they love eating it!
Wedding cakes come in a wide variety of flavors these days and couples no longer have to choose between traditional tastes like vanilla, chocolate and marble. Modern wedding cake bakers provide a wealth of flavor choices including imaginative combinations as diverse as coconut key-lime, chocolate hazelnut mocha, lemon poppy seed and orange-mango.
A good parameter to use when making your flavor selection is to coordinate it with the colors and theme of the wedding – or select the cake first and plan design details around it. Other important factors include the season and location of your wedding, so decide on your priorities before beginning the wedding cake selection and sampling process.
The simple rule is heavier chocolate cakes in the colder months/climates and airy, light cakes during the warmer months/climates.
The top wedding cake flavor suggestions for the seasons are as follows:
Fall/Winter
• Kahlua Mocha- dark liqueur cake with coffee, vanilla and chocolate liqueur and topped with fudge icing
• Mexican Chocolate Cake- moist and enhanced with three types of chocolate and a bit of cinnamon with a smooth milk-chocolate frosting
• Red Velvet Cake- traditional Southern chocolate-red cake with cream cheese frosting
• Texas Turtle- devil’s food cake with nuts and caramel filling and fudge frosting
Spring/Summer
• Princess Cake- moist, creamy white cake topped with cream cheese frosting (traditional choice)
• Orange Marmalade and Lemon Cake- tangy lemon cake made using bitter English orange marmalade and lemon zest with a lemon butter sauce poured over the cake after baking and iced with cream cheese frosting
• Fresh Strawberry Cake- chopped strawberries folded in a white cake batter topped with rich cream cheese frosting
Be sure to spend ample time seeking out a bakery that will suit all of your needs since there are plenty of options and competition for your business. You might want to start your search online or through referrals – then begin deciding which providers seem most appropriate for your needs. The more time and patience you spend selecting your cake, the happier you and your guests will be with the outcome.
There are additional cake-related decisions to consider. If you are concerned about price consider using fresh flowers and fruits in lieu of frosted ones. You can also order a beautiful cake that is a bit too small to feed the crowd and serve from less extraordinary sheet cakes that can be left out of sight and sliced and delivered by the venue staff. You also might want to consider a square cake as opposed to round being that square cakes cut more slices and will feed more people.
Of course, these are just suggestions and many wedding cake bakeries allow the happy couple to customize their cake to satisfy their palette and pricing concerns. Be sure to have an idea of how many people will be attending and ask the bakery about price per slice when considering the various flavors and shapes.

Normally, reserving your wedding reception site should be one of the first tasks in your wedding planning strategy. The trendiest reception sites go quickly. It is best to reserve the venue at least one year in advance. It should be one of the first things you take care of on your wedding planning list.
It is true that first impressions are important. How you feel the first time you walk into the venue should be an important factor in deciding on your wedding reception site. If you enter the venue and you have an uneasy feeling, or you are simply uncomfortable about the place, you should move on and continue your search. If you find the place charming, you might move on to the next question. Never book the first venue you visit, you never know what you are missing by limiting your search to only one place.
Wedding reception venues vary in size, and you have to make sure it is large enough to accommodate your party. The venue has to accommodate your wedding party, therefore, you have to make sure the place is large enough. It is not enough to consider your wedding guests. You have to take into account everything from the wedding band to the dance floor to the place for the wedding cake. See if the management allows you to visit the place in action. It is best to get a feel for the size of the place, as it is being setup for a wedding reception.
Most likely your guest will drive to your wedding, so parking is a big concern. You may find a great venue with insufficient parking. It is you job to find a place where your guests can park. If parking is unavailable you should arrange a shuttle or a van to take your wedding guests from the wedding ceremony to the reception.
If you feel comfortable in intimate settings, avoid public reception sites such as hotel lawns. If privacy is something you cannot compromise, you should arrange a private estate. Even hotels and restaurants can be less private than you might think since they often host multiple events on the same day. If this bothers you, you have to make sure there are no other events are scheduled for your wedding day.
A view is worth a million dollars, and it adds to the overall experience. Whether it’s a dramatic ocean view, a beautiful mountain view, or a historic park, wonderful art, a great wedding reception will always have something fantastic to see. If your reception is help during dark hours, the view has little significance.
Lighting can influence the overall feel of the event, so make sure the reception hall is well lit. Light can make or break your event. It sets the overall mood of the place, so make sure you see the place lit during your walk through.
There are many more issues and questions you must consider. How much does it cost to use the venue? How much do you have to pay up front? If you are asked to pay the entire cost up front, you should turn around and walk faster than you can say “Tank You.” You should never pay more than fifty percent of the total rental cost. If you put a deposit down, ask about their refund policy. Anything can happen, and you might need to cancel your reservation. You must get the cancellation policy in writing.
Whatever happens get everything in writing. Never assume anything, and only believe what is in the contract. If you can have a wedding planner look through the contract with you before you sign.

Before you do anything else planning your wedding you must set your wedding date. It is a fun project, but be prepared to be challenged. Determining the best possible wedding date sounds easier than it is. Prior to you making your decision, there are many events and significant dates to take into account. The day you get married will be determined by factors such as venue availability, holidays, school schedules, who can attend, and many more.
More or less, there is 12-18 months between the time of engagement and the wedding day. Since there are so many parts to planning a successful wedding, one year may not be enough time for many. Before setting your date for the big day, you have to consider the schedules of everyone important to you. If you want the most important people in your life to attend your wedding, you must consider their schedule. Business assignments, birthdays, graduations, vacations, and other events may prevent people important to you attending your wedding day.
Getting married during the hottest wedding season has many challenges. It is not only more difficult to find available vendors and venues; the prices are normally higher too. Consequently, be prepared to pay premium for reception sites, photography services, flowers, limos, etc. In addition to hire costs, you have to consider challenges based on availability. Your dream location may not be available on your dream date, so don’t fall in love with a venue until you have secured it for your date.
May through September are among the busiest months for weddings. If you can, consider getting married one of the off months. November through April gives you more opportunities to choose reception venues. In addition to having more options, you are going to be in much better position to negotiate a better price. During the slower months, you are bound to get better service because more vendors are competing for your business.
If you are going to get married on a Saturday, be prepared to compete with many other brides for the same venues and services. Saturday is the most convenient day for your invitees, but it means you have to deal with scheduling challenges and hire costs. Fridays and Sundays are considered the next best days and are still much more convenient than other days.
There is no wedding date without its challenges, and there are sure to be pros and cons to any possible date. Your challenge is to consider the best possible wedding date based on your needs and desires.