{WEDDING} Zeina & Alejandro

Exactly one year ago today I had the privilege of baking for a friend of mine from high school, Alejandro. His beautiful fiancé Zeina, saw some of my work on facebook and contacted me about making cupcakes for their wedding. In addition to the cupcakes, she wanted to surprise her Pilot groom with a 3-D airplane cake. A 747 airplane to be exact. Right away I told her I didn't feel comfortable making one, but that I would contact some local cake artists to get pricing for her since she was out of the country teaching English. Her response was "oh, it can't be that hard. You can make it out of rice krispy treats." I had never met this girl before, but when I did for our tasting, I had this strange feeling she was going to be my first "bridezilla." 

When Zeina got back from teaching in Spain, she came over so we could practice making the plane. I really wish I had a photo of the practice planes to share with you, but needless to say, she realized it wasn't as easy as she thought. I believe she said my plane looked like a "killer whale." Thanks, Z. We ended up bonding over some laughs, and that's when I realized I wasn't dealing with a bridezilla but instead a girl who just knew exactly what she wanted. A girl who wanted to do something extra special for the man of her dreams. <3

We ended up compromising and decided to go with a small round cake with a fondant airplane topper. I think it came out really cute!

Not sure if you noticed, but that's Jim Vance (news anchor from NBC4) who officiated their wedding! 

Happy Anniversary Zeina & Alejandro! I wish you both a lifetime of happiness! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day!

Photography Credit: Samantha Smith Photography

Carnival Party

I suppose it's probably time I share this party, being that it took place back in February!

My friend Julie, who owns StudioX, a Zumba Studio in Gaithersburg, MD, contacted me in January about throwing a carnival themed party for her daughter's 7th birthday. She wanted to include a full dessert table and asked if I would be interested. Uh, DURR! I immediately turned to my trusty friend Pinterest and started pinning away! Check out my inspiration board here.

Since I typically work with party planners who do the table design, I was so excited to finally style one all by myself. While searching for ideas, I came across this adorable cart from Fairy Floss Party and REALLY wanted to replicate it. But although it would have been an awesome element to have, I decided it would be too big of a project to take on. On top of that, I'd have to worry about storing it after the party. I barely have enough space to store my flour and sugar, let alone a large piece of furniture! So, sadly I scratched that idea.

I had a lot of fun making the desserts which included: a carnival tent cake, sugar cookie whirly pops, "popcorn" and "ice cream sundae" cupcakes, and my favorite, the clown and "corn dog" cake pops.

Overall, I think it came out  really nice and I think everyone enjoyed it. Looking back now, I can think of a few things I would have done differently. I think I'll leave the styling to the pros in the future though because styling AND baking together proved to be a much larger task than I thought it would be.

As for the party, Julie thought of everything! From inflatable bouncies, to  cotton candy and popcorn machines, a tattoo station, goldfish toss game, THREE piñatas, to a huge spread of delicious food!! Both the adults and the kids had a great time!

 
Seriously, are these not the cutest little girls you ever did see?

If you haven't taken a class at StudioX, what are you waiting for? The instructors are awesome and the classes are tons of fun, even if you are as uncoordinated and have no rhythm like me!
Also, since StudioX is such a large open space, it's the perfect place to throw your next party. Contact StudioX for details. http://www.dancestudiox.net/

Thank you to my friend Lanh for snapping and sharing these photos! 

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!