DC Micro Weddings and Elopements

This video is with Mikea Turner from WUSA9 and Andrew Roby from Andrew Roby Events talking about DC Micro Weddings and what they are all about here in the DMV.

In the last few months, covid-19 has turned our world upside down, and weddings have not been spared here in D.C. We have teamed up with the best Washington, DC area wedding vendors to offer the DC Micro-Wedding Experience, with Live Streaming. You can still celebrate your love and have your family and friends be a part of your special day. Although the pandemic is changing how we operate from day to day, there are still reasons to celebrate. And your wedding is one of those reasons.

Since we do not know for certain when the government will allow large scale events, there's no need to stress out about what we can't change, rather let's embrace new traditions - Micro weddings and Intimate Elopements. So let's celebrate your big day, in a safe way while practicing social distancing. You can still have your cake, and eat it too!

With customizable packages to suit your needs, the DC Microwedding Experience is the way to go in 2020.

The DC Micro-Wedding experience includes:

Wedding Officiant (optional)

Bouquet & Boutonniere

Photographer Videographer & Live Stream

Decorative Flower Arrangements

Champagne Toast

Mini Wedding Cake

Digital Invitations + 25 Thank You notes

Upgrades: Flowers, Printed Invitations, Mini Receptions, Cake mailed to guests.

I’m working with an awesome group of vendors led by DC Event Planner Andrew Roby

WEDDING PLANNER: Andrew Roby Events
OFFICIANT (OPTIONAL)
FLORIST: Designs by Oochay
PHOTOGRAPHER: Edward Underwood Photography & Trene Forbes Photography
Videographer: Chip Dizard Weddings
INVITATIONS: Fingers In Ink

Why do custom cakes cost so much?

I’ve had this blog post swimming in my heads for months now and I’ve been on the fence about writing about this subject. I don’t want it to become misconstrued or taken as anything other than a way to educate on why simple ingredients such as sugar, flour and eggs can end up costing so much.   But that’s the thing, making cakes is not just the sum of their ingredients.   I hope to shed some light on why custom cakes are “so expensive” and a peek behind the process of creating a custom cake.

Just like any other legitimate business, there are expenses that are factored in before you even get to the point of talking about making a cake.  Just to name a few, insurance (business and personal), licenses, utilities, rent, website, marketing, software, TAXES (that’s a whole other conversation) the list goes on.  All these things get factored into the cost of a cake.

Now we move onto one of the main factors that separates high end cakes vs. their less expensive counterparts, quality of ingredients.  One thing that I pride myself on is the quality of my cakes, and I am not just talking about their appearance.   When you choose to use high quality natural ingredients, they are just going to cost more.  Have you seen the cost of vanilla extract these days? A 16oz bottle is at least $35 and that’s on the low end of the scale.   I could easily swap it out for imitation extract, but I will leave those ingredients for supermarket cakes. If you have ever wandered into the bakery section of a grocery store and wondered how their cakes are so cheap, well here is why.  They are baked in a huge mass production bakery (with low end ingredients, and preservatives), frozen, and then shipped to the stores.  The icing that is used to decorate them comes out of a bucket, and trust me, you probably won’t see butter listed on the ingredient list.

Look at how long the list of ingredients are on the label! This is a great last minute cake option to feed a crowd, but there is no way I could sell my cakes for that price. At that point, I would be paying my customers to take the cakes from me. While that sounds like a great deal, it’s not realistic or sustainable for a small business.

I am not trying to knock grocery store cakes.  I grew up on them, and in high school one of my first jobs was working in a grocery store bakery.  They are a great option when you want a quick cake and don’t want to spend the money on something custom.   It’s like going to McDonalds, instead of getting a Kobe Beef Burger.   There is nothing wrong with either option, just don’t expect a Kobe burger for a McDonald’s price.

The second factor which separates custom cakes is the quality of execution.  There is a huge range of quality out there, just like any other profession. I personally spent about 5 years working lower wage jobs in other bakeries before I even thought about starting Blue Lace Cakes.  I took on the projects that no one else wanted to do, because they were “hard”, to grow my skills.  I spent countless hours at work, and on my own time, teaching myself techniques, practicing, and trying to absorb as much info as I could.  Now, I spend money on educating myself by taking classes online and in person, learning the new trends and building my skills.  I would like to say that I just woke up one day and could make all these awesome things, but that would be a lie.  This is an ongoing process which probably won’t end until I stop making cakes.

An example of a cake sketch.

Everything mentioned above had to happen, even before a single order was placed.  Creating a custom cake for a client starts at the first email.  Before any designing starts, I try to find out as much as I can about what the client is looking for.  Many times this requires research on my part to better understand the subject.  I try to give an estimate on cost, and many times I ask the client if there is a budget I should be respectful of.  This does not mean that I am trying to charge you as much as possible for a cake.  Being honest about your budget helps me in designing. I don’t want to spend time on designing a cake only to find it’s out of the client’s price range. Almost all my custom designs include a cake sketch, to better help you visualize what the final cake will look like.

Being honest about your budget helps me in designing.  I don’t want to spend time on designing a cake only to find it’s out of the client’s price range.  The design, as well as the size of the cake, is the biggest factors that go into determining the cost of the final cake.  I try to be accommodating as a can, but if you have a budget of $300 and need to feed 100 people, I am not going to be the right fit.  To be honest my cakes are not for everyone, and I know I am not in everyone’s price range, and that’s okay.  I like to think my cakes are the Kobe burgers of the dessert world.  They are high quality, delicious, take a lot of time and care to execute and are meant for truly special occasions. 

Once the design is locked down which may or may not involve an in person tasting/consultation, then the planning begins.  At this point a couple hours have been invested in the order.   Shopping for supplies, ordering specialty items online, and coordinating deliveries start.   Depending on the cake, working on the sugar décor, such as sugar flowers, figures, etc. begins a week or 2 in advance. The week of the event everything gets made from scratch. The batters get made and the cakes are baked, all the buttercreams, fillings, are made and the cakes are assembled.  Then my favorite part starts, decorating.  To be honest, I probably spend 75% of my time prepping to get to the decorating part.  This is where a lot of the cost of the cake goes. This is the part where you take a great cake, and make it into art.   I can easily spend 10 hours just decorating a cake, not counting any of the things that have to happen before I get to this point.  Every piece of fondant, every line, every character, every flower, is all made by hand, and all this is done specifically for YOU!   Living in a world where everything is mass produced in the cheapest way possible and meant to last for a short time and be discarded, something high quality and handmade for you can be a hard concept to wrap your head around and is why people are sometimes shocked at the price of my cakes.  

At the end of this process, you end up with a centerpiece for your event, a piece of art that you can eat, and something your guests will photograph and remember.  That piece of edible art was designed and handmade just for you.  Hours of planning and work has gone into it, to make it special and to make it yours.  On top of that, you are supporting a small business, and person who has a passion to make people happy through cake.   If that doesn’t give you the warm and fuzzies, I don’t know what will. 

How Much Wedding Cake do I Need? 5 Things to Consider.

There is no easy answer to this question, and I am not going to lie to you and tell you that I have a magic answer.  This is probably one of the most asked question that I get, so I thought that I would try to shed some light on the thought process behind choosing how much cake you should order.

Photo: Ashton Kelley Photography, Venue: Antrim 1844

The first thing to consider, is probably the most obvious, how many guests are you planning to have at your wedding?  When ordering a cake 6 months or more out from your wedding date, you won’t have an exact number of guests.  But you should at least have an idea of how many people you think will attend your wedding.   A good rule of thumb, when trying to figure out your guest count is to plan that 20% of the people that you invite won’t be able to attend.  So if you’re inviting 150 people, you can safely predict that you will have about 120 attendants.  Unless, of course, you are super popular, and can’t imagine anyone missing your big day.

Photo: Snow Drop Photography

Second thing to consider, are you having any other desserts?  A big trend right now is to have a dessert table with a selection of small desserts for your guests to choose from.  If you are having a dessert table, than you probably don’t need to have a slice of cake for every guest.  Chances are that some of your guest will opt for the dessert table instead of cake. If the cake is your only dessert, then I would plan on having a slice of cake for all of your guests.   The last thing you want is to not have enough cake for your guests. 

The third consideration, do you plan on saving the top tier of your cake?  When planning out how many servings your wedding cake should be you need to take into account that you won’t be serving your top tier.  A typical 6 inch round top tier serves about 14, so you would need to add those servings into the other tiers of your cake.

Number 4 is something that most people don’t think about.  How is your cake being served? There are usually two ways your cake can be served.  A Cake Station: This is where your venue cuts up the cake and puts it on a table so the guests can help themselves.  With this option, you can usually get away with less cake, because not everyone is going to want cake.  Usually at this point of the night, the party is in full swing, and some people will choose to continue dancing, than eating cake.

The other option is having the cake plated and served to your guests at their table.  In this case you would more than likely want to have a slice for each person.  You don’t want Uncle Bob to not get his slice of cake, no matter how annoying be might be.

The final consideration is the design of your cake.  If you are having a wedding for 150 people, but want a huge cake that would feed 300, it is possible, but you might not what all that extra cake.  In that case the use of Styrofoam tiers would be recommended.  That way you can get the look that you want, without all the extra cake.  Unless you really like cake, it’s okay, I don’t judge.   The opposite is also possible, if you are having a 300 person wedding, but don’t have a budget for a huge cake, or maybe that’s just not your thing, sheet cakes can be used to give you the extra servings that you need at a lower price point. 

The magic answer to the question, how much cake do I need is not an easy one.  My best advice is to work with your cake artist , and provide them with as much information as possible so they can recommend the best options for your wedding that will not only make your guests happy, but you as well.  To inquire about a wedding cake consultation please fill out my contact form to get the ball rolling. I would love to create an amazing cake for you. 

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Blue Lace Cakes, LLC is based out of Gaithersburg, Maryland and specializes in custom designed wedding and special occasion cakes.  Serving all of the Washington DC Metro Area, Baltimore and Frederick. 

How to choose your wedding cake style

When it comes to wedding cakes, there is no right or wrong decision to choosing your style.  Gone are the days where a white wedding cake with fancy piping and buttercream flowers, and those crazy cake risers are the expected.  Today’s couple shouldn’t be afraid to embrace their own style and showcase that in their wedding cake.  So, how do you know what your style is, and how do you translate that into a cake? 

In the wedding planning process, choosing your cake should be done after you choose a venue, your dress/attire, and your flowers. All those things can help you define your design for your wedding cake.

You may not even realize it, but one of the very first wedding planning decisions you make, choosing your wedding date, can be the spring board to the design and feel of your whole wedding.  If you love the pastel colors of spring blooms, you probably shouldn’t get married in November.  Whereas, if you love rich rustic, earthy tones, a fall wedding would probably be ideal.   The season you get married in will impact a great deal of your wedding style.

Moody Semi-Naked Cake with fresh florals and fruit

Your venue, whether it’s a country club, ball room, Vineyard, Distillery, a Barn, or anywhere in between is the next biggest influence on your cake style.   If you have always dreamed of a rustic semi-naked wedding cake, chances are you won’t be having your reception in a grand ballroom.   If you are a more traditional couple a country club or hotel wedding is probably your best fit. 

Tall cakes work best in a more traditional setting like a ballroom because you are usually dealing with a large room with tall ceilings and you don’t want the cake to feel dwarfed by the size of the room.

For a barn wedding, B&B wedding, or an outdoor garden wedding, in the spring or early summer a rustic cake is a great choice.   It’s a great way to take advantage of seasonal blooms that you can use to embellish your cake.

If a vineyard is your venue of choice, adding come rich color tones can really compliment the setting.  Going for warmer tones like reds, orange, purples will help make the cake stand out.

Industrial style cake in whiskey distillery

If you are more of a non-traditionalist, and decided to use a distillery or any kind of more industrial type space, square cake, cakes with texture, geometric lines, and metallics, can really compliment the space.  

When it comes down to the details of the cake, inspiration can come from anywhere, and pulling inspiration from other design elements of your wedding can help keep everything looking cohesive.   A few examples are using design details from your dress, a pattern from your linens, design elements from your invitations, the flowers from your bouquet, architectural details of your venue, a family heirloom, cultural designs, the possibilities are endless.   When setting up cake consultations, I encourage my clients to share with me images of cakes that they like, and other design elements of their wedding so I can get a better sense of their personalities and style and create a custom design just for them. .   I know that all this sounds like a lot, but as a cake designer, I am here to help put your ideas and inspiration together and create a beautiful work of art that becomes the centerpiece of your reception and a reflection of your style

South Asian wedding cake design inspired by embrodery