Sunday 10 October 2010

New Toys!!!!!!!!!!!



For those of you that know me will know that I am no stranger to online shopping- seriously I should know my postie by his first name, he delivers to our place that often heheh! So for quite a while now I have been umming and ahhing about getting a photo tent. To be honest I have a rather basic point and shoot digital camera- so I should possibly look  into getting a new camera too- but first things first.
Getting good light really helps to make pictures of cakes look as good as they do in real life- so when one of my friends suggested a Photo tent- I trawled the net and looked for a while- before finally purchasing one- OMG the BEST money I have ever spent! Rain hail or sunshine- this cool little addition to my ever growing cake room is just magic!

I swear I was mid cake when it arrived- but I HAD  to open it there and then! I still need to fine tune it and use the lights to their best ability- but for now- WOW- it makes the whole photographing of cakes that much easier.

This weekend was the first weekend  of the September school holidays- so busy!
I will begin with the first cake  to be photographed- notice my rush to try out the tent and not having ironed the backdrops.....heheheh impatience plus ;)  

 This three twisted tier design was sent to the Treasury Hotel Marquee. The top two tiers were Gluten free- including a Rum and Raisin and a Baileys tier. The Claret Red sugar roses and ribbon tied in with the wedding colours. A quirky Cake topper ( supplied by the clients) stood on top.

The next cake was a very hip black and white design. At the venue a set of antique cake toppers stood on the board- and fresh white roses were placed on top.
I love it just how it is too!
 Sometimes simplicity is the key with bold colours and designs.
This cake was delivered to Rydges at Southbank- and every time I go up to the Rooftop Terrace I just LOVE the view- Magnificent! The "Wheel of Brisbane" lit up in the background at night is just wonderful.


Speaking of great views- a hidden gem is Urban Hotel at Wickham Terrace. A few years back friends of mine had their wedding there- and it was great- and with recent contemporary swish renovations - the hotel is looking more than Funky!  
This reception was held in the aptly named Panorama room- which has very impressive city views indeed!

A Black and Ivory Themed wedding-  the cake was a variation of my wrap style display cake. A complete contrast to the black chair covers with Ivory sash bows- terrific!

The Lace stencils are definitely a popular choice lately- so much so I recently just HAD to buy a whole heap more LOL! 
For the second week in a row I was headed to Bretts wharf to deliver the next cake.
The next wonderful couple chose the Damask style- my oldest and dearest stencil- and used their latte/mocha and magenta colours to create this awesome cake!
The couples invites were this latte colour- with an embossed silver flourish/damask pattern over the paper- so the cake was an extension of this design. Classy and Elegant.

After Bretts Wharf it was over to the Pavilion at Albion for the next cake delivery.
Fresh roses cascaded down the front of this cake. The roses were perfectly prepped by the couples florist cousin Tammy. Thank you Tammy for making it so easy to work with you and for the fabulous fresh blooms for the cake! 
 Having the flowers correctly wired and taped is imperative for the elegant placement of the flowers. So often I arrive at venues only to find that either the supplied flowers are left unprepared (despite specific supply instructions) or that they are incorrectly prepared for placement onto a cake.
Now don't get me wrong there are many brilliant florists who I work with week in week out who I have the pleasure of receiving Stunningly prepared fresh blooms from- and whose gorgeous buds make a simple cake simply fantastic- but unless the flowers are prepped correctly- the fresh flower arrangements on a cake can often look less than professional.
So I truly appreciate the florists who take the time and care to individually wire and tape each flower head- so that I can - in turn- place them onto the cake and create a magnificent fresh flower design.



It wasn't all Fresh flowers that weekend- I actually had Twin cakes too :-p
Non Identical twins- but pretty close none the less.
I am often amazed when I get such similar cakes to make from completely different clients.
First stop was The Polo club with this Dusty pink version of a draped design.  


The sugar roses were in varying shades of pink- filigree piping covering the walls of the tiers and Swarovski Crystals in amongst the piping work.

Then I headed over to The Sebel to deliver a Lilac variation of the same design.  



The piping on this design flowed underneath the draping- instead of all over the tiers.  The Lilac variation was a slightly larger scale design than the pink version too.

Purple is such a popular wedding colour at the moment. My next cake was a cupcake tower for a wedding at the Marriott.
I was silly enough to leave the camera in the car- so I only got a shot of the top tier - complete with cartoon toppers- that I shot before I left in my new tent.

These toppers were only chosen less than 4 days prior to the wedding AHHHHHHHHHHH! My inability to use the word "no" (LOL) meant that I needed allot of CMC to speed up the drying time - But I surprised myself and got them done in time.  


The last drop off for the Saturday- and yes it was a VERY long day- was to UQ- where this last cake was delivered.
Deep red and Gold was t he colour theme for this wedding.
Tiny red blossoms in a quilt pattern on the base tier- with a piped flourish design through the centre of the middle tier- with more tiny blossoms sporadically mixed in- and then a hand cut "double happiness" emblem for the top.
At the venue the couple had a cake topper that sat on top.

After a massive day of deliveries on Saturday- I was left with only a sole cake for the Sunday.
This two tier chocolate creation was sent to Hillstone. Inside was a layered chocolate cake- with a Sour Cherry compote and Krisch ganache. A bit Black forest- esque- and allot of YUM!


So  that is a wrap for the middle of September.

This week has been trying- with the constant rain playing havoc with all delicate cake decorations. Not even the humidity and temperature control can keep up with all the wet.
Today being 10/10/10- I have a bundle of cakes to deliver- and I cannot sleep- as all I can think about is the weather and how the cakes will hold up. They say you cannot change the weather- it is nature after all- but for the many 1000's of  Couples getting married today it would have been nice if the sun had been shining on their special day.
At least I have my photo tent to light up the cakes in this gloomy weather :)
Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading
SJ

4 comments:

Sharnel said...

SJ you have been a busy little bee!
The light tent is a fab addition I agree, and the cakes look amazing as usual!!
x

Sarah-Jane said...

Thanks Sharnel- and would you believe we looked after our three fabulous godchildren (18months- 8 years) that night too- no rest for the wicked!

Anonymous said...

SJ where did you buy it and what size was the tent?

Sarah-Jane said...

Hi the tent was off Ebay- 80cm cube