“Free Wedding Cake for Washington DC-Area Military Men and Women

Fluffy Thoughts Cakes, a McLean, Virginia based specialty bakery, are offering a free wedding cake to a member of our armed forces serving in the Washington, DC metro area. Fluffy Thoughts Cakes will be accepting entries for the free wedding cake beginning now through November 1, 2009. The recipient will be selected on Verteran’s Day November 11th, 2009.

To qualify, the bride or groom must be a member of the military and must be getting married in 2010 in the Washington, DC metro area. To enter the give-away, the applicant should send an email to Fluffy Thoughts Cakes at lara8@aol.com including the following contact information: Name, Phone Number, Wedding Date, Location of Wedding.  Additionally, please include: why you should win a free wedding cake and a photo of the couple.”

We’ve worked with Lara several times over the years and she consistently brings beautiful cakes that are darn tasty too!  Here are just a couple of the creations she’s brought to Wish weddings:

Stacey & Todd’s cake at The Washington Club:

Laurie & Rod’s cherry blossom cake at Meadowlark:

Rob & Maya’s cake at the Hotel Monaco:

Victoria & Michael’s damask cake at the Westin Grand:

Gorgeous, no?  See more yummy cake designs on the Fluffy Thoughts blog!

::Disclaimer!  The photos in this post are purely inspirational and not from events that Wish Special Events has planned or coordinated (except where noted with links to ‘real weddings’).  We can re-create what you see below for your event but these are not a part of our portfolio::

Okay, so we’ve covered chocolate cakes, we’ve covered “traditional cakes,” and we’ve even talked about non cakes! Now let’s talk about…well, unusual cakes.  Gone are the days that you have to have a five tiered wedding cake with plastic columns and a Precious Moments cake topper.  (Wait…were those ever the days?)  These days you can have cupcakes, layer cakes, mini cakes…whatever you want!

One of my favorite trends is, rather than having one cake, having a group of lots of different types of cakes!  I mean, not everyone likes the same kind of cake, right?  I have to think this way is cheaper too, don’t you think?  And oh, the possibilities for awesome cake stands!

Here’s Kelly & Jason’s cake table from their wedding in May:

I especially love Nicole & Matt’s cake centerpieces!  :::shhh::: this is a sneak peek.  Their wedding hasn’t even been blogged yet:

(How perfect do these cakes look – yum!)

Another trend that SO many people love is cupcakes!  Laura told you about a new cupcake store in Fair Lakes recently, but there are TONS of amazing cupcake shops in our area!

I love that idea of having a little mini cake for the bride and groom to cut on top of a tower of cupcakes!

Or even a cute GIANT cupcake for them to feed each other!

Of course, there are plenty of options for those couples who still want a wedding cake, but want it to be different.

How completely preppy is this cake?

Take the Cake:

Rebecca McAlfin Photography:

Michelle’s Custom Cakes:

Gabriel’s Desserts:

Of course, you can’t have a post on unusual cakes without featuring semi-local favorite, Charm City Cakes:

I also love the idea of a bunch of mini cakes…too cute! 

Or what about a tower of mini cheesecakes!  (My sister had cheesecake instead of wedding cake…I remember fondly my cousins in my hotel room at 2 in the morning, eating leftover cheesecake!)

Speaking of cheesecake, some couples have decided to go COMPLETELY out of the box and have a Cheese. Cake.  As in a cake, made of wheels of cheese!!! (ed. note: In addition to working at Wish, I also work part time at a shop in Del Ray called Cheesetique.  I’m DYING for someone to ask us to do one of these!!!)

Are you going the non-traditional route for your wedding cake?

::Disclaimer!  The photos in this post are purely inspirational and not from events that Wish Special Events has planned or coordinated (except where noted with links to ‘real weddings’).  We can re-create what you see below for your event but these are not a part of our portfolio::

Remember that episode of Friends where Joey was auditioning for a commercial, and the line was “Mmm…soup” except Joey kept saying “Mmm…noodle soup” and messing it up?  That’s how I felt when writing this blog post.  I kept looking at certain cakes and thinking “Mmm…chocolate cake” instead of just “mmm…cake.”  I realized the only way to resolve this issue was to write a separate blog post on more “traditional” cakes. You can read that one here.  This one is for you chocoholics out there.

I remember a few years ago when my friends Brian and Kristine got married.  I set them up on a date at Maggiano’s and the rest was history.  Yes, I’m not only a wedding planner, I’m a matchmaker too!  Kristine wanted a chocolate cake but her mother was appalled — “You have to have a REAL wedding cake!”  Well, what she meant was that they had to have a white cake.  Oh, how the times have changed!  Yes, of course, a white cake still says “Wedding Cake,” but there are SO many other amazing options out there, and not just the crazy ones you see on Ace of Cakes.  Even a simple chocolate cake with chocolate icing can still look very ‘bridal:’

I am in lovewith this next one.  Buttercream is my favorite type of icing.  You just can’t beat the taste!  This cake just looks SO delicious, but also beautiful.  The swirls just seem rustic and homemade to me, like my mom made it or something (granted, if my mom made it, it would be falling over, but you know what I mean!)

I’m not sure why chocolate cakes just seem so fall-like to me?  Maybe because the color brown is associate with fall?  This cake, photographed by Laura Novak, will explain what I mean:

Or this one from Martha’s magazine:

Or these, also from Martha:

Photos Unscripted:

Then again, look at this beauty — raspberries aren’t very fall-like, are they?

And let’s take a look inside, shall we??  In the words of Carrie Bradshaw, “Hello, Lover“:

I like the idea of three layers, like a dark chocolate bottom, milk chocolate middle and white chocolate top?

And more Martha Stewart goodness:

I love the glossy ganache-look of this cake, by Jeffrey Miller Catering:

Here’s another gorgeous, glossy, ganache one from Heather & Geoffrey’s wedding in 2006:

I sometimes feel like cakes as gorgeous as this one, baked by Natasha Goellner of Natasha’s Mulberry and Mott, are too beautiful to cut into!

Will you be serving chocolate cake at your wedding?  Is your mom okay with that?!

::Disclaimer!  The photos in this post are purely inspirational and not from events that Wish Special Events has planned or coordinated (except where noted).  We can re-create what you see below for your event but these are not a part of our portfolio.

I guess what I mean by traditional is…well…not chocolate.  And really, it’s not like it can’t be chocolate on the inside, right?  These cakes could be red velvet, devil’s food, who knows what on the inside!  But this post is dedicated to what people “traditionally” think of as wedding cakes.

First, let’s start out with all white cakes.  All white cakes scream “WEDDING,” but that doesn’t mean they have to scream “BORING”!  In fact, these cakes, in my opinion, are nothing short of amazing!

Emilie Inc. Photography:

Martha Stewart Weddings:

Amy Sandoval Photography:

Of course, there are lots of great ways to spruce up a white cake.  One of my favorites is with the simple addition of ribbon, either real or sugar (mmm…sugar…)

Amy Squires:

Jonathan Canlas Photography:

A simple version from the St. Regis hotel at Meaghan & Kevin’s wedding:

Mi Belle Photography:

Martha Stewart Weddings:

Strickland Portraiture:

Another option, as you’ve seen on a few cakes above, is to add flowers.  You can also add elements such as berries, leaves, or fruit!

Unforgettable Wedding Cakes by Ramona:

Ron Ben Israel:

Of course, a traditional cake doesn’t have to be round:

Chris Baltazar:

Cake by the Jekyll Island Club Hotel:

Walters and Walters Photography:

Love Life Images:

In fact, it can still be “traditional” and not even be white!

Martha Stewart Weddings:

And then there are those that definitely push the envelope of “traditional”, either by their color:

Their nuttiness (Photos Unscripted):

Or, in the case of this Ron Ben Israel creation, their complete and total awesomeness:

Are you having a “traditional” cake at your wedding?  How will you make it your own?