Bridal Show and Duff Meeting

Duff Signing our Ace of Cakes book

Wow, what a whirlwind weekend!  We worked on our show cake until 4 in the morning, setup our booth, finished 1400 samples, networked with vendors, and had a brief encounter with Duff Goldman!  It seems that all of the advertising brought in a lot of potential brides and cake fans from around the area.

At only 1 hour into the show, we had to leave out booth and wait in line in the VIP room to get Duff autograph.  This took us almost an hour and we only got to spend about 15 seconds with him.  We really hoped we would have had more face time with the Ace of Cakes!.

Than it was back to our booth and a few minutes later at 3:00 Duff came onstage for a live interview.  Since we had been out of our booth for so long, we had a line of brides waiting to talk to us, so we didn't get to hear a lot of what he said.  The tidbits we did hear:

• He told bakers and potential bakers to make sure they always value their work and make sure they always got paid for their time.  You bakers out there know that we have all made this mistake.
• The biggest news was that Duff has purchased a bakery location in Los Angeles and will soon move out there to start Charm City Cakes LA.  Geoff will be promoted to executive chef and will be running Charm City Cakes Baltimore.  I was SO shocked to hear this, Duff without Geoff is like peanut butter without jelly!

At 4:30 all the bakers in the competition were asked to go over to the competition area and wait by their cakes.  Chad and I left our booth once again and went and waited (and waited).  Eventually we were told that only one baker from each team (sorry Chad!) could go back stage with Duff to wait for the competition results.  When we got back there, Duff was not there, the coordinators had whisked him to some back room area.

Our cakes were judged, but we weren't present for the judging, and we didn't get to see our score sheets, but my brother was nearby taking pictures when Duff starting judging our cake.  Duff's first words were "Damn, that's a nice cake!". Whooooo, I was on cloud nine when I heard that (still am)!

Duff wasn't the only celebrity there!

We also got a visit from Shannon from Family Bites Blog!  She came all the way down from Nashville!  We hadn't seen here since the Food Blogger Forum back in September and it was good to catch up with her.

Rumor even has it that she got so close to Duff at point that she could have hugged him, but resisted the urge!  LOL!

And we met some new friends too.  I spoke to these 2 ladies for the longest time.  They are aspiring decorators and we talked about the wonders of modeling chocolate.  Once it was all said and done I don't even think they told me their names.  So ladies, if you happen to read this post, please leave a comment and introduce yourselves!!

As always, I appreciate all of you that stop by and read my blog and especially those of you that take the time to comment on my posts.  This blog has been cake poor for the last week or so, but I will definitely have a cake for you on Tuesday.  I am doing my first cake for Icing Smiles this weekend!

Formal Affair 2011 Cake Competition

OK, so the bridal show and the cake competition is finally over!  Sadly, we did not win, but we had a great time making the cake and an even better time visiting with the other cake competitors.  There is a lot of great cake talent in Chattanooga, and it was great to see everyone's different styles come together.  I am proud to be among them.

I will go into greater detail in future posts, but today I'll be discussing the cake competition.

This is going to be a lengthy post, so click the link below to read all about it!

Still Working on Competition Cake!

OK, gang... so really the only extra time I have had since the last post on Tuesday was to find another picture of Duff to post - at least it's cute and cartoony, right?

Chad and I have been up until almost midnight every night working on decorations for the big cake at the Formal Affair Bridal Show on Sunday.  If you are in the Chattanooga area, drop by the Trade Center for a chance to see Duff Goldman, and maybe even see me too!  I am proud to report that we are just a wee bit behind our schedule, but we are having a good time even though we are getting really tired at this point.

I still have all day (and night) today (Friday) and I'll have time on Saturday after we set our booth up to put on those finishing touches.  We'll take a camera and maybe even ask some of our photog friends if they'll snap plenty of pictures for a nice mega-post on Tuesday to make up for these last 2 wimpy ones!

Chattanooga Competition Cake Teaser

OK, so I am SO not ready for this week!  This is the queen mother of busy weeks for me!  A bridal show on Sunday, a large tasting at the Chattanoogan on Thursday, and then our Duff Goldman competition cake during the show on Sunday.  It's enough to make a girl pull her freshly colored hair right out!

So what's getting pushed to the side?  I suppose it will be the blog... but I did want to post something though.  I really wanted to show you my progress on the competition cake, but...

I found out recently at a wedding professionals meeting that a lot of the local bakers (my competitors and competition for the show) also read my blog.  I certainly don't mind, but since I don't want to give too much away, I suppose you'll all just have to live with this tiny slice of a teaser photo!

OK, so I really have to go now... SO much to do!  Toodles!!

Chattanooga Cake Ace Contest on Feb 20th!

OK, so I hinted about this a few posts back, but I am ready to make this official....

I have entered a cake competition on February the 20th (next Sunday!!!) and one of the judges will be none other than Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes!!

The Chattanooga Times Free Press is hosting A Formal Affair, a bridal show and during the show they are also sponsoring the "Chattanooga Cake Ace" contest.  The theme is simple... A Chattanooga themed groom's cake.  Ok, so maybe TOO simple.  I have SO many ideas, and I just can't seem to narrow them all down!  I'm excited and nervous all at the same time.   GAH!

The best part is that all the participating bakers (I think 9 have entered) are all supposed to get some face time with Duff! 

I will be a crazy weekend, what with setting up our booth on Saturday and then the bridal show and contest on Sunday.  Even though it's still a week away, wish me luck!

Premier Bridal Show in Chattanooga

This weekend Chad and I setup a booth at the Premier Bridal Show in Chattanooga Tennessee.  For 5 hours this 10x10 booth was our home away from home.  The show promoters said there were over 500 registered brides, but we had a steady stream of people ALL day long!

I was happier with our booth than ever before.  With my brother's help we added the 2 new pink scrolly signs and I had posters made of my new logo hanging on each side of the booth.

In previous years, I have brought in crate after crate of full-sized cupcakes.  This year I did much smaller samples in souffle cups.  It was a nice two-bite sample and each one was lidded.  It was nice that everything was sealed and much more sanitary.  And I didn't spend half my time there with rubber gloves on refreshing the cupcake stand!

With every bridal show I do I learn something new each time, which will be nice when I do the next one... in 2 weeks!  Whew!

"No" New Year's Resolution

Earlier this week, my friend Kathia at Pink Little Cake blogged about a staying up late to do a last-minute order for a customer and how hard it was for her to say "No".  My comment was that bakers as a whole have a hard time saying No.  Is it our compulsion to make for and feed others, or is it as simple as not wanting to lose a paying customer?

It reminded me that I haven't shared my New Year's resolution with you all.  It's to learn better how to say "No" when I know I should. 

Case in point:  February is a horribly jam-packed month for us.  Two bridal shows (1 / 2) and a cake competition to be judged by none other than Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes (but that's another post), and a special tasting at the Chattanoogan, not to mention the scarce few orders I felt I could take to bring in some revenue for the month..  And then I get a call from my good friend Tara at The Car Barn.  She is so excited and tells me that ABC's Extreme Home Makeover is coming to Chattanooga and she wants me to do a big elaborate cake for the fundraiser.  It broke my heart to tell her No, but I had already committed my time to these other people and projects.

I spent the next few days worrying about disappointing a friend and colleague, and about losing some potentially great exposure, but in the end I know that my customers, my husband, and my sanity will thank me for it!

So the question of the day for the other bakers that stop by is, Do you have a hard time saying No?

PS: If you're in the Chattanooga area, stop by the Chattanooga Convention Center this Sunday (Feb 6) and say "Hi".  We'll even give you some cake!

Kaeley Mermaid Cake

OK, first things first!  The winner of The Money Cake cake stand system is Alev!!  You certainly can't say you haven't won anything now!  Alev, I'll get your stand in the mail within a day or two!  Thanks to everyone who participated... you're all winners in my book!!

Now onto today's cake.  Being in the wedding cake business, I have had the opportunity to meet lots great vendors.  The moment I met Amanda with Divine Designs, we were fast friends.  And a few weeks ago when her daughter Kaeley said she wanted a mermaid cake, I knew I had to do it!

For this cake I used the Cricut Cake for my letters, and I used a new mold I got for the mermaids.  They turned out SO pretty!  I also used a mold for some of the other sea creatures, and I hand made the coral and seaweed.

Thanks for stopping by!  See you back on Friday!!