Shortly after my niece Mikall got engaged she asked if I would make the dessert for her wedding.
She's a cupcake lover and had fallen in love with a vanilla bean cupcake that I had made for her sister's bridal shower.
How could I say no?
Right?
Of course I said yes, I was honored!
We were going to have some challenges to work out though!
Steve and I were in the process of selling our Wisconsin home to move to North Carolina in June 2015.
The wedding was in Wisconsin on September 3, 2016.
With the move completed, Gabi off to college and Zach registered at his new High School
I finally had some down time to freak out!
What in the heck did I get myself into?
I knew I could bake a great cupcake,
I wasn't worried about that.
I often made the dessert for holidays or a family party,
but this wouldn't be just any party. It was a wedding!
It demanded baking, appropriately decorating and transporting hundreds of cupcakes.
This was way out of my league.
I had no professional training.
I only had two cupcake pans and they were still packed somewhere in my garage attic.
I was 1000 miles away from the wedding/reception.
How was I going to pull this off?
I had no clue,
but that has never stopped me before!
(It's during these times that my sassy personality is actually useful!)
I had to figure it out.
I needed information and lots of it.
How do I:
bake and store cupcakes in large quantities, safely transport finished cupcakes,
choose an icing that would hold up at a late summer outdoor wedding reception,
elegantly decorate hundreds of cupcakes and do it all by myself...?
The internet was my new best friend.
I found helpful tips and tricks that answered many of my questions
but I was still worried about my ability to decorate the cupcakes appropriately.
A piped rosette and some sprinkles would not cut it for this event.
I had to refine my skills.
I checked with our local community college for a cake decorating class but the timing was wrong.
I contemplated a Wilton class at Michael's but the one being offered was too basic.
I found a bakery here in NC that gave lessons but it was a couple hours away.
In the end, I found some really great video tutorials on YouTube & Craftsy.com
that helped me a lot.
About 8 months before the wedding Mikall contacted me with her and Jacob's thoughts for the dessert.
She wanted cupcakes, of course but also asked if I could make cake pops.
I had seen them, never ate one and never made one,
but I told her I was sure I could figure them out (way too much sass!).
The guest list was at 275 and knowing they wouldn't all come,
we tentatively settled on 250 cupcakes and 150 cake pops.
The wedding theme was bohemian and vintage.
They wanted simple cake flavors of vanilla bean and chocolate.
Wedding colors were ivory, pale pink, champagne and hints of gold.
The flowers would include Juliet roses and dahlias and lots of greenery.
So, with those details I hit the internet and for several weeks accumulated cupcake and cake pop ideas onto a Pinterest page:
You did such an amazing job!! The cupcakes looked like they were from a professional bakery.
I don’t know when you find the time to do all that you do.