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I have two words for you when it comes to cakes. Bavarian Cakery.
Just go visit Tara over at Bavarian Cakery and be prepared to experience the best cake of your life, and your chance to work with the best cake artists in the area.
I jump up and down when I photograph a wedding with a Bavarian Cakery cake, not only are they gorgeous but they are delicious. So delicious that I will go check the kitchen after a wedding to see if there is a spare piece I can eat at the end of the night. I am not even kidding. If there are two pieces I will east two 😀 and this is coming from a person that normally doesn’t even eat but a bit or two of cake.
Tara and her team are amazing and full of awesome ideas so don’t hesitate to ask them what they recommend and let their creative minds go to work.
I reached out to Tara for a little bit of advice on picking the perfect baker for your wedding day. Here is what she had to say.
“Congratulations on your engagement! Choosing a baker for your wedding day is an important decision. Your wedding cake is one of the main centerpieces your guest will be admiring and looking forward to tasting, so it is important to educate yourself on the bakery and some of your options before your appointment.
It’s imperative to choose a baker that is permitted and under requirements by the Texas Health Department. This will insure that your food is being handled and created in a clean environment by people who know how to handle food. By choosing someone who works out of their home, you are also inviting all of the lint and dander from their home and pets onto your cake. Although tempting, because the price point is usually cheaper, you get what you pay for. Like a good hair colorist…cheaper isn’t always better. It’s your wedding day, it needs to be perfect and your guests will also appreciate the manner in which their food was prepared.
Is the bakery a preferred vendor at your venue? This truly saves time as your facility and/or coordinator has already done the leg work for you to select experienced bakeries for you to consider. If they are not preferred at the venue you have selected, you may want to ask where they consistently deliver cakes. If it is a reputable list, then you should feel confident about your decision to choose that company. It’s always good to check with social media sites to see the level of work as well as how often work is posted and other wedding sites for reviews.
At your tasting, (which normally lasts for about one hour) you may want to ask what services are included with your design and what types of things may incur additional expense. For example, fondant detail, gum paste and sugar flowers, bows, jewelry, bows and small intricate detail may be an additional charge due to the nature of the additional labor or product required. If you need a special dietary cake made like sugar or gluten free, make sure and call ahead so the bakery is aware of your request to have a sample ready for you to taste.
Are their multiple decorators?… and how and when will your cake be delivered? It’s important to know that if your baker gets ill, there will be another staff member to complete the order and get it delivered on time.
These are just a few suggestions and if you are interested, we have a FAQ page on our website to refer to more specifically about our bakery. Each company may do things a bit different, but we find that when our clients are educated on what to expect, the tastings and entire process is a stress free experience. Please refer to our website or Facebook page for more info on wedding and special event cakes. You may also want to see our sister company Chocolate Encore’s website or Facebook page for more sweet ideas! You can have your cake and eat it too!”
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I used a local person in Navasota for my wedding cake. Cakes by Blondie. Blondie is a retired school teacher. Her cake was yummy and she works with Rock Lake Ranch often so she knew exactly how things worked out there. I was confident that she was familiar with my wedding venue in Navasota. Just as Tara from Bavarian Cakery mentioned this is a super important aspect to consider for not only the ease of things but for your piece of mind knowing that your cake will be delivered safely on your wedding day.
I remember trying to decide what my cake was going to look like. I spent hours and hours looking at cakes online and trying to decide exactly what it would look like. It was one of the last decisions I made…and one of the only things I actually cried over because I was so frustrated and couldn’t decide on one particular design.
I learned a lot about weddings from my wedding cake.
Don’t worry about the little things.
I spent hours upon hours trying to decide on the perfect cake. I looked at it for maybe 5 seconds while we cut it at our wedding, and only ate a bite because we didn’t have time to sit down and actually enjoy it.
I remember how long and hard I thought about if I wanted any pearls around each layer or if I wanted icing piped on. I finally decided on pearls..guess what?! I didn’t even notice. The night of our wedding as we sat on the porch swing of the cottage at Rock Lake Ranch I remember laughing about the cake and how I spent so much time worrying about it but didn’t really get to enjoy it, and then I remembered the pearls. Our cake didn’t actually have the pearls I wanted. But in all honestly it didn’t matter. What mattered was that I married the man of my dreams and we were surrounded by friends and family.
Moral of the story: Don’t cry over cake. It isn’t worth it….or flowers, or food, or table cloths, or anything.
It really isn’t worth it and in the end the only thing you will really look back on and cherish are the pictures of you and your new husband together. Those pictures where you can look back and see the excitement and feel the emotion.
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Since I started with cake I guess I should talk about food too.
If you go with an all inclusive type venue chances are your food is included in your wedding.
If you are going the do it yourself venue route you will have to make a decision on the route you are going for food.
You can do buffet style or a seated dinner.
If you do buffet style you will be looking at a much more cost effective option. 95% of the weddings I photograph fall under this category. There is nothing wrong with a buffet type dinner at a wedding, it is very common and completely acceptable.
If you do the seated dinner you are looking at a higher cost due to the staff that is needed for this option. Often times very formal weddings will have a seated dinner where courses are served one at a time.
You will also have to make choices such as the type of plates (will you do the nice plastic or real plates and chargers) oh and you also have to think about the silverware (plastic or china).
These are things that can add up very quickly. Quite frankly I was dead set on the fact that I wanted to have real plates and silverware at my wedding but it was so much more expensive than the “nice plastic,” that we couldn’t justify it.
Looking back this was another one of those things that I wish I wouldn’t have worried about so much. Im pretty sure nobody though to themselves “oh hey look, we are eating on plastic at a wedding,” because that’s only something a bride who is planning a wedding would think of…not someone that was lucky enough to make your guest list 😉
We used Crossroads Catering based out of Navasota for our food, they did an amazing job! We had stuffed chicken with two sides and salad for an extremely reasonable price. They also came to our house and did a taste testing bringing sample of the food that we wanted. I recommend them for catering if you are searching for the perfect place.
Just remember. These thing that seem like a huge deal when you are planning your wedding, but I promise it is not the end of the world and is not worth stressing yourself out over.
Designs by Karinda Photography specializes in wedding, newborn, and child photography in Montgomery, Texas and surrounding areas including but not limited to The Woodlands and Magnolia.
