Carvalho Family Winery Night of Unique Elegance

Last Friday nights event at Carvalho Family Winery was a blast. There were great vendors with amazing displays of food, flowers and table displays. There was music playing and fashion shows. And you know there were beautiful cakes to see. We showcased our hummingbird cake, our orange lotus cake (affectionately called "The Vermont" at the bakery) and our newest display cake the script cake. We also brought samples of red velvet cake with vanilla buttercream with our photo albums to share some of our previous cakes. Below are more awesome pictures of the event taken by Image Outfitters Photograpy. http://www.iophotography.com/

If you have never been to the Carvalho Family Winery it is a trip that you must take. http://www.carvalhowines.com/

This is great shoot of the tasting room, a perfect atmosphere complete with a wall of barrels. And as I mentioned yummy food was brought by Asante Caterering. Check them out at http://www.asantecaterering.com/

Fresh and Quick Caterering was also there with these amazing skewers, they were cooking them fresh right there next to me. It was crazy I was so hungry by the end of the evening! But they were so nice and shared some with us! Thanks again! http://www.freshandquick.com/

And the music kept the energy going. Tony Martin of Always and Forever was there and like always with a smile. http://www.discjockey411.com/ and for a more romantic sound during the ceremony ... there was Pamela Pamperin playing the harp in the barrel room. http://www.harplady.com/

Audrey of Bontanica Floral Designs brought the cutest flower rings and she was giving them out to brides. They were kermit mums with a cute rhinestone in the middle. I wish I had a picture, I was lucky enough to be given one and I wore it the whole night. http://www.botanicafloraldesigns.com/

Yes there was a carriage inside the building, it was so cool. They had Cinderella's carriage brought by Vintage Carriage Company. http://www.vintagecarriage.com/

And then there was "The Crazy Video Lady" Nicole Conway of Grape Video http://www.grapevideo.com/ and Conway Creations http://www.conwaycreations.com/ Nicole is propably one of my biggest fans and shes a great friend. She is full of energy and ideas.

I also finally got to meet the amazing Jessica from Stout Photography, she was so nice and helpful. You must take a moment to look over her work at http://www.stoutphoto.com/

It was a fun night and the guests were very receptive and the vendor team is fabulous group to be associated with and I have to say thank you to everyone who participated.

For more great pictures check out Image Outfitters Facebook page... www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=141963&id=122794573279&saved

and for more information on the winery and the partnering vendors check out the Carvahlo Family Winery at http://www.carvalhowines.com/

Unique Elegance

Come join us at the Carvalho Winery friday evening from 6PM - 9PM as we explore a beautiful night of Unique Elegance. We will be there along with over 30 other vendors to showcase, consult, and provide samples of the services we provide (meaning we will have cake!!!) for those who are planning weddings, anniversary parties, graduation parties or...just plan on partying. Admission is $10.00 in advance (call Marnie at 916 744 1625 EXT 234 for ticket info.) and $15.00 at the door! All event proceeds will go to benefit Kiwanis House, the umbrella organization for Kiwanis services to children. Come taste many samples from local caterers, drink some wine, enjoy some music and sample our cake! The Carvalho Winery is located at Old Sugar Mill 35265 Willow Ave. Clarsburg, CA 95612 and you can also visit them at www.carvalhowines.com or contact them at 916-744-1625. We'll see you there!

Bride's Choice Winner!!! 2010

Sacramento, Ca. – Jan. 19, 2009 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced Sweet Cakes by Rebecca has been selected to receive the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for wedding cakes!
The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.
Sweet Cakes by Rebecca is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.
“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.” We are happy to announce that Sweet Cakes by Rebecca is among the very best wedding cake vendors within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™.
For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at
http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/sweet-cakes-by-rebecca-citrus-heights/17f5f2a52a91e8d7.html
About WeddingWire, Inc. WeddingWire is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding vendors. WeddingWire enables engaged couples to search, compare and book over 100,000 reviewed wedding vendors nationwide, from wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding vendors, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. In addition, WeddingWire has partnered with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) to provide its network of local vendors and online wedding-planning tools in the Weddings section of www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com. For additional information, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

Anyone thirsty for some cake!!!

Yes thirsty for cake. We have had so much fun creating cakes that resemble drink bottles and while we could make a soda can or bottle, or even a carton of milk, the requests we get are for alcohol bottles, cans and kegs. This is a cake we created for a birthday party at the Dream Ultra Lounge in downtown Sacramento. The Patron bottle cake stood 2 feet tall and the limes were 8" long. We use rice cereal treats for the cork, limes and salt shaker and hand painted the label. We also created a custom stand, which is a mirror, for the cake to sit on. It was an amazing cake for an amazing party. Photos curtosy of the http://www.dreamultralounge.com/

But maybe your not into taking shots and prefer a mixed drink. Then this might be the cake for you.

This Hennessy Bottle cake stands about 14" tall and it serves about 20 people. We hand paint the bottle and label.

But don't worry all you beer drinkers, we got you covered as well!

This Hefeweizen Keg cake was painted with an edible metalic silver glaze and then the hand painted label was placed on the front.

And for those of you who like a bottle over a cup... We have a Corona bottle cake. This bottle stood 22" tall and it amazed even me. Complete with a lime wedge, made of marshmallow, the cake made you look twice and question the fact that it was cake. The bottle had a sheen on it that made the Corona bottle look like it just came out of the fridge. We painted the cake golden yellow and then gave it a pearl coat. We hand painted the label and the lime. I think the craziest part was delivering the cake an hour away from the bakery. But it made it to the party and was a big hit. But there is still the beer drinker who will grab a can over a bottle or cup, and we have made cakes for them too. We have not only made a single can , but also a case of beer cans.

Bridal Showcase 2010 - Cal Expo

This past weekend we attending the Cal Expo Bridal Showcase. The day was filled with meeting newly engaged brides and grooms and thier families and friends. There was so mush energy and excitement and our new display cakes were well received.

This year we decided to showcase cakes that have drama and color. We wanted to show want our abilities are with cake and sugar. We avoided the cake styles that we have done in the past with the thought that you can see pictures of cakes with scroll designs, ribbon borders, and quilting on our website. So we created brightly colored cakes, dramatic cakes, grand cakes, complete with a candy and dessert display.

We had 11 cakes on display, ranging in size from a 2 tier for 36 people up to a 5 tier for 204 people. We also brought for display cotton candy mini cupcakes in specialty papers, chocolate cake pops dipped in white chocolate, rice cereal treats covered and drizzled with chocolate and a variety of color cordinated candies. We also showcased our wide variety of cake stands, apothecary jars, dessert trays and custom made dessert tags. But we didn't stop there we also made sure that we didn't leave our visitors with an unfulfilled craving for cake, we provided tasting samples of white cake with raspberry preserves and champagne buttercream and red velvet cake with a bavarian cream filling and vanilla buttercream. Yummy!

rice cereal treats, cake pops on a tray of sprinkles, candy jars, bowls, and some cakes.

The candy and treats smelled great and really stopped people in their tracks, but the cakes were what captivated guests to stay at our table, engage us with questions, take pictures, and of course sample cakes.

There were a couple of cakes that received the most attention for the day. The first being the cake we placed on the front corner of our table.

This a 4 tier square, serves 172 people, covered in ivory fondant and accented with chocolate brown and apple green details. Then it was finished off with green orchids, orange lotus, champagne dusted blossoms and chocolate brown curls. The table was decorated with sola wood balls.

The next best was the Queen of Hearts of cake:

This 4 tier round, serves 204, was covered in a stark white fondant and then accented with black diamonds spaced perfectly around each tier with red hearts. It was then finished with red red roses and white stephanotis. The cake was topped off with a double sided Swarovski crystal monogram, custom made by http://www.verydifferentcakes.com/

Another popular cake was our dramatic showpiece, it was a little bit vintage, a lot glamourous, and had a romantic pirate appeal to it.

This was agrand 5 tier cake with various height tiers, serves 204. It was covered in white fondant and then had one side stenciled with a delicate damask and the other side draped with horizontal pleats. The two sides came together with a ruffle sided strip complete with diamante studed buttons. The entire cake was given a pearl coat so it had a subtle sheen to it. Then the cake was completed with sterilized ostrich feathers, sugar peonies and hydrangeas. It had 3 beautiful plumes on top that made the cake over 2 feet tall. We displayed the cake on top a silver 18" square stand. It was a sight to see. Look to our future blogs for more angles and close-up photos of this amazing wedding cake.

The cakes are not the only thing that makes our bakery different from the others, its our great staff. We are a family owed bakery and so the show was also a family event. My sister Martha, niece Theresa, sister-in-law Violeta, niece Celia, brother-in-law Joe, my mother Marion, and close friends Vermont and Jasmine attended the show to help Hector and I. They handed out cards, helped answer questions, offer samples, bring brides to the table and give the best support. I can't thank them enough.

I'll finish this post with one more photo of the entire both, a sample display of some of the many things our bakery can create.

Wonderland Wedding

When people think of Alice in Wonderland images of the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit or Alice come to mind. For me I picture the Queen of Hearts and painting the roses red. I drew upon those ideas when I sketched out the Queen of Hearts wedding cake. The black diamonds and red heart accents remind me of the cards and the red roses, well of course they had to be incorporated in the cake. I topped the cake with amazing Swarovski crystal initials and a whimsical heart, all made by http://www.verydifferentcakes.com/

After bringing my vision to reality I began to look for photos to build a collage to show my ideas of a wonderland wedding fit for a queen.

I came across these amazing fashion collages on Polyvore. I think while they are not wedding images they represent the style I was thinking of when I created the cake.

Take Me To Wonderland ! by • Gabby;; featuring Ray

055 by • Gabby;; on Polyvore.com

I have also created the following collage to show how this style can be applied when planning a wedding, such as table cards, shoes, gowns, save the dates, venue decor, and florals.

Here are just a few more images of the cake while on display at the Bridal Showcase.

Yellow and Gray Wedding Inspiration

I have been learning to use Photoshop to make photo collages to help inspire future brides. I have finally figured it out enough to be able to show off a wedding cake design of ours along with other coordinating wedding elements. This inspiration board was created to show one of the latest color combinations for weddings... yellow and gray. We created a 3 tier cake covered in a gray fondant and accented with white polka dots and whimsical yellow flowers. The design is modern and playful. The photos surrounding the cake are great ideas of how to incorporate the color scheme in all areas of your wedding. I really love the idea of photographing the rings on smooth gray rocks wrapped in yellow ribbons and the great gray clutch with the amazing broach.

Here are some additional photos of our cake. As shown the cake serves 74 people.