Featured ~ Fun Cakes by Kimberly Aya

A new trend is emerging in the wedding industry...fake cakes! But not only that but with Fun Cakes you can design your own cake and rent it for your wedding day.

Fun Cakes owner, Kimberly Aya has been decorating cakes for years. She has been trained under Colette Peters in the art of gumpaste and fondant and is even a teacher herself, teaching classes on cake decorating.

Here's the concept, the outside of the cake is decorated just like a real one, with gumpaste and fondant it's just the inside that is different. The form of the cake is styrofoam so there is no rush, no timelines, no worry of slipping or falling. You have the option of either designing your own personalized cake or using one of the pre-designed styles available. The cost can be up to half the price of a real cake and the design can be much more elaborate. There is a little hidden compartment in the back of the cake where you can put a piece of real cake or even Twinkies to use for the "cake cutting" and then just wheel it in the back and serve up inexpensive sheetcake to the guests.

The cake will be shipped to you in a specially designed box and will arrive to you a day or two before the wedding. If you are renting the cake all you have to do after the wedding is box it back up and ship it back, easy as that!

Fun Cakes owner, Kimberly Aya and her cakes have been featured on The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Rachel Ray show and Live at Five in Grand Rapids, to name a few.

Exhausted

One more long weekend under the belt. One more long, exhausting weekend under the belt. All of you other wedding planners out there know exactly what I mean. My feet hurt, my back hurts and I think I'm slightly dehydrated from the heat yesterday. I put every skill and talent I have to work yesterday, decorating, communication, coordination, even waitressing!

Being a wedding coordinator isn't all fun and games, it's not all about glitz and glamour. Honestly, it is the complete opposite. Anyone that is seriously in the biz knows exactly what I mean. We are there behind the scenes, not making ourselves look good but making the bride and groom shine.

Recently, with all the TV shows focusing on wedding coordinators, anyone and everyone that has ever been to a wedding thinks they can handle the job. They see the shows and think it "looks like so much fun". Even my own friends and family say that when I talk about what I do, no one has a clue how stressful it can be.

It is a fun job, it is one of the most satisfying things I have ever done, having a bride and groom tell you at the end of the night "it would not have happened without you", it's an amazing feeling. But I want to caution anyone thinking about joining the "team", it's a hard job. It is exhausting, physically and mentally, you have to be on your toes and the top of your game at every moment. You have to be willing to do anything and everything to make sure the day goes off without a hitch: willing to clean up other people's garbage, willing to put tables and chairs away at the end of the night, willing to crawl around on your hands and knees in your dress clothes and willing to spend 12 hours or more on your feet. It's a serious job and it needs to be taken seriously.

Before jumping into the deep end, I encourage perspective planners to take a course or two or shadow or intern for an experienced planner to get your feet wet. Please don't do a trial run on someone else's big day.

This has been a hot topic with other wedding planners around the country as well, please check out these blog postings Amber Events, Confessions of the Wedding Diva and Destination...Soiree! Thank you ladies for putting this topic out there.

Real Wedding ~ Lanya & Minh

I had the great pleasure of working with a very sweet couple this weekend, Lanya and Minh.

Ceremony: Morningside Park

Reception: Evergreen Commons

Florist: Picket Fence Flowers

Photographer: Nicole Skaggs

Cake: DeBoer Cafe & Bakery

Chair Covers: Celebration Central

The day started out for me at 9am, running last minute errands for the bride. Picking up more centerpiece bowls and sand at Hobby Lobby, picking up balloons and hunting down handheld fans for the guests at the ceremony. After running all over Holland I spent a few hours at the reception site setting up the tables, decorating the head and cake tables and make sure everything was just perfect for the couple. I finally was able to meet with Carol from Celebration Central when she came to set up the chair covers, and they turned out just gorgeous!

It was such a beautiful day...a little warm and sunny but better than rain! After setting up at the hall I headed over to the ceremony location. Morningside Park is such a cute spot for a wedding and great for pictures too. The ceremony was intimate and very personal, the couple said their vows to each other and poured sand in their wedding colors together to show the blending of their lives.

The reception was a new experience for me, the bride and groom incorporated a lot of their cultural traditions into the event. The Laos food was catered in by some friends of the mother of the bride and wow, there was so much food! The evening was led off by a beautiful Thai dancer, music from both a traditional local band and a great DJ. The couple had two first dances, one in the traditional Laos style and one in the American style, with the bride wearing different dresses for each.

I had so much fun working with both Lanya and Minh and meeting their families and friends was just wonderful. Thank you Lanya and Minh for letting me be a part of your day!