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I think like many of you the first time and only time I had heard of a groom's cake was from Steel Magnolias. I mean, who could forget that famous Red Velvet Armadillo!?
Shocking and fabulous at the same time.
As the specialty cake craze grew I heard more and more about these cakes, stemming from what I believe was a Southern tradition. It seems like now has swept the nation and is often presented at the rehearsal dinner. (I'll be the first to admit, a Virginia Tech logo would not match my motif!)
As we were planning our wedding in my hometown, and I was making the bulk of the decisions, I knew I wanted to do something nice for FH. FH is a loyal HOKIE (Virginia Tech Alum) and we had quite a large population of fellow Hokies as guests. So what else, a Hokie cake!?
While watching a Food Network Cake Challenge one day I discovered Cakes by Jay! I thought for sure he was my cake guy. Well, I am sure many of you have gone through this, as things get closer, money actually does become an object. I contact Jay about doing a Hokie cake, either of the Hokie Bird or of the VT logo. He came back saying a cake for 45 people in the VT logo would be about $350. What!???? I could only imagine if I had ordered one for the final count of the rehearsal dinner - 75 people! (To note- Jay's cakes are amazing, I am sure making a cake like the one I suggested is easy peasy but they are filled with orders so it wouldn't be worth it for them to make the cake for less- and they were SOOOOO incredibly nice. If I were in the market for a gorgeous cake and had a budget to match, I would DEFINITELY contact them. I was very impressed with their service and their quick responses)
So, back to the drawing board. My stepmother suggested Whistle Stop. Whistle Stop is an amazing family owned bakery known for its cheesecakes. My family has ordered from them for years. We had them do a full sheet cake with the Virginia Tech logo piped on and it looked fantastic! And, let me tell you, the chocolate cake with raspberry mouse and butter cream icing was to die for (much tastier than my wedding cake but I'll post about that on a later date). I mean, does anyone actually like the taste of fondant?
I guess my little lesson from this is- I attempted to go with a baker with cache but in the end going with a trusted, small vendor that has proven to be a quality vendor was definitely the right choice!
What did you do? Or what are your plans for a groom's cake?
