The All Rose Wedding Cake

This is another wedding cake from when I had the business.  One of the things I loved about this was that the couple had asmaller reception held in an art gallery downtown. One of my favorite galleries, actually, where there were pieces I wanted badly, like a three foot high sculpted calla lily glazed in a earthy mix of browns and greens designed to look like burnished copper with verdigris.  I loved both the use of color that wasn't traditional for the lily and that the artist used the medium in a way that made my eyes go wide when I realized that what I thought I was looking at from across the room wasn't what it was at all. 

This cake was one of my favorites because it was a winter wedding with the color scheme of red and white, my personal favorite color is red, with red roses and holly with berries.  The photo looks okay but in real life it was extremely attractive against the brick wall.  I would have thought the reds would clash but it was the opposite. The brick background set off the vividness of the white buttercream and the true red of the roses.

I took a beating price-wise on this cake because there were so many gumpaste roses.  The couple did pay me for a few dozen but at the time I just kept adding them in until I got the look we all REALLY wanted.

Not everyone thinks of cake decorating as artistry but I do.  Other than the challenge of completion, I never really enjoyed just repeating a design from a Wilton book or a magazine where people want every single flower and border to be exactly the same in color and placement. That's yet another reason why I no longer have the business and only bake for family.  With family, they're happy to get (within their theme) what I decide to create for them and they know I'm in my element when I have a free hand.  I remember that this couple said only that they wanted a no pillar construction, no plastic bride and groom, and lots of red roses in a simple design. That's the way I like it too.  The design seems common now but for twelve years ago in this Midwestern town, it was very progressive. 

Every time I walk by that gallery at the corner of Walnut and South, I smile and hope those folks are still married and happy.

Comments

[Guido da Cook]

This all rose wedding cake is way too beautiful to cut. A masterpiece - georgeous work of art.

[sher]

Those roses are absolutely beautiful! :):) The bride and groom were very lucky to have you making their cake.

[Sue (coffeepot)]

Beautiful cake Glenna. You are an artist

[Katiez]

Gorgeous cake! All those roses are beautiful!
My mother did wedding cakes, also, and she did one in summer with real red roses...pretty but a very simple design.
Your 'couple' must have been ecstatic with this one!

[Glenna]

Brian, Sher, Sue, and Katie--Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. The couple was really happy and so was I. At that point I was doing it for me.

Hey, in other news...I volunteered to make a small wedding cake for a coworker because she'll never find any one here to make what she wants: Halloween themed wedding with a cake covered in black fondant, with purple stripes and polka dots and red roses. It will be cool!

[JennDZ - The Leftover Queen]

Cake decorating most certainly IS an art. I have never heard any different. I know I for one could never do what you have done with that beautiful cake! I am very impressed!

[candy]

gorgeous cake! my mom did wedding cakes for a while and only quit because of arthritis in her hands. she loved it & also always did something different, never from a book. she would get really stressed out about the cakes tho because it's so much work & has to be perfect & things can fall down/off during transport. she did my wedding cake but it was totally stress free because i asked her for an all white cake with NO embellishment & we added real flowers at the reception :)

i, and my mother, also KNOW that cake decorating is an art.

[candy]

here's my cake if you're interested: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnandcandy/503759760/in/set-72157600225712688/

[Butta Buns]

Not an artform? Pshaw! I love the way the roses spill down the side and the holly berries are such a great touch!

[Fruittart]

So lovely! Makes it seem like the wedding is in the summer.

[Tanna]

Oh, Glenna I can't wait to see the Halloween wedding cake! That sounds like real fun.
Cake decorating will always be art in my book.
The roses are fabulous.

[Glenna]

Jenn--Thanks so much!

Candy--Yep! You've been around it all. It can be very stressful!

Love you cake. Very pretty! Where did you get the Pepe le Pew figurines? Those are adorable.

BB--Thanks! I appreciate that.

Fruittart--Thanks! Nice way to look at it.

Tanna--Tahnks so much. It was one of my favorites so I appreciate that. The Halloween one will be cool, I hope!

[Kate]

Pretty. And VERY artistic. Edible art is so much better than the other kind, in my trained art historian's view. I cannot wait to see the Halloween cake!

[Glenna]

Kate--Couldn't agree with you more!

[candy]

the topper is one piece & i actually got it off ebay YEARS ago when i wasn't even with someone (i just collect pepe le pew stuff). a while after i met my husband i said i had something to show him that he'd HAVE to be okay with & showed him the topper... and he liked it too :)

[Glenna]

Candy--That's so cool, and hey, what a way to know you were marrying the right man, eh?