Heather and Justin approached me quite some time ago about doing their wedding cake in Ashland, Kentucky. Justin is a graphic designer and provided me with a lovely composed color swatch that resembles the dark purple sugar ranunculus. I decided to incorporate multiple shades of purple in the design, along with the dark purple and silver.
The main feeling that was to be communicated was that of fantasy. Heather is a lover of Disney and fairytales. So, in lieu of some original ideas including castles, lighting, and even projection (We always explore ALL options around here!) We decided to go in a more subtle direction that still communicates that feeling of fantasy with some arches that reflect roots in Gothic Architecture. You may know Gothic Architecture with so many iconic castles and cathedrals, including Notre Dame/ Reim’s Cathedral etc.

Heather being a Disney lover, I researched how they did the architectural styles for Disney’s animated film, Beauty and the Beast. The feel of the castle in the movie is complete fairytale and the makers were total architecture buffs, you can see that with the combination of so many architectural styles. All French. “According to materials attached to the Broadway adaptation, (“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: A Celebration of the Broadway Musical”), the Castle’s interior features a combination of different architectural styles–gothic, baroque, rococo, and empire–“all coming together to make a castle that seems monumental in scale”. The Chateau de Chambord is said to have inspired some of the outside features, which is French Renaissance style. I went with Notre Dame 11th century France, as inspiration for the arches. The structure for this cake is actually quite tricky. I brainstormed with Avalon of Avalon Cakes for awhile on this, before outsourcing to “Tweet”, the master carpenter! To have the arches be perfect, with no showing rods etc. they had to be completely custom-made.

I created a “sugar stand” for the base of the cake. Which is hard to see with the mirror etc. BUT the cake looks as if it’s supported by the cutest little feet. The cake was then arranged with a whimsical assortment of sugar flowers including foxgloves, ferns, ranunculus, and lots of vines. My mother’s foxgloves are perfection here! My dad contributed to these as well. It’s always a group effort with us and our projects! Deron helps as well, and makes sure we have everything all structurally sound and finished off well.

I enjoy taking something very rigid in structure, like an architectural inspiration and overlaying it with something that looks like it lives and breathes on its own accord. To me, that is magic.