A Slice Above the Rest - Statement Wedding Cakes, Style & Inspiration

Cake by Maggie Austin

As a wedding planner, my style is constantly evolving and reshaping by my immediate surroundings, seasonal designer trends and my amazing network of  innovative vendors. For 2012, my design style is definitely gravitating towards simplicity, whimsy, elegance and one-of-a-kind modern designs with clean lines. And, cake is no exception.

The famous quote by Marie Antoinette, "let them eat cake" takes on a whole new meaning these days with some of the amazing pastry artistry out there in this very innovative and competitive wedding industry. I find myself swooning over new designs, flavors and textures each season, and 2012 is no different.

The wedding cake, no matter what style couples lean towards, is an important part of the overall event design, and should be a stunning focal point for guests to admire. Not only should it be gorgeous, but it should also be delicious, after all, it is cake. 

One vendor that I'm completely inspired by this wedding season is the uber talented Maggie Austin, a DC based wedding cake designer. Her designs are so detailed, so unique and so genius. I can flip through her entire portfolio and just sigh in a dreamy haze. I honestly feel that her cakes are so beautiful, they should be for display purposes only and her clients should just order sheet cake for service. It pains me to think about a cake knife breaking through her perfectly manicured designs.

Below is a collection of my favorite designs from her portfolio. I hope you are as inspired as I am.

Wedding Day Beautiful

Cake by Maggie Austin

Cake by Maggie Austin

  Cake by Maggie Austin

Cake by Maggie Austin

Cake by Maggie Austin

Cake by Maggie Austin

Cake by Maggie Austin

Bridal Shower Beautiful:

 Cake by Maggie Austin

Cake by Maggie Austin

Cake by Maggie Austin

Cake by Maggie Austin

Cake by Maggie Austin

 Cake by Maggie Austin

Cake by Maggie Austin

2012 - Hitting the Ground Running!

The gorgeous image above is my inspiration for 2012 - simple, modern, relaxed, natural and a bit daring. Take chances on style, stay grounded, let it flow and just be beautiful.

It's been an incredibly busy beginning of the year for us here at Soiree. I have been traveling all over Northern California with out-of-state clients and having a great time. The more time I spend with each of my 2012 client couples, the more inspired by them I am and I just can't wait for their big days. Each couple has such amazing and unique style and it's so rewarding to see the details we've created come through to fruition. I somehow need to add a 25th hour in my day to keep up with all the wonderful things happening.

Keep checking back this week as I have some amazing client engagement shoots that will be posted, great planning editorials and inspirational images to post.

Happy 2012 and happy planning!

~Simone

Soiree by Simone Mt. La Salle Wedding Publishd by IDoVenues.com

Ashley and Dave's wedding ceremony at Mt. La Salle Christian Brothers Church was featured on their BLOG today. Check it out here!

Check out all the beautiful ceremony images by Enluce Photography!

See complete slideshow of their ceremony here.

Fall Holman Ranch Wedding - Simplistic Beauty At It's Finest

Photo Credit: Isaac Mosquera (friend of groom)

Photo Credit: Isaac Mosquera (friend of groom)

Photo Credit: Isaac Mosquera (friend of groom)

It's always such a treat to actually attend a wedding as a guest since we plan and execute so many weddings each season. I love the excitement of showing up not knowing what to expect and seeing all the special touches couples create for their big day. It's even sweeter to attend a wedding at venue that we know so well, like Holman Ranch in Carmel Valley.

One of the biggest draws to this venue is that you really don't need much to have an extraordinary wedding as the property and grounds are so unique and beautiful. Some of the venues that we work at need a pretty aggressive decor installation to transform the space, but not at Holman.

Our friends were married on the overlook using only two simple rustic arrangement to frame them in and their bridal party flowers and it was breathtaking.

Dinner was held in the Rose Patio where the bride used burlap table runners, vintage chargers in different designs (she told me she spent 6 months collecting them from secondhand stores) and simple Italian strung lighting. With space heaters pumping out heat, we didn't even realize it was 43 degrees when the sunset.

A cool surprise in the evening actually came in the form of a reconnection with an old friend from high school who was catering the event. I love small world coincidences. Our friends used RibWhip, a well-known San Francisco based BBQ specialty food truck, to cater the dinner reception (if you are an SF native, you can find them during Off The Grid gatherings). My old friend, Marcel Neal, and his team cooked up an amazing spread of Kobe beef brisket, Cajun Mac 'n Cheese, cole slaw, beans and beef ribs with all the fixings. Guests went through the buffet at least twice and no one seemed to mind licking their fingers.

It just goes to show that if you pick the right venue, great vendors and have amazing friends and family to share in the special occasion, you really don't need a whole to have a great wedding.

Congrats to the new Mr. & Mrs. Brian Orosco!

Vintage Estates Wedding by Soiree by Simone Featured on IDoVenues.com

 Our clients' gorgeous Yountville wedding at Vintage Estates at the Villagio's Inn and Spa was featured by IDoVenues this week! This was one of our favorite weddings and couples all season.

Thanks for the recognition Gloria and Thea. See full feature here.

Gorgeous photos by Dana and Gina of  Enluce Photography.

{Engagement Shoot} Bob & Natalie

It's been a treat spending so much time this week planning the wedding for this uber cool client couple! Natalie and Bob are the quintessential generation Y couple with a city chic style with a slightly technical but super artistic prospective to their nuptials.

Natalie is stylish, artistic and absolutely stunning (see photos below). Bob is reserved, witty, charmingly handsome and provides a refreshingly analytical approach to wedding planning. Together, we have selected an incredible vendor line up for their Cavallo Point wedding next June.

To satisfy this couple's vision about a detailed and thoughtful design, we've pulled in a top event designer to put together a truly unique, cutting edge design for their wedding style. I always feel honored to work next to such industry visionaries on event design as their ideas, inspirations and style reflect total brilliance and awe. This will be a very exciting wedding to unveil to our couple as I know they will be nothing short of a feeling of bliss.

As you can see, the gorgeous images from their engagement shoot were taken by the talented and well known Jerry Yoon, and we're just as ecstatic about him capturing all the details of their big day. There really is no better fit.

Yasmin from Floral Theory will be our floral visionary to execute this high styled affair and we're looking forward to her aesthetic and skill set here. She creates some jaw dropping floral treatments and her energy is infectious.

We also can't forget to mention the most perfect dessert ending... the amazing wedding cake. Perfect Endings will be providing just that!

Please contact me if you are interested in receiving information on any of our talented vendor team!
Enjoy the gorgeous photos by Jerry Yoon below.