So, the first designs for the Great Wedding Cake Project were presented yesterday to the happy couple, and we learned two things:
1. I know my sister's style very well.
2. I don't know A.'s style at all.
My sister loved almost every sketch I did; we had spent time looking at pictures and magazine's ahead of time, talking about what she liked and didn't like, so I felt fairly confident in what I drew up. But, when we showed them to A.? He got this look on his face similar to having swallowed an entire lemon, then proceeded to attempt to articulate what he wanted. "Structure. Something with . . . structure. You know. Architectural."
"Modern?" I asked.
"No, no. I like traditional. Something with structure. Like, put those flowers on a trellis."
"Going up the cake?"
"No . . . around the top of the tiers, maybe. Like flowers growing on the Eiffel Tower. Like this hostel in France I saw--they had this trellis thing, and it was several tiers, but each tier was separate--"
"Like this?" (showing him fifth sketch I had done that evening.)
"No. No, that's not it at all."
We spent quite literally an hour and a half, looking at pictures online, sketching on blank templates, with A. unable to clearly articulate his idea, and me unable to understand or sketch what he wanted. The one sketch produced that A. seemed partially satisfied with invoked a face from my sister. A. kept gravitating towards uber-traditional cakes covered in piped swags and curlicues, and my sister kept leaning towards clean cakes with simple cherry blossom-style branches curling up and around the tiers.
Finally, just as we were giving up, they both seemed to settle on one idea that halfway appealed to both of them. As the wedding is set for December of 2010, I wanted to incorporate winter into the cake theme, and they both seemed to like the idea of a bare branch curling around the cake. At last! Breakthrough! I promised to sketch up a few ideas around this theme today, so here are two variations:
1. I know my sister's style very well.
2. I don't know A.'s style at all.
My sister loved almost every sketch I did; we had spent time looking at pictures and magazine's ahead of time, talking about what she liked and didn't like, so I felt fairly confident in what I drew up. But, when we showed them to A.? He got this look on his face similar to having swallowed an entire lemon, then proceeded to attempt to articulate what he wanted. "Structure. Something with . . . structure. You know. Architectural."
"Modern?" I asked.
"No, no. I like traditional. Something with structure. Like, put those flowers on a trellis."
"Going up the cake?"
"No . . . around the top of the tiers, maybe. Like flowers growing on the Eiffel Tower. Like this hostel in France I saw--they had this trellis thing, and it was several tiers, but each tier was separate--"
"Like this?" (showing him fifth sketch I had done that evening.)
"No. No, that's not it at all."
We spent quite literally an hour and a half, looking at pictures online, sketching on blank templates, with A. unable to clearly articulate his idea, and me unable to understand or sketch what he wanted. The one sketch produced that A. seemed partially satisfied with invoked a face from my sister. A. kept gravitating towards uber-traditional cakes covered in piped swags and curlicues, and my sister kept leaning towards clean cakes with simple cherry blossom-style branches curling up and around the tiers.
Finally, just as we were giving up, they both seemed to settle on one idea that halfway appealed to both of them. As the wedding is set for December of 2010, I wanted to incorporate winter into the cake theme, and they both seemed to like the idea of a bare branch curling around the cake. At last! Breakthrough! I promised to sketch up a few ideas around this theme today, so here are two variations:
I like both of them right now. I think either design would look pretty amazing, especially with some royal icing "snow" piped onto some of the branches, with rock sugar crystals put into it, to give the trees some icy sparkle.
What do you think, dear readers? Which is your favorite?
3 comments:
The first one looks winter dead...hardly appropriate for the start of a life together. I like the idea of the second one with "snowy effects". (I think he needs to find you a photos of the building he's talking about.)
Why are you doing EVERYTHING? We are willing to help!
They would both get snow/sparklies on them;)
I'm doing the cake because it's a skill set I need to learn, and it's something I love. Trust me, we may be calling on y'all for help with things like invite assembly, centerpieces, etc;)
What lovely designs!! I love the color palette!! I love designing cakes...I'm just not that good at it! I'm sure the wedding cake will be a showstopper!
Christine
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