Let them eat the Date

Yeah... because that makes me smile more than Save the Cake. In other words, this is a post about Save the Dates and CAKE!

Why?? Well, StDs need to go out, like, last month. I mean, technically, I've heard everything: 9-12 months ahead, 6 months ahead, as soon as the engagement happens and the venue is booked. Well, I wanted to do 8 months, but then... yeah, 8 months kinda' snuck up on me.

Yup, I went there. So now I'm hoping for seven, even though that's a weird number. I don't want to wait until 6 months. My side of the guest list has addresses next to their names, thanks mostly to my Mama. I had to text/e-mail/facebook a few people, but mostly I don't have any friends, so it wasn't too difficult.

Anyway, I already showed you the part the printer was responsible for. I am responsible for the rest! I have to artistically elaborate 50 StDs (and let's not forget, I get to do it all over again for invitations... yippee!!!).

Again, here's the inspiration from weddingpaperdivas:

Except I like my deeper burgundy much better. Not only is this fuschia nonsense extremely girly, it doesn't even go with the rest of the colors on this thing. Blegh. Anyway, sorry, not relevant. Here's where my progress is:

They were all stamped in one evening. It actually took a lot less time than I thought it would... like, an hour.



Like my styled shot???

Anyway, then I used a blending pencil (a little spongy pencil thingy) and the same ink pad to dab some mud-looking stuff on the corners:

Bangerang!!! Now, I still feel like I'm being heavy-handed, I just can't let up, I'm trying so hard to be more minimal, but at least they're better than my first attempts. Lastly, I just splashed some color in there:

Whoo hoo!!! I'm super psyched at how they're turning out. Last but not least, I used my awesome glue dot applicator to glue the StD to chocolate cardstock:

The end! I worried at first that the corners would blend in with the cardstock, BUT as I had hoped, the spongy, dirt look of the brown in the corners adds a texture and it almost makes the whole thing look like there's a real clump of dirt on the corners. The only issue I'm having right now is that the blendy pencil thingy is doing a fantastic job giving the brown a spongy look, and with the burgundy, all I have is a watercolor pencil. If I had the burgundy in an ink pad, I would also sponge it on... and now I want to... but I don't have a burgundy ink pad...

Also, the only real pain (in the fingers) is coloring in all those flower buds, I have to push pretty hard and it's giving me funny finger cramps. The good thing though is that I figured that would happen, the bad thing is that doesn't make it any less unpleasant! So, in an hour last night, I go through 10. That's one fifth done, ya'll! Another hour each evening for a week and I'm done! And my fingers can handle an hour a night. Hopefully that's as long as it'll take to get addresses from Kyle's side and then, whew, StDs get mailed out!!

In the meantime, there are, of course, other things to think about... like CAKE!!! Now, who knows when you're supposed to start thinking about cake. I can't stress enough that I do have a pretty unusual wedding date and so far, availability has been no problem, but I was told by my florist (heehee, my florist) that cake decorators book fast in the area. And since she lives in the area and is around weddings all the time, I believe her.

So, let's talk cake! I bet by now, if you guys pay attention to the blogosphere, the wedding one, then you've seen these images pop up before:

 

Yup, the great Maggie Austin! Now, I'm not a huge fan of the frill, I just wanted to show these two pictures because I'm sure people have seen them, especially the ombre one... fan-frickin'-tastic! However, not my style. What is my style is her non-conventionality and her awesome clean lines:

 

I have NO idea how she gave that left hand cake that handmade paper look, but I love it, and the petals going down the side are so whimsical but still not girly or sloppy or purposeless. I want this to be a cake that Kyle won't mind either! The right hand cake I love love love for it's new take on non-traditional, lopsided cakes. It's not topsy-turvy (which I don't want at the wedding) but still not so boring and traditional. And may I point out, her fondant work is phenomenal, mine looks like total chumpsville compared to hers. But here is my all time favorite Maggie Austin cake:

I love how it looks like the cake is brushed with cocoa powder; soft and rich, they look like large square truffles! I mean, wouldn't you just want to bury your face in that??? I sure would.

So as soon as I saw someone reference her cakes, I immediately assumed she was somewhere way out of the way in California or some other place. Turns out, she's based in D.C. which isn't horribly far away from us! I went to her website and looked at her gallery. Unfortunately, she's twice the price of most cake decorators I've researched so far.

Now, I'm sorry, that cake is awesome, but I just don't care about cake enough to pay $1,000 for it. Besides her obvious, fantastic skill, what I'm attracted to is the minimalism and clean lines, without a lot of fuss, and I can get that anywhere.

So I started my search closer to home, err, I mean, my venue, and found plenty of cake decorators in the Lancaster, PA area. I'm not going to list them all out because that would be useless to most of you :)

I'm finding so much over-the-top or old fashioned or been-done-before stuff... it's frustrating! This is what I don't want:

 

Gaudy flowers, lots of swirls, shiny, shiny! Icky, it just doesn't fit our wedding, style, venue, personalities, etc... And swag... *shudder* now, I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate it, because I have seen it artfully done, but when it's shiny, multicolored, badly done, and covers up most of the cake, I want to reach through the computer, grab that cake, and drop it off the Comcast Tower... No offense to anyone who has/had/is having cakes that look like this... really, to each his own, I don't mean to offend anyone. If I'm not adamant about what I don't like, I won't be able to properly grasp what I am looking for. For instance, I only recently realized that I hate shiny and love the matte look. Every picture I was salivating over had a soft, matte cake in it.

Anyway, I found one cake artist who has similar taste level to Maggie Austin in Lancaster and plan on contacting them after talking to the man. See, there's four bakeries that I've already narrowed my choice down to in the area (which is huge for me! Instead of making a giant list, I just went with my gut and didn't even consider any who didn't have a website or whose work looked at all shoddy... aren't you proud of me?! FOUR!!!) and one is already standing out as least kitschy. I will introduce her if and when she becomes our baker!

Point is, more things are happening!! I'm excited!!! Bachelorette Spa Day this weekend, probably won't be on the blog. BUT, please keep in mind, blog URL is changing tomorrow!!

BLOG URL IS CHANGING TOMORROW!!! And there's no going back because the new name is on the StDs, so that's what it is!!

New blog url:::: ashandkylewedding.blogspot.com


See you all after the jump!