Bridal News

Tucked away on the second floor of Macy’s at the Tysons Galleria is the Bridal Salon by Demetrios. If your idea of a dream dress is one adorned with pearls and semi-precious stones, you need to take a look at what’s on sale at the salon.

Bridals by Demetrios offers wedding gowns in a variety of sizes and styles starting at $399. And you can save on selected mother’s and maids’ dresses as well. The salon is open 7 days a week. To schedule your appointment, call 703.902.4330.

I had the pleasure on Sunday of taking a ride out Route 66 to the Northern VA countryside, stopping first to see Susan Boyce’s adorable stand for The Cheesecake Garden at The Plains Farmer’s Market (just off I-66 at Route 245). If you are looking for a different kind of wedding cake, dessert bar or favors, you should check out Susan’s work. She is a wealth of ideas and talent!

Outdoor ceremony site

My travels then lead me to Front Royal to visit Bowling Green Country Club. Or I should say clubs, as this facility boasts two separate event venues. Both rooms can accommodate large events (about 300 for a wedding reception). Each room as a stage for entertainment, and the south club’s room boasts a fantastic view of the golf course and nearby mountains. The south club also has a gorgeous outdoor ceremony site with a pergola.

Prices at Bowling Green are very reasonable - there are wedding packages for less than $50 per person. For guest accommodations, there’s a nearby, newly constructed Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites. Bowling Green Country Club is located about 10 miles north of I-66, off Route 522. To schedule a tour of the club, contact event specialist Brian Jones at 540.635.2095.

Cindie

It’s back! The National Capital Area Cake Show is happening this weekend, March 20th and 21st, at Woodson High School in Fairfax.

Last year's division winner, Sweet n Sassy

There will be three live cake challenges, as seen on Food Network and TLC’s Ultimate Cake Off, along with cake displays, demonstrations, classes and youth program, vendors and more. There will be several division cake competitions, along with the ever-popular wedding challenge. This year’s special division theme is Nursery Rhymes. Division competition also includes gingerbread, cookies, chocolate showpieces and sugar showpieces. Woodland Fantasy is the theme of the wedding cake competition.

General admission is $15 for a 2-day pass. To learn more about this great event, visit www.cakeshow.org.

Cindie

I was chatting with my client, award winning cake designer Linda Rothgeb of Cakes by Linda, the other day and she informed me of a special she is running via her website. Go to www.cakesbylinda.com and print out a 20% off coupon for one of her beautiful wedding cakes. The coupon is good for 2010 events, but you must book by March 1st.

You can see Linda’s designs on her website, on our site, www.bridesandweddings.com, and in the Bakers’ Dozen pictorial of our planning guide, Brides & Weddings of Northern Virginia.

With 30 years of cake decorating experience, Linda has designed delicious works of art for hundreds and hundreds of Northern Virginia brides. Her keen eye and practiced hand yields some of the most intricate and elegant designs you can find. And her cakes are pretty darn tasty, too.

To schedule your consultation with Linda, call 703.893.4782 or email cakesbylinda@hotmail.com. And don’t forget your 20% coupon.

Cindie

I am so excited for my good friend and client Victoria Wu! She and her sister Emily opened the doors to their second location last Friday. Cakes by Happy Eatery, in addition to their Centreville bakery, now has a shop in Manassas at 9685 Liberia Avenue.

Drop by and try one of the delicious cookies, cupcakes or pastries. And while you’re snacking, take a look at all the fantastic cakes displayed on the large flat screen TV.

Cakes by Happy Eatery is a second generation family business. Victoria & Emily’s mom and dad started the business back in 1986 with a Chinese restaurant called Happy Eatery that also housed a bakery. After 17 years in Alexandria, the Wu’s turned their business into a full service bakery, renamed it Cakes by Happy Eatery and relocated to Centreville at 14299 Centreville Square (near the intersection of Routes 28 & 29). And although Mr. Wu passed away in 2005, you will still find Mama keeping an eye on quality control - and on her daughters

Wedding cakes, rehearsal dinner desserts, bridesmaids luncheons & teas, post-wedding day brunch catering - Cakes by Happy Eatery does it all. Stop by either location and say hi to the girls and be sure to visit www.happyeatery.com.

Congrats to the Wu’s,

Cindie

A Winning Wedding Cake

Congratulation to Kortni O’Grodnick of Sweet ‘n Sassy Cakes for taking 1st Place in the Semi-Professional Special Techniques Division at the recent National Capital Area Cake Show. The cake was covered in fondant, with hand painted flowers. The flower on top was made by hand - not from a mold.

Kortni, along with Cassie Lauterette, are the proud owners of Sweet ‘n Sassy Cakes, based in western Loudoun County. They deliver throughout the Northern Virginia area. To see more of their cake designs, check out the All in the Details page of www.bridesandweddings.com as well as our post dated March 25th “More wedding cake ideas”. You can also see their work on their website, www.sweetnsassycakes.com. And their cakes will be featured in our Bakers’ Dozen photo spread in the July edition of Brides & Weddings of Northern Virginia.

Congrats Kortni!

Cindie

Today I had the pleasure of speaking to over 100 wedding professionals at the monthly Women’s Wedding Network Luncheon. It was great to see some of Northern VA’s top event professionals. My topic: Growing Your Business Through Your Sales (Wo)manship.

Jennifer Bodnar from Regency at Dominion Valley (www.eventsatregeny.com) served as our hostess and her chef turned out an awesome meal with an Asian theme - a vegetable summer roll, sesame beef on noodles and a great signature cocktail. To learn more about Regency, check out their profile under the Spotlight on Sites category of this blog.

Victoria Wu, owner of Cakes by Happy Eatery (www.happyeatery.com), provided us with a darling - and delicious - cream puff treat in the shape of swan on a “lake” of blue sugar crystals. Morgan Walker, owner of Gardens of Delights (www.gardensdelight.net), designed beautiful, organic centerpieces using in-season items from her nursery. And to top it all off, Debbie Mannino of The Brownie Shoppe (www.thebrownieshoppe.com) provided us with something sweet for the ride home.

Women’s Wedding Network meets the second Tuesday of the month. The conversation is always lively and the networking well worth the time. If you’re a local wedding professional and would like to learn more about Women’s Wedding Network, email Jeanna Hilton at sales@stonewallgolfclub.com. Tell her Cindie sent you!

Hope to see you at the next meeting,

Cindie

One of the most popular features of our planning guide, Brides & Weddings of Northern Virginia (www.bridesandweddings.com) is our Bakers’ Dozen, featuring fantastic cake designs from our clients.

Over the past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the National Capital Area Cake Show. Above are some great designs by Sweet ‘n Sassy Cakes (www.sweetnsassycakes.com) and Cakes by Linda (www.cakesbylinda.com). Just click on the photo for more examples of our clients’ work.

Special thanks to Laura Larrick of Laura Larrick Studios for her photographic coverage (www.larrickphoto.com).

Cindie

Over this past weekend I attended the National Capital Area Cake Show with photographer Laura Larrick (www.larrickphoto.com). What a great opportunity to get some fresh ideas on wedding cake designs. I will be posting more pics over the next day or so, but thought you would like a sample.

Kortni O'Grodnick, Sweet n Sassy

Keith Ryder, of BCakes by BKeith (www.bcakes.com) served as Cake Show Director this year. Local celebs Normas Davis of The Sweet Life (www.thesweetlife.com) and Warren Brown of Cake Love were on hand to meet and greet. Our own Linda Rothgeb of Cakes by Linda (www.cakesbylinda.com) and Kortni O’Grodnick of Sweet ‘n Sassy Cakes (www.sweetnsassycakes.com) participated in the competitions.

The wedding cake challenge involved interviewing a fictional couple, and based on that interview, tie in their color scheme and interests to create a wedding cake and groom’s cake that reflected well on each other. Judges based their ratings on both the concept and the execution. The bride’s color & floral choices were cranberry tulips, China berries, lillies and eucalyptus. The groom, a graduate of UVA with a degree in Art History, enjoyed baseball and Impressionist artists. Their honeymoon plans included a trip to Costa Rica. Winner of the wedding cake competition was Janet Rosebeary of Guthrie, OK.

Cakes by Linda

In addition to the wedding cake competition and other divisional events, there was also a Food TV-type challenge where in a period of only 6 hours, teams had to construct a “fairy dreams & castles” design. Courtney Clark of Cake Nouveau in Ann Arbor, MI won the challenge. Rounding out the event were demonstrations on a variety of decorating topics and a trade show featuring the latest products.

The National Capital Area Cake Show was sponsored by the Virginia Chapter of the International Cake Exploration Societe. Proceeds from the event benefitted Shelter House Inc. (www.shelterhouse.org) and Kristi’s Christmas (www.kristischristmas.org).

From the junior division

A photo spread of this event will be featured in the July edition of Brides & Weddings of Northern Virginia (www.bridesandweddings.com).

Cindie

Cakes by Linda

If you like the cake competitions on Food TV, you’ll enjoy coming out to the Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke on Saturday or Sunday (March 21-22) for the National Capital Area Cake Show. The show is open from 10am to 5pm and offers something for everyone. There will be cake decorating demos, contests, a bake sale, youth activities & classes and spectacular displays of sugar art.

A portion of the proceeds from the show, sponsored by the Virginia Chapter of the International Cake Exploration Societe, will benefit the charities of Shelter House, Inc. and Kristi’s Christmas.

Two of my clients, Linda Rothgeb of Cakes by Linda (www.cakesbylinda.com) and Keith Ryder of BCakes by BKeith (www.bcakes.com) are participating in this weekend’s show. I’ll be on hand  Saturday with photographer Laura Larrick (www.larrickphoto.com) to cover the wedding cake displays. We’ll blog about it next week and there will be a photo spread in the July edition of Brides & Weddings of Northern Virginia (www.bridesandweddings.com).

For more details and admission prices, visit www.cakeshow.org.

See you there,

Cindie