Barb Harvey, owner of IncrEdible Endings, is no stranger to helping a harried and stressed bride design the perfect wedding cake. Many couples looking to design a custom wedding cake may feel overwhelmed by the process of designing a cake that both looks excellent and tastes delicious. Harvey offers a peek into what cake designers in Greater Cincinnati can offer couples, and what couples can do to make everything go as smoothly as possible.
LEAD Cincinnati: What are the most important things couples should consider when selecting a wedding cake?
Barb Harvey: I think the first thing to think about is the design, and how you want the cake to blend in with the theme of your wedding. Decide whether you want it to be decorated with the flowers that are throughout the reception, if you want to mirror your invitations, or if it should mirror the dress. One of my specialties is mirroring the wedding dress, which can be done in either a simple manner or it can be very elaborate. Second, couples need to consider their guests, in that they want to choose flavors that everyone might enjoy.
LC: What about a wedding cake is different from a normal bakery cake?
BH: A wedding cake should not be like a typical bakery cake. IncrEdible Endings’ cakes are like a dessert at a fine restaurant. Often a guest who does not normally eat cake will hear comments from the other guests about the cake and decide to get a slice for themselves. My clients frequently tell me that the entire wedding cake was eaten, and that’s the idea – to make a cake for guests to eat, without there being leftovers.
LC: Have you noticed any recent trends in wedding cakes?
BH: Many of my clients ask me to mirror their wedding dress or invitation – it is becoming very popular. Because these designs are so specific, they are unique to that couple’s wedding cake. Grooms’ cakes are also becoming very popular, and they can be completely customized as well. The groom is often very involved in designing his groom’s cake, but sometimes it is a surprise the bride wants to present to him at the reception. Couples also want to make sure to include the groom’s cake in the number of servings needed, so there’s not cake left over.
LC: What should couples do before they pick out a cake?
BH: There’s so much online right now for brides to look at, and they need to go out and look for ideas before they design their wedding cake. It’s best to have as many ideas as possible, because then I can work with them to narrow down these ideas and put them into a specific design for their cake. In the end, this is not my wedding cake; it’s theirs, and it’s the centerpiece of the reception. It needs to reflect what their ideas are.
IncrEdible Endings is located at 9204 Gunpowder Road, Florence, KY 41042. You can reach Barb at 859.512.2450, by email at incredibleendings@hotmail.com, or visit her website at www.incredibleendings.com to set up an appointment to design your IncrEdible Endings centerpiece.