Laurie and Oliver traveled from Hawaii to plan their San Diego-destination wedding at Ethereal Gardens.
Together we created a menu of custom flavors for an unstacked, three wedding cake display, alongside a dessert table to enjoy with their family and friends.
venue: Ethereal Gardens
florist: Atalanta of Camellia Wedding Flowers
photography: Julio Fonyat with True Photography
cake floral placement: Glorified Hobby
catered cakes and desserts: Mili’s Sweets
I decorated the cakes onsite, with clippings provided by the florist. As the couple requested, they had a clean and classic style, with the front and center cake showing a little more abundance.
Each cake was a three-layer, uniquely made to offer added flavor options. Here’s the breakdown of each:
8″ three-layer, classic recipe
top cake layer: Vanilla Velvet
filling: vanilla buttercream
middle cake layer: Mango & Cream
filling: fresh mango buttercream
bottom cake layer: Mango Bellini
Crumb-layers sealed in white chocolate ganache, covered in vanilla buttercream in smooth plus rib finish at the base.
6″ three-layer, vegan recipe
top cake layer: Double Dutch Chocolate
filling: chocolate frosting
middle cake layer: Vanilla Velvet
filling: fresh raspberry frosting
bottom cake layer: Vanilla Velvet with a reservoir of firm-set coconut and raspberry custard.
Crumb-layers sealed in vegan frosting, covered in vegan vanilla buttercream in a smooth plus rib finish at the base.
8″ three layer, custom recipe
top cake layer: vanilla and chocolate Marble
filling: buttercream swirl of chocolate and caramel
middle cake layer: vanilla and chocolate Marble
filling: Oreo Cookies & Cream
bottom cake layer: Marble-Oreo, plus whole Oreo cookie crust-bottom
Crumb layers were sealed in white chocolate ganache, covered with vanilla buttercream at the base, Dutch chocolate buttercream, with and touches of Dulce de Leche caramel at the top. The technique is mostly smooth rib at the base.
This was the set-up under the reception tent at Ethereal, before the florals arrived for the cakes.
Just like their cakes, extra time and care was taken to create their custom menu of desserts for the dessert table. They opted for standard size trifles mixed with mini bars and cupcakes for a total of eight dessert-orders.
Dessert Table Menu:
- 3 oz. Italian Custard Trifles with fresh berries
- 3 oz. Vegan Coconut Custard trifles with fresh berries
- 3 oz. Strawberry Shortcake Trifles
- Champagne & Strawberry mini cupcakes
- Red Velvet mini cupcakes
- mini Eclair pastries
- mini White Chocolate Blondie bars
- mini Pumpkin Pie bars
I love their cake cutting photos! The reaction to the first-slice is so great. These two were wonderful from the moment we started working together. I’m grateful for their generosity and the opportunity to fulfill this joy and work for their precious day.
