The Keys

Taryn is from the Keys.  More specifically, Key West.  Yep, Palm trees, tiny little limes, sand, sun.  When she came to Minneapolis, she met Charlie and that was that.  So long flip flops, hello Parka.  Turns out, Taryn found her own "keys" right up here in the tundra.

The First Key: Have fun

The Evil Cake Genius has been in the wedding business for a long time.  Her key advice to couples who are planning a wedding..."have fun". If you have fun, your guests will have fun.  This doesn't mean you have to go goofy-over-the-top with your wedding, but don't be afraid to show your personality.

Exhibit one: Taryn and Charlie's Save the Date cards.  Interactive Save the Dates!!!  The guests literally helped them "tie the knot" by opening them.  FUN.

Exhibit two: Taryn and Charlie's Programs.   Taryn works in Mental Health, so she thought it would be funny to write the program as a self-help pamphlet.  Why?  Because, it's FUN.

And this Evil Stationery Genius has never seen guests more entertained by a program in her life.  Many thanks to the incredible Studio 306 for artfully catching the action on film!

The Second Key: To thine own self be true

Planning a wedding can be input overload!!  The internet is loaded with ideas to make your day perfect in every way.  Want it to be perfect?  Don't worry about your wedding's "theme", its "color story" or whether it will get published.  Just express your own style and be yourself.

Turns out, Taryn has amazing and unique style.  We designed invitations based off of her beautiful linen selections.  Clean, modern, edgy.  Menu Cards with a graphic flair, and matching favour box place cards.

And at the end of the evening, the late night snacks lived up to this Second Key in spades.  His and Her favorite treats...S'mores and Nachos (complete with "gas station cheese")  Nope, not going to find that on Pinterest, but you know damn well that at around 11:30 at a wedding, you would KILL for some Nachos with that liquid-gold....foodies...don't kid yourselves...you know you love it.

 

The Third Key: Surround yourself with those you love

This is a no-brainer.  And a wedding is an easy place to do just that.  Family comes in from all over the country, sometimes the world.  And you're surrounded by everyone you love.  Well, almost everyone.  Unfortunately, our canine family members aren't always allowed to hang out at the reception.  So, Taryn surprised Charlie with a teeny little frosting "Roxy" on top of their cake.  Their beloved Boxer not only got to attend (in frosting form) but the full price of the little pup was donated to the ASPCA.  Good Karma...that's a whole other Key.

The (Car) Key:  Stay with me people

We all know that the wedding itself is largely about girly things:  flowers, colors named Aubergine, and Persimmon, jewelry, pretty dresses, shoes, oh, the shoes...
Recognizing this, Taryn wanted to have something at the wedding that was entirely for Charlie.  So we designed a groom's cake.  Charlie, likes, well, guy things: his cabin, his dog Roxy, and his Corvette...not just any Corvette, the ultimate "guy" car, the Corvette that needs work, lots of hours in the garage, playing with tools, work.  So his groom's cake was a no-brainer.  We replicated his beat up tool box, added some white chocolate tools, an edible Corvette repair manual, and a few other things to make his cake the "least woman-y" thing at the wedding.

Another great group of shots by Studio 306

The Key to the Minivan: How incredibly far behind the Evil Cake Genius is in her blogging.

That's it!  I need to get my act together.  Turns out, I'm so  behind in my blogging, that I have a third cake to include in this post.  How about a Baby Shower Cake!  No, it wasn't a honeymoon baby, I'm really just that far behind with my posts!  A few weeks ago, Taryn had a shower to welcome baby Easton to the family.  And, Taryn's fabulous taste is now spilling over into Nursery Decor, leading us to yet another graphic, modern, beautiful cake.

The Key to Life: 

What do I look like people?  I'm the Evil Cake Genius, not the Dalai Lama.  I'd love to tie this blog post up with some life-altering wisdom for the ages, but if I were capable of that, I'd be over-employed.  So for now, I'll stick to making cake.

Necessary credits:
Venue: Calhoun Beach Club
Wedding Dress: L'Atelier Couture Bridal
Photographer: Studio 306
Floral: Martha's Gardens
Coordintaor: Style Architects
Linens: Apres Party Rental

Decorator's Notes:

Taryn's wedding cake was done by cutting out, and attaching individual frame shapes.  We couldn't find the exact cutter that we needed, so we had one "printed" by the awesome guy over at 

 Plastics in Print

He's on Etsy, check him out!!!

The wedding itself was done in fondant "panels".  We rolled out the fondant into sheets and let them air dry for a couple of days.  we frosted the cakes in buttercream, then attached the panels to the sides and top of the cake with more buttercream.  It creates a perfect crisp edge!

Easton's shower cake was decorated with our Mod Diamond Mesh Stencil.  It is incredibly simple, just use it like any other stencil (we did this one by rolling out a piece of fondant, and stenciling it while it was laying flat on the table, then wrapping it around the fondant covered cake).