Wedding Cakes

The wedding cake is one of the key elements of the wedding reception. Whether or not you decide to go simple or ornate is completely up to you. One of the best things about cake is the ability to mix and match flavors and fillings to suit your personality. The possibilities are endless, and you don't have to go far afield to find a bakery that will fill the bill. My personal local favorite is The Pastry Garden in Poughkeepsie, but you may have your own personal favorite.
Photographing the wedding cake can present challenges in lighting, posing, and composition.
I'm including some images from recent celebrations below.

Attending Bridal Shows

Although I don't do Bridal Shows (not because I don't want to, but because they're out of my budget right now), I think they can be extremely useful for gathering information and seeing examples of work from vendors that brides and grooms have not needed to hire in the past. Specifically Photographers and DJ's.
I attended the Bridal Show at Rolling Greens (also know as Dutchess Golf and Country Club) with my FDIL (future daughter-in-law) yesterday to help her weed thru vendors, ask some questions, pick up literature and generally see what was going on. The venue itself is beautiful! High ceilings, golf course greens and landscaping, the largest "getting ready" areas I've ever seen, and the food was good. This venue has been put on the short list for the wedding (unless they change their minds and go for the destination option).
Anyway, back to vendors, there were many, many photographers there. Some doing video, some not. All with large size prints and albums on display. We looked thru lots of albums, and talked with many folks. I think we may have narrowed it down a little bit. The thing to remember it to also go to their websites, look thru the galleries, check pricing, and if it all looks good, make an appointment to talk about what you need.
DJs were also there in abundance, some showing off their options, like props (leis, blow up instruments, glow sticks, etc), lighting options (uplighting along the walls, custom gobo's with the bride and groom's names and the date that either illuminate the ceiling or the dance floor), ceremony and cocktail music options. So many things to think about. I really like the idea of additional lighting in some form. It makes taking pictures during the ceremony that much easier for the photographer. try to decide what you really need versus what you "think" you need and price it out accordingly.
There was only one florist, Green Oak from Hyde Park. Dot does beautiful work, we have done weddings where she was the florist and the flowers are always beautiful. She's a "full service" florist and will even be there to pin on bouts and adjust corsages. The interesting thing she told us was that cascading bouquets seem to be coming back into fashion (as compared to the hand tied bouquets that have been popular for weveral years now). This trend is coming from California and will arrive eventually. It would have been nice to have at least one other florist.
Pastry Garden had some mock-up cakes and lots of samples of their cake. I always prefer Pastry Garden and they are the bakery associated with the venue. The really great thing about Pastry Garden is that they are quite happy to do custom work, you don't have to look far for something unique and different.
There were no makeup artists, hair stylists, custom jewelry vendors, or anything else. So Rolling Greens needs to be a bit more proactive in attracting/inviting these people to participate, it would make for a more well-rounded show.
The round up? Good show, worth attending. But always remember that you don't have to use the vendors at the show. If you know of someone from a previous event or personal recommendation, please check them out. Lots of Bridal Shows in January, it's a great time to plan, and take advantage of any show specials.