Detroit Love

We are so happy to share with you Brooke and Sammy’s red carpet wedding at the historic Fox Theater.  Every detail, including the towering cake, mirror the opulence of the lobby.  The dessert tables were a collaborative effort with the Bride’s Detroit bakery, Love and Buttercream.  We hope you’ll agree that the macaron towers are a wonderfully decadent flourish.

The groom’s cake is an edible homage to Detroit today.   Look closely to see all of Brooke and Sammy’s favorite haunts!  Does it include any of your favorites (or are you more of an American Coney fan)?

 

The event was staged by Emearld City Designs and shot by the fabulous Jess + Nate.

Thank You A. Alfred Taubman!

At Sweet Heather Anne, we are truly blessed to have an ongoing relationship with the University of Michigan.  We were  commissioned to make this cake, with it’s sharp corners and cantilevers, for the reception of donor A. Alfred Taubman.  We hope you enjoy these beautiful photos by Abby Rose.

Air & Sea Backyard Wedding

Sometimes we meet someone new in the industry and immediately we’re smitten.  It was like that when we first struck up an Instagram friendship with Janelle of re:find joy in Chicago.   Not long after, she was on a train to Ann Arbor to discuss her own upcoming wedding.  Her whimsical sketchbook and quirky urchin inspiration were utterly enchanting.  We love how just a little bit of creativity can transform our simple vintage buttercream wedding cake.  Without further ado, here are a selection of shots by Julia Franzosa of Chris & Janelle’s mystical, magical backyard wedding.

 

 

Can’t get enough of Chris & Janelle’s backyard wedding?  Check out this Wedding Chicks blog!

PINK & GOLD and lots of LOVE

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and we couldn’t help but feature a wedding that has all the charm of this saints’ day. One of the most adorable weddings this year had to be Liz and John. The talented Chelsea Brown  took some incredible pictures of the day. We loved getting to make a two tiered ruffle buttercream cake in light pink, lots of mini cupcakes, precious french macarons in hues of gold and pink and gorgeous decorated sugar cookies. Liz took an awesome DIY approach and it sure paid off. She made an amazing back drop of glimmer-y circles, gold hearts and pompoms; set it all against a barn back drop decorated with big blush peonies and you get one charming wedding. 

           

Thank you Penny Stamps

It was a big weekend for the University of Michigan.  In case you haven’t heard, the basketball team played in the NCAA  Division 1 Final Four and National Championship for the first time in twenty years.   Perhaps with less national pomp and circumstance, but no less worthy, is the celebration of  the re-naming of the School of Art & Design to Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design.

Penny Stamps and her husband E. Roe Stamps have been instrumental in positioning the school to become a national leader in art and design education.  Their generosity is particularly poignant to our own Heather Leavitt, Sweet Heather Anne‘s owner and head decorator. Heather not only is a graduate of the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, she also was a Stamps Scholar.  Much thanks to the leadership and generosity of Penny Stamps, Heather’s time at the University of Michigan sculpted who she is as an artist today, laying the foundation for Sweet Heather Anne‘s signature artistry.

In celebration of the re-naming  Heather created a cake (and accompanying cookies and macarons) to commemorate Penny Stamp’s enormous impact on the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design.

“Creating this cake was such an honor.  When I was in art school, my thesis involved creating cakes as edible monuments to local farmers and food producers.  Now that I am a local food producer, it was amazing to have the opportunity to create an edible monument to Penny Stamps and the art school.  I feel like I’ve really come full circle.  It was awesome to see all of my Professors, and celebrate Penny, and everything she has done for the school and the arts. ” -Heather

Many thank to Abby Rose Photo for the gorgeous images above.

Edible Monument to Tantre Farm, part of Heather’s thesis project at the Stamps School of Art and Design in 2007.

Move over Cupcakes, the Cake Table Has Arrived

I really love cake.  I love looking at them, eating them, baking them, and perhaps most of all, creating them.  The layers of cake filling and buttercream offer so many opportunities for creating complex flavors.  And that is why I love cake.

It also is the same reasons I don’t love cupcakes.  I do apologize to those of you who love cupcakes, I know there are a lot of you out there.  The cupcake simply does not provide my ideal cake to filling to buttercream ratio.   For those of you laughing, I dare you to do a side by side taste test, you will quickly realize the ratio’s importance.

Cupcakes so far have been integral to the recent dessert table trend.  I do get it.  Dessert tables are great for so many reasons: enhancing your decor and overall theme, getting guests up and moving around after the meal, and others.  Which is why I’m so excited about the next step in the dessert table: the cake table.  It gives you all the beauty of a dessert table, but with cakes instead of cupcakes.  I am obsessed.

Last wedding season we did a few cake tables, one of which you can read about here, another was a rustic cake table for Taylor and Anton who married at Misty Farms.  We decided to keep the cake table simple, so as not to interfere with Misty Farm’s rustic feel.  The simple buttercream cakes look so at home there. I just want to eat them, don’t you?

Many thanks to Amanda Dumouchelle for the gorgeous images.

“I Love You More than Michigan Loves Football” (+ other fine details)

Ann Arbor is home to so much talent, wedding industry included.  As our business has developed I have been amazed at the power of community among Ann Arbor’s wedding professionals.  And it is such a wonderful experience to be amongst such a talented group.

Amanda & Chad’s wedding was so much fun, in part because so many of us were involved.  Abby Rose Photo (our next door neighbor and lunch buddy) took the photos, Stacy at The Gown Shop did the dress, and we did the cake and dessert table.  Amanda also had a very specific vision for her wedding (fun!) and was totally involved in the planning process.  She and her mom had the most impressive binder and organizational system.  I don’t know if they’ve thought about planning weddings, but if they have watch out!

Judging from the photos all that work was worth it.  Amanda and Chad had a beautiful day full of gorgeous details and personal touches. (Be sure to make it to the end of the photos, the signage in the last photo totally makes the cake display, I can’t stop loving it!)

One Beautiful Dessert Table

One lovely dessert table in the ballroom at the Inn at St. John’s. Featuring a buttercream cake, french macarons, decorative sugar cookies and lemon thumbprint cookies.  Captured beautifully by Abby Rose Photo.

An Impressionist Dessert Table

We love dessert tables for a couple of reasons.  They are a great way to get guests up and mingling following dinner (reason one).  Reason two: a dessert table can really add to the overall decor of the event, enhancing your themes and colors and looking pretty.  And that last reason is that they are just so fun to design.  Full of personal details there are so many design options.

This summer we did a table inspired by the bride’s love of impressionism at Earhart Manor, which is Northern European country home in Ann Arbor now owned by Concordia University.  The cake served as a focal point on which the rest of the design was based,everything from the cookie and backdrop colors to the placement of  stands.  It also brought together a couple important elements of the wedding: impressionism, gold (done in a foil technique), and a topper to match the bride’s fascinator.

 The macarons and decorative cookies in shades of blue helped bring needed color to the rest of the table.

I love how the backdrop of hand-painted canvases ties together the cake, and its accompanying desserts.  Without it the impressionism would have been lost to the viewer.

Special thank you to lamb + lark for sharing their beautiful images.