Budget Wedding Cake--Luxe Flavor
Here’s how to get the most cake for your money. If you don’t watch it, the wedding cake can quickly become a huge expense. Splurging on five tiers with multiple flavors and sugar flowers in every bite isn’t worth the high cost for everyone, so here are some inexpensive ideas for a cake that is right on target.
Price tiers—the first and most important thing to remember is to be honest and clear about the budget you have in mind. If you are having a bakery prepare the cake, be sure to tell them about your budget concerns up front at the tasting. Some bakers also have price minimums, so it is a good idea to get the cost issue squared away first.
When planning the cake of your dreams, the general rule is that the more time-intensive it is will be to make, the more it will cost. This means adding flavors, tiers or even changing the shape from round to square will increase the cost. Heavy use if fondant icing or sugar flowers can also bump up the price, as can custom colors if the decorator charges for hand coloring. To keep costs down, choose simple, round and white. Many brides add their own decorations, just before the reception, such as fresh flowers, lace or ribbon. They are not hard to work with and they make a big impact!
One thing that you should not skimp on is flavor. The cake should always taste really, really good. The money should go into having a great tasting cake. Many bakers suggest getting a small, tastefully decorated two or three tiered cake for cutting in the ceremony, then sheet cakes to serve the guests. This way you don’t have to skimp on ingredients. The money should go into having a great tasting cake. Your guests will remember the taste of a world-class chocolate more than they will the intricate details of the sugar flowers. Plus, it’s not going to last forever—you are going to end up eating it anyway!
Trevi Fountain has inspired millions of lovers since the 1954 Academy Award-winning film “Three Coins in a Fountain” featured Rome’s largest and loveliest fountain as a backdrop for three American women seeking love abroad. According to the film, a coin tossed over one’s shoulder was sure to bring the right man into each woman’s life. Trevi Fountain is a place for wishes and dreams, and was witness to a dream come true, when Lynn Pirozzoli, one of the original founders of Hunt Country Celebrations and proprietor of the Black Horse Inn in Warrenton, Virginia, celebrated her marriage to James Mauro, not once but three times: first an intimate wedding on the steps of the Black Horse Inn; a second marriage in Rome, Italy and finally a third time for all to see on September 9, 2006 with the cast of Hunt Country Celebrations hosting the wedding. Three coins for three weddings…and the third one was a dream hunt country wedding on horseback at the Black Horse Inn, where wishes most always come true. <more/>
There is a beauty and a passion in fox hunting and Aiken, S.C. is a great place for foxhunters, with five recognized foxhunts of its own. Do you want to hunt every day? If you have the horse power and the energy, you can hunt six days a week. Whiskey Road Foxhounds hosts an unforgettable week of festivities every year. Fox hunters come from near and far to partake. This year my trusty mount “Houston” and I escaped the snow in Virginia, to enjoy a few days of wonderful weather. However, on our last day of foxhunting, 5 inches of snow fell, which is unheard of in sunny South Carolina. Nonetheless, we saddled up for a great ride in Hitchcock Woods, just outside of downtown Aiken which is the largest urban forest in the United States, a 2000-acre tract of land maintained by the Hitchcock Foundation for public use. The snow was magical as we bid farewell to another decadent holiday with our fox hunting friends from around the world.
