Photo credit: Marisa Kinney photography
florals: sarah’s floral designs
venue: the willows at ashcombe
Look, we’re all thinking it! The dessert table at a wedding is definitely a highlight of the night! Don’t get us wrong, we LOVE seeing the couple say “I do”, and we can break it down on the dance floor like no one’s watching… but the cake?! We love topping the night off with a bite of something sweet!
We say all of that, but look at this cake here. It’s almost too pretty to eat!! Brides, are you seeing this?! Whether you love cake, prefer decorated sugar cookies or are planning on serving cupcakes, your wedding day sweets can totally add to the design and vibe of your day.
Of course, we’ve got you covered when it comes to all things related to picking your cake, finding a cake designer, her favorite flavor and all the questions in-between. The incredibly talented Kyrsten, of Kyrsten’s Sweet Designs is sharing all of the info you need when it comes to your wedding dessert and we are HERE. FOR. IT. Trust us, you’ll love her heart and her designs!
1. Tell us a little about yourself. How did you become a cake designer?
Hi! I’m Kyrsten of Kyrsten’s Sweet Designs (or “K Sweet Designs” as most people call it, because my name is hard to pronounce and @k_sweetdesigns is my Instagram handle 😉). I work independently from my licensed and insured in-home kitchen and studio in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; specializing in wedding cakes, styled wedding cupcake displays & decorated sugar cookies. All my work is custom-designed and made-to-order. I bake all my wedding cakes, cupcakes, and cookies fresh each week from scratch, with all-natural, high-quality ingredients and LOVE. I believe that flavor is equally as important as appearance!
I’ve always loved to bake and to create art, so really that’s what motivated me to choose the world of wedding cakes as a career path. It was the perfect marriage of the two;) I attended Johnson & Wales University (in Providence, RI) and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Baking & Pastry Arts – but most of my experience around that time had been from learning hands-on at a few small cake shops during college and the few years following graduation. I met my husband while living in RI, and after we got married, we moved to PA. About a year later I started my own business, Kyrsten’s Sweet Designs! I’m now in my 9th year of business and still loving what I’m doing – even more so now that I’ve found my own style and niches.
2. What are you favorite cake and icing flavors?
Ha! This is one of the most popular questions people ask, but also the hardest question for me to answer – mainly because I love all sweets (of course!)… It’s tough to choose, so I always say it changes with the season – I’m a big fan of vanilla bean anything! But in addition to that, in the spring & summer months I love all things fruity (lemon, strawberry, blueberry – you name it!) and then in the fall/winter months I like more of those seasonal flavors (cinnamon swirl or cinnamon apple cake, anything with caramel or Nutella). Yum! Too many flavors to choose just one 😉
photo credit: tales and trees photography
florals: sarah’s floral designs
3. How far in advance should a couple book you as their cake designer?
I strongly recommend reaching out 8-12 months in advance to begin the booking process.
4. What are the most important things for a couple to consider as they pick their cake designer? What about the flavor and style for their sweets?
I think there are a few important things for couples to consider – Definitely first make sure you like the cake designer’s style and portfolio of their work provided on their website & social media. Usually, that’s the first connection most of my couples make – seeing my work on Instagram, or from a mutual friend or venue/vendor recommendation. And I think that’s a great start! I would then recommend researching reviews, pricing and what they specialize in. Doing some work ahead of time makes the process so much easier (on both sides) once you initiate the inquiry. Wedding planning is a lot of work, so choosing a vendor team that you really connect with, and trust makes the whole process so much more fun! As far as flavors and style for their sweets – I like to use as many things as we can for inspiration – Wedding invitations/stationary, mood/Pinterest boards, their color palette, décor pieces/vibe of the reception space. There are so many ways to use these as inspiration to create a custom designed wedding cake, cupcake display and/or sugar cookies to represent that specific couple and their personal style. Mainly I just want the couple to have fun with the process and feel comfortable giving me creative freedom once we have a general game plan.
photo Credit: Juliana Tomlinson Photography
Venue: Historic King Mansion
Photo credit: Marisa Kinney photography
florals: sarah’s floral designs
venue: the willows at ashcombe
5. What trends in sweets are you seeing with weddings?
One of the trends I see with my own wedding couples is including decorated sugar cookies! Whether individually packaged as favors or placed loose on pretty platters beside their wedding cake, this is something a lot of my couples are requesting now (which is super fun for me because it’s something I specialize in and truly love doing!).
As far as cake trends, I see a lot of palette knife buttercream painting (which became popular last year), bold statements (using bold colors on the cake or incorporating those colors using fresh florals) and the incorporation of texture! I personally love tying in a little bit of all these styles! I’m a big fan of a classic white wedding cake with some subtle texture and colorful fresh florals.
Pinterest has been a great resource for inspiration over the years, but another trend I see (and love) is more couples trusting their wedding industry professionals in a greater capacity to collaborate and use their unique styles to curate a more personalized wedding day for them.
6. How does a couple know how many sweets (cake, cupcakes or cookies) they need at their wedding?
Ha, this is another tough question! Mainly because (as I tell all my couples) they know their family & friends better than I do and there are a lot of variables…
In general, with a tiered cake – even though you’re serving beautifully layered slices of wedding cake, not everyone is going to eat cake, or some people will be out on the dance floor by the time it’s served and forget about it, etc…. so the general opinion is to order cake slices for 75% – 80% of your guest count with a tiered cake.
* Side note: if you instruct your DJ or caterer to announce that cake is being served, I truly believe more people would indulge 😉 But that’s just my own personal, obviously biased “I don’t want anyone to miss the cake at a wedding” opinion ha-ha.
With a cupcake/cookie table – this display will be available all evening, so guests can come and grab sweets at their convenience (which in general means more desserts are consumed), so I usually recommend one cupcake per person (plus an additional couple dozen, to provide enough for those guests who want to go back and try different flavors). If decorated sugar cookies are also included on the display in addition to the cupcakes, they might not need to order as many cupcakes. And in that case, I usually just recommend a few dozen cookies to add an extra (edible) embellishment to the table.
If using the decorated sugar cookies as favors, that would be one per guest.
Photo Credit: Tales and Trees Photography
Florals: Sarah’s Floral Designs
7. What is the best way to save the top tier of wedding cake so it still tastes good for a couple’s one year anniversary?
Great question! I love this tradition! So as a gift from me to my clients, I create and box up a separate cake specifically for the couples’ one-year anniversary and deliver that along with the wedding cake on their wedding day. I recommend wrapping the entire cake and box in several layers of quality plastic wrap and then a final layer of foil on the outside. Pop that in the freezer, somewhere it will stay frozen and away from anything that might have a strong odor… and then pull it out a day or two before your anniversary so it has time to properly thaw. (I include these instructions on the cake box) 🙂
Well, friends, now we’re hungry for some cake! Shout out to Kyrsten for sharing so much of her knowledge with us all! She’s so kind and talented – but don’t just trust us! Make sure to check out Kyrsten and all her beautiful, sweet designs on her website, Instagram and Facebook!
And, hey! As a friendly reminder, we are happy to help you as you go along the process of selecting your vendors to make your day memorable and sweet (see what we did there!). Plus, if you need a friend to go to the cake tasting with you, we’ll clear our plans 🙂
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