Piece of Cake, an Arizona bakery for weddings and events
• Tell us about your company…
We opened the company in 2002 making mostly party cakes and cookies for a Banner Health contract, but in 2004 we really dedicated ourselves to being wedding cake specialists. Since then, we have been fortunate enough to have established relationships with 26 amazing partnering wedding venues! The business continues to grow and we have since been able to add more staff which helps us create awesome party cakes as well as a retail cupcake counter. We are also thrilled to announce our upcoming second location in the east valley opening March 2017 at Sossaman and the US-60.
• How did you get started in the wedding business?
Like most aspiring cake decorators, it began as a hobby for me. It just so happened that even though I never really found myself artistically inclined, when I picked up a pastry bag, I was an artist. Who knew? I could pipe intricate details and paint on cakes – are you kidding? Wedding cakes are so timeless, they are centerpieces that everyone looks forward to at a wedding, it was a natural great fit for me.
• What makes your different from other businesses in the field?
There are so many wonderfully talented cake artists in the valley, and it’s always so exciting for us to see what other artists in our field are creating. I think what sets us apart from other companies is the commitment to not taking ourselves too seriously. Thanks to the humor on our FAQ page, and some of our asinine Facebook updates, we seem to attract couples who have a wonderful sense of humor which makes our job just that much more fun.
• Why do you like working with weddings?
We are a cake shop, and people love cake, especially wedding cake! I’m not a bill collector or a mechanic bringing you bad news about your car, I am bringing cake! Nobody is ever upset with the person that brings them a well decorated, delicious cake. Heck, most people are ecstatic with delicious ugly cakes
• What was the most difficult situation you have faced with a client and how did you resolve it?
The most difficult situation involved something you never want to have to do with a bride, call her on her wedding day about something that absolutely needs to be addressed. Fortunately in the 1000’s of cakes we have created over the years, we have only had this come up one time. A bride had brought in to our shop the night before, dozens of flowers that matched perfectly the rest of the flowers in her wedding that were to be displayed between the cake layers. Unfortunately when we came in to the shop the next day, every single flower was covered in bugs. There was no opportunity to replace them with such short notice, especially not to get replacement flowers that perfectly matched her wedding, so we had to call her, explain the situation and ask her if she would like us to stack the cake instead of leaving a gap for the flowers we could no longer use. Fortunately she was an awesome bride and was absolutely fine with that change to the cake, and raved about her cake afterwards, it was still so heartbreaking to us to have to make that call to her on her wedding day.
• From a vendor’s perspective, what’s the best piece of advice you can give to engaged couples?
More than anything couples should know that as long as they’ve selected great vendors for their wedding, the overwhelming majority of the time, their wedding is going to go smoothly and everyone is going to have a great time. If something does go wrong, they are probably going to have a funny story to tell the kids :). Either way, try not to stress too much!
• What or who motivates you?
For me, as well as our extremely talented staff of decorator’s, I am motivated by the ever changing nature of our art form, motivated to learn new techniques and constantly develop ways to make our cakes incredible. From the flavors to the custom made decorations, making edible things look just the way they do in real life, we have a great career!
• What do you do when you are not working?
When I’m not working I am spending time with my family, mostly my two little boys. They are such an incredible joy and blessing in my life, oh and I may also be nurturing their love of baking! 🙂
• What would we be surprised to learn about you?
Some may find it surprising that I am not a culinary graduate, my experience was all primarily self taught and lots of trial and error in the beginning. We now have plenty of culinary graduates on staff which has been extremely helpful. I also don’t have a business background, that’s where my wonderfully amazing husband and business partner comes in, together we make a great team!
