For the Love of Cake! by Garry & Ana Parzych: November 2015

Niki & Joe's Wedding at Rosecliff Mansion in Newport RI

July 25th, 2015

This past summer, we had the honor of being part of this beautiful wedding at Rosecliff Mansion, an opulent testament to the gilded age that set the stage for this romantic affair.

For those of you not familiar with the Newport Mansions, Rosecliff is a French Baroque Revival built on a 6.5 acre estate on the coastline of Newport. It was inspired by the Grand Trianon in Versailles and its Ballroom alone, where wedding receptions are held, is 2,800 sq ft.


The Main Ballroom at Rosecliff Mansion dressed up in gold, champagne, blush & ivory

white and gold custom wedding cake with sugar flowers

Another beautiful Newport wedding cake

Lush flower centerpieces atop crystal candelabra

Exquisite Floral Design by Stoneblossom

I met with Niki, our bride, in early October last year, and during our meeting we discussed the feel she wanted for her wedding cake, a vintage, romantic but elegant cake with cascading sugar flowers matching the wedding flowers.

I came up with three design options, and after a few revisions Niki decided on the one below

Our proposed custom wedding cake design

As with any creative process, the actual wedding cake might have a few changes; in this case I decided to add more flowers towards the base of the cake to anchor the tiers and also to give a more opulent look.

I love that Niki chose a very different linen for the cake table; this one was just perfect with its feathery layers of organza petals, so romantic & pretty. Just a touch of whimsy in an otherwise very formal event.

White & Gold custom wedding cake with handmade sugar flowers

Wedding Cake table dressed with a blush linen and mercury glass votives

Hand-painting the decorative details, such as borders and piping, can be painstaking but it's well worth it when you see the final product.

Molded fondant pearls & piped details ready to be gilded

For the cake flavors, Niki & Joe decided on alternating tiers of decadent Toasted Almond Cake with Dulce de Leche over Apricot Preserves & Vanilla Mousseline, and Dark Chocolate Cake with refreshing Raspberry Mousseline and Bittersweet Ganache over Raspberry Preserves.