That personal touch? Say it with a cake topper
Friday, Jan. 27, 2012
Lewistown, PA—11
The Sentinel
By The Associated Press pers out of her online shop,
Bunny with a Toolbelt
The only part of a wed- (www.bunnywithatoolbelt.c
ding cake that doesn’t get om). The figurines are made
eaten, preserved in the of reclaimed wood and
freezer, or smudged across a painted with acrylic. They
bride or groom’s face is the are typically animals, and
cake topper. Why not make often are customized to fit a
it something worth saving? couple’s taste and interest.
From wooden figurines to
Pfeifer’s creations have
monogrammed eggs in a nest run the gamut from colorful
to teacups from Grandma’s elephants for a circus-themed
china cabinet, cake toppers at wedding, to a pair of robots
weddings have become more with a robot dog, to a duck
personalized.
bride and groom wearing
Increasingly, couples are Converse sneakers.
working with artists to deShe has made cake-topper
sign the perfect cake topper, alligators, deer, squirrels, giunique to them.
raffes, flamingos, turtles,
“The cake topper is one of penguins, monsters, space
the few things that will be monkeys, flying pigs and
part of the wedding that the more. Often they are turned
couple will take home after- into sports mascots.
ward and maybe display in
“Having customers bring
their house,” said Portland, you ideas is great,” Pfeifer
Ore.-based artist Hilary said. “It takes me places I
Pfeifer, who designs cus- wouldn’t have gone on my
tomized cake toppers.
own.”
“It’s not just a plastic topAnother artist who has
per that they use for that day; worked with brides and
it becomes an icon in their grooms to customize cake
house afterward,” she said. toppers is Heather WardPfeifer sells her cake top- Migner, based in Asheville,
N.C. Through her online
store, Star House (www.urastarhouse.com), Ward-Migner
sells a variety of figurines
made of local poplar wood
that are then cut, burned and
painted with watercolors to
create specific images.
Her cake toppers have included couples on double bicycles, pairs of love birds,
and a bride and groom in a
yellow canoe.
Typically, her wooden
characters are based on a
photograph, and closely resemble the actual couple —
a far cry from the standardized cake toppers of yore.
The effort that goes into
creating such a personal memento contributes to its ultimate staying power.
“I love thinking about
how 100 years from now
some bohemian college students might have their grandparents’
cake
toppers
displayed in their apartment,” Ward-Migner said.
The customization of
wedding cake toppers is still
a niche trend, but one that
has been growing, according
to Anja Winikka, senior editor at TheKnot.com.
“Your wedding cake as a
whole is such a great way to
add your own personality,
and it’s a great way to make
a statement at your wedding
without going over the top,”
Winikka said. “The cake topper falls into that category as
well.”
She has seen various
handcrafted toppers recently.
Love birds are a popular
choice, she said, including
options made out of felt, fabric, wood or other materials.
Winikka has also seen the
vintage craze enter the wedding-cake-topper
arena.
Couples are repurposing
their parents’ and grandparents’ cake toppers as their
own.
You can also creatively
use trinkets from your grandparents or tiny teacups from
their china cabinet as your
cake topper, she suggested.
In the case of a cake or
cupcake tower that isn’t
suited to having a topper, the
bridal couple can turn the entire cake table into a sort of
display area with mementos
or figurines that add personality, Winikka said.
“I’ve definitely noticed
that when a normal person
thinks of a wedding cake topper, they think of the plastic
bride and groom,” said wedding planner Laura Auer,
whose company is about to
plan its 300th wedding.
“But I’ve probably seen
that only five out of the 300
times. People want different
skin tones, or they aren’t
male-female couples, or they
just don’t want old-school
traditional bride-and-groom
cake toppers.”
Auer started her Brooklyn,
N.Y.-based company, Blue
Canary Events, in 2005, and
has seen a trend toward
unique cake toppers.
In addition to art pieces
custom-designed for the couple, she has noticed a lot of
monogrammed cake toppers,
sometimes very ornate —
made of crystal or pretty
much any other material.
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If the bride is taking her
husband’s last name, it’s not
proper etiquette to use that
married name until after the
couple has taken their vows,
Auer said. So having it on
the cake might be a fun way
to introduce the new shared
initial for the first time.
Other popular options are
edible or floral cake toppers
— real decorative flowers,
fruit or flowers made of
frosting.
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