What wonderful news we heard last year that same sex couples could get married legally in New York State. We were thrilled to hear this news! Weddings for everyone! We have seen an increase in wedding cakes for same sex couples and so far we have booked about 8 cakes this year, last year we had 2.
The wedding industry as we have known it has always been “pretty”. Because a majority of weddings are planned by women, you tend to see the softer side in most wedding events. This year we have had many gay men come sit at our table for design sessions, and bring very masculine elements to reflect who they are for their own events. Our bakery is known for a well-executed, creative design and our sugar flowers. A majority of our wedding cakes fall into that “pretty” category. However most of our gay couples have told us they don’t want to see sugar flowers on their cakes and they want something different with a more masculine feel. And rightfully so! Weddings are a direct reflection of who the couple is. We have already started to see a shift in the industry and it’s very exciting. Of course the obvious being the design element of a room, less traditional floral décor, the cake and non-traditional venues.
A few months ago we sat down with Peter and Antonio, they recently got married and their reception was at the The Glass Houses in NYC. During the consultation, Ron asked about the venue, décor, invites, flowers, cuisine and then some. When they showed Ron the invite, he was very excited. The invite was inspired by the television show “Mad Men”. This couple did not want a “traditional” cake so Ron took the design in another direction; he was inspired by the graphics on the invitation.
I think it will be interesting to see how the bridal magazine market handles these changes and what they take away from these weddings as far as trends. This is a very exciting time for our industry and opening the door for new and creative ideas for all weddings to enjoy, I can’t wait to see more…
NYC Cake Girl 