FAREWELL 2009 !!!

2009 was an incredible year .... Clay and I both celebrated milestone birthdays .... we both turned 50 (with a bunch of other friends) ... it was also our 5th wedding anniversary.

I was given the opportunity to meet many wonderful people ... some just by being in this business and some by being in the right place at the right time.

There was success all around me in 2009 ... with pleasure, I helped a friend launch her new business (and became a client); two other friends decided to start their own catering/cake business; I took a friend under my wing .. and with her help we will take Eileen Carter Creations to the next level.

I want to thank all of the many brides who met with me ... many of whom gave me the opportunity to play an important role on their special day. My wedding cakes of 2009 were colorful, elegant, some were very tall ... all were simply beautiful. I got the chance to create over 70 wedding cakes, 50 groom cakes, and countless cupcakes and all-occasion cakes. Based on comments from my brides, I was chosen "Best of Weddings - 2010" as handed out by TheKnot.com. Thank you.

It was so great to see so many of my 2008 brides return for their 1st anniversary cake this year ... many are either expecting their first child or have already started their family. I wish them all much happiness in the years to come.

I bid farewell to 2009 ... humbled. Thanks to all who made this year so special. I can't wait to see what is in store for 2010 !!!

I SAW SANTA .....

Clay and I were on our way to deliver our final wedding cake of the year .... travelling 85 south ... I noticed the license plate (tag) on the car in front of me .... SANTA 8

I moved over a lane, and SANTA 8 put his blinker on to do the same ... so I figured, if it really is Santa driving that car, it would be to my best interest to let him cut in front of me. He did, and I moved over another lane.

As I approached the driver door of SANTA 8 ...... there he was, in his white cuffed red suit, rosey cheeks, bright white full beard ......... SANTA CLAUS !!!!

At age 50 ... I still believe !!! Merry Christmas !

Christmas Goodies

Hi - thought I would share pictures of some of the Christmas goodies made this season.

URBAN LUX MAGAZINE presents .....

an evening of Style / Culture / Conscience .... and I will be providing all of the appetizer desserts at the event scheduled for this evening, Thursday, December 17th. Thank you Lentheus Chaney (Publisher/Editor - Urban Lux Magazine) for giving me this opportunity.

Atlanta’s Emerging LUX designers and a collection of photographic works for a one of a kind holiday trunk show.

STLYE

The evening will be inclusive of Atlanta’s most fashionable ladies and gentlemen as they are enticed by fashion, jewelry, shoe, fragrance and handbag creations from Donnie Wellz , EnJeanious By Rean, Jedal Italian Fashions, Mel Boteri, Mychael Knight, and VX.

CULTURE

Hagedorn Foundation Galley will be showing over 100 photographic works, under 20", under $500, by Nancy Lee Andrews, Corinne Adams, Corey Daniels, Jan Fields, Paul Hagedorn, Dana Kemp, Leslie Kneisels, Andee Nathanson, Dorothy O’Connor, Meryl Truett and more.

CONSCIENCE

Keep Georgia Safe is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that operates the only wireless network that sends out all three of Georgia's emergency alerts for abducted, missing, or dangerous persons via cell phone. When the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) issues an alert that a child has been abducted, an elderly or disabled person is missing, or a dangerous fugitive is at large, Keep Georgia Safe immediately sends a text alert with the pertinent information to subscribers cell phones free of charge. KeepGeorgiaSafe.org

I'm Published ... The Knot Georgia- Spring/Summer 2010

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the wedding of Amy Unger and Josh Forrest (4/18/09) has been published in the Spring/Summer 2010 issue of The Knot magazine - Georgia Edition. Amy worked so hard on all of the details that made her wedding so unique .. and it paid off. Her photographer, Michael Saba, submitted the photos and Amy and Josh's wedding was chosen for publication. AWESOME. Also, her coordinator, Ally Haggerty of Unforgettable Soirees is mentioned separately in The Knot Notebook (on page 28). The cake is on page 36 !!!

I'm also thrilled to see that the wedding of Amanda Cain and Ryan Rehkop is also in this issue .... go to page 156.

If that wasn't enough ..... The Knot has announced the winners of the Best of Weddings 2010 - Georgia .... I'm listed on page 16 !!!!

What a great issue .... it's on new stands now, go check it out !!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!

Like many of you, I can not believe that it's Thanksgiving. My goodness, where has this year gone.

Clay and I are hosting our church family for Thanksgiving .. we've purchased and (I) will be cooking a 30 pound turkey ... all guests attending are bringing everything else to complete our meal. Dinner will be served at 12:00 noon .. join us at Mt. Tabor Baptist Church in Duluth, if you can. After we clean up from dinner, we will be taking a meal to one of our favorite members of the church. Opal is currently in the hospital (cancer) and we promised to bring a good meal (not hospital food) for Thanksgiving. Then it's off to my brother's girlfriends house to have dinner with them. If we eat small amounts, we'll be ok !!! LOL

So, as we prepare for gathering with family and friends (and eating way too much), let us not forget to give thanks .. not just on Thanksgiving, but everyday.

I'm thankful to have a wonderful, supportive, and loving husband ... friends that I can call any time ... family, close by and far away ... and my many customers who believe in me.

Happy Thanksgiving !
Eileen & Clay

Vincent-Haack, Ashford Club, 11/21/9

This was my first delivery to The Ashford Club ... from a vendors point of view .. it's very easy to get to, and to get in. Only one floor up and there you are in a beautiful room that can fit up to 200. In fact, the Ashford Club celebrated their 25th year last evening and still were taking some of the decorations down when we arrived.

Karla Vincent and Matthew Haack's wedding ceremony was held at St. Peter's in Roswell ..... guests were due to arrive at The Ashford Club by 4:00p .. and the party started at 5:00p

I wish I had been able to see Karla on her wedding day, she was one of my favorite brides of 2009 ... but Ashford had their own plateau and there was no reason for me to go back at the end of their night ... (that is when I usually get to see my brides on one of the happiest days of their lives).

Karla fell in love with my petal cake ..... stems and leaves were scattered on the three tiers ... and check out the leaf border ... very different !!!

The groom cake was red velvet, filled with cream cheese ... and carved into the Georgia Tech GT logo.





I wish Karla and Matthew much happiness.

Langelier-Heald, Featherstone's Grille, 11/7/9

November 7th .... a busy cake day and lots of time on the road ... Clay and I started our day travelling to Woodstock.

Featherstone's Grille is a stand-alone restaurant located at the Towne Lake Hills Golf Club. It served as the site of both the ceremony and reception for Deanna Langelier and Marc Heald.

I had the opportunity to see one of my past brides, Jill Keller, who was coordinating this event for Deanna .. I created Jill's groom cake and her brother's wedding and groom cakes. I also learned that Jill was expecting .. I believe she said March 27th was her due date ... Congrats Jill and good luck.

Aqua was the color for the weekend .. both cakes today had aqua detail. In addition to the aqua ribbon border, Deanna's cake had an aqua swirl design on the top and third tiers ... and aqua dots on the middle tier. It looked great. I added white hydrangea and peach roses to the top and miscellaneous placement here and there.

Marc's groom cake was a surprise to him ... the University of Miami logo. Thanks go to Kelley for decorating this one. Great Job !




Thanks to Liz for being able to pick up the plateau that evening ..

Cake photo's to arrive in a couple of weeks !!! Will post as soon as I get them.

On to delivery #2 ....

Mitchell-Arden, Magnolia Hall, 11/7/9

This was my second delivery of the day .... and my PICK OF THE WEEKEND.

Kathryn (Kate) Mitchell and Ben Arden married at Magnolia Hall on Saturday, November 7th. After the ceremony, it was time to transform the ceremony site into a reception site .. so the vendors got busy. Folks from Endive (caterer) worked on placing and setting up the tables, the DJ got busy, and Clay and I started constructing the cake. It was a 4-tier round cake, the top 3 tiers were chocolate cake filled with coffee buttercream (YUMMY). The bottom cake was white with raspberry filling.

Kate had sent me a box of goodies to decorate her cake with ... an "A" monogram; a bunch of bright aqua ribbon, and a good amount of crystals to create a cascade with. The aqua ribbon was placed on the center of each tier ... the "A" monogram sat proudly on top and the cascade of crystals started at the "A" and swept across the cake. I'm so sorry I wasn't able to capture (didn't have my camera with me) this cake, but I do know that Alea Moore captured it for me. I will update as soon as I get a picture of the cake.

Congratulations Kate and Ben !!!

Where have I been ? Why haven't I been bloggin?

Well ... I took a few weeks off ... Clay and I celebrated our 5th anniversary ... Clay was so romantic .. he reinacted our first date (which was dining at Emerald China and then going for coffee/dessert at La Madeline). Lots of laughter !!! I fell in love with him all over again.

Friends Kevin and Kerry came to town for a visit ... after they took a short hike on the Appalachian Trail, we all became tourists and went to the Aquarium, the World of Coke, and topped our day off at "The Varsity" for a lube job and oil change (LOL).













Clay turned the Big 5-0 !!! He put together a big party for me back in March, and I did the same for him. Lots of friends came over and everyone brought a dish to share. I think he had a great time !!!

EVENT: H. S. West, Hair and Makeup

Tonight I had the honor of participating as a vendor for a very special event. "Cocktails and Covers" was an event dedicated to the creative works of Scoobie West.

I've known Scoobie for years ... but only met him in person once, long ago. He has done the hair and makeup for many of my brides, but is usually long gone or in a different location when I'm setting up the cakes, so I never get to see him. When he called me a couple of weeks ago to ask if I would be willing and able to provide sweet treats for this event .. I didn't hesitate. Scoobie West is the best in his field. I hope tonight's event clears yet another path for him to create on a higher level.

Thanks, Scoobie for giving me this opportunity .... much success always.

Eileen

PS: Photo's to follow ..... Janet Howard (Blue World Studios) was the event photographer. I'll be sure to post photo's when I receive them.

BEST OF WEDDINGS 2010 !!!

I just received a call from The Knot to let me know that I have made it into The Knot's Best of Weddings 2010 issue for the 3rd year in a row ..... WOW !!!!! This is quite an honor and if it wasn't for my incredible brides who took the time to fill out a survey that The Knot sends out ... this honor would not be possible.

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!!

I can't take all of the credit ... so I share this honor with:
Clay ... the Cake Wrangler and my #1 Fan
Shelby .... kitchen detail (pots and pans)
Liz/Kelley ... for always being available and ready to help

The issue will come out in May, 2010 ... I'll be waiting for the doors to open to purchase multiple copies. LOL

OTHER CREATIONS: October

I just love this time of year .. I get to create the cutest stuff perfect for the Fall season ..... Karibeth's annual Halloween Costume Party was scheduled and the theme, this year was "scarecrows and pumpkins". (last year was a Spider theme) ... Four Dozen pumpkin cupcakes and one cute scarecrow head centerpiece were delivered early this morning for all to enjoy.

These cute ghosts (oreo's) were created for
Meredith to pass out to her young halloween costume clients. I've heard they are being well received.

One of my favorite brides from 2007 (Trina) called about a month ago ... she lives in Virginia. She was travelling to Atlanta in October for her baby shower and wanted me to create the cake. It was created from the bedding design for her baby boy to be. She is due in December .. but I say he won't arrive until January.

Deanna's husband scheduled their daughter's Baptism (and forgot to tell Deanna when it was). So it was a panic phonecall for a cake ...

Brandi G did not use me as her wedding cake designer, but asked me to create her anniversary cake (a couple of year later). When she saw my interpretation of her wedding cake, I think she was quite pleased. Thanks Zoe for making the fondant bow. I also got to meet her handsome red-headed son. Adorable.


This pink and white "princess" cake was created for a special little girls 1st birthday. The pink layers are chocolate .. white layers are vanilla. Love the crown and wand topper, don't you?



Wanda needed a special cake for a bridal shower ... I recreated a design done a couple of months ago. I heard the cake was a "hit".

For the man who is into both, Sports and Music ... here's a cake for you. Chocolate of course.


The mom of one of my brides retired and a large party was planned ... the cake design is my interpretation of the party invitation.




Remember the little girl who wanted a nail polish bottle for her Spa Party (in September) .. well, her original party got cancelled due to illness and rescheduled to October. This time, she wanted a round bottle of polish with swirly lettering. When she saw the cake she said "it's perfect". Thanks go to Kelley for knowing how to make swirly letters.

These are Kelley's "people" .... tuxedo strawberries ... I just love them.

Stay tuned for a baptism cake and Halloween Party cake/cupcakes.

Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary !!!

On Friday, October 23rd, Clay and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. If you ask Clay how we met, he will say "1-800-BABE" ...that's not true .. but we did meet on one of those internet dating sites. It's that sense of humor that drew me to him and that I still love. I was once asked why I chose Clay ... it is because he absolutely adores me and makes me laugh ... and he's one of the sweetest guys you'll ever meet.

When we got married, I had Clay commit to be married to me for 85 years. In fact, I had "31,025 days to go" inscribed on his wedding ring (which is 85 years). Happy 5th anniversary, Clay ... 29,200 days to go.

PRO PICS RECEIVED !!!

Thanks to Lamar Gee (www.lamargee.com) for providing awesome shots of the cake from the Shershin-Cook Wedding held at the Atlanta Athletic Club on 8/29/9.

Go check it out !!!

Dym-Hastings, Silverbell Pavillion, 10/11/9

Denise Dym and Ian Hastings had married a couple of months prior .... but it was a private ceremony. So, for friends and family who wanted to witness the joining of this couple, Denise and Ian had an "official" ceremony and reception ... complete with dancing / dining / partying !!!

For those of you who know me ... you know that I've made my reputation on buttercream creations ... you also know that I dislike the taste and use of fondant. Well, my brides continue to push my fondant limits by bringing me extraordinary designs made only with fondant. So, I've dabbled here and there .... and after creating this cake, I may just start playing with fondant a little more. I doubt I will cover a cake in fondant, but I sure will play with fondant accents. I thought this cake came out great. With the help of Clay, we made fondant leaves that I painted red/gold/green and then while at the venue, we rolled stems and twigs using dark chocolate fondant.

I knew I did well when I heard from behind me ... "Oh Wow ! You nailed it !!!" Denise had sent Ian to the Pavillion to check if the cake had arrived.

The "pavillion" was the Silverbell Pavillion at the Emory Conference Center. They have been doing some major renovations and I believe are finished .. and it looks awesome. They even have a 6 lane bowling alley (Wisteria Lanes) .. complete with a beverage area and pool tables. In fact, that's where Denise and Ian had their "rehearsal" party the night before.

Congratulations to you both.

E

Schiff-Donnelly, The Georgian Club, 10/10/9

The Georgian Club, which is located on the 17th Floor of Building 100 at the Cobb Galleria, was the site of the Carla and Kevin's wedding and reception. The weather was a little overcast. Originally the ceremony was going to be held outside, but they decided to move everything inside .. which was a great call. Better safe than sorry.

I can't remember what sports game was on TV when Carla Schiff and Kevin Donnelly came to meet with me back in January ... but all three of us were interested in it, so we moved the tasting from the kitchen to the TV room. Carla and I sat on the couch and worked on the design .. Kevin relaxed in the recliner and gave his .02 cents every once in a while. It was the most fun and relaxed appointment I've ever had.

Carla gave me a photo of a cake design that she liked, but instead of an all over swirl design, she just wanted swirls coming from the bunches of floral. I hope I gave her what she dreamed of.

Congratulations to you both !!!

E

VENDORS:

Photographer: Liz Yeakle (liz@lizyeakle.com)

Music: Any Occasions (Mark Schwartz)

Caterer: Georgian Club

Floral: Carla Duncan - On Occasions of Atlanta

DOC: Kristina Armstrong

Baker: Me

Thomas-Gygax, Stone Mountain Park, 10/10/9

How cool would it be to have the etching on Stone Mountain serve as the backdrop at your reception !!! Well, that's what you would get if you reserved Memorial Hall for your reception. A unique setting for sure. Along the back of the hall is a wall of windows that overlook the lawn and the etching and visitors of the park were cupping their hands over their eyes and leaning into the glass to see what was going on in the hall which was "closed for a private event". As they leaned, they left their nose/hand prints on the glass. The staff at the hall were constantly cleaning the exterior windows free of prints .... and doing everything to make the hall perfect for Wendy and Matt.


Wendy Thomas and Matt Gygax (pronouned Gig Ax) met with me back in April ... they chose a design that I had done about a year ago .. round / square / round ... only their cake would not be iced using my vanilla buttercream .. it would be iced in chocolate fudge. Yummy !!! Their top layer was 1/2 strawberry; 1/2 chocolate filled with chocolate buttercream ... but the other two layers were fake. Three 1/2 sheet cakes (1/2 chocolate; 1/2 strawberry filled w/ fresh sliced strawberries) were prepared and placed in the kitchen area to be cut and served to guests.

Their topper was quite unique .... it was created from a man who had been a vendor at the famous Stone Mountain Yellow Daisy Festival. Wendy will give me his contact information as soon as she returns from her honeymoon and I'll pass that info along to you.

I also created a groom caked that was served at the rehearsal dinner and was a surprise for Matt. Matt and I shared one thing in common ... Boston Cream Pie ... my mom used to make me one for my birthday ... now I make it for my own birthday. Vanilla cake filled with a vanilla custard, and frosted in chocolate buttercream. For Matt's cake, I added the 1970 Marshall Thundering Herd logo on the top. I hope he enjoyed his surprise Boston Cream Pie cake .... I made a little extra filling for me .. it was so good.

Thank you Wendy and Matt ..... I wish you much happiness.

VENDORS:
Music: Spectrum Entertainment (Jimmy)
Photography: 35 Atlanta (Adam and Amber
Floral: Flowers by Joan (Joan Rubenstein)
Caterer: Stone Mountain Park Catering
Baker: me