Just ask me: "How did you get started making wedding cakes?"

The most frequently asked question I get from clients is "How did you get started making wedding cakes?" I have a quick, short answer when I'm in a hurry, but I decided it's time to answer this question in full for all of you who are interested. It's surprising for sure. It's definitely the reason I can, with all confidence, keep pushing forward knowing this is what I should be doing...without any doubts.

I actually got started like most cake designers do - I made my first birthday cake for my oldest son's first birthday and fell in love with it. At the time, I was so proud of my first masterpiece, a barn cake with graham cracker doors. I couldn't believe how good I was! In retrospect (12 years later), it was the saddest looking cake I've ever seen! Haha!! But truly, it was a new artistic outlet for me. I started offering to make birthday cake for my friends' children in lieu of a gift so I could try new skills and be challenged. They loved it! It was so much fun and quickly I saw my skills beginning to improve. And I especially loved the reactions I would get from all my "customers".

That very moment I heard Him answer, "Call Raleigh Rescue Mission."

Then, in 2009, when my son Ian was three years old, I wanted to find a volunteer opportunity that I could do with him. So I prayed to the Lord and asked Him for one. That very moment I heard Him answer, "Call Raleigh Rescue Mission." So I picked up the phone to see if there were any volunteer gigs Ian and I could do together. I quickly learned that it wasn't exactly an appropriate place for children due to the nature of their focus: the homeless and all the issues that accompany the homeless. As we concluded that there was no place for us, I felt confused - did I hear wrongly? I said goodbye to the lady on the phone and started to hang up when I heard her yell "WAIT!!"

I picked the phone back up and and replied, "Yes?" She said, "Do you by any chance make wedding cakes?" While I had never made a wedding cake before, let alone a tiered cake of any sort, everything in my being was screaming "YES!!!!" I quickly responded and said "I make cakes, but I've never made a wedding cake before." She went on to explain that a couple who had completed their program, having overcome drug abuse and other adversities, fell in love and decided to get married, and they wanted to be married at the mission. They were seeking volunteers for the entire event and still needed a wedding cake. Without hesitation, I told her I would do it!

Well, after I hung up the phone, I was in complete disbelief. What did I just do? What did I sign up for? I don't know how to make a wedding cake! Immediately the thought came to my mind to contact Amy Mears, a wedding cake designer in Upstate New York who had made some celebration cakes for me years earlier when I lived up there. I contacted her and let her know what I was doing and she was quick to offer me advice on how to go about such a project. After we talked for a while I started to wonder if this was a business I could do, so I asked her what she thought. She said, "Yes, you could totally do this! Because not only am I going to tell you how, but I am going to give you all my recipes too!" Just like that, God's effortless Grace dropped right into my lap. Within a few emails, I had everything I needed to make this wedding cake. In addition, the seed had been planted to one day have a wedding cake business.

"Just like that, God's effortless Grace dropped right into my lap."

Well, I made the cake! And actually, our local newspaper, The News & Observer, had been following the couple's story and planned on reporting on the wedding. So guess what? My very first wedding cake made its debut in the News and Observer!

So folks! That's how it happened? That's how I got started making wedding cakes. And because the Lord directed my path, I never have to doubt or wonder if this is what I should be doing? I just keep walking forward with confidence in all He has for me. In fact, I'm looking forward to unveiling some great things for 2018 real soon - it's going to be a great year! And who knows, maybe the Raleigh Rescue Mission will have a part in it too.

Thank you for supporting Love Cake and God Bless You!