Typically, brides agonize over every decision, second guessing themselves and exploring a million different avenues. If there's an option, they'll consider it.
While that was the case when picking a design, when it came to Jason and I choosing a baker it really was a piece of cake! (har har) We only met with two bakeries, and we had two very different experiences. First, we went to Hot Chocolates in Hurst. For this, we set up a private appointment where we got to sample different cakes, fillings and icings. We got the undivided attention of Becky, one of the co-owners, and she really talked to us about the wedding and what we wanted. She showed us books of different cakes that they had done before and we talked about what it was that we wanted, what they were capable of doing, etc. I even kicked Jason out of the room so I could talk to her about an idea I had for the groom's cake. Since I don't like strawberries, but love the little bride/groom chocolate dipped idea, I asked her if it would be possible to use Oreos instead. I thought it more fitting since that's Jason's favorite cookie :) Becky said it would be no problem. We left the meeting with assurance that we were all on the same page and were all happy.
The other bakery we went to was Creative Memories, also in Hurst. This company runs things differently in that they don't do private appointments. Once a month, they host an open house where they bake up a storm of different cakes and whoever wants to talk to them is welcome to swing by some time during the day to sample cake and discuss their vision. While the cake was good, the service was not so hot. Jason and I went in and got some cake (assembly line style) and then asked if we could speak to someone about our wedding. It took them awhile, but finally someone made themselves not busy and we discussed our ideas. I kicked Jason out again to ask about the Oreo idea, and after the lady I talked to had to talk to someone else, I was told that they wouldn't be able to do it. Honestly, I was shocked. I wasn't asking them to do anything absurd - it's not like dipping Oreos is that different from dipping strawberries! The fact that I was flat out told no didn't sit well with me. To top it off, when I got home I did a price comparison between the two companies, taking into account the design, how many people it would serve, and what my money would get me. Hot Chocolates turned out to be the better deal, even with the added cost of the Oreos!
So back to Hot Chocolates we went. I knew I wanted a vanilla bride's cake and a chocolate groom's cake, so it really was a matter of picking which combinations went best together. We wound up with yellow cake/vanilla cream filling/buttercream icing for the bride's cake, and devil's food cake/fudge icing for the groom's cake. I sent them pictures of what I wanted for each design, dropped off our cake topper, and let them do their thing. And I could not have been happier with how everything turned out.
On top of providing two amazing cakes, they also gave us boxes, one for each cake tier, just in case there was some left over (there was, but not anymore!) They also left an instruction sheet on how to cut and serve the cake (our caterers were the ones who did that) and how to save our top tier so it keeps and doesn't get freezer burned so we can enjoy it on our first anniversary.
I give Hot Chocolates an A+ rating. The only thing I would have changed is the vanilla cream filling - it tasted fabulous, but I would have liked it to be a thicker layer in between cake tiers. I was thinking it would be kind of its own mini layer, but it was more like just enough to hold the layers together. Something that could easily be taken care of by being more specific, and it's really not that big of a deal - in fact, I keep looking for a reason to order another cake from them because what they made for us was so amazing!
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