I’m still on cloud nine after hosting my recent Naked Cake, Florals, & Cocktails Workshop at Journeyman Distillery on September 10th. For over a year I had this specific workshop in mind, and to see it all come together and with such positive response, my heart is so full! There was a great team of vendors involved—rockstar florals from Leah Bayes, gorgeous images captured by Laura Duggleby Photography, custom signage from the talented Tandem Calligraphy, and beautiful vintage furniture pieces from Celery City Trading. Not to mention Journeyman Distillery…providing their amazing upstairs event space The Grainery, complimentary cocktails, and bottles of their new lemon vodka for all participants.
Florist Leah Bayes chose a late summer/fall color pallete with foolproof neutrals that could be combined with more vivid colors for a little added personality and flair. She combined locally grown burgundy dahlias, coral amaranthus, purple basil, and pink zinnias. Additional florals were sourced from all of the U.S. and South America, including lavender, peach, and ivory roses, navy thistle, a beautiful taupe “Caramel” carnation and a selection of greenery, including eucalyptus and ruscus.
I was simply blown away by the custom signage created by Tandem Calligraphy—a beautiful hand-lettered welcome sign and smaller Instagram tag sign were the perfect addition to the rustic space.
Participants were encouraged to snap photos and tag them on Instagram with the hashtag #floralcakejourney to win a beautiful floral arrangement at the end of the workshop. Upon arrival, everyone enjoyed complimentary cocktails and mingled before diving into the hands-on naked-cake frosting.
“My hope is to bring people together and create lasting memories of a delicious experience.”
Our gorgeous lounge area furniture was provided by Celery City Trading. Vintage green upholstered high back chairs, a love seat, and distressed white side table made an ideal place to sip cocktails and pose for photos. They also supplied the large decorative easel for our welcome sign. The pieces looked fantastic in the space!
I was lucky to have my dear Mama on hand to help with the cake demo portion of the workshop. She’s my baking partner in crime and was simply the biggest help to me preparing all the cakes and frosting for the 24 total participants!
I loved seeing everyone try their hand at naked-style cake frosting! For many people this was their first time, and I was blown away by their natural talent. Each participant had their own individual station set up with rotating cake turntable, offset spatula, 6-inch cake layers, and my Italian buttercream frosting.
Leah walked the participants through the process of preparing the fresh florals to decorate their finished naked cakes. With her artistic eye and guidance, everyone created their own unique style. I was amazed at how different all the cakes were in spite of everyone having the same flowers to choose from. It was a gorgeous sea of floral-topped naked cakes!
The finished cakes were breathtaking—literally stunning! Everyone had a fun time taking photos of their cakes. I know it was hard for them later to cut into something so gorgeous…but, it IS cake and must be eaten!
Everyone went home with some serious swag—a full size bottle of Journeyman Distillery Lemon Vodka, adorable mini soaps from local Three Oaks Aylamethyst Soaps, recipe cards, and handcrafted caramels from yours truly.
This workshop was the result of an incredible amount of planning, organizing, and hard work. Thank you so much to everyone involved! I couldn’t have imagined a better experience—meeting and connecting with all the participants was the highlight for me. Stay tuned for my upcoming workshops—this is just the beginning.