Bakeries balance pandemic challenges and surging wedding season
Elizabeth Fry reports
TAMPA, Fla. - From the taste to the design, every bride has a vision for what their wedding day will look like -- even down to the cake.
"We get brides that walk right in that are like ‘This is the cake I want, right here, same details, same flowers, everything,’" said Kirby Lavallee, who owns The Cake Girl with his wife Kristina.
For Kirby and Kristina and their team of talented bakers and decorators, their job is to bring that vision to life.
"When they come in, we’re asking them all those crazy questions: What’s your decor look like? What do you like in your personal life? What’s your soon-to-be-spouse like?" said Lavallee. "Then we can kind of put together something."
Over the past year, weddings have looked different because of the pandemic and so have the cakes.
"Weddings are traditionally two, three, four-tier cakes or more," explained Lavallee. "But they were single-tiered. It was the small budget weddings because we also had to keep in mind people were losing their jobs, they were losing hours, but they still wanted to have something special to cut and celebrate."
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But despite challenges during the pandemic -- like a supply shortage on ingredients -- The Cake Girl kept thriving. They even created a new way for brides to taste test their cakes from a distance.
"We started shipping our cakes out nationwide in the form of craven cups, which are like cakes in a jar," said Lavallee. "You put them in this form, freeze them down, get them really cold, put them in an insulated box, and send them off."
But with venues reopening, brides are back to planning for their big day.
"The elopements are getting smaller and the big-scale weddings coming back," said Lavallee.
Pandemic didn’t stop one couple’s big wedding day
One Tampa couple took on the stress of planning their perfect day during the height of COVID-19 restrictions and safety precautions. By the end of it, their wedding day was everything they imagined – and more.
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So, at The Cake Girl, it’s been busy -- and the orders just keep coming in.
"We have two phone lines that ring off the hook all day," Lavallee explained. "We are still doing about 2 to 3 weddings a week."
The Lavallees are happy to see business picking up, but they are especially excited to welcome their brides back. Because for them, they say even their customers become like family.
"We’re super excited, I mean you never really know what’s going to happen day to day here," said Lavallee.
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Lavallee told FOX 13 that while they still have brides coming in for last-minute for cakes, they also have started to work with brides who have weddings booked for as far out as 2023.
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Cake remained a centerpiece for pandemic weddings, but with less tiers and more long-distance taste tests - FOX 13 Tampa Bay
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