If you’re a fan of just about anything vintage, even someone who’s not opposed to walking into the odd antique shop or two, then you most certainly have heard of a lil ol’thing called milk glass, right!? For those that might not know, milk glass comes to us by way of Venice circa the 16th century and is a an opaque or translucent milky or colored {pink, yellow, brown, blue, black or white} glass blown into a wide variety of shapes and styles all with a unique texture {often dot like} to its surface area. Being that milk glass has such a unique look, it has become wildly collectible, and a highly desirable entity when crafting decor for some weddings.
So why am I on about milk glass right? In today’s Why It Works Wednesday believe it or not, we are NOT talking about milk glass, well not directly anyway, but something that samples a milk glass like texture & styling, a super mega gorgeous wedding cake by way of Style Me Pretty from Designer Cakes By April. This cake is to die for beautiful and succeeds for two very simple reasons, texture & execution.
*Photograph by Chantel Marie Photography
Texture: As you can see, the entirety of the cake, save for the crown, is covered in petite white dots, much like traditional milk glass. The execution of the dots is damn near flawless, but we will get more into that in just a bit. The white on white dots creates an overall tranquil quality in their easy size & repetitive nature, almost like that ease you feel with the rhythm of a car. The top layer is treated differently in effort to keep the overall look fresh & modern as well as providing a break space for the eye with the wonderfully smooth top to the cake. But let’s be honest, the real textural action on this 4 tier beauty comes from the stunning sugar work floral sash donned by our milk glass cake! The loud voluminous peony like focal points to the sash are simply divine. The soft ruffles are easy on the eyes and are in stark contrast to the consistent rhythm of their dotted background. These lovely giants also serve to break the conventional plane of a wedding cake, giving a 3D like quality to an already real-D cake. Interwoven through these plump blooms are smaller but no less notable more structured dogwood & posy blooms. These straight up fellows give a bit of structure & control to the sash, allowing a soft line of design to form. Lastly the stamen donned by some blooms are so incredibly cool in their rigged nature & bulbous ends, in some regards, looking back to the dots of the base cake! The beauty of the texture in this cake is the sharp contrast of various textures all together, almost like an order in chaos if you will. Nothing is too rigid, too aggressive, everything just wonderfully soft enough, just feminine enough, juuuuust right.
Execution: Execution is extremely important when it comes to a cake like this, because believe you me, without a high level of work perfection going on with a cake like this it would like more a Monet rather then a Rembrandt {ie a bit messy up close!} Going back to the dot work, look a bit closer. The dots are eerily perfect & similar in their size all….around….the….cake. In addition to their size being almost exactly similar, the structure of the rows and spacing is superb. I stared at the cake for a quite a while {going crossed eyed mind you!} before I was able to find a break in the consistent application, which I was not by the way. Such patience does not come to all of us and it truly is a remarkable thing. Not only are the simple dots amazing, the skill that one must posses to craft truly amazing sugar flowers is not something everyone has. There is a real art to crafting such true representations of flowers out of sugar. From having a way with ruffles to molding them into just the right shape, this is not something every baker can do. If your a real fan of sugar work, I suggest you make that a priority when searching for your baker. Last but not least is the placement of our flowers, all free hand, in the shape of the sash. Here again an artistic eye is at work and without the guidance of such, a structured mess at best would be the outcome.
This wonderful cake really does pay proper homage to the now vintage styling of traditional cakes from long ago. The milk glass base serves as a wonderful place to start in design and the addition of the gorgeous flowers, stunning. Please be sure to check out the full wedding Here, as it really is a completely lovely affair! If you want to see more tremendously beautiful wedding cakes, be sure to check out my Cakes As Art board on Pinterest too! I don’t know about you guys, but I am suddenly craving a gorgeous old school milk glass vase….. and maybe a side of really yummy cake to nibble one! Do you have a passion for milk glass now too? How about those phenomenal flowers, to die for right!? Be sure to send along your design break downs, I would love to help enlighten Why It Works!
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Wedding Cake: Designer Cakes By April | Wedding Photography: Chantel Marie Photography