Looking for something sweet to take the edge off of planning your wedding?  We were craving something delicious too, so Le Salon caught with Rachel of Sweet Heather Anne – an Ann Arbor based boutique cake studio – to chat about cupcakes, Italy, free cakes, and everything in between . . .

It goes without saying that Sweet Heather Anne’s cakes are heavenly on the taste buds, but the real specialty of the boutique is cakes that are just as much a sweet treat to feast your eyes on.

Rachel:  What really sets us apart would be the artistic talent that our designers have.  Our cakes are very refined and are definitely artistic statements in and of themselves.

The level of cake artistry available at Sweet Heather Anne’s is no surprise.  Heather, the owner and founder of the boutique, studied sculpture at the University of Michigan’s School of Art and Design.  During her collegiate years, she studied abroad in Florence, Italy, and fell in love.

Rachel:  While she was there, she really fell in love with food and kind of the community that’s created around food, so when she came back to Ann Arbor, she wanted to create a similar life for herself here.  She started going to the farmer’s market a lot, and she decided that she really wanted to incorporate her love of food into her love of art.  She was a major in sculpture, so she decided to create edible monuments . . . and that’s how it got started – basically from there, people started asking her to do cakes, friends, and then friends of friends, and it just kind of became a business its own.

In addition to scrumptious, sculpted cakes, Sweet Heather Anne’s also does cookies and cupcakes.  Cupcakes have definitely been very hot in the bridal world this year.  Rachel sounds off on whether the cupcake craze is just a trend or here to stay:

Rachel:  I think that they’re definitely not as popular as last year, but we’re still seeing a lot of people doing them.  It’s kind of a style thing, they’re not quite as elegant as a cake is, but you still definitely get a lot of those do-it-yourself, rustic weddings that were really popular for awhile – They fit in better with that type of bride and also the barbeque type of bride.

Sweet Heather Anne’s knows their brides.  To make a cake uniquely theirs, they get to know their clients intimately over interviews, cake tastings, and design consultations.

Rachel:  We take cake making very personally, and we try really hard to provide a very personal service for all of our clients, so we really take a lot of time to get to know them and to be sure that we provide them with exactly what they’re looking for in a way that it’s an expression of who they are, to really accentuate the style, the look, and the feel of their wedding.

I know I’m dying to get a taste of Sweet Heather Anne’s confectionary delights – and so is everyone else.  Hungry brides beware:  make sure you order your wedding cake early!

Rachel:  We’re a very small shop, and we are pretty specialized, so we only take a limited number of orders.  We get brides booking us a year out – those are the very proactive brides, but I’d say at 6 months, it’s definitely time to find your baker and get started.

The cost of a perfect cake varies depending on how many guests you’re feeding and how much fancy you want your frosting and fondant to be.  Sweet Heather Anne’s sets their prices using a per serving fee ($4 for round cakes, $5 for square and sculpted cakes) and a design fee.

Rachel:  The design fee is based fully on how long it takes us to execute the design, so if it’s a seven-tiered cake that’s covered in sugar flowers, that design fee is going to be drastically different than a cake that’s two-tiered and just covered in fondant and a ribbon.  - but I’d expect the design fee to be somewhere between $600 and $1,000.

Did I mention that when you order a wedding cake from Sweet Heather Anne’s, you’re really getting two cakes?  This boutique wants you to have your cake, have your cake again, and eat it too.

Rachel:  We offer all of our brides complimentary cakes, so on their one-year anniversary, they can contact us and we’ll make them a cake!

Yum!

A Biento,

Rachel Shinville, Editorial Team

Photo Credits (Order of Appearance) - Lamb & Lark | Abby Rose Photo | Elton Handerson | Abby Rose Photo | Nicole Haley | Nicole Haley | Abby Rose Photo | Jess + Nate | Contact Information: Creme de la Creme Profile for Sweet Heather Anne | (734) 913-2025

The opinions in this article are subject to the editorial author of this post. Le Salon encourages brides to try multiple boutiques and designers to find the one. Questions? Want to Book an Appointment at our Bridal Shop in Birmingham, Michigan (MI)? call 313-924-1651 or email us.