Yes, that is a cake hanging ‘upside down’ in air! We’re not sure if this is the first chandelier wedding cake done in Austin, but I have not seen one previously. There have been a ton done elsewhere, ever since The Butter End in LA did it for Kaley Cuoco’s wedding (Penny on the Big Bang Theory). That’s the first time I saw one, & me being me, was ALL OVER that coolness!

We’ve done two display cakes that we used for a super cool photoshoot & for the big Bridal Extravaganza as a huge attention-getter. Of COURSE we were the only bakery there out of about 14 who had a cake hanging from 10 feet high in our booth! But those were done with styrofoam dummies. A far cry from hanging real, HEAVY, squishy, delicate cake in the air!

That is how we met Teranie! She saw our cake & fell in love. And we fell in love with her because she is the sweetest! And she was having a Halloween wedding with a gorgeous purple & black theme. She was looking for more of a ‘Gothic Victorian Witch’ style vibe, not scary with skulls, etc. We love our skulls around here! But we were careful to avoid them for this theme.

Purple is my favorite color & the combination is also the favorite of my kick-ass cake artist Jo, who called dibs & met this challenge head-on! So we were anticipating this one for months, counting down the days til time to create!

So How DO You Hang a Cake???

It’s actually a very simple concept. There is an internal structure of a threaded rod, & instead of the cakes actually being stacked ON each other like a normal tiered cake, each cake has its own separate support system, & it just looks like they are stacked. You can see a tiny bit of space between the tiers. The threaded rod, washer & nut system is surprisingly strong & stable.

Jo & I were so busy working together to hang the cake, that I forgot about taking progress pictures at first. My bad. 😦 Believe me, this is at least a two-person job! One has to hold the heavy cake up in the air while the other screws the nut ALLLLL the way up that long threaded rod! My shoulders were a little sore the next day from that loooong static biceps curl of holding cake! Our rod was 24 inches long, so that takes a while. We took turns on holding the cake & screwing the nut up the rod.

And how cool is that arch? It’s an antique that Teranie & her wife found & bought just for the wedding. It’s solid iron & TALL! 10 feet tall. Very stable & strong & they also put sand bags at the bottom for extra stability, just to be sure.

The threads on a rod are actually at a slight angle, spiraling up. So the cakes are not going to hang level. We brought shims of cardboard that we placed between each cake & the washer to level it out perfectly. Under each cake was a piece of strong plywood that I cut to size & painted black. Even super thin plywood is plenty strong enough to support the cake perfectly.

There was a little bit of rod visible after the bottom tier was hung, but we needed that to hang their moon ornament topper & to ensure stability of the cake. We simply brought black fondant with us & a mold that matched the cake decor, & decorated it to match the cake.

Because we needed more servings then the 100 in the chandelier cake, we also decorated a matching cake that stood on a beautiful stand under the arch. We included Teranie’s favorite flowers, calla lilies, custom colored in purple & black. These were sugar! Real ones are VERY toxic! The cake flavors for both were Funfetti with purple & black colors inside, & our specialty Pecan Pie cake. So yummy!

We did run into a couple of challenges, required a quick store run for some additional supplies, & we thought of a couple tricks that we will definitely use next time to make the process more seamless. But overall it went really well & was super sturdy when done!

The venue chosen was the lovely Villa St. Clair, just off Hwy 130 east of Austin, TX. The architecture is awesome with huge stained glass windows in the chapel & an amazing outdoor space for the reception. And after two solid months of rain & historic flood levels in the area, we were blessed with perfect weather! Of course, the cakes were inside & well-protected. Cakes should never be outside!

And to just add to all the awesomeness of this amazing wedding, Teranie & Ashlee cut their cake with a sword! I LOVE these pictures sent to me by the brides!

After the wedding, Teranie texted me & said “I absolutely LOVED the cake. Everyone freaked out! When I got to the venue, Marie came running in asking if I wanted to see pics. Nobody could believe it was real! The cake topper/hanging moon spun slowly all night because of the air flow. It was magical.”

Do You Need a Rocking Cake for Your Big Event?

So you may not want something as extreme as a chandelier cake for your wedding or party. (Although we hope you do! Bring it on!) But if we can do THIS, we can also make your sweetest cake dreams come true! From the simple to the extreme, Cakes ROCK!!! can create it!

To design & order your sugar masterpiece, email us at admin@cakesrock.rocks or call 877-711-CAKE (2253)!

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This!