Couture bases make cakes stand out in a crowd
By Bernadette Suski-Harding, Special Writer
Never in her wildest imaginings did Beth “Birdie” Carnevale think planning her daughter’s wedding would inspire a new career path for her, but that’s exactly what happened.
Daughter Nicolina’s 2011 wedding was the stuff of fairytales: beautiful handmade wedding gown; custom calligraphy for invitations, placecards and napkins; and a five-tier wedding cake decorated by hand with icing hearts, swirls and calligraphy.
Mrs. Carnevale planned every last detail, right down to the pedestal for the cake — a necessity because “the cake was going to be behind the bride and groom, in the corner, and wouldn’t be seen. The cake for Nicolina (was) one of the most important parts of the wedding so I wanted it to be seen from across the room.”
When Mrs. Carnevale couldn’t find a cake stand she liked, she did what any arts-and-craftsy mom determined to create the perfect wedding would do: She designed a solid pine box, which her husband built, covered it with satin fabric to match Nicolina’s gown and embellished it with a 2-inch wide strip of hand-beaded silk ribbon.
When it was done, she took a step back to survey her work and said, “Wow, now that really cakes it up,” a phrase “that came into my head out of nowhere,” Mrs. Carnevale said.
Then, with a significant task crossed off her list, Mrs. Carnevale thought nothing more of it. After all, she had a wedding — one she describes as a big fat Italian-Greek wedding — to plan.
And plan it she did. When the wedding was over, and Mrs. Carnevale caught her breath, she took a day to personally visit the Princeton businesses that had helped make her daughter’s fairytale wedding a reality. Among the stops were the bent spoon, which created two special flavors of gelato to serve at the reception, and Chez Alice where Mrs. Carnevale thanked owner Matt Banihani, who created her daughter’s cake.
While they were talking, Mr. Banihani held up the photo Mrs. Carnevale had sent and said, “I’ve got a bride who wants to buy this stand.”
That stand wasn’t for sale, but the fact someone wanted one like it gave Mrs. Carnevale the idea to create couture cake stands for special events. She’d even come up with the name without realizing it: Cake It Up.
Standing out
in a crowd
The company’s tagline is “Where Your Cake Stands Out in a Crowd!” and when Mrs. Carnevale’s new website, www.cakeitupcakestands.com, debuts this summer, shoppers will be able to build and preview more than 500 designs, among them stands for cakes, cake pops and cupcakes, choosing from more than 500 samples of fabric, monograms, ribbons, trims and brooches. (In the meantime, you can glimpse Mrs. Carnevale’s work on the existing site, www.cakeitupstands.com.)
Prices start at $100 for a 12-inch by 12-inch stand and go up according to the size of the and the trim(s) chosen by the bride.