The hotel is a local icon, built in 1904 and visited by U.S. presidents and celebrities over the last century. It is built high on a cliff over the Columbia River and has expansive views of the gorge and Washington state across the river.
The lavishly appointed hotel is surrounded by meticulously landscaped gardens and features a creek that ends in a spectacular waterfall to the river below. This unique location well-deserved the designation as one of the ten best places in America to get married. (Watch for a feature on the hotel in a WE television wedding special.)
The hotel has been closed for a period of time and is now back in business, pampering guests and planning elegant weddings. The wedding planners at the hotel have been looking for a local baker to provide wedding cakes for them. After meeting and tasting my orange rum cake I was invited to bring cake samples and participate in their bridal fair.
It was an opportunity I never expected to have and I had one week to prepare a presentation for the engaged couples and parents and wedding coordinators that would be attending the bridal fair.
It was an elegant affair. This spectacular flower design in a sculpted ice vase greeted guest in the hotel lobby.
Local wedding service providers including wedding planners, photographers, stationers and floral designers had presentations for the guests.
I truly felt like I had hit the big time.
I wasn't too sure I was ready for it...
I'm just a lil' country gal, homeschooling mom of seven kids, sometime potter, garden putterer. What am I doing here???
This is the "fake" cake I spent the week working on as part of my presentation. Styrofoam, fondant and fresh flowers. What a combination!
The main feature of my display was my cake samples. I brought fudge cake with strawberry cream filling and my own orange rum cake with marionberry filling. Both cakes were iced with my signature icing. They were very popular!I made some very important connections at this event. Networking. It's what we homeschooling moms, wedding-cake-maker-wannabes do.
New things on the horizon. I'll keep you posted.