And The Winner Is...
Posted on Jan 19, 2012
Number 34 – IX Center Bridal Show
The five-tier cake received the highest number of votes from the attendees at the IX Center show held on January 14 and 15 and the People’s Choice most important award anyone can get is this kind of recognition from customers.
You would never have thought… I would, of course, but I’m just the delivery boy. What do I know?
As I walked the rope line in the basement of the IX Center, I thought of how I’d ended up there. I looked down the row of cakes that had been entered into a contest—as I thought about the way Stella and Penny fought space constraints in their home kitchens to make cakes the likes of which I’d never seen before. I knew they were pretty nice cakes, but I didn’t have any idea what was starting to happen. Then when the shop opened in 2009, we saw the people coming in for their consultations and the wedding cakes going out the door, and I knew that something really special was going on here. I followed the Cake Ladies to the shows in Trumbull and Mahoning Counties and watched as they won accolade after accolade, for both taste and design, and won the hearts of their customers along the way. All the while, we watched as the famous shops outside of the Valley worked their magic on television, showing off their design capabilities on cable channels up and down the dial.
Stella and Penny, of course, dream big. So when they decided to expand into the Cleveland market with a big push at the IX Center Bridal Show, it was no great surprise to me. They both were confident that there was enough business in that market for them to share with those nationally known bakeries, and that over time the people of the North Shore would come to appreciate the remarkable talents of The Cake Boutique. And so, there I was, walking the rope line, looking at the best those bakeries have to offer, and thinking to myself—“The Boutique’s cakes are at least as beautiful as any in this hall. But I’m just the delivery boy. What do I know?”
OK, maybe I know more than I thought. A few moments ago, I found out through a post on The Cake Boutique’s Facebook page and confirmed through the Today’s Bride site:
www.todaysbrideonline.com/galleries/cakes12ix.php
...that Number 34—a stunning five-tier wedding cake designed by the equally stunning ladies of the Boutique—got the highest number of votes from the attendees at the IX Center show held on January 14 and 15. People’s Choice: the most important award anyone can get is this kind of recognition from customers.
The Cake Ladies won’t say it, so I will. They climbed out of the relative obscurity of the Mahoning Valley and took a chance. They faced down serious competition—the best the region has to offer, and some of the best in the country. TV-quality wedding cake designers. Experienced professional big-city cake shops. They stepped out of the shadows and onto the biggest stage they’ve ever had…
…and won it all.
Tomorrow is another day at The Cake Boutique. But today, I offer sincere congratulations to Stella, Penny and their staff for a job well done.