It’s almost impossible to imagine that 100 Layer Cake is 5 years old this month. FIVE YEARS! So much has happened with our business and our personal lives in the last five years. We thought we’d take a minute to reintroduce ourselves to you all, old readers and new. Because it’s always nice to know who’s behind the scenes, don’t you think?
To celebrate the big 5, we had a fun portrait session with balloon artist Jihan Zencirli (of Geronimo Balloons) and photographer Jennifer Young. Together these two have formed the Art/Mo project, a traveling portrait studio specializing in festive, modern portraits. Art/Mo is headed to Stockholm and New York next, and to celebrate their travels, we’re giving away a session in New York during the first week of April, at the end of this post. You don’t want to miss it!
Kristina Meltzer – Project starter, domestic goddess, and editor of Cakelet
When we started 100 Layer Cake, I was a newlywed! I was fresh from the high of my own wedding and filled with information and inspiration for the next crop of brides. Five years later I’m the mama to two beautiful little boys and as you can guess, what inspires me now is very different than in 2009. When we launched our family blog, 100 Layer Cakelet, last year, I became the editor for that branch of our business (naturally!). It’s always amazing to see our former brides be as inspired by their family celebrations as they were by their wedding. Life just keeps getting better, if you ask me.
What would you be doing if you weren’t running 100 Layer Cake? In a perfect world I’d be growing a beautiful garden, preparing delicious meals for my family, throwing dinner parties in my backyard, and savoring little moments with my boys while they are young.
If you were a creative wedding professional, what would you be? Floral designer, without a doubt!
Favorite flavor of cake? This carrot cake, forever.
Instagram: @kristina100lc
Pinterest: pinterest.com/kristinahm
Jillian Clark – Fearless crafter, wife, mother and Editor of 100 Layer Cake
I remember like it was yesterday, asking our friends to share their weddings with us,in order to share fresh creative content for the site. And, even enlisting the help of my husband (poor guy) to shoot all sorts of my crazy ideas. It didn’t take long for the flurry of emails to take over our inboxes, full of creative DIY weddings and party ideas. Today, 5 years later, I’m still so passionate about weddings, and eager as ever to find the perfect weddings and trends to share with you.
What would you be doing if you weren’t running 100 Layer Cake? My passion has always been to have my own business. Through the years I’ve dabbling in running a t-shirt line to event planning & design, so undoubtedly I’d be running some sort of creative business.
If you were a creative wedding professional, what would you be? Wedding planner!
Favorite flavor of cake? Flourless chocolate cake.
Instagram: @jilly100lc
Pinterest: pinterest.com/jcolli2
Amanda Dawbarn – Creative Director and Social Media Manager of 100 Layer Cake, and newlywed (1 year is still considered a newlywed, right?)
I’ve always loved entertaining friends, but I ventured into this wedding world 5 years ago without a lot of knowledge about weddings, per se. I had a computer and a dream to create and share ideas with people. 100 Layer Cake had very humble beginnings but with some talent and a little luck, we managed to carve out our own little gorgeous corner of the wedding world. I can still hardly believe it.
I was lucky enough to plan our engagement shoot and wedding after we started 100 Layer Cake, so the inspiration and resources were endless! I had the time of my life collaborating with industry friends, pushing my creative (and crafty!) boundaries and being inspired by all the beauty around me. And marrying my dream guy, of course.
What would you be doing if you weren’t running 100 Layer Cake? Fashion is definitely a passion of mine. I get so excited by color, shape and sparkle, so perhaps I’d own my own fashion accessories company? I’d spend all day surrounded by baubles, fabric and materials in a happy little studio.
If you were a creative wedding professional, what would you be? Invitation and paper designer!
Favorite flavor of cake? It’s a close tie between tres leche and carrot cake.
Instagram: @amanda100lc
Pinterest: pinterest.com/amanda_halbrook/
We couldn’t celebrate our 5 year without sharing a few of our favorite wedding and highlights through the years too!
You gals have featured hundreds of weddings over the past 5 years. Do you have a favorite wedding or other moment on the blog that has really stood out?
First, it’s pretty near impossible pick just a few favorites from all of the beautiful events we’ve featured over the years. There are soooooo many good ones, with so many different styles, and so many different reasons to love each one. But here are few that have stood out along the way…
The Surprise Wedding: Marisa & John’s engagement party turned wedding, that they planned in just seven days, definitely stands out as a top feature for us. It was so sweet and so genuine and such a nice reminder of what the wedding is *really* about. You all loved it too! Holly & Billy’s DIY wedding: This adorable wedding, planned and designed entirely by the bride, exemplifies the DIY wedding movement in such a perfect way. It felt like the beginning of something new for weddings and wedding photography… we and you were completely smitten. Sonya and Davey’s Figeuroa Mountain Farmhouse wedding: The light, the venue, the perfect details, the rustic meets romantic style, this gorgeous event was just breathtaking. Amanda and Nick’s sparkly pink & gold California wedding: We’re going to say that this wedding was the beginning of a new trend in a more sophisticated take on “DIY”. Sparkles, ruffles, soft peachy pink, gorgeous bridal style… we never get tired of seeing new variations on this theme. (See part 2 here.) Andi & Jarret’s bohemian Ace Hotel wedding: This one again felt like the start of a new trend in weddings. Bohemian, fashionable, and design-centric, this style of wedding sparked not only new ideas in the wedding space, but also new businesses in our industry ! We can all agree we’re not tired of this indie-contemporary take on getting married. Amanda & Tim’s glamorous retro California wedding: Naturally our own Amanda’s wedding is a highlight! Seeing her take on getting married, after being behind the scenes of this blog for so many years was amazing. (See part 2 here!) Christina & Justin’s colorful, modern Northern California wedding: We love how fresh this very recent wedding by Enjoy Events Co. feels. And the florals. ZOMG!!!! It’s such a perfect take on classic modern, with just the right bit of current trends thrown in.Share some ‘pinch me’ moments, when you realized what a success the site had become?
• Appearing on the Martha Stewart Show in 2009.
• Attending the Engage conference and speaking in front of so many talented wedding professionals.
• Telling someone outside of our industry what we do for work, and having their response be “Wait, YOU’RE 100 Layer Cake?!! I’ve been reading your blog for years!”
• And of course, seeing Amanda’s wedding in Martha Stewart.
Most importantly, we want to say THANK YOU to all of you who have supported us along the way. Readers, advertisers, vendors, and industry partners, you are the reason we’re here! We love this job and we are so thankful to you for making this site how we spend our days. As a tiny thank you to everyone, we’re spending the next few weeks sharing a series of giveaways with all of you!
Starting today, actually! Leave a comment below to enter our giveaway for an Art/Mo session in NYC during April 3rd-5th.
And again, thank you to Jennifer and Jihan for these ultra fun photos. We hope some of you will book a slot with Art/Mo in NYC and Stockholm next month!
Photography: Jennifer Young / Styling: Jihan Zencirli
