Hey everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington. And today I'm joined by Kayla Heffner of Seatown Sweets and we connected a few weeks ago at the Seattle Bride event, uh, down at, uh, where was that kind of outside of Ballard. And, uh, I think my wife kind of talked to you and they coming on or kind of planted the seed. I want to thank you so much for coming on today on the podcast. Why don't you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do.
Yeah, thank you so much for having me. Excited to be here. So, um, yeah, my name's Kayla Heffner and I started my company Seatown Sweets a couple of years ago I actually started as a baking blogger and that was in about 2013 when Pinterest was really kind of taking off. And I would see all these like cool, crazy baking recipes and whatnot. And so I'd give them a go and I'd make, you know, like 50 mini cupcakes. But I didn't want to eat them all. So I would take them into coworkers, um, at my then day job in downtown Seattle. And everyone's like, oh my God, these are amazing. You should, you should, you know, make these for a living, you should start a bakery. And I was like, you're crazy. But here I am about, you know, six years later and my business. So, yeah.
Yeah. And I'm, I'm so interested in talking to you because, uh, and I was kinda reading through, you know, your background on your side and, um, you know, you have a great video that just kind of shows you know who you are, which is awesome. And it's interesting to me cause we talk a lot on the podcast about, you know, creatives that want to do, you know, be it photography or baking or for all, and not necessarily having the strength, uh, like the you do in terms of like advertising and marketing and, and like you said, you know, Pinterest and kind of doing all these things. So I think it's interesting to talk to someone like you that almost started on the other end. And then kind of found your way into this. Um, talk about where do you find the strengths that you have in terms of kind of running your bakery besides outside, obviously making like awesome tasting desserts and things.
Yeah, so my background is in marketing. So I went to school at Washington State University and I studied advertising and communications and I remember, you know, in school I graduated in 2010, so not all that long ago, but they were still teaching those very primitive forms of marketing, print, you know, advertising, radio, TV, which has fallen by the wayside. And I knew, you know, in college I wanted to do marketing, but I was really interested in the internet and I loved being on the Internet and surfing and you know, back in those like chat messaging days and stuff too. So, uh, but it wasn't being taught. So I actually did an internship at, um, cute 13 fox, the local Fox station. And I started their social media pages, like their Facebook page, what be way before there was even such a thing as a Facebook page for a business.
It was just a car. I remember what it was, like a group page or like a personal page event. And so I started scaling that and creating content, all these things. I'm like, wow, this is really cool. So is I wanted to do, um, but again in school, like they didn't teach that. So afterwards I started in advertising sales, which I absolutely hated and it was during the recession, so like no one was spending money on advertising. Right. That's like the first thing to get cut in a recession. Um, so then I found my way into more digital marketing and um, actually still worked in my family's business. Now they own a chain of local mattress stores. So I do all the um, online marketing for them, digital marketing, social media, marketing, stuff like that. So it is something I'm still really passionate about and I kind of parlayed that into my business and that's kind of where my business, I'm kind of paralleled with my marketing background and took off with the social media and stuff. So I would take pictures of my work as I was making and you know, baking things and then I would post it and you know, people would comment and like it. And then it kind of snowballed into a business from there as I just sort of unbeknowing Lee promoted myself and my work on social media.
That's fascinating. Yeah, I feel like I have a very similar, we, you know, when I was at Gonzaga and I was in journalism and they were same kind of thing, like they were, we have a whole class about the physical layout of like the home page of a newspaper for like weeks. And I remember thinking like, you know, well this isn't like how do you write good copy for a website? You know, for like a front page. This was like, no, like what are the margins when you print, you know, like physically pray. And I remember sitting there thinking like, this isn't even going to be a thing in lack, you know, five years and we're spending like weeks on this. And that's how I kinda got into video. That's so fascinating. And that you kind of felt, cause we're a similar age and kind of went through that same kind of thing down at WSU, you know?
Right, exactly. Yeah. They were. And it was all taught by like these old guys, you know, have been in the industry for like 30 years and stuff. But yeah, things are changing. I think the program has changed a little bit now too, is our kind of herd down my grape blah grapevine. So, yeah.
And that's also fascinating. The, you made a pit sabic two 13, which is also where I made a pit stop many years after you were there.
Yeah. We spent, that was the last, well they, they, they were, drove me out of the news business, so we had quite similar, a wonderful experiences there. But yeah, that was what drove me. I, uh, this is a sign that, yeah, when I put it in mind now this, the news director came up to me and I said, well, you know, I've, uh, spent the last nine months building up this business, like it quit. I said, if you go, I imagine if you guys said, harness that energy here a what we could have accomplished as opposed to me working in that and starting the business. So, um, what was it about, you know, advertising the communication, you know, that kind of started your path at a, in college? Like what was it about that, that excited you?
Um, I think it kind of goes back to almost my childhood. Um, my, my family had told me stories like when I was a kid, you know, we're all sitting around watching TV and they're watching their show and then all of a sudden the commercials would come on and I would stop what I was doing and watch these commercials. And I still remember some of them and like, you know, sometimes I see like old clips on TV, you know, if you watch those, like I love the 80s. I love the nineties Kinda shows, you know, back on VH one. I remember certain things. Um, and so like advertising always stuck with me. I don't know if it's because I had like add or what, like, you know, kids just find those more fascinating or like short, fast clips. Um, but I've always just kind of had a creative mind like that.
Like writing was always a strong point for me. Um, not so much the math. So my, um, my baking journey actually began as a kid too. I would bake at Christmas time with my grandma. We'd make these frosted sugar cookies and I would, you know, slather frosting all over them and throw sprinkles and, you know, call it beautiful. But, um, those are kind of some of my earliest memories. So the creative side of it definitely comes from her side of the family. She's an artist and all of that. And I can't really draw per se, but it comes out like in my work with like buttercream and stuff. So I knew, um, you know, communications and advertising would probably be a good route for me cause it was kind of creative. I don't know what, you know, aspect of it I wanted to go into.
Now in retrospect, I think I would have been really good with like branding, helping, you know, companies like brand themselves come up with like slogans and stuff, which I use in my own business. Like at the Seattle bride event. Um, it was kind of like a nautical theme, like rustic beachy themes. And I don't know if you saw the dessert table that I did upstairs, but I kind of um, correlated my desserts to like beach theme. So for example, like my chocolate covered pretzels, I called them driftwood and then, um, the, I think I did some like coconut cupcakes and that was like, um, sea foam or something like that, you know, so kind of like taking what it looked like and then calling it something else just to kind of help play on that imagery. That's something I like to do and I try to do, um, with dessert too.
That's funny. I, uh, we, they, I now that you talk about the desserts, we, there was a lot of wine at that event and uh, there wasn't as much like food and so I definitely, cause we were, we were going to go next door I think w Anthony Anthony's or whenever, cause I told during these I got to eat, I said I, you know, I don't know how we're going to do this. And I ended up just having my was a those pretzels and everything else from that dessert table. So I want to say thank you very much for your contributions there. It's probably the only way that got me through that night. So that was a, but I know it's funny when you talk about that and like, you know, thinking on that level, because you know, even nowadays, like so many people like want to do video or I want to do this and they don't necessarily think about kind of all the bricks and everything like you have in terms of like even out, you know, matching the things to the, you know, to the event and, and you know, brandy and coming up with the taglines and stuff.
I mean, do you feel like, like obviously you said that you signed as a strong point, but is that really helped you kind of stand out over the years? Um, in terms of kind of building a, you know, you're, you're baking and everything.
Um, I think the, the niche I kind of saw with this whole like baking journey was the lack of for custom desserts. Like, you can't go, you know, you see all this cool stuff on Pinterest, right? Like moms or, you know, my friends or whatever are going on Pinterest. I'm like, I have this party and this is what I want, you know, or a wedding. And they're getting inspiration from Pinterest because it's all visual. And so from that people are seeing these like cool, you know, imagery on there but they can't find those things and like quote unquote real life. This is specifically to have more so to baking. Um, you know, all these trends that are kind of like come and gone over the years that I've seen, like Unicorns are really popular for awhile and Mermaids and then now it's kind of like llamas and stuff.
Like there's all these like really cute little things that you can do as cookies, but there's not a lot of bakers out there that are really promoting themselves in that way. And I think that's kind of a weakness that the industry has is like, yes, there's bakers out there, but their websites are really stuck and like that early 2000, you know, period. And so they don't look credible. They don't look up to date, you know, they don't look like current. And the bakers that I've seen that are getting more and more business are the ones who have an updated website. They're easy to contact, they respond to email. Um, and I respond to my emails pretty much instantly. People kind of freak out like, oh that was so fast. You know, cause they don't hear back from these vendors right away. And I'm not saying you have to respond in like 20 seconds, you know, but they're not getting back to them.
And so people kind of creates like a distrust almost. I think. So. Um, I guess I'm saying that my knowledge of, you know, websites and internet and marketing has kind of helped me put that at the forefront of my business to get in touch with those consumers that way. And I actually prefer people to email me cause it just keeps me like, you know, in check. Okay, what were we talking about? What kind of cookies do you want? What colors were they? All that stuff because the pen and the paper, like it gets lost. And, um, so I tried to keep everything like a really good, strong, uh, quote unquote paper trail, but online.
Yeah. It's astonishing as someone
that, you know, we plan their wedding, we're three years in August, uh, and it astonishes me how, you know, communication with vendors and stuff. Uh, you know, we were planning and even a couple of years ago and how we would have stuff booked and then weeks later we would hear back from people and it's like we, I mean we're already like moved on to, you know, step seven, eight and nine here in out. And I just don't know if people, I, you said it doesn't need to be like an instant thing, but um, you know, so definitely kind of like starting, I think starting the booking process off on a good start. Um, on a good note like that, it's important, you know what I mean? Yeah, definitely. My husband, we got married five years ago in August and I definitely chose certain vendors when I was reaching out that were more communicative and more responsive than others.
And for that exact reason, like if you got back to me, you know, and you were like in my budget, you know, great. I'm going to, I'm going to book you. I'm gonna work with you. Um, there was actually, and this was before I made cakes, I did my own desserts. I didn't do my wedding cake, but I reached out to some very well known bakers in the industry. I won't name names and they never went back to me, you know, and I was kind of, I was shocked by that. Like, you know, they had a shot at business and, um, you know, they didn't take the time to respond or, or, you know, reply to me. So I was like, okay, well I'm moving on.
Yeah. And please, for the love of anything that, the email thing, like you said, kind of creating that paper trail where, you know, these phone calls I get at eight 30 in the morning and then, oh, hey, we're thinking about doing the video tomorrow and, uh, you know, this, this, this, this, this, what do you think? And you're like, oh, well, you know, even if I had an email that would give me 30 seconds to kind of process this before I'm, you know, trying to get out the door here. But yeah, definitely kind of the, the communication, the email and everything. I want to hear more about your and the Pinterest blogging kind of post-college and then how that segwayed into, you know, making the leap to say I'm starting your business. Cause those are two very different things.
Yeah, I started, um, so as I was mentioning, after I graduated college, um, Pinterest became, you know, more prominent and I, um, my husband and I, we were, you know, in our first apartment together and, um, my now mother-in-law, she gave me an extra kitchenaid mixer, which I knew was a bad combination because again, like I grew up and I loved baking. Like I would they get any chance that I could get if there was any cake mix or something in the Pantry, like I would make it. Um, so I was like, oh boy. I knew if I, if I got a kitchenaid mixer, like it would be the end of me and kind of am now. But basically what that journey looked like was, yeah, again, me like finding recipes, making them, and then, you know, being somewhat health conscious, not wanting to eat them all and sharing them with other people.
But for me that, that gratitude came from sharing my desserts with people, not really so much like the baking and you know, people would praise me for it and obviously praise feels good. Um, but I love sharing my desserts with other people's, it's kind of like an extension of my love, you know, like, um, so people kinda then challenged me to do other things, you know, like, oh, can you make kick pops and can you make, um, you know, this kind of cupcake or this kind of cookie and stuff. So I started taking classes locally and um, from that I, you know, just kind of learn. So again, I'm pretty much self taught, if you will. Like, I did not go to culinary school for any of this stuff. I just, you know, grew up baking, loves baking, um, and then just trying recipes out and, um, reading a recipe and kind of like knowing what works and what doesn't work, but I'm just, it's just like a science project really.
And I think that's why kids like baking so much, like it's you're baking, but it's kind of sciencey and you get something tasty at the end, you know? Um, same thing still holds true today really when I'm trying out new recipes and stuff. But, um, yeah, so I started taking these classes and making, you know, these cookies and whatnot and um, decorating them. And um, at the same time I remember, I think that's when the Seahawks were doing really well and we went to the super bowl those two years. So I'd made some like Superbowl Seahawk themed cookies and people went crazy over those and stuff like that. But again, this was still just out of my house. So it was just very much, um, you know, like the very beginning stages of this. And I wasn't really like, I don't know, like I was making some money but I didn't really know how to charge people and I didn't, it was hard to charge people for these services.
I felt like such a novice and you know, not like a professional and stuff. So, um, it wasn't until I met my friend Holly on Instagram and that's kind of another crazy story. She's my now business partner, um, in a way. But she had, I saw her Instagram profile and I was like, oh, she's a cute young girl. Like, and she has a baking business and oh my God, she's here in Washington. Like I should reach out to her cause I have these questions about baking business specifically. Like I can ask my parents for, you know, just general business advice. But I wanted to get into the nitty gritty of like baking stuff cause it is different. There's um, cottage law and there's um, what I do now, which is like the, the food processing, um, food handler processing permit. So, um, I wanted to like feel those out. And so I talked to her and we had a really good conversation and we've been like best friends ever since then. We hit it off really well and stuff. So she really helped me take my business from just like a hobby and I should say turning it into a business and actual business. So
was that kind of scary making that leap? I mean, did you end the path from the, you know, I think you said you were working and you know, kind of leaving mad. I mean, was that nervous or what was that kind of that process like to make that leap? Yeah, it was
absolutely terrifying because, you know, once you turn it into a business you have to do, you know, reporting, you have to report taxes and earnings and income and all that kind of stuff. But, um, I was able to find a commercial kitchen to bake out of here. I live in Linwood, um, and it was just kind of down the street in Linwood from me. So I started renting a space out of this kitchen, uh, which then allowed me to get my licensing. And, um, and not have to go the cottage law route. Briefly. Cottage laws when you want to do it in your home. And it's totally doable. Even if you have kids, even if you have pets, you just have to kind of like do a little extra homework on it. But it's totally possible. Um, the only problem with cottage laws, they cap you revenue wise pretty significantly.
I think in Washington state it's only like 20 grand, which is a year, which is nothing to live off of. You know, that's still very much a hobby. Um, you can have a business where it's like a business hobby. So for me, I was like, well, if I'm doing this, I'm going to go all in. So I went with the commercial kitchen route and it panned out pretty well. So I started doing that in 2008 2016, 2017 and um, and was in that commercial kitchen space, which allowed me to grow my business with very low overhead. So that was kind of Nice that I could feel out, you know, my, my seasonality. And at the same time I started getting more and more into weddings as well. That was more my, my focus cause summertime was actually kind of Kinda slow for me. Um, people are kind of out of town a lot and you know, there's a lot of bridal showers or birthday parties and baby shower, stuff like that. But weddings, you know, here in Seattle that's, you know, June through September, that's like ergo season or busy season. So I was like, I wanna I want to get into the wedding industry a little bit more.
Yeah. I mean I couldn't imagine kind of entering in and just all the different hurdles in terms of doing food and stuff. Do you have to deal with compared to like, you know, a lot of other vendors, they just don't have to besides all the other headaches of running a business and kind of everything else, you know, it just seems like it's not much more challenging to kind of, you know, move into a commercial kitchen and do all that sort of stuff.
Yeah, you definitely, I mean it's definitely more homework cause yeah, if you just start a regular business, it's not like you have to get a food handler permit and then you have to get your plant licensing fee and, and you have to get, you know, you get checked every now and then by them to make sure you're handling food properly and stuff. So making sure it's, you know, safe cause people have to consume it, you know, so you want to make sure that you're not going to get sick. Obviously baked goods is very low risk. It's anyone's even considered a low risk food. So my um, um, I don't know, check-ins and stuff by the inspectors are very, they're, they're really easy. It's not that big of a deal. I'm not handling like raw meat or unpasteurized milk and all these crazy things. So it's a little bit easier for bakers. But yeah, it's still, it's still extra work for sure on top of Ya running the business kind of stuff.
How did it go kind of starting out? I know you said you really focused on doing custom orders and things like that, but how did you kind of, how did that initial kind of growth thing go once you decided to start doing this and moved in there?
How did, how did it grow? How the business grows?
Yeah. And how did you focus? Was it just kind of on focusing on like the custom stuff or how did you kind of start putting those blocks together to build your client base?
Yeah, it was all referral base pretty much, you know, like, um, once I got my website up, cause every time I made an order, um, and these were all referrals basically, you know, moms or um, you know, friends of friends, you know, oh I have a bridal shower coming up, can you do this, my kid's birthday, you know, Yada, Yada, all these things. So I would take pictures of them and I started creating basically like a profile and people are really good with staying on trends. So it's kind of helped my business stay on trend, but it's also kind of allowed me to grow creatively cause I had to learn how to make like a naked style cake or ruffle cake or you know, whatever. People show me pictures and I'm like, well I don't know how to do that, but let me find a youtube video that can teach me, you know, once I had that terminology and stuff.
So, um, yeah, basically it all started off with referrals. I mean, referrals are your greatest source of business, you know, obviously if they order from you, they like it, they'll refer you to their friends, uh, the order from you again. Um, but then again with the social media, like I really haven't spent too much on advertising per se. Like I could, but you know, I'm just a one woman show here so I can only take on so much at a time. Um, but honestly having my website dialed in and again with my marketing background and my SEO in the backend of my website, um, is huge. And I built my website in wick, so it was very drag and drop. Um, but I actually for a short period of time worked at a Web, uh, web agency. So I kind of saw like how websites were built and what you needed and all these things. So that allowed me to then take that information and put that on the back end of my website. And I have certain keywords that I kinda target like, you know, custom desserts, custom cookies, custom cakes, all these things like custom is like a big, uh, keyword of mine that I use on my website. Um, and you know, Google makes it really easy with all their tools as well for analytics and you know, seeing how you're coming up, um, what people are searching for, things like that. Does that make sense?
It does, yeah. And I mean it's like I said [inaudible] you know, just says that, you know, Kinda like me, like one person show kind of doing everything. Where do you find, you know, obviously we know, you know, with your advertising background and obviously a lot more savvy with Pinterest and stuff like that, where do you find the things are that you seen that you need to work harder at to, to get there? You know, like for me it's, you know, idea county and stuff or whatever. Like where do you find, uh, things that you have to work on a little more?
Oh Gosh. Yeah. The, so recently, um, I was, I was mentioning my friend Holly and I, so we're both in commercial kitchen. She had way more of a nightmare place than I did, but, um, we both knew that in order to grow our business, we needed more room. And, um, so we signed a lease in March on a space in Kirkland and we're still the back, the back area with the bakery or we do over work is all done. We're still working on the front end, but now I'm at this point where, yeah, it's really like, I got to figure out how to scale. Um, and I'm, I'm really at that tipping point too. It's like I'm still working part time for my family's business just so I can have that steady paycheck and everything while I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to grow this business and where I'm going to take it.
Um, you know, right now, again, we're still just licensed of process food, not with the health department, which is where you can like sell food out of your front, your front end, like any restaurant or coffee shop and stuff. That's a whole nother thing. So this year is going to be a lot of like soul searching where I want to like take this business and how I want to grow it. If I want to keep doing what I'm doing and kind of keep it smaller. Um, or if I want to, yeah. Have like shop hours and do all that stuff. But that, that is so terrifying to me right now. And obviously the accounting part of it is a huge aspect of that. Like, how do I hire employees? How do I do payroll? You know, I probably have a, a bookkeeper or something, but right now I'm doing all that stuff.
So I'm managing my website, I'm doing the baking, I'm responding to emails and tracking my expenses, like all of these things. And it's really overwhelming and I understand now why being a business owner is so stressful and so hard. You know, like especially when starting out, you're just wearing so many hats. You have to learn where to delegate and where to kind of branch off and say like, you know what? I don't need this in my life. I'm going to hire this out and let someone else do this. At the end of the day for me, I really just want to focus on the baking. That's what I enjoy doing. So all this other, you know, stuff like building out a space and, and all this, you know, like just data keeping is just really daunting to me and I just really don't, don't like it. Again, I'm not a numbers person. I'm more of the creative person. So that's kind of where I want to stay with my business. But it's, it's hard.
Yeah, it's a, it's quite a leap from, you know, doing, you know, wherever we all start out. And you know, studying advertising and then you know, the blogging and now it's like, well Jesus, I'm trying to like build, you know, move into this thing and what am I going to do? Me, it's, it's crazy how the year is kind of looking back and to think of where you are versus where you started then kind of trying to figure out the next step. You know what I mean?
Oh yeah. It's crazy. Like again, I still think back to my coworker who's like, you should start a bakery. And I'm like, no way. You're crazy. I would never do that. And then, oh gosh, here I am. You know, I guess I'm starting a bakery so, oh boy.
So you talked kind of about, you know, getting these orders, wore a condom on trend things and you know, kind of helps keep you on. I mean, what are you seeing nowadays with weddings? And it could be other events too, but what are the things that people are really looking forward today? And is that, you know, when you think of that compared to, you know, the, the years that you've been doing this now?
Yeah, it's, it's interesting because I follow a lot of other bakers in the area as well. Like I admire their work a lot and the style that, and I think every Baker has their own style and every couple of who's getting married obviously has their style as well. And it's just a matter of finding, you know, those vendors who fit in that style that you're wanting. So for me, you know, personally cakes aren't my favorite thing to make. Um, they're scary. They stress me out every single time I do it and I'm just like, oh my God, what if something goes wrong? But, um, I like to stick to just simple buttercream style cakes. So a lot of my couples that I'm working with, you know, for weddings are in that kind of style. Um, and in this kind of style is just, you know, simple frosted buttercream or maybe they have like those horizontal lines, which are kind of called pleats.
Um, maybe they're kind of that, um, birch tree kind of look, I get a lot of like earthy kind of style requests, um, you know, simple flowers on it and things like that, you know, nothing crazy. Um, there's some really amazing bakers out there that do, you know, the sugar flowers, the gum paste flowers and stuff, and I just don't have the patience to do that kind of stuff. Or I think really like the finger dexterity to like kind of like pinch these little flowers and paint them. And I mean there's so many hours just making a flower. And I just, again, as a one woman operation here, like I don't have the bandwidth to do that kind of stuff. And they're working with a team and you know, they're prepping weeks in advance and stuff like that. So I think in terms of style, again, it's just based on the baker and everyone loves doing certain things.
And I, in my business, I only want to do the things that I love doing. You know, if I don't, if I'm not interested in the project, like I happily say like, hey, you know, I'm sorry, that's not what I do, but I know someone who can do it and you should reach out to, you know, this person or that person. Um, because I know they would do a better job for you. And I'm not afraid to turn down that business. Like, you know, you can't have a monopoly on just, you know, baking or videography or florists, you know, there's so many different vendors out there. Um, and I'm happy to, you know, collaborate with, with those vendors and kind of keep them in my back pocket, you know, for when those orders do come up. Like, you know, I don't do that, but this person does. So. Yeah.
That's awesome. I mean, you talked about, you know, your guys' wedding, uh, I think you said five years ago. What, what was that like? I know you said you Kinda did, uh, the desserts for it, not the cake, but what, what was that process like, just kind of going through that now and then how does that help you, you know, deal with brides and grooms nowadays? I always say that I'm a better wedding, better now kind of having gone through the process myself, not be, you can't, you know, be away they met or not, but I feel like I have a little bit more empathy for some of this stuff that people are going through.
Yeah, definitely. I mean, being married and understanding like the back end of planning is huge. Like I've, yes, I've been a bridesmaid in all my friend's weddings and stuff, but you know, and I gave my input and like, oh yeah, those flowers are pretty, or oh yeah, you should do that color, bridesmaid dress, you know, but you, you're not making the decisions really. So, um, doing your own wedding and understanding. I mean, I planned the whole thing down to the schedule. Like, I made my own timeline and everything and I did it in nine months. And that's like, you know, a lot of work. So I would say, you know, meeting with my couples now, I always, when I'm, you know, doing my tasting consultations, I always ask them for, you know, all the information, like what time does your ceremony start at what, what time do you get venue access at?
Um, are you working with a planner, you know, all these things. Get all those details. So then, you know, I know, okay we're coming up in July, you know, this is our hottest month typically. So I have a couple of weddings on the 27th this year. I know that day can be really hot and if a cake is sitting out, you know, I need to know if it's attempted or if it's going to be indoors, et cetera. And that also helps me to kind of consult what flavors they want. You know, cause it's like, well if you want a cream cheese cake, like that's going to melt in the sun. Like you have to keep that refrigerated. Do you have refrigerator space on site? Like all these little details. I can go into the cake. I did a wedding last Saturday that was up in Anacortes and it was very cool out, you know, maybe low seventies so the cake was under, you know, indoors, but it could stay out.
It wasn't going to just melt off the plate. So there's all kinds of logistical things like that as well as, okay if your ceremony starts at four 30 it's a 30 minute ceremony and then you have a cocktail hour and then you're going to eat. So you're not gonna cut cake until like seven or eight o'clock. So that cake has to sit out for four hours, you know, by the time I deliver it. Cause they're always like, what did I mean and deliver it. So I kind of, you know, aim for, okay if your ceremony starts at four guests arrive at three 30 I need to be there by three and then you're going to cut the cake at eight. So then I need to know like, okay, you know, based on these flavors that you picked, it might need to go in the refrigerator and you might have to have the caterer ticket out. Like all those things. There's so much that go into it. And I had one couple that I was talking with, they were like, wow, you really know your stuff. And it's like, yeah, it's interesting. Yeah, that's kind of, that's the timeline I had. So yeah, being married definitely is a benefit, but obviously, you know, there's plenty of event planners out there who aren't married that do a fantastic job with all this stuff, just through experience and whatnot too. So
it's so funny. Yeah. We had, we were getting ready at the hotel on Saturday and so the bride, we got there like right as a bride was coming back from getting her hair done and she was just going to put the dress on and like I, I'm helping them get stuff out of the car and they opened up the back of the van and like they just have the KT sitting back there. And I was like, wow. As it, you guys are so brave. If they said, yeah, I know we just, this is the only thing I wear to this driving rose line. I don't know. I'd have to look at whether Baker was that. I was like wow, that is taking a big leap of faith.
Yeah, driving, driving with cakes is really, really nerve wrecking. That's actually probably the worst part. Um, I think I would probably say the, the worst venue I've delivered to just in terms of like the road getting there is trinity tree farm is a aquatic like going up, it's like a gravel road with like switchbacks and potholes. I mean it is crazy. So that always makes me a little nervous. And I have a few weddings or this summer, but I love that venue. It's, it's beautiful. But you know, again, in those consultations I'm like, okay, we might need to rethink not doing a three tiered cake, you know, but maybe a two tier and a sheet cake or you know, whatever. But
no, and it was so funny because you're talking about timelines and we had, we were at lake wilderness a couple of weeks ago and it was, they had all of us booked for photo. Video were very short, so they wanted like, we, they were going to come in, you know, uh, tell us real quick and then they were going to cut the cake and then we were going to leave like at six and then they were going to, you know, they have the place to like town or whatever and, but they didn't anticipate that every family member of both sides, big African wedding, you know, all the, I think the toast video I delivered, the dad was like two hours in 10 minutes. Like it was really, really long. And so we're sitting there and like, you know, not only are we concerned about time and like, okay, we're, we haven't got to get going here cause we are, you know, we're contracted.
And whenever I look over in the corner and I just see the cake, like slowly like melting into the wall and I'm like, I pull the sister around. I'm like, we need the as like, I don't even care about us leaving right now. Like we need to cut this cake before it falls off the table. And so they, I can't, you know, she brought it over and they like how to prop it up with like Napkins and stuff so that could cause it. He just, I mean, he hit it sat out for, you know, three hours. It was 80 degrees outside. I mean, you know, what do you want to do? It's just not right to see. I remember I said we got to, regardless of anything else, this cake isn't going to make it longer than these toasts are going to go on.
Yeah. Last summer, um, again, and in July I had a wedding. It was a three tiered cake and I have deliver it to Redmond, um, the, the red barn farm, just kind of like a newer venue and um, you know, so this is a big cake, but thank God, I mean a naked sal cake, which is just a little frost, like a crumb coat on the cake. It's not a lot of frosting. So it's not like it's gonna melt off. But um, I delivered it and it was a three tiered so I had to set it up on site and they wanted it on, you know, like a wine barrel and it made me so nervous because it's like, okay, like this thing if it's, if it tips over or you know, and it's kind of like it's been in the refrigerator so there's like condensation on it.
It's, you know, coming up to room temp and stuff and I'm just like, oh my gosh. I went up to the planner. Um, I think it was Christina from, it's your day events and I was like, honey, you might need to cut that cake like right after the ceremony and just get the picture. Like keep an eye on it. Cause it was 90, it was over 90 degrees that day. I want to say it was like 95 degrees. That barn had no air conditioning, just some fans and you know, get, you know, then add the bodies in there. I was like, oh my gosh, this is going to be a nightmare. But like, keep an eye on it. If you need to cut it, like cut it asap and then like roll it in the back or whatever you got to do. But it withheld.
I texted her later and she was like, nope, it's all good. So whew, thank God, crisis of burden. But I was really, really nervous about that one. But, um, yeah, I've, I've heard horror stories with the cakes, like melting and stuff. And I mean, honestly that's, that's why I really suggest like hiring a professional or someone who knows really what they're doing because, um, yeah, there's so many horror stories about that. You have to use structure in the cake. You have to put straws in there and um, use it to support the cake. Because if the cake, you know, if you got a two tiered cake, I mean, those cakes weigh like 30 pounds. Plus like when you're carrying this, you have all that weight just like squishing down. It's just a matter of time before gravity just like oozes out all the, you know, once it comes up to room temp or more, it just, it'll uh, it'll just melt out.
So yeah, I would highly suggest hiring someone who knows somewhat what they're doing. And I did a wedding last fall where I did like, um, a cake table where I did a bunch of like smaller cakes in different flavors and it was really cool and it was one I was so excited when, um, the Gal, she told me what she, you know, her vision was and I was like, Oh my God, I've been wanting to do like a cake table with these little cakes. And Yeah. So I was really excited to work with them. And then they had, I think a friend, um, do like a three tiered cutting cake. And I get there and I'm setting up and she's kind of doing the finishing touches on this small three chair cake, but it is wobbling like crazy. And I was like, Oh, you know, just talking to her a little bit. And she said she worked in the bakery before, but I'm like, I don't think she's, she has any structure in this cake and it's making me really nervous, you know? But it's not my cake, so, oh, well, you know, but yeah,
yeah. I had to do, I did a tutorial, was it three or four years ago? Friend Bakery downtown and yeah, I had no idea, kind of all the stuff that went into that and you know, how put in the, you know, like you said, this support beam saw that stuff. I mean, I learned, yeah, it was just bad additional for me just to kind of learn all the different architecture that goes into that too. I had no idea.
Yeah. Who knew you had to be an architect and marketing and a business owner. All these things just make a little cake, you know? But uh, yeah. So
yeah, I suck. I just want to, I just want to bake. I don't want to deal with all this stuff. Right. So you said, you know, cakes more desserts. And I know that that's kind of the common nowadays is, you know, maybe other desserts, other things. Is that something need that obviously that you're seeing and that you work with and people doing besides just like when you would think of like the traditional k kind of like experimenting, like you know, the stuff that you had at the Clo Bryan event?
Yeah, dessert tables have definitely, um, have picked up in the last year, few years since I've gotten married. I did a dessert table for my wedding, so I did cookies, cupcakes, cake pops. And then actually we have, um, my husband's family has this little, um, the volt Rishi is, it's a Polish dessert and it's like, um, it looks like a little mini croissant. It has apricots filling. Anyway, so my mother-in-law made that, um, and it just, they're kind of, I would call them more like grazing tables now, you know, like people, those short coonery kind of tables and stuff where people can like nimble on things or kind of popular and, and same thing for desserts. I think they're really, really fun option for guests that are different because I know so many people are so burnt out of cake because they haven't had good cake because back in the day, you know, those gaudy cakes were built for structures.
So like their, their cakes are like a hundred percent flour instead of like a cake flour kind of ratio to make it lighter and fluffier. You know, they are, they are built to be built basically. And, um, you know, nowadays I think cake is kind of getting a bad, or it did get a bad rap, so people are kind of burned out on it. So they're looking for different options. But, um, I mean, I've always gotten compliments from my couples on the cakes that I've made, so that feels really good. You know, I'm like, yeah, my cake tastes good. You know, my buttercream is real butter cream. It's not the decorator frosting that you get from Costco, like, you know, so I think there's room for desserts, obviously. Yeah, they can be a little bit more expensive because again, the more you are offering the guests on where they're gonna want, so they're gonna want, you know, one cupcake in one cake pop or you know, instead of just having one slice of cake, like people kind of lose control a little bit.
So I would say like, you know, yes, if you're doing a dessert table, like plan on having at least, you know, two desserts per guest or you know, having, um, a good equal amount of everything and not like 6,000 cupcakes and two dozen cookies because their cookies are going to go really fast, you know, so having a good balance so that, you know, every guest gets a little something is really nice. Um, and I've also seen desserts, um, dessert tables incorporated in weddings that are kind of like, oh, hey, my aunt, you know, made whoopie pies. Like, it's a really big thing in my family. Like, can you make them for us? Like, it's kind of, if it makes it more special, right. Like that. Their family kind of has this like inside joke or favorite dessert that they want to incorporate. It just makes it more personal I think too.
And kind of fun. But um, yeah. And, and same thing kind of goes for cupcakes too. The burnout thing. Like, you know, cupcakes are great. Obviously if they're there, people are going to eat them. But I do social experiments when I do dessert tables. So like at the Seattle bride event, I was like, okay, what's leftover, you know, and what first. And I can, you know, ladies, we like to it, we're dainty eaters. We don't like to eat in front of other people, so we're going to go for the least messy thing first. You know, maybe like that Pretzel Chocolate covered Pretzel or um, you know, a cookie is easy to eat, but the last thing we're going to eat is a slice of cake or a cupcake because there's too much for all saying. We gotta like you gotta open your mouth really big and it's just, it's embarrassing to eat. So you don't want to eat that in front of other people. You know, I don't know. Have you seen that?
It is so funny. Yeah. Now my, yeah, during the we'd definitely be the same way and it would be a way out where there's the least, I'm gonna make a mess on myself or making, you know, Megan embarrassing. So
right. Like, yeah, you have to shove, especially mini cupcakes. It's like, do I go for the whole thing or do I take three bites? You know, like my husband just like slams it and I eat it in like three or four bites, you know, like so
and so we had that in September. We had one of those, it was like a, it was like a Chinese way, but they have like a bunch of different desserts. Like it was all like, um, like a bunch of different colors and somebody was like, they probably had like 27 different things like on the table email, like a bunch of, I don't even know what the hell they were like, they were like pacing. Do you know what I'm talking about? Like, have you seen anything like that?
Um, I don't think I have.
Well is they, it was basically, it was like a dessert table but then a lot bigger and a lot smaller and they had, people were going up like the apocalypse was coming and they would put, they have about three plates full. A lot. My keeping now for, I said, oh is that just for you though? That's for our table. Okay. Go back and there'd be like two people sitting at the table. You're your, I don't really know about this than the other mouse working out on that one.
Right. I know. And I always end kind of like against the, the caterers like putting plates on the table for that exact reason because it's like if we've only allotted like two desserts per person and you put plates out, people are just going to pile up and take it and then it's not going to get eaten. You know it's going to get left. Cause then people start dancing and kind of forget about the desserts and stuff. So, um, I think it's better if people just have like Napkins and kind of grays a little bit more and you're like, oh, let me just grab a cookie and a pretzel stick and then I'll come back for a cupcake later. You know, things like that. Otherwise, yeah, people will just go nuts and think it's like a buffet who likes with the food buffet line, unless you, I mean, you could get water for that, that's fine. But, uh, just before Warren, you know that they're going to go pretty quickly.
Yeah. I remember when did the first, uh, you know, when, when I was starting now I'm, I still don't do you like a ton of walkthroughs, but I went and did, um, we were doing the wedding that say it was Safeco field and I felt like, okay, I need to go like kind of do a walk through here. And I remember, uh, they were talking and they were trying to figure out like, where the desert was going. Like, I shouldn't really need to do a, been there for like all this, these kinds of decisions. And they were trying to figure out like, okay, we're, where are we going to put the cake, where are we going to cut? You know, cause they had, they got married on Pi Day so they had like pie, you know, all sorts of little mini pies and desserts and stuff.
And I remember them saying like, well you know, if we put them out too early the guests are going to see him, am I, you can't, they won't be able to help themselves. Like people just see food and they go for it. And I remember sitting there thinking like, that's insane to me that you, that they're, I mean they were really worried about it, but now having obviously done weddings for six years and people can't, there is no control them all. But if they see it, it doesn't matter if the couple is even at the venue yet, if he'd even gotten married, if they've cut the cake, like if people see desserts, like they just kind of go for it.
Oh yeah, totally. Actually that kind of happened at my wedding. You were kind of like snacking on them and stuff like that. People were pretty good. But um, that's funny that you bring that up because recently when I was doing a consultation this year, I had a couple of bring up that exact thing. Like we don't want people eating the desserts before it's time. And it was something that I was kind of thinking in the back of my mind as well. Like, I should create a sign for like a nice, you know, neutral sign to put on the dessert tables. And I did. And, um, I've been using it now for a couple of weddings and it was, um, a good choice on, on my part. It was a good, uh, $10 investment or whatever, you know, to um, have it designed and it says, please don't partake until the newlyweds cut the cake and it, Ryan's is cute and stuff, you know, so people like get it like, dude, no touchy, no touchy, touchy, like do not dive into the desserts.
And then, um, I did a wedding in May that it was a dessert table and it was that really hot weekend that we had where it was like 80 degrees all of a sudden. And um, again, all this stuff had to be refrigerated cause they had mini cheesecakes and those will be pies. And I was telling the event planner, I was like, honey, I'm sorry I can't put any of this stuff out. It's just gonna melt, you know, by set up all the stands. She's like, it's okay, I'll put it out. And then literally she said as soon as they cut the cake and she took that sign down, it was like the apocalypse zombies, like we're are like going on the day crazy on the desserts and stuff. Um, so yeah. And then, uh, two weekends ago our friends got married out in Leavenworth and I did the small cutting cake and cupcakes and I forgot to bring that sign because we had the Seattle bride event.
So I had all my stands, like already packed and stuff. And I had taken that sign out of my box and I forgot to put it back in and we get there and I was like, oh crap, I totally forgot that sign, you know? But luckily I was there and people knew that I had made the desserts and stuff. So like, Kayla, can we eat it? I was like, no, don't you dare not even want. No, because as soon as you have one, everyone's going to have one like, fine. Okay. So I was like, I was like practically like guarding the dessert table. Like, no, get away from there. Like a little ring, little ring bearer and flower girl. You back away.
Yeah. Yeah. It only takes one. It only takes Alonda and then it's a, it's a slippery slope. It's all over. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Ah, we're Kinda, why, why did he down here, uh, before I let you go, what, what do you wish more people knew about, you know, you and, and uh, it could be personally or it could be kind of what you offer, but what do you wish that, that more people knew or asked about?
Oh Gosh, that's a good question. Um, stuff. Yeah, sorry. Oh Man.
you know, just kind of everything we talked about here today, you know, like kind of my humble beginnings, like I'm not like a professional baker. Like everything I do, it comes from love and I put a lot of love into my product and if I don't like it, like I'm not going to serve it. If I'm not happy with it, I'm not going to, you know, you know, give it to a customer or, or whatnot. So, and I think that's really important as well as, you know, communication.
I'm really responsive. I'm really communicative and um, I know my customers really appreciate that, so, yeah.
Awesome. Well this has been great. I, it's been so great. I'm so glad we got to connect to the event and I'm so glad that you got to come on today. And like I said, you know, with your website and presentation and having the video and you're checking a lot of boxes and I just think it's great. We talk with so many people on here that, that, you know, obviously everyone struggles with things, but I think a lot of things that people are constantly trying to work on, I think that you have a good handle on and I think it's good to kind of get your insights and especially someone with the background that you have. And uh, I just really appreciate you taking the time to, you know, come on and share your story and, and be a part of the podcast.
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me again. And Yeah, I'm glad we connected and, and stuff too. And everyone stay tuned for when I opened this bakery I think maybe in September, so we're going to do like a big grand opening and stuff. So
yeah, people, and I was going to, if people want to learn more about you and your company a, where would you have them check out, you know, your website and then plug in any kind of social media or anything that you need.
Yeah, definitely. So Instagram is always a great way to see like my latest work and stuff. And I'm starting to get better at posting videos on there. Me like making stuff, but that's @Seatownsweets, Sea town like Seattle. And then same thing with Instagram, @Seatownsweets and then www.seatownsweets.com.
Okay, perfect. Well, thank you so much again, this has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. If you are interested in coming on the podcast in the future, if you are a wedding vendor, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest. There's a nice questionnaire that you can fill out if unlike Kayla here, we haven't, you know, connected previously and you're interested in coming on and that will be a good way to kind of get the ball rolling and about coming on and taking part in the podcast. Thanks again for listening. Check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.