How I Stay Inspired During The Shift From Wedding Season to Holiday Season
Photos by: Ally Frances Photo.
Cakes and content by: Sweet Heather Anne.
We’re just wrapping up our busiest time of year - wedding season! While I absolutely love making wedding cakes, it’s also easy to get into a bit of a creative rut when you make so many of them. I also find the transition from wedding season to holiday season a bit overwhelming, so I try to be mindful of that when taking on projects this time of year.
So, what’s been keeping me inspired lately?
1. Creative Exploration
I recently took an autumn wreath workshop with Honeybaby Floral and had the best time playing with flowers that were just for me. I think it’s important to take time to explore and grow without the pressure of a client’s approval. It was also a great time to connect with some of the other Moms at my son’s preschool without our busy toddlers stealing our attention.
I also participated in a styled shoot with Ally Frances Photography and took the opportunity to play with adding piped embroidery to a vintage piped heart cake. I think there is more to explore with this concept. I’m obsessed! Here’s a quick photo from the studio.
2. Collaborations with Friends
My friend Diana owns a beautiful boutique called Thistle and Bess and we’ve been working on very special cookies for a party she’s hosting to kick-off her holiday season. Because Diana is a friend, she is giving us full creative freedom to play. I’m taking inspiration from Painted Ladies Pastry to create pieces of Diana’s jewelry in cookie form and I can’t wait to take on the challenge.
3. Knowing When to Say No
As I mentioned above, the transition from the busy wedding season to the busy holiday season can be very stressful for me.
Our Cake Studio is a well oiled machine when it comes to making wedding and online shop cakes. Once November rolls around, however, our wedding bookings slow down and we get flooded with requests for projects that seem promising but aren’t really in our wheelhouse. I spent years taking on everything from large on-site cookie decorating workshops to orders for thousands of holiday cookies to be shipped across the country.
One year, I realized I was dreading December. I found myself saying, it’s really just three weeks of craziness, I can handle that, right? Then I realized, I didn’t want to just get through it. I wanted to enjoy the holiday season, too.
That’s when we shifted towards offering a specific menu of things we wanted to make and supplementing our income with Holiday Cookie Decorating Workshops at times that we wanted to teach them. (We don’t do evening classes and we plan them so that they fit with the general workflow of the week.)
Then we take a break from Christmas Eve until just after New Years. I know there are lots of opportunities to make more money before the January resolutions set in, but I also know that I love being able to spend that time with my family, and I want that for my team, too.
4. Finding Time for Myself
Taking the time to go for a walk is one of the most powerful things that I can do for myself. It gives me time to think or call a friend or lose myself in an audiobook and I always finish the walk feeling refreshed and centered.
As the days get shorter and the temperatures get colder, finding the time for a good walk gets more and more challenging. I know I need it, though, so I make it happen.
Here are a few of my favorite listens, lately:
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, Hello Beautiful, anything written by Emily Henry or narrated by Julia Whalen
READY TO GO FURTHER?
Lean into professional growth and sustainable creativity with my Online Tutorials. For more tips like this delivered to your inbox, subscribe to The Cake Break, our once-per-month newsletter for cake decorators and artists.
