Holy Cow!  It’s INCREDIBLE!!!  We’re already celebrating 10 YEARS???

The Perfect “10” Cake – Citrus with Raspberry cream 1, Pistachio with Almond buttercream 0

When the 2 of us Cheeks started out, during the financial crusher of 2007, we never dreamed we’d soon be creating 400+ wedding cakes a year or that we’d be spotted on TV by friends all over the world (my buddy in Thailand just saw us on Discovery Channel recently!!!)

Our 1st Year in business 2007! (The day FOOD Network found us!)

We have exceeded even our own expectations during these first 10 years with incredibly talented artisans & bakers of Team Cheeks, creating so many beautiful & delicious memories, friendships, and THANK-YOUS to show for it.  What a journey it’s been! Cheeks of 2017:

Our amazing team of talented and fun people are the key.

…Sometimes it’s ALL ABOUT THE PARTY:

Sweet Cheeks has become known for FUN!  We love parties – going and throwing them!  Personal & Industry Friends, Family, and everyone’s KIDS are almost always on the party list.*  Most years we host in our own kitchen, but when we’re feeling especially spirited, we go all out and pick a favorite venue in San Diego…  For our very special 10-year anniversary, I wanted to honor my mom & dad, who created the most incredibly fun parties by throwing a COUNTRY FAIR every year at our small farm in NJ.

Dad organizing hay bales while the kids play in the barn

 

Growing up on the farm – LAMBIES!!!

Hmmm, to do this, we’d need a FARM in the Country…or maybe a Country CLUB???  

I described my idea to our good friends Chelsi Duff & Krissi Trevino, the dynamic duo of Lomas Santa Fe Country Club, one of our very FAVORITE VENUES in San Diego, and they LOVED IT!  They wanted “IN” and were simply AMAZING in every way through the process…

Lomas Queens Chelsi & Krissi, we LOVE YOU! (fun Starlight Photo Booth pic)

What a spectacular venue – the giant covered porch setting over-looking the Golf greens and out to the Pacific Ocean!  Lomas’ banquet staff was amazing (loved our bartenders!!!), and their Management Team never imagined how fabulous it could look to have baby rabbits & lambs plus a 30′ Inflatable Obstacle Course in their chipping area…Who doesn’t want to race through this bad boy?  (inflatable provided by Aliana’s Party Rentals; Petting Zoo provided by Cathy Ledford at My Little Pony Rides)

***PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE FABULOUS SHOTS OF Renata Amazonas of AMAZONAS PHOTOGRAPHY! ***

A bit fancier than the old days… Games & Races All Day!

Donna & Hannah checking out the petting zoo + Noah the goat

Obviously, in addition to Chef Ryan’s perfectly selected appetizers, we created endless, magical desserts to fill our guests’ bellies with our SWEETS.  Our baking & decorating team went NUTS with spirited, country themed goodies, cakes, cookies, and mini pies.  To showcase their work we wanted an elaborate, country-style station, incorporating wood, greenery, and white-washed highlights.  Many THANKS to the genius of Ray & Rufina at Farm Tables & More in setting up gorgeous wooden tables, benches, and their way-cool ladder stand.  Couple this with the creative embellishing of Jennifer, Katie & Leo at Jennifer Cole Florals, providing spectacular greenery, delicate white & creamy florals, and gorgeous lantern lighting, and we seriously found our NEW FAVORITE WAY TO DISPLAY DESSERT!!! …what could be cooler than this ladder setup???

Amazing wooden ladder dessert display by Farm Tables & More with gorgeous Jennifer Cole Florals & SCBC treats

What’s a better match to desserts than COFFEE?  Uh, clearly nuttin’ honey… Our darling, witty, and skilled barista & owner David HIMSELF saved the day by steaming up his delicious brew for us – including PERSONALIZED COFFEE DECOR! Joes on the Nose  has provided the coffee & chuckles for EVERY ONE OF OUR PARTIES over the years…Endless THANKS to you, David, you are a generous friend.

Owner David creating magic caffeine

So we’ve mentioned loving KIDS (and not just the baby goat kind…although they are too darling), but let’s be honest: the BIG KIDS in all of us love FACE PAINTING.  Once again, that lovely artist & big-hearted kid herself, Loren James, owner of  FOUR THINGS PAPER, jumped in when we asked if her Calligraphy skills extended to Face Painting – YAY!!! Leopard, tiger, & beautifully printed faces kept her painting an hour longer than even expected – now that girl’s a serious trooper!

Face painting by Four Things Paper

DJ David Cutler (Hit-It Music) set up our KICK-BUTT Play list – a mix of chill Southern rock, modern rustic beats, and good, clean old school – a bit off the normal tracks selected by his clients, and he kept us all dancing and partying thru the evening.  What a BLAST!!!  He’s not only one of the kindest people we’ve ever known, but also an AWESOME San Diego DJ!

DJ David Cutler…so good!

What a hoe-down, the florists and our gang seem to take over with their giddy-up! Flower Shoppe Encinitas & Jennifer Cole Florals represented well…

Girls gone wild – is it all those floral aromas?

Simply elegant centerpieces by Jennifer Cole Florals on gorgeous hand made wooden Farm Tables!

We Cheeks are NOTORIOUS for being camera hams, and our buddies Andy & Tim at STARLIGHT PHOTOBOOTH are pure enablers!  These guys are so generous with their time & equipment, and we just ADORE them personally and professionally.  What fun, they even provided the insanely realistic farm backdrops and horse barn backdrops, in addition to stuffed farm animals!  Hilarious… (these photos provided by Starlight Photobooth):

Tim & Andy, hilarious owners of Starlight Photo Booth

Even some of the former Cheeks jumped into the game! Love these gals…

BAKE Sale – Thanks to all who contributed! We so greatly apreciated the help of our ever-amazing friend Carmin Cermak of CARMIN Events, who lovingly manned the table throughout the party (just post-op from a bum-knee!!!).  ENTICING TABLES owners Joe & Valerie McCartney are two of our lovely, talented friends in the industry.  Their forged metal work has provided more cake stands, flower presentations, and designer showcases than probably any other supplier around!  This Ferris Wheel display showed off our Smashing Pumpkin loaves perfectly on our BAKE SALE to raise money for Hazel Altbaum, our darling little friend battling the very rare Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

Ferris Wheel display by Enticing Tables

If you would also like to donate to help Hazel in her cancer battle, please click to HEALING HAZEL

Regarding future parties:

*If you’d like to be on our guest list for next year or heard about someone who felt they “weren’t invited,” please let us know. We tell people to spread the word to mutual friends whose emails change (darn this crazy techno-world), and we try to include everyone whom we adore; sometimes we miss emails by mistake… 

Check out more of this FUN DAY’S PHOTOS by Amazonas Photography HERE: