As faithful readers, you all know that I spent alot of time from August to October to work on my product line for a "soft-launch" at the Montreal Cake Show. The 1st ever Montreal Cake Show (MCS) was a two day event that took place the last weekend of October and all proceeds benefited dans la rue and breast cancer research. Considering it was my first show as a vendor (and first show ever), I had high expectations - many of my online friends do the "show rounds" on the cake show circuit. I must honestly say, this event met my expectations!
I was fortunate to have my booth next to my second family's booth - Icing Inspirations! Chrissie and Justin from II were there and we had a blast talking with everyone and promoting each others' wares. Part of being a vendor included the opportunity to do a one-hour demo. My demo was on the Midnight Orchid, and it was such a hit, that the demo coordinator came and asked me to do a second demo to fill in a space that opened up last minute. I could not say no, and thankfully, I had some pre made flowers that I was also able to demo my techniques for making hydrangea. On day 2, Chrissie asked me to demo on behalf of Icing Inspirations, so I did, and my demo on making silicone molds and using isomalt caused a mass of people to visit the Icing Inspirations booth and buy most of their silicone and isomalt stock! Hearing from show volunteers that my demos were the most popular and crowd favourites was awesome. Honestly, I was chalking it up to them being polite. That is until it was confirmed by the show organizer (and a very good friend of mine), Paige McEachren.
Another aspect of the show was the competition. There were multiple categories to enter for any level of designer. I entered 2 cakes into the Wedding Professional category - both are some of my favourite work ever (even if one of the judges didn't "get it" on one of them :) It was a great learning experience and even if I didn't place, I still feel like I won! Here are my two entries:
I am really looking forward to next year's MCS. I have decided to not have a booth, but instead will work with Icing Inspirations at their booth and they will promote my Montreal Classes (to see the first set of classes I announced at the show this year, click here). Considering the success of my demos, I am hoping to be asked to teach a class or two. But most of all, I am looking forward to competing again and seeing many of the new cake friends I made at the show.
Until next time,
Happy Caking!
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