It has already been 20 days since we were named the best Wedding Cake Specialist of the Netherlands during the Dutch Wedding Awards. It was definitely an honor to take the award back to our studio for the second time in a row, but of course a lot went into this (and that’s not just the nerves ;-))!
The Registration
Luc and I were convinced that we should enter, but Tam was a bit hesitant at first. Our season was still in full swing in September/October and the registration for the Dutch Wedding Awards takes up a lot of time. Of course we needed to take the time to answer all the questions in great detail, especially because most questions related to how we run our business, which you of course can’t show in a picture. Luckily multitasking has always been one of our strong points so Luc ended up registering us. And the answers to the questions? Of course we sent them in right on time ;-)!
The Nomination
After submitting the answers there was nothing else to do but wait. Six weeks later, on November 20th, the three nominees in each category were to be announced. Several teams from the Dutch Wedding Awards were on their way that day to surprise companies with their nomination. We were ready in front of our computers with Facebook and Twitter open on the accounts of the Dutch Wedding Awards and on #DWA15. This way we could have an idea of where the teams were traveling that day. Because last year we were nominated very late in the day we definitely weren’t expecting it when they arrived already at 10:00am this time! Tam quickly spotted a bunch of gold balloons and indeed we were nominated again! Absolutely an amazing feeling! A picture moment followed with a confetti canon (which I clearly wasn’t ready for…) and after that we could relax and see who else got nominated (and celebrate that many of our partners were)!
The Jury Presentation
After the nomination the jury presentation followed. On December 2nd we were asked to show what we do best; making a beautiful and delicious wedding cake. This year the theme was winter & sugar flowers. We quickly knew what we wanted to make; a three tiered wedding cake with rosettes and wintery sugar flowers. Next to that we chose a few of our signature flavors: carrot cake with salted caramel, lemon cake with raspberry mousse, and vanilla cake with strawberry buttercream, fresh strawberries and basil mousse. At the location of one of the judges, Hidde de Brabander of Dreams of Magnolia, we presented the wedding cake to all of the judges and we were asked some additional questions. Overall we had a positive feeling after the jury presentation, but we were also impressed by our two competitors. Luckily the wait this time was a lot shorter, because the results came six days later already.
The Awards Show
On Tuesday December 8th, the moment was finally there that the awards were going to be handed out. Before the big moment we had plenty of distractions as the orders just kept coming. Of course we also had to go shopping for the perfect dress and shoes. How terrible! Only when we arrived at Studio 21 at 7:30p.m. did the nerves start to come again. After a glass of champagne (always a good cure for nerves) we sat down at ‘our’ table and we saw that luckily we didn’t have to wait very long. The wedding cake specialist category was up fifth. The first four categories went by in a blur. I clapped, we were incredibly happy for Nailia of BEST DAY EVER EVENTS and then all of a sudden our category was up. It felt like we only just sat down. Hidde was to announce who would bring home the award. Before he announced the name, he described the winner as a professional company that immediately gives the customer a feeling of trust, and makes innovatively designed cakes. That of course didn’t reveal anything yet, but luckily we heard our name a few seconds later! Happiness, pride, shock and relief… A few of the emotions I felt at that moment. I can’t really remember much from getting up to walk to the stage, to the moment we sat back down again, but luckily my boyfriend was able to capture it on video. Still when I look back at the video I can’t stop smiling, it was definitely an amazing evening! Immediately after us, our table could celebrate again because Lonneke van Dijk – Fashion Hairstylist also got announced to collect her award. After all the categories were named, we could enjoy our evening at the after party.
And Now?
The awards are a nice crown on an amazing year. We end this year with 204 wedding cakes and a lot of other cool orders that we were able to make; from gender reveal cakes, to a huge edible rat for the Amsterdam Dungeon. The calendar for next year is already starting to fill up again and we can’t wait to make the first wedding cake of 2016 again! We will skip the Dutch Wedding Awards next year (each company that wins twice in a row is excluded from the competition) but who knows, perhaps we will be back in 2017!