When we think of French macaroons (voted best in Chicago!!), made from scratch pastries, and the most gorgeous wedding cakes ever, the first thing that comes to mind is Sugar Fixe Patisserie. Since 2011, this bakery has provided Oak Park residents a place to satisfy their sweet tooth. You can also visit them in Lincoln Park – at the corner of Sheffield and Armitage! We not only live two blocks away from their Oak Park location, but we’ve also had the pleasure of working with their team on weddings and styled shoots. Their professionalism and talent is outstanding! We can’t recommend Sugar Fixe enough for all your wedding favors, cakes, and other delicious goodies.

Owner Cindy Summers and Wedding Director Bria Helgerson were kind enough to let us spend the afternoon with them in their Oak Park location earlier this month. We were able to capture them in their element – icing a beautiful wedding cake, creating yummy macaroons, and cooking bacon…yes, bacon. YUM!! So without further ado, for our first ever vendor highlight, here is our interview with the incredibly talented pastry chef Bria!

What inspires you?

Everything! I get inspiration from everywhere, even places you wouldn’t think could become design elements on a cake. Take my morning commute for example, I can see a cool texture on the train somewhere, or spot an interesting color combination on a billboard, and immediately think to myself, oh that would be really cool in cake form. It is funny really, that is how my brain works now, it is constantly putting the rest of the world in cake terms.

What is your favorite part about your line of work?

It is really fun for me when couple doesn’t quite know what they want, and are open to working with me to create something unique for their wedding day. If I have a few pieces of information or some design elements that they want incorporated into their cake, I love to come up with a few concept sketches for them to choose from. Then, seeing that custom design brought to life in the final cake, and having a happy client who feels like their cake was one of a kind and tailored just for them, that is what makes all the late nights and long hours worth it.

If you had one tip for a bride, what would it be?

Don’t incorporate anything into your wedding just because you feel like you have to. There are so many traditions and customs typically involved with weddings that so many people get wrapped up in, my advice is not to take them so seriously. Do you have to have a white cake? NO! Some of my favorite wedding cakes are the ones that are totally outside the box. This goes the other way too, don’t get too caught up in the Pinterest world, with all the elaborate, over the top cakes, if you really want a simple white cake with some fresh flowers on it, that is what you should get. Either way, your cake (any everything else about your wedding) should reflect your taste and personality, not simply what has traditionally come before.

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | PINTEREST | TWITTER

weddings@sugarfixe.com