Back for our forth year, Cakes for a Cause 2013 is next week!  If you haven’t attended, this is a great year to join us!  To help convince you, how about some FAQs?

What is Cakes for a Cause?

We’re a sweet evening out for you that benefits Mid-Ohio Foodbank.  Over the last 3 years, we’ve raised over 50,000 meals for those in need in Central Ohio.

When is Cakes for a Cause?

This year it is March 28, 6 to 9 pm at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, 3960 Brookham Drive, Grove City, OH

How much is a ticket?

Just $31.50 per person which feeds 1 person every single meal for a month!  Really, it does!

So, what do I get with that ticket?

A lot so come to Cakes for a Cause HUNGRY!  You will get tasty food from 3 of our favorite caterers – Two Caterers, Cameron Mitchell Catering and Made From Scratch.  In addition, the Sweet Carrot food truck will be back greeting everyone with something tasty to start off the evening!

In addition, we’ve got five fantastic bakers competing in the Sweet Taste of Victory Competition vying for the Golden Spatula!  Kitties Cakes will be back defending their 2012 title!  New to the competition this year is Sue Larson owner of LeGateau, Debby from Home Run Cakes, Cosette the Cake Chick and Sarah from The End Dessert Company.  You’ll get to try something from each of them and then vote for your favorite.

Snowville Creamery will be serving up samples of their yummy milks and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream will be sharing mini splits of ice cream too.  We also have a bar with local wine from Camelot Cellars and tasty signature drinks available for purchase.  You can warm up with coffee from White Castle too!

We’ve got a fun photo booth from Shutterbooth and tons of items to bid on in our silent and live auctions.  We’ve got cakes of every shape and size, cupcakes, pies, gift cards, cookies, and so much more on the block!  We also have items like a food tour, membership to Columbus Art Museum, and an AMAZING get away to Hocking Hills including 2 nights in a cabin, a canoe trip for 2, in cabin massage, 2 Hocking Hills Canopy Tours, and MORE!  That and more will be in the live auction which is being emceed by none other than Monica Day!

Are you nut free, gluten free or vegan?  We’ll have items for you to bid on too!

All this for $31.50 – so much for so little that does SO MUCH good for so many!

Do you have any pictures from year’s past?  

Sure!  How about these:

 Okay, it looks like a really fun evening!  You sold me so how do I attend?

Yay!  My job here is done!  Just click here and buy a ticket!

Come join us for an amazing evening of doing good for those in need – make sure to say hi!!

As we look forward to 2013, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on 2012. It was a wonderful year with great weddings and projects – here are some of our favorite highlights:

*Our season kicked off with Andrea and TJ’s wedding at Franklin Park Conservatory on February 18 – would you believe it was warm enough for them to do their first look and take pictures OUTSIDE? In February? In Ohio? Believe it! I also just found out that Andrea and TJ are expecting a little addition to their family this summer – so excited for them!

{Photo: Chelsie Burkhart}

*On February 24, we helped with a fun party for a local company’s 13th anniversary – they are healthcare related so we did a Haunted Hospital theme complete with a talent show and the senior management surprising everyone with a flash mob to Thriller! First time I have ever worn scrubs to an event – we had to be in theme after all!

*The 3rd Annual Cakes for a Cause took place on April 5 and we raised enough to feed 24 people every meal for a year! It was an amazing night with tons of food and sweets plus lots of great auction items! The 4th Annual Cakes for a Cause is scheduled for March 28 – make sure you mark your calendar now!

{Photo: Karen Evans Pictures}

*We continued our wedding season with Lauren and Geoff’s gorgeous wedding out at Darby House on May 12. We had beautiful weather for the outdoor ceremony and pictures and then headed in for a great night of dinner and dancing to dueling pianos from the Big Bang Piano Bar!

{Photo: Simon Yao}

*We were under a huge white tent in Dublin on May 19 with Jean and Chris. They’re a really private couple so they asked I not share pictures of their faces but rest assured they were a gorgeous couple! Here’s a shot from their lovely head table:

{Photo: Brandy J Photography}

*June 2 found us moving Elisabeth and Chris’ entire reception from an impossibly windy Pool Deck at the Renaissance Hotel inside to the ballroom. Elisabeth works in a really big House that happens to be White planning travel and events so she rolled with the changes beautifully! This wedding also proved once again that Columbus is a very small place – it turns out the Bride’s sister (her Maid of Honor) and I had both been bridesmaids in another friend’s wedding way back in 2006!

{Photo: Keels Photography}

*June 16 was the epic wedding of Katlin and Parker at The Athletic Club of Columbus. Not only gorgeous but hilarious with truly great friends and family, this couple was a blast to work with! When the bride and groom wind up dancing on the tables, you know it was a heck of a night! This picture pretty much sums up this couple perfectly!

{Photo: Kitty Maer Photography}

*Leslie and Daniel’s July 7th wedding outside under a big white tent at the Columbus Country Club goes down in the books as the hottest wedding we have ever done – it went all the way to 107 degrees! Luckily, the couple, their bridal party and guests were all troopers – several big fans and GREAT attitudes kept everyone dancing late into the night. This is also the wedding that the emergency kit was put to full use with a split, very broken bridesmaid gown zipper! Thank goodness for veterinarian surgeon bridesmaids who know how to sew things up!

{Photo: Keels Photography}

*We helped Laura and Mark celebrate their wedding at The Westin on July 28. We also found out that you can see fireworks they put on at Columbus Commons from the windows of the Westin Ballroom – it was like a personal fireworks show just for their guests!

{Photo: Red Gallery Photography}

*A number of Worthington based wedding vendors came together to create an adorable, preppy photo shoot on August 13. Katlin and Parker served as our bride and groom and they brought along their DARLING puppy Indie as well! Watch for a fun event coming up in April from the Worthington Wedding District!

{Photo: Little Tree Studios}

*Mother Nature made up for the last time we were at the Renaissance with Katie and Brad’s August 18 wedding – perfect weather and zero wind! Katie and Brad were married on the roof top, went downstairs for cocktail hour with their guests and then came right back up for an amazing evening of dinner and dancing with a phenomenal band!

{Photo: Benjamin James Photography}

*Christina and Marc traveled all the way from sunny San Diego to celebrate their wedding at Creekside Events Center! Marc is in the Navy and we had lots of nautical touches including hand carved naval boats as table numbers. Doesn’t Christina have the best smile? Seriously, she can light up a room!

{Photo: Caroline Hilty Photography}

*Heather and Chris’s Ohio Statehouse wedding on September 15 was a reunion of sorts for me – not 1, not 2, but 3 former couples and their parents were in attendance! It was wonderful to catch up with them all! I love that this couple scheduled time to go back to their house to take pictures after the ceremony to have a private toast with their bridal party (and make sure the Duchess, their beloved cat, was in the pictures as well!)

{Photo: Jacquelyn Poussot Photography}

*Lesley and Jason were married on a gorgeous fall day at Camp Mary Orton. It was truly one of the most unique and extraordinarily personalized weddings I have done to date – we had zip lining before the wedding, the bride and groom getting dressed together, the bride’s super colorful dress, a gorgeous ceremony in a meadow with guests on blankets, Mikey’s Late Night Slice serving up a snack during dancing and everyone heading to the after party at Ace of Cups for karaoke. It was an absolute ball and absolutely perfect for them!

{Photo: Paper Photographs}

*We helped create another photo shoot on October 18 at The Athletic Club of Columbus. The photographer described her vision as moody and mature – I’d say we hit it on the head! We also just found out that the shoot will be featured on a major wedding blog early next year – I’ll share more pictures after that!

{Photos: E.M. Anderson Photography}

*We closed out 2012 with Meredith and Dave’s wedding at The Athletic Club of Columbus. They wanted their December 22nd wedding to be a Christmas wedding without the commercialization. Lots of Christmas bulbs, lots of silver and red, and lots of good cheer all around – we achieved just that! Thanks to the super speedy editing of Kimberly Potterf, I already have a picture to share!

{Photo: Kimberly Potterf Photography}

*On a personal note, my family had 2 big milestones this year – my husband and I celebrated 10 years of marriage and our oldest daughter Ellie started kindergarten! We celebrated it all with a surprise trip to Disney World in December.

2012 was a fantastic year and my team and I were honored to have been a part of each wedding and event! So far 2013 is shaping up to be wonderful as well – we’ll back at Creekside, Columbus Museum of Art, The Athletic Club of Columbus, The Renaissance and Franklin Park Conservatory to name a few. We have a few more open spots for the year (we only take a limited number of couples every year) – send us an email or give us a call {614.678.6320} to set up a meeting to talk about how we can help you have an incredible wedding!

Happy New Year to you and yours from Emilie Duncan Event Planning!

I like to spend the last day of the year reflecting on the prior year and looking forward to the year to come.  Here are some of our favorite highlights from a very busy year:

*We welcomed our first intern class in January – Laura and Becky were with us all year and did a fantastic job!  Nowadays, Becky is in her senior year at OSU and Laura is now the venue coordinator at Station 67 in Columbus.  I was very lucky to have them working with me and they set the bar really high for all future intern classes!

(Photo: Grogan Studios)

*We celebrated Abby’s 1st birthday at the end of February with a big party with friends and family.

(Photo: Grogan Studios)

*The 2nd Annual Cakes for a Cause took place on March 1 and we raised enough to feed 16 people every meal for a year.  Every. Single. Meal.  It still makes me smile from ear to ear!  We nearly doubled our 2010 result and we shattered our original goal!  It was an incredible evening with delicious food and wine, lots of sweet treats up for auction and tons of cake and ice cream.  We are so excited for the 3rd Annual event taking place on April 5, 2012 – make sure to save the date!

(Photo: Karen Evans Pictures)

*We kicked off wedding season in May with Megan and Michael’s Southern inspired wedding at the Darby House in Galloway – even though our planned outdoor ceremony wound up being an indoor ceremony, it was a gorgeous day!

(Photo: Cassidy Dawn)

*We were back at Darby House the following weekend with Lindsay and Kevin – this time the weather cooperated and we had a beautiful outdoor ceremony overlooking the river!

(Photo: Kimberly Potterf)

*In June we traveled around Central Ohio a bit!  First we headed out to Zanesville for Ann and Kyle’s wedding!  The longest bridal party table I have ever done (seating for 20 in one loooooong table) plus there was square dancing. It was a heck of a party!

(Photo: Lotz Studios)

*The following weekend we headed down to Lancaster for Nancy and Doug‘s wedding at Nancy’s childhood home.  A ceremony under a very old tree followed by dinner and swimming, snow cones and s’mores all on a gorgeous summer day!

(Photo: Karen Evans Pictures)

*We spent the very warm July 4th weekend up in Delaware with Mollie and Kevin.  The wedding was at an 18th century barn that houses an auction house – incredibly unique location!  We love those!

(Photo: Jennifer Otchy Photography)

*We closed out July at Northbank Park with Rachel and Travis for their lovely little love story wedding!  Loved their sweet ceremony overlooking the Columbus skyline and that they spent the evening on the dance floor!

(Photo: Kelly Maughan Photography)

*Had a little break in August and September so we took a trip down to Disney World in Florida to celebrate Ellie’s 4th birthday!  Love those teacups!  And yes, they are dressed alike – they are 1 and 4, I can still do that once in a while. 

*We kicked off October helping Kelsey and Ryan get married at the Columbus Art Museum!  This was as close to a repeat client as I get – Kelsey is the sister of one of my 2006 brides, Meredith and Meredith was referred to me by Megan, another 2006 bride!  Loved catching up with everyone.  We’ll post pictures from Maer Studios soon!

*The next weekend we were with Valeri and Bill at the Athletic Club of Columbus with a vintage, mixed metallic wedding.  Love all the carousel horse touches we incorporated.

(Photo: Nicole Dixon Photography)

*In the middle of October, we took a road trip to Cincinnati with Kasey from Bliss to help another planner get married! Alison from Aviva Events asked us to coordinate her wedding for her – she did all the planning and we just stepped in at the end to run the day.  ONLY for another planner would we do that!

(Photo: Kortnee Kate)

*We closed out our year with Rebecca and Gavin’s gorgeous wedding at Franklin Park Conservatory and The Westin.  Loved the Grater’s sundae bar that was a nod to where the met!  We will share pictures from Red Gallery as soon as we get them.

We loved each and every one of our clients and their friends and families – we truly have the best clients in the world!  2012 is shaping up to be just as amazing and we can’t wait!  We still have a few more spots open for next year – send us an email or give us a call {614.678.6320} to set up a meeting to talk about how we can help you have an incredible wedding!

You may remember that I currently serve as the Wish Granting Chair for the Ohio Chapter of Wish Upon a Wedding.  We grant wedding wishes for couples facing terminal illness and other life altering circumstances.  We give them a day – one day to forget existing health issues, while surrounded by their closest family and friends to celebrate LOVE.

The majority of the costs of these wedding wishes is gifted by the amazing, phenomenal, fantastic vendors who serve as Wish Granters but there are other expenses that aren’t covered.  You can help us cover those costs and score some great deals or a once in a lifetime event (Like a 1 hour phone consult with Preston Bailey or Drinks with Randy Fenoli from Say Yes to the Dress in NYC?) and help us keep granting amazing wishes like these in Ohio and across the country:

Linae and David:

Jon and Alyssa:

And our next wish taking place on November 13 in Columbus, Danae and Derrick:

Just visit Bidding for Good to see all the auction items and help us continue to grant wishes for these deserving couples!  You have until October 31st so get to bidding!

*Thanks to Carmen and Pugh Photography, Corey Ann Photography and Picture the Love for the pictures!

William and Kate are using their wedding to do some good and have selected 26 (primarily UK based) charities and asked guests to donate to those in lieu of traditional gifts.  These charities are all said to be close to the Future King and Queen’s hearts and include groups benefiting children, local communities, wildlife and military families.

You can visit the Royal Wedding Charity Fund for more information on the charities that Kate and William selected and to donate if you are so inclined.

Now, I am likely safe in guessing that you don’t have a $450 million inheritance awaiting you (hello, Prince William) but if you still want to follow Kate and William’s lead, you could always do a donation to charity in lieu of guest favors.

Pick something close to your heart:

Is your mom a breast cancer survivor (like my awesome mom)?  Susan G. Komen for the Cure or the Stephanie Speilman Fund for Breast Cancer Research would be very meaningful.

If you want to help couples facing terminal illness and life altering circumstances have a beautiful wedding, Wish Upon a Wedding is an incredible organization that I am honored to be a part of.

You are going to be feeding your guests delicious food at your wedding – how about helping feed those less fortunate in your area by donating to a foodbank or free kitchen?  Locally, we LOVE the Mid-Ohio Foodbank and Operation Feed.

If you are an animal lover, your local rescue or the shelter where your own furbaby is from would be a great place to direct your donation.  Locally, the Columbus Dog Connection does great things for homeless pups.

Trust me when I say that guests are not going to miss the little picture frame or the bag of M&Ms.  I promise.

In honor of one of my personal heroes and the day we remember his life and legacy, I give you one of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

That we all should remember that is my hope for today and every day.

Cakes for a Cause 2010 was one of the events I am most proud of having been a part of!  We raised a lot of money (nearly $5000 in one night!) for a GREAT cause (Mid-Ohio Food Bank’s Operation Feed), auctioned and raffled off some really fun items (cake, pies, photo sessions, jewelry – all kinds of sweet tooth tempting treats), had some great food and drinks and generally had an all around great time! To add icing to that awesome cake, we were awarded the Most Outstanding New Campaign from Operation Feed.  Yep, really, really proud!

I am thrilled that Cakes for a Cause is back and even sweeter for 2011!  Save March 1 for another great evening at the Mid Ohio Food Bank’s beautiful facility in Grove City.  Great food, awesome auction items and new for 2011, our Sweet Victory baking competition!

Cakes for a Cause 2010 was an outstanding success and while we shattered our original goal of raising 4380 meals, we were 400 meals short of 10,000.  400 meals or $200.  Our official goal this year is to hit that 10,000 meal mark but our pie-in-the-sky, we-don’t-say-it-out-loud, that-would-be-the-best-day-ever is to feed 12 people every meal for a year.  3 families of 4 people.  Every meal.  That is 13,140 meals or $6570.  Even if we fall short, every dollar provides two meals for Operation Feed and helps the hungry right here in Central Ohio.  So, can we do it?  I KNOW we can hit 10,000 but can we do the bigger goal?  We’ll find out on March 1!

Tickets go on sale TODAY at noon: http://cakesforacause2011.eventbrite.com – they are $27 and include your admission, five tasting tickets and a voting ballot for the Sweet Victory Competition, food from some great local caterers and more – there will be something to satisfy every sweet tooth!

If you want to learn more, there are several places to get info:
Website: Cakes for a Cause
Twitter: cakesforacause
Facebook: Cakes for a Cause – Columbus

Join us on March 1 – we promise it will be a sweet evening with lots of surprises!

As you may remember, my friend Kasey and I produced an awesome event benefiting Mid-Ohio Foodbank last year and we are hard at work on Cakes for a Cause 2011 (save the date – March 1!).  I think that Mid-Ohio Foodbank is an incredible organization that benefits so many people.

To me, this time of year is all about warm hearts and full tummies and in that spirit, I am thrilled to participate in Cans for Comments again this year!

My family will be making a $100 donation to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank (which will buy an amazing $800 worth of food for hungry people in Central Ohio).  This is in addition to the $100 from Emilie Duncan Event Planning for the 50 Things that I didn’t complete from Round 2 of 101 Things in 1001 Days.

I would LOVE to donate more than $200 – all you need to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what you are most thankful this time of year.  For every comment, I will donate another $1 to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.  Please spread the word: tell your friends, link back to this post, share on Twitter, on Facebook, on your blog – the more comments the better for the Mid- Ohio Foodbank.

Thanks for your help and please consider giving in your community – the need is so great for so many.

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that my participation on the Board of Directors for Wish Upon a Wedding’s Ohio chapter. I am so honored to be part of this incredible organization!

Wish Upon a Wedding is a charitable organization that gives weddings to brides and grooms facing terminal illness.   Our couples have quite often been together for quite a while or already planning a wedding but when faced with a catastrophic illness, priorities change.  That is where Wish Upon a Wedding comes in – we give them a day, without any thoughts of existing health issues, while surrounded by their closest family and friends to celebrate LOVE.  One day to forget that by their 3rd anniversary, one of them will be gone.  Pretty incredible and really powerful.  WUW was started in California in January of 2010 and has already spread to chapters across the country – we are getting things up and running in Ohio and hope to start granting wishes for deserving couples very soon!  Keep your eyes open for our launch party in January and our Blissful Wishes Gala in November 2011.

Whenever I mention this to vendors and brides and random people on the street (I like to talk after all), the first question I get is “how can I help?”   The answer to that varies by who you are:

For my fellow wedding vendors:

Sign up to be a Wish Granter – we’ll call on you to help make these special couple’s day amazing by doing what you do best!

Donate to the Wishing Well – donate 1% of your profits from one event or from the sale of your products to help fund weddings for our couples.

Donate your Services for Auction – In October and November, brides and grooms will be able to bid for wedding related services with all the proceeds going back to Wish Upon a Wedding.

For everyone:

Volunteer as a Committee Member - we have lots of roles for committee members to help us spread the word, plan events and operational needs.

Make a Monetary Contribution or Donate Airline Miles or Donate In Lieu of Favors/Instead of Gifts

Bid on Auction Items for Your Wedding – You need vendors for your wedding – why not bid on their services and benefit Wish Upon a Wedding at the same time?

Follow Wish Upon a Wedding on Twitter and Like Wish Upon a Wedding and Wish Upon a Wedding Ohio on Facebook

If you would like to get involved, please feel free to contact wish Upon a Wedding via at cwo@wishuponawedding.org or {877} 305-WISH.

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that my participation on the Board of Directors for Wish Upon a Wedding’s Ohio chapter. I am so honored to be part of this incredible organization!

Wish Upon a Wedding is a charitable organization that gives weddings to brides and grooms facing terminal illness.   Our couples have quite often been together for quite a while or already planning a wedding but when faced with a catastrophic illness, priorities change.  That is where Wish Upon a Wedding comes in – we give them a day, without any thoughts of existing health issues, while surrounded by their closest family and friends to celebrate LOVE.  One day to forget that by their 3rd anniversary, one of them will be gone.  Pretty incredible and really powerful.  WUW was started in California in January of 2010 and has already spread to chapters across the country – we are getting things up and running in Ohio and hope to start granting wishes for deserving couples very soon!  Keep your eyes open for our launch party in January and our Blissful Wishes Gala in November 2011.

Whenever I mention this to vendors and brides and random people on the street (I like to talk after all), the first question I get is “how can I help?”   The answer to that varies by who you are:

For my fellow wedding vendors:

Sign up to be a Wish Granter – we’ll call on you to help make these special couple’s day amazing by doing what you do best!

Donate to the Wishing Well – donate 1% of your profits from one event or from the sale of your products to help fund weddings for our couples.

Donate your Services for Auction – In October and November, brides and grooms will be able to bid for wedding related services with all the proceeds going back to Wish Upon a Wedding.

For everyone:

Volunteer as a Committee Member - we have lots of roles for committee members to help us spread the word, plan events and operational needs.

Make a Monetary Contribution or Donate Airline Miles or Donate In Lieu of Favors/Instead of Gifts

Bid on Auction Items for Your Wedding – You need vendors for your wedding – why not bid on their services and benefit Wish Upon a Wedding at the same time?

Follow Wish Upon a Wedding on Twitter and Like Wish Upon a Wedding and Wish Upon a Wedding Ohio on Facebook

If you would like to get involved, please feel free to contact wish Upon a Wedding via at cwo@wishuponawedding.org or {877} 305-WISH.