ELEMENTS OF STYLE
Take inspiration from these works of art. From hand-tied bouquets to well-crafted cakes, made for the modern bride.
The act of giving a present is often more rewarding than receiving one. And the same holds especially true for Abegail Ariola, whose gift for her parents sparked the beginning of a lucrative career. One auspicious day, Ariola decided to bake some strawberry cheesecakes for her parents on their anniversary. Ariola’s sister liked it so much, she took some slices back to a friend. The friend, in turn, ended up asking Ariola if she could order two cheesecakes for herself, thus setting the idea for Sweetbunch. The incident inspired and motivated Ariola to create more cakes in an array of different flavors, initially using the aid of Google and Youtube to teach herself more techniques. Since then, she has mastered making cupcakes and fondant cakes, additionally taking up culinary arts and short courses on baking, pastry making, and cake decorating in order to enhance her skills, while also regularly attending seminars and workshops.
To date, Sweetbunch Cakes provides custom-made cakes for a variety of occasions, while simultaneously cultivating relationships with its regular customers and continuing to improve its services through customer feedback.
“We contribute to happy celebrations by creating cakes that perfectly match the theme of the party and personality of our clients,” says Ariola of Sweetbunch’s objective.
The cake artist works hard to ensure that Sweetbunch’s customers are always satisfied with their orders.
“We do our best to meet clients’ expectations. We enter into contracts, to make sure [complete] information is provided, such as the date of the event, flavors and colors, and so on. To avoid disagreements, we make sure we constantly communicate [with] the client. We follow every single detail on the contract to avoid problems,” Ariola explains.
The baker also meticulously plans ahead for possible complications that may arise on the day of the event.
“Whenever we have deliveries of our cakes or any products, we do triple checks if they are complete and in good condition. We always bring brushes and modeling tools in case some unexpected circumstances happen,” she adds.
To make sure the preparations are more than adequate, Ariola typically spends almost the same amount of time on the event day as she does the the day prior, all the while maintaining the freshness of cakes before delivery or pick-up. On days without orders, the Sweetbunch team focuses on marketing and connecting with its regular customers.
Her hard work has paid off over the years—sweetbunch has been the exclusive cake supplier of Faustino’s Events Place since 2015, while also accumulating a steady roster of loyal clients.
Ariola also notes that the demand for wedding cakes is one of the pros of getting into the business, because they form an integral part of the wedding program. As long as one has the experience and drive, it’s easy to start a profitable cake business, though maintaining it is the challenge.
“It’s a continuous process of learning something simple until your skills finally become more elaborate and [you are] able to make complex cakes,” observes Ariola.
She cites regular expenses as the main impediment, with costly training programs and workshops upping the price of wedding cakes.
“Since it is more expensive, expectations are higher and you have more preparations to make from order day [until] delivery day,” explains Ariola.
Despite the expenditures and upkeep of running a business, the cake artist still considers the success of Sweetbunch worth all the effort.
“I wake up inspired to do my craft, because it is my passion,” reflects Ariola on Sweetbunch. At the end of the day, it really is the icing on top of the cake.