Sparkle... Your Cake surely rates as one of The Ring’s favourite Toronto area interviews this season. This great little company seems destined to make a splash on Toronto brides, if not on their wedding cakes. Using Swarovski crystals and brushed aluminum (or gold), owners Jen Borges and Ana Nascimento create jeweled monograms, numbers and/or symbols that take the monogram cake-topper concept to the next level. Their concept is trendy, beautiful and high-end, all at the same time.

All that sparkles...

Since September 2005, Sparkle... Your Cake has been making-to-order exquisite jeweled monograms for clients both locally and across the globe. Even though we describe Jen and Ana’s pieces as 'jeweled', we should be more specific. These monograms are actually 'crystallized'... Nearly every square millimetre of the brushed-silver monograms is covered in Swarovski Crystals. This accounts for their elegance, expense, and element of sparkle. "The Swarovski Crystal will never lose its shine," Jen Borges explained to staff at The Ring.

The original plan

Originally, Jen and Ana’s pieces were designed for cake toppers (Jen comes with experience of working in a busy major cake design shop). But thanks to customer requests, they have since found themselves adding sparkle to much more. "One of our orders was to create a little love symbol to hang down from a flower girl ball." Other clients have used their pieces atop tables, cakes (of course), to dress up the guest book table at anniversary parties and more.

Options: Design, colour, shape & use

The sizes of the monograms range from 1.5 inches to 8 inches in height. The jewels themselves range in size from tiny (1 mm) to up to 20 S.S. which they describe as approximately the size of an eraser at the end of a pencil. Most of the monograms they sell are two smaller letters with a larger letter or ampersand in the middle.

Monograms can be mounted on a thin peg and inserted directly into bouquets, and because of their versatility in colour, design and size, the pieces are both beautiful and suitable for use in a variety of other ways.

Then, when the wedding day has come and gone, they are most often used as keepsakes. "Our monograms really have an heirloom feel to them."

Clients and products

After several development hurdles that they chalk up to experience and the pain of invention, Jen and Ana’s last six months in business have been by far the busiest. Most of the fifty local and global (Australia, France, Brazil...) customers they’ve designed for have come to them within this time period. "We are now at the point where our product is the best it’s ever been." Jen and Ana plan to launch an additional line of jeweled items at the Canada Wedding Expo in January.

Jen says that the people who come to them are tired of tradition. They want something that is different and unique... something that will be noticed on their wedding day.

Prices

Prices range from approximately $50 to $500 for single letters and monograms. For example a 1.5 inch single letter, which would be used for bouquets or broaches are $50. A three letter monogram fully covered in crystals (front and back) with two 3 inch side letters and the middle letter standing 5 inches tall, the cost would be approximately $300. Many of these pieces take an average of eight hours per piece to assemble by hand until they're perfect. All pieces can be cherished for a lifetime after the wedding day is over.

Contact

Sparkle... Your Cake is a home-based business, set in Ana’s home. Their website displays all the options they have to offer you, though custom design is available. They can work with your graphic designer to fully match the monogram on your invitations. Correspondence is handled by phone, email and online orders. Booking ahead is highly recommended wherever possible.

Owners/Designers: Jen Borges or Ana Nascimento
Website: www.sparkleyourcake.com
Phone: 416-720-4603