Golden Girlz is a Toronto-based wedding cake shop run by Alicia Marie Di Iulio and Janice Di Iulio. These two talented ladies are taking art and sugar to another level, setting themselves apart with unique, creative designs you can't help but love. Cheesecake pops, mini edible favour cakes, cake balls, covered in damask patterns made from icing, wedding cakes covered in flowers, patterns and shapes – all of which were made from sugar. From gluten-free and nut free cakes to deluxe, rich cakes in just about any flavour, Golden Girlz is becoming a familiar name to Toronto brides who want to add a sweet treat to their wedding reception.

The Golden Girlz in person

Janice and Alicia Marie make up the mother-daughter team that run Golden Girlz. Janice (Alicia Marie's Mother) and Alicia Marie say they're certified by Wilton as Cake Decorators with specialization in Sugar Artistry of Floral Design Sprays. Even though they've been doing cakes for several years longer, as 'Golden Girlz' they’ve been in business (officially) for the past two years, which is when a hobby and love for sugar artistry became a pursuit of happiness for Janice and Alicia Marie. "When you love what you do, it doesn't seem like work. It is more of a constant smile."

Having turned cake design into a family affair, Janice and Alicia Marie look at themselves as creative minds who have teamed up to create designer, fashion-style wedding cakes - and cake pops, edible favours, cupcakes, gluten and nut-free cakes, and more - for Toronto brides. Their daily vision is to offer unique designs, impeccably fresh creations, immaculate cake delivery (and set-up), and artistic invention. At Golden Girlz, it seems like nothing could ever become 'old hat' because there's always a new design, concept or idea in the mix. Alicia Marie and Janice know that brides want something unique, which will define their own style and taste. "Brides want a chance to play a part in the design process and a beautiful presentation on their wedding day. On that note, we always keep up with the cutting edge trends in Cake Design, from the runway to cake couture….” They believe that your cake should look great in photos. Equally important, they should taste as good as they look!

Because there are so many individual aspects to the ultimate wedding cake, both mom and daughter have split up the job when it comes to production.

Janice specializes in custom sugar flowers. She handcrafts, paints, dusts, shimmers and arranges each sweet piece on the wedding cakes that go out the Golden Girlz doors. While a number of sugar design elements are possible, flowers (such as hydrangeas or orchids) are probably the hottest request. As she painstakingly works away at the little edible pieces of art, Janice's goal is to bring the beauty of the outdoors into each slice served at your wedding reception. Janice says, "It is all about those tiny details, the stamen, the blended hues and the perfect petal."

Alicia Marie specializes in sculpturing any design, idea or inspiration into what she calls "3D edible form." From custom cake toppers to characters sculpted from sugar, creative scrollwork and jewels to embossed patterns, the options aren't just artistic, they're nearly limitless.

Cakes by the girlz

When you browse the http://goldngirlz.webs.com (no 'e' in golden) website photo gallery, you get a taste of what's possible when you choose Janice and Alicia Marie to design, sculpt, and bake something for your wedding day.

Among just about anything that can be made with sugar and cake, Golden Girlz offers a wide range of contemporary, classic and over-the-top wedding cakes. You could go simple and beautiful with detailed white cakes. Or, you can get creative and have the girls create you a hat, purse and/or shoe cake (great for a bachelorette party!).

"We tailor our designs to match each couple. On a weekend we may have one wedding that we create a vintage design and then the next day, we might have a delivery of a cake that has a dinosaur on it."

Jan and Pat Glancy hired Golden Girlz to create cake centrepieces that would match the theme of their October 30, 2010 wedding. "Golden Girlz was absolutely lovely, professional and excited about designing a unique product for my wedding,” says Jan. “It was a Halloween wedding and they did ten small cakes as centrepieces, and one larger one for our table." Jan wanted vegan cakes and was happy to find that nothing seemed to be too much trouble. "...And the finished products were phenomenal,” she adds. “The Golden Girlz were perfect with delivery and set-up and ever so pleasant to deal with. I asked other cake decorators about vegan options and doing small cakes for centrepieces and one essentially told me to get lost and the other said it would cost almost $1000 dollars. The GGs were just so much fun to work with and the guests wanted the recipe for the cakes they were so good. The bride and groom topper that Alicia wanted to design was a reflection of our costumes. Perfectly done and whimsical. It was one of the highlights of the wedding."

Mini edible cakes can be fabulous for wedding favours and don't get us started on the 'cheesecake pops', which look like lolly pops, but they're dipped in chocolate, sprinkles or an array of other things, and served on the end of lollypop sticks. Chic and fun!

Golden Girlz offers standard cakes such as white butter cake and chocolate butter cake. And then there's the specialty cakes: angel food cake (low fat, nice and light in texture), banana caramel, carrot cake, cherry almond, coconut, cranberry burst (also low fat), fudgy mint (a crisp cookie-like top, a cross between a brownie and a cake), gingerbread, golden swirl (marble), hummingbird, madeira (pound cake with a hint of lemon zest), mocha-hazelnut and red velvet.

And because fillings can be just as fun to choose, they offer everything from rocky road and strawberry mousse to chocolate raspberry and pistachio butter cream.

Brides who love Golden Girlz

Golden Girlz will meet with and create for brides and grooms getting married just about anywhere across the GTA, at your location or theirs. “The Bride and Groom are always welcome in our design studio to meet for consultations,” say Alicia Marie and Janice. “At that time, they can get a chance to view a variety of our edible creations on display as well as select cake toppers, wedding favours, display rentals, specialty embellishments and current sugar trends.”

The Golden Girlz say they don't necessarily have a 'target bride'. "All brides are welcome as we create beautiful traditional designs, love vintage flair, can play with colour and can design anything out of the ordinary. As an artist, when someone throws you an idea, any idea, you work with it and build it into something fabulous."

In Alexandra Smali's case, she found Golden Girlz on television (Alicia has made several appearances on CHCH). "I was researching for a bakery/patisserie that will cater to my needs of unique cake designs, [offer] good quality ingredients and delicious flavours. My sister was actually watching the news and happened to see Golden Girlz on the show and was very impressed with the cake designs. I followed up on her recommendation by reviewing their site and loved the fact that they met all my needs as well as had very good prices for cakes compared to others on the same level."

Darko and Andrea Brajic asked Golden Girlz to custom design a four tiered cake for their May 22, 2010 wedding for many reasons. "Although they have a vast variety of cake design options to choose from, my fiancé and I had already agreed to have the cake design match our wedding theme and The Golden Girlz were more than happy to match the pattern and they did a superb job doing so," say Darko and Andrea. Dealing mostly with Alicia Marie, they loved that she worked within their budget, provided a miniature version of their wedding cake adorned with the pattern they'd asked for. “The sample tasting of our wedding cake blew my fiancé and I away and we were sure that The Golden Girlz would do an amazing job on our wedding cake.”

Golden Girlz stands by the theory that brides love unique wedding cakes that have been designed to fit into their wedding style and personal taste. And from interviewing Jan and Pat, they're obviously on the right track. They told The Ring, "Everyone wants something unique. Dresses are really all the same and halls are halls but the food and wedding cakes can be uniquely a reflection of the couple. We had a vegan, Halloween wedding and we had a blast. The cakes were such a delightful topic of conversation. Guests could not wait to get at them and all wanted to take some home."

Designing your cake with Golden Girlz

When it comes to wedding cake designs, Alicia Marie says the ideas are endless. "Sometimes I have sketched up a great design and can't wait for the bride to walk through our doors with the perfect fit. Other times, it's the bride and groom requests that keep us on our toes." That's why Alicia Marie looks at her career as an adventure in the wonderful world of sugar. Both she and her Mother welcome the challenge of something new.

They meet brides and grooms at a location of their choice, often at a coffee shop or the brides' home. "As a Cake Designer, we get to meet all the beautiful couples, build a dream design and watch them grow as they unite."

As you get to know the Golden Girlz and your options with them at that first meeting, they're doing the same, picking up on wedding style and taste, details that might help them create something fabulous for your day. You will be showed photos of cake styles, sugar flowers, toppers and countless other options. Once the design is decided on, your next consultation is your 'Golden Sampler' cake tasting. Janice and Alicia Marie will treat you to three choices with three fillings and a medium sugar flower in a custom colour (this is a $20 fee).

A 40% deposit books your date on the girls’ calendar, at which time you'll be emailed a concept sketch or two. From there, you can tweak and change as you like, up to one month before the wedding. Andrea says Alicia Marie is a doll to work with. "She responded to every email promptly and made herself available if I had any questions or concerns regarding the design of our wedding cake. I clicked with her the minute that I met her and she was professional, yet personable. She also went out of her way to ensure delivery was made and set-up was completed. I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that she wouldn’t do a great job on our wedding cake so I suppose she had gained my trust."

The balance is due upon delivery. Janice and Alicia Marie personally arrange the delivery with the venue ahead of time so there's less hassle for the couple.

“Our designs don't end at the wedding cake,” add the girls. “That is just the first chapter. Next, we receive Christening cake requests, baby's first and anniversary designs... Every couple has a story. We just create it in edible form.”

Brides on a budget

In each of the interviews we conducted with Golden Girlz past brides there was mention of how much they appreciated the competitive pricing they found with Janice and Alicia Marie. "I was a 'BOB', a bride on a budget," admits Alexandra. "The quotes that I received were very good compared to other patisserie shops that I had called. They were very reasonably priced and as a bride with many expenses, I was appreciative of that!"

Jan and Pat told The Ring that Golden Girlz was extremely reasonable, especially considering they'd asked for a lot of specialty design elements.

Darko and Andrea appreciated the fact that Alicia Marie stayed within their budget. "The Golden Girlz prices were reasonable. You have to consider that you are paying for what you’re getting. Alicia stayed within our budget and we found that the cake exceeded our expectations and budget."

A few of The Ring's favourite things...

• 'Cheesecake pops', which look like lolly pops, but they're dipped in chocolate, sprinkles or an array of other things, and served on the end of lollypop sticks. Chic and fun!
• Online photo gallery with professional photos help show off a lot of what the Golden Girlz can do.
• That Janice and Alicia Marie are a mother-daughter duo.
• They offer nut-free cakes that can be done in a nut-free kitchen (in big demand right now).
• Gluten-free cakes (also in big demand right now).

Details, details, details

• Golden Girlz recommend booking 3 to 6 months ahead, depending on your design and of course, on availability.
• The average bride (not that there really is such a person) spends $450 to $1000 on their edible art at Golden Girlz. A 40% deposit books the date, with the balance due upon delivery. HST is applicable on all prices.
• You can choose from cakes, mini edible favours, cheesecake pops, celebration cakes (such as for the bachelorette party or groom's cake) and more. If it's made from sugar, these ladies can likely deliver.Contacting The Golden Girlz