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October 2-3, 2010 (setup on October 1)
  BREAKING NEWS -- "Best in Show"  featured in March/April BRIDES Magazine! -- BREAKING NEWS
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Maria McBride

 
           
  LATEST NEWS -- OUT NOW!

What we have all been waiting for, Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show & Grand National Wedding Cake Competition 2008 AWARD WINNING CAKES are featured in BRIDES magazine March/April on newsstands now!

FLOUR POWER: BRIDES Editor in Chief Millie Martini Bratten says “One of the things that sets a wedding a part from a regular party is a magnificent cake.”   BRIDES showcase floral themed cakes that were entered in the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show.   Everything from Coco Chanel to Russian folk art inspired these showstoppers.  The creators really reached for the stars when putting the finishing touches on their designs, some used roses from their own gardens, hand made feathers and others were even hand painted -- all proof that if you have talent, imagination, butter and sugar, you can rise to new heights. 

Maria mentions: After years as wedding style director at BRIDES I am happy to report I am getting smarter! Most stories that I produce take months of planning to execute, especially complicated features like stories on cakes that require hours of hands on direction on my part: seeking out new talent, requesting sketches and samples from each baker, then organizing the receipt of wedding cakes from around the country to arrive at our photo studio, hundreds of hours went into planning any photo shoot. Two years ago Kerry Vincent invited me to be a judge at the Tulsa Competition, which is the most prestigious show in the United States and I was happy to participate, it was an eye opening experience. I was delighted to discover that there were so many talented sugar artists represented. Last year I invited myself back to judge, hoping to discover more talent to feature in BRIDES. Happily Kerry chose the theme "The Language of Flowers," a perfect decorative concept for my readers. Who doesn't love flowers on a wedding cake? So, I traveled to Tulsa, spent a weekend looking at cakes, chose my favorite 15 to photograph, the only catch was getting them to NYC to shoot. Kerry Vincent proved to be my angel, she and her husband Doug rented a 20- foot van,  loaded up the cakes packed in giant boxes with thousands of peanuts to protect the sugar and slowly drove their way east, fifteen hundred miles to our photo studio! We met Kerry and Doug on the sidewalk and ferried the cakes 5 floors to the photo studio, their final journey to stardom. Two days in the studio where we captured all the beautiful cakes on film, then repacked the cakes and sent them home. And now the magazine is out, we hope you love the fabulous 75th anniversary layout.		        
           
  BRIDES Magazine Talent Search      

 
 
 
Waiting to be discovered? Who wouldn’t give their right arm to be featured in America’s best and first bridal magazine? BRIDES Magazine, celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2009, will publish a blockbuster edition that will include a showcase of gorgeous, newsworthy cakes, all to be chosen exclusively from contestants in the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show competition!

Here’s your chance to receive national recognition and here’s how:

Maria McBride, Wedding Style Director for BRIDES magazine, author of The Perfect Wedding series and her newest book, Party Basics for New Nesters, and juror for the wedding cake competition will also conduct an independent competition to select the TOP TEN most exciting cake designs to be featured in Best in Show, a special section in the February 2009 issue of BRIDES.

It's the opportunity of a lifetime, and ALL contestants at the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show and The Wedding Cake Spectacular 2008 are eligible. Money cannot buy a chance like this.  
 
You will need to create the finest cake you can. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. Your technical skills are critical; Maria McBride will be looking for cakes that illustrate meticulous, picture-perfect details and a stylish sensibility that will excite BRIDES readers. Winning cakes must be stacked and at least two tiers. If chosen, you will have your work included in a collector’s edition of BRIDES Magazine and you will also become a design ambassador for Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show, bringing well-deserved recognition to our showcase for homegrown talent.  
 
BRIDES Magazine will photograph the selected cakes in New York City the week of October 6th. 

When decorating your cake, remember that humidity is a huge issue in New York City. Don’t spare the gum tragacanth or Tylose in your gum paste and rolled fondant recipes.

NOTE FROM KERRY VINCENT:
 
Transportation of cakes from Tulsa to New York City for the Best in Show photo shoot will be provided by BRIDES Magazine. Winning contestants will be required to pack their cakes in sturdy cardboard boxes for transportation at the conclusion of the show. A van will transport the cakes to New York City after the show for photography. After the photo shoot, the cakes will be returned to Tulsa from New York and must be collected within a two-week period or they will, regretfully, have to be discarded. 

Good luck to you all.