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Couple Creates Gorgeous Wedding Cake Out of Costco and Trader Joe's Products for Less Than $50

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In the 1990s film “Father of the Bride,” comedian Steve Martin develops sticker shock when he discovers how much his daughter’s wedding will cost. In order to save money, he tries to squeeze into his old tuxedo and one of the movie’s most famous scenes involves him ranting about the packaging mismatch between hot dogs and hot-dog buns.

Martin’s attempts at frugality get so extreme that it lands him in the slammer. But a Texas woman’s attempt to save money for her brother proved both effective and breathtaking.

San Antonio resident and decorator Jessica Hoyle-King had an unenviable task before her, according to Fox News. See, her brother was getting married and wanted to save a few bucks.

He had a good goal in mind. He wanted to wow his new bride with a honeymoon trip to Rome.

In order to do so, he’d decided to pinch pennies for his wedding. And he brought in his sister to help.

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Y’all this DIY cake! It is no secret my bother is frugal…but this wedding took frugality to a whole new level. They bought two @costco cakes, cut them, stacked them, re-iced with buttercream icing, and covered with $10 @traderjoes flowers. Boom a $50 DIY Cake! Displayed on the stand I built using stuff from @hobbylobby …beautiful on a budget! The wedding was fun, but a sigh of relief we can get back to regularly scheduled projects around here. ?? . . . ETA: My sister-in-law’s brother-in-law, @chefjwarley was in town from England for the wedding and took their idea of the cheap wedding Costco cake and threw it all together in a couple of hours at the venue the day before the wedding! Go follow him! (Didn’t know he had an IG, or I would have tagged him!). . . #hoylewedding2019 #countryweddingstyle #countrywedding #countryweddings #weddingcake #costcofinds #costcodeals #diycake #diycakes #diycakestand #costcodoesitagain #costcocake #traderjoes #traderjoeslove #traderjoesfinds #traderjoesflowers #hobbylobby #hobbylobbyfinds #hobbylobbyfarmhouse #hobbylobbydecor #hobbylobbywedding #hobbylobbylove

A post shared by Jessica Hoyle-King (@cottagefarmhouse) on

Hoyle-King was happy to help, but she balked at her brother’s idea of pre-baking cupcakes for his wedding guests. Instead, she came up with a more ingenious solution.

Many wedding gurus suggest cutting corners of a cake in order to save money on the ceremony. In fact, Woman Getting Married listed the numerous ways in which a fancy wedding cake can inflate expenses.

The site suggested cutting back on ornate frills that increase a baker’s time and the final cost. Removing layers and using fewer sugar decorations all cut down on the cost.

Would you consider DIYing something like this for a wedding?

But Hoyle-King ended up not sacrificing any of the prettier aspects of her brother’s cake. The end result? An absolutely gorgeous creation, but not one without a good deal of work.

“It is no secret my bother is frugal,” Hoyle-King wrote on her Instagram account. “But this wedding took frugality to a whole new level.”

They started with a trip to Costco where they bought a pair of plain sheet cakes. Then they turned to the bride-to-be’s brother-in-law.

It just so happened that he was a British pastry chef. The knives quite literally came out, and he sliced and diced the cake.

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My most liked picture! Swipe to see other pictures from the wedding on a budget! My brother and my whole family are very hands on DIY and save money wherever we can. Jeremy and Gosia love to travel (they met while touring Chernobyl!) and wanted to save for their honeymoon (they ended up honeymooning in Rome!) and not spend too much on a wedding. Their flower budget was zero. Their cake budget was “let’s make cupcakes and freeze for the wedding”. Two weeks before the wedding, they handed the wedding coordinator position over to me. With my moms help, we bought a few things from @hobbylobby and used a few things I had in my decor closet in order to bring my vision of a rustic wedding reception to life. My parents have bees and sell honey so we had a ton of mason jars we were also able to use for center pieces. We picked wildflowers on the side of the road, flowers and rosemary from my mom’s garden, and we literally stopped at @traderjoes on our way to the reception venue, @shadysprings to decorate the day before the wedding. I bought flowers for all the bouquets, mason jars for 24 tables, hair flowers, and cake. Trader Joe’s even gave me some greenery that looked a little wilted but I still thought looked pretty. And the cake…I was able to talk my brother into just “getting Costco cakes and throw some real flowers on it”. They ordered two of the $18.99 sheet cakes with cream cheese filling and picked up on the way to the venue before the rehearsal dinner. With the help of Gosia’s brother-in-law, @chefjwarley (who happens to be a chef in England), the cakes were cut into tiered squares, stacked, re-iced, and arranged a few of the real flowers from the piles of flowers used for decorating (About $10 worth). All displayed on a rustic looking cake stand made with supplies from Hobby Lobby. Oh and should I mention they did not hire a DJ and used Spotify on an IPad for the music for dancing? It really was a beautiful reception on a budget! Cake tutorial coming as soon as we get back from vacay! ?? #costco #costcofinds #hobbylobbyaddict #hobbylobbyfarmhouse #hobbylobbylove #costcodoesitagain #costcocake

A post shared by Jessica Hoyle-King (@cottagefarmhouse) on

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Then after arranging them into tiers, he applied a new layer of frosting. The final touch wasn’t fondant or carefully crafted confections.

Instead, Hoyle-King bought a bunch of flowers from Trader Joe’s and used them to decorate the cake. It turned out to have four layers and looked like something out of a magazine.

Even more amazing was the final cost, which came out to less than $50. The guests loved it.

Hoyle-King also crafted a cake stand from Hobby Lobby supplies and crafted decorations from containers her beekeeping parents had around the house.

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A graduate of Wheaton College with a degree in literature, Loren also adores language. He has served as assistant editor for Plugged In magazine and copy editor for Wildlife Photographic magazine.
A graduate of Wheaton College with a degree in literature, Loren also adores language. He has served as assistant editor for Plugged In magazine and copy editor for Wildlife Photographic magazine. Most days find him crafting copy for corporate and small-business clients, but he also occasionally indulges in creative writing. His short fiction has appeared in a number of anthologies and magazines. Loren currently lives in south Florida with his wife and three children.
Education
Wheaton College
Location
Florida
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Entertainment, Faith, Travel




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