Cakes? Creativity wanted!

PirateFoxy

So, technically, this is not actually for a wedding, so I hope it's okay that I'm posting here. (Short vesion: I got married, we were planning a big party later to celebrate, but my husband died unexpectedly, so that never happened, which was a big deal for my mom, who was diagnosed this summer with cancer. So I'm about to finally graduate from college - like I said, long story - so I'm investigating the idea of letting her throw a graduation party that has a lot of wedding reception elements, like a spiffy cake. Hence asking on a wedding site. Make sense? ) (Not a gift grab, though - I don't care if people bring gifts, I just want my mom to have the chance to have that whole celebration of a majorevent in my life with friends and loved ones, since she kind of got cheated out of it when I was married.)

ANYWAY. If we do a cake, I would really like something a little more creative than just something elegant and pretty - I was married and spent ten years living in England, but I also love the city of Pittsburgh, and it might be nice to include something of my degree (film) in there too... So I'm wondering which bakery people would recommend for really helping to develop a unique and nice idea while still having good tasting cake. (Moio's is where my parents got their wedding cake, but most of the photos I've seen  of their decorative work is fairly traditional.)

I hope folks have some suggestions of where I could look, and that you don't mind me poking in here - my first thought when looking for information about a big party and a fancy cake was naturally folks planning weddings. (Right now I'm just trying to get a general idea of cost and how much planning would be involved. I don't want my mom trying to do it and wearing herself out.)

-Kris

AshNoel8

I am so sorry for your loss. I think a graduation party would be great for you and your mom! We are having our cake done by Autumn's Cakes. She is awesome. She can custom design a cake if you just tell her what you want. When looking at her photos, I noticed that she has done traditional, modern, and themed cakes. If you have a vision, or at least some interests/colors to give her, she will come up with something that fits your personality! Check her out. 

PirateFoxy

I just wanted to thank you for the recommendation.

 I sent her an email explaining things and she does sound very nice and understanding and her prices are quite reasonable. Unfortunately I can't make plans yet because now my mom's doctors are debating about when she should have a bone marrow transplant, and that will change when we can have the party (she can't be in crowds for some time after the transplant, until her immune system is working properly again) but Autumn sounds like she'll be willing to kind of work with me on that aspect as long as she isn't all booked up, which is fantastic.

Since you did so well with the first suggestion - are there any tips or tricks to looking for venues? I tried using the search here but I keep coming up with places that are really too big, and apparently there are a bazillion wedding planning sites and no functional party planning websites to speak of, so I'm kind of wondering if I'm missing some resource - a local magazine, even or something like that?

 (Obviously favorite restaurants are already on the list to check out, but I want to see what else is out there in case there's something I'm missing - you know how it is when you've lived somewhere for a long time, you start kind of not seeing the neat places that other people might notice.)