luxury wedding cakes

Julie Deffense is a luxury wedding cake designer in Sarasota, Florida and Lisbon, Portugal. Julie brings nearly 20 years of impressive design experience and living abroad to her international design of luxury cakes. She works with each couple to create a one-of-a-kind luxury fondant, buttercream or wafer-paper wedding cake for their special day. Julie has been designing couture-style wedding cakes since 2010. Julie has been operating her wedding cake business in Portugal since 2010. In 2013, she expanded to Boston, Massachusetts and in the spring of 2017, to Sarasota, Florida.

Julie Deffense Artistry creates custom, luxury wedding cakes that vary in price depending upon the complexity of the design, the number of guests and the size of the cake, from an intimate celebration cake to a custom-commissioned tower of edible art. Julie divides her time between the glorious, wedding destination coastal areas of Lisbon, Portugal and Sarasota, Florida. Depending upon season and availability, she accepts special commissions across the U.S. or in other European countries with close proximity to Portugal.

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Julie Deffense Artistry - Luxury Wedding Cakes

Julie Deffense Artistry - Luxury Wedding Cakes - Queluz Palace

Julie Deffense Artistry - Luxury Wedding Cakes - chandelier cake

artistry

Julie's fine arts education and former experience as a creative director contributes to her exceptional ability to create elaborate and embellished cake designs. Julie often combines intricate techniques with mixed media to obtain a more layered and complex creation. Inspiration comes from listening to each couple's story. She then encourages integration of personal details – ideas which may include a piece of antique lace from the bride's grandmother, the look of a family heirloom, an architectural accent echoing the wedding venue, a favorite flower featured in the bride's bouquet, or a cultural element such as an antique Portuguese tile.

Julie Deffense Artistry - Luxury Wedding Cakes - handmade sugar flowers

Julie Deffense Artistry - Luxury Wedding Cakes - hand painted azulejo tiles

floral

Julie is a true artist as seen in the precise design of her exquisite sugar flowers. Crafting each handmade blossom, petal by petal, requires intense focus to shape, frill, vein, hand-paint and assemble. Deep passion for her art is expressed in the sophisticated details of her breathtaking sugar roses, peonies, hydrangea, parrot tulips, freesia and ranunculus, among other floral styles.

monogram

Many couples wish to incorporate their monogram into their wedding cake. Julie recreates each monogram to complement the style of the cake and the venue surroundings, whether piped in royal icing, modeled in fondant, or hand-painted in 24k edible gold or silver.

avant-garde

Capture your dream, design your most innovative, original, modern, or classic old world vision. Julie's avant-garde cake designs demonstrate her breadth of creative capabilities. She often considers new ways to incorporate current wedding and style trends: inspired by haute couture bridal gown beading and embellishments, feminine frilled edges; dazzling (edible) gold confetti; the illusion of delicate, hand-painted French toile; elaborate baroque architectural details; or over-piped lace with hand-painted facets.

Julie Deffense Artistry - Luxury Wedding Cakes - beaded cake

Julie Deffense Artistry - Luxury Wedding Cakes - baroque wedding cake

more creations... find your inspiration

To Julie, every cake is a piece of art. She envisions each as a white canvas to be transformed with a combination of her talent and the personal touches that express the client's unique style or personality. Collaboration is essential. So, Julie encourages each couple to bring inspiration found in what moves them, what they treasure, what exemplifies their love. This is the beginning of a beautiful creation … because it’s not just about cake! Enjoy these examples as you discover your own inspiration: