Social Bites

Now Hiring an assistant!

2012-02-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

When I was pregnant people would warn me “ You think you’re busy now, just wait until you have kids” Of course I just laughed and shrugged it off thinking oh whatever, I couldn’t possibly. Boy was I WRONG! These have been the busiest 4 months of my life, not only with being a wife and new mom, business hasn’t seem to slow down either! I am so blessed to have this “problem” but I am faced with having to make a big decision. I have been back and forth with the decision of “ Do I hire someone”. After starting a second business (The Social Event) and trying to keep up with a growing cake business I know I can’t possibly keep going the way I’m going. I am ONE person. I have overloaded myself to the point of pure exhaustion, I LOVE cakes, I LOVE these businesses, and I LOVE my customers! I don’t want to burn out, so I have decided to hire someone to better this business.

This would be a PART TIME AS NEEDED BASIS job that would include handling social media, client emails and calls for both Social Bites and The Social event, as well as baking/decorating assistant.

DISCLAIMER: This job is not for someone aspiring to open their own business in the future.

Here is the qualities that I am looking for:

I am looking for a young hip person, Someone who knows the latest trends and up to date on the “times”. They MUST LOVE VINTAGE! I need a super organized person, because let’s face it. I am NOT organized , as much as I want to be , I am NOT! I need a friendly outgoing and fun person, someone who can laugh and play but also knows when it’s time to get down to business. I need someone who is a HARD WORKER! Gasp! I know, hard work? Yes this business is so unbelievably hard. Lots of long days and nights. It’s not going to be sprinkles and cupcakes every day. I need someone who is creative, to help with ideas and concepts. Lastly I need someone who is flexable, this is probably one of the most important qualities. I need someone who can work on the weekend, and doesn’t let their personal life interfere with work. This job is a AS NEEDED BASIS! Although I am booking up a few weeks or sometimes months in advance there may be a week that is slower than others.. This is NOT a 8-5 mo-fri job!

If you think you've got the qualities above then send me an email at socialbitesofruston@hotmail.com, I would love to meet you!

I am so excited about the future of Social Bites and The Social Event, I cannot wait to have someone to grow with!

We're Back!

2012-01-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

Well, we're back to blogging! Our goal for the new year is to get better at posting what we've been up to :)

To start off...

I had a baby!

.... And I'm totally in love with this bundle of joy !

I thought baking was exhausting.. but come to find out being a mom is ..well... FUN! (and exhausting) However I wouldn't trade it for the world.I would have never thought that I would ever love something or someone as much as I love this tiny human. He is my little sunshine:)

In fact here is a little video of his room and my favorite song. Mom used to sing this song to me all the time..

Okay.. I know enough about the baby, back to the caking.

We have a lot of exciting things happening! This Sunday 1/29/12 we will be apart of Weddings With Style International Magazine's Signature Bridal Show! Weddings With Style Signature Bridal Show on Sunday, Jan. 29 from 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. at the Bossier Civic Center. The ultimate wedding event includes FOUR fabulous honeymoon giveaways, and an engagement ring will be given away compliments of Bailey’s Jewelers. Brides register at the door to win THOUSANDS of dollars in prizes and services. Admission is only $8!

We will be showcasing our 2o12 cake designs and introducing our sister company The Social Event (Vintage and Wedding Rentals)!

Here is our Ad in the Weddings with Style Magazine!

And one more thing...

We now offer KING CAKES!

A king cake is a pastry dough that is rolled (similiar to a cinnamon roll) and filled with a varity of flavors. It's topped with a sugar glaze and 3 color sprinkles PURPLE signifies justice, YELLOW signifies power and GREEN signifies faith. Sometimes in king cake a little baby is hidden inside, the tradition is the person who finds the baby will have to buy the next king cake.

Our king cakes are moist and delicious!!

We have Small (FEEDS 5) for $10
Medium (FEEDS 12) for $24

OR Large (FEEDS 20) for $40

(Pictured above is a comparison of a small vs medium size)

Email us at socialbitesofruston@hotmail.com to place your order today!

Thank you all for your continues support! We are so greatful for such awesome customers and cannot WAIT to see what 2012 has in store for us!

Dates

2011-03-10T11:06:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to give y’all an update on the dates that are completely booked or that we are closed.

April 1st and 2^nd BOOKED

May 13^th and 14^th BOOKED

May 31^st - June 6^th CLOSED

July 16^th BOOKED

September 10^th BOOKED

Other days that are getting close to booking up are April 16^th, April 23^rd, April 30^th, August 6^th.

If you have already contacted me about any of the dates above, I have you down. If you have an event coming up PLEASE shoot me an email at socialbitesofruston@hotmail.com as soon as possible. Thank you!

Also we just found out we are having a baby! Baby Bailey should arrive late September. So please note I will NOT be working on

September 12^th through November 1^st CLOSED!

Holiday Gift Guide

2010-12-02T12:07:00.000-08:00

Introducing Social Bites Gift Guide 2010. If you have any questions or if the font is to small to read leave your email address so I can send you a larger format. Have a great week!

Acadian Style Photoshoot- Sneak Peek

2010-11-22T15:43:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of working with Trent of http://trent-bailey.com/, his wife Dara and my fav and oh so talented Event Planner Valerie of http://southernfete.com/ on this wonderful Acadian style photoshoot in Lafayette, La.! Here is a sneak peek of the cake I did, full post coming soon:)

Pinwheels and Cupcakes

2010-09-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

Happy September 1st!! I hope everyone had a great summer, I know we did with lot's and lot's of birthday cakes! Here's a great way to end summer with a colorful fun filled 1st birthday!

I had the pleasure of being apart of this little boy's 1st birthday! Maryanne (the birthday boy's mom) did such a great job decorating and thinking of every detail !!! This party look like load's of fun! Special thanks to Crystal Garcia for the fabulous pictures! You can see more of her work here http://www.crystalgarcia.com/

Hope you all enjoy these pictures as much as I did!!

Carnival Birthday!

2010-08-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

We had the pleasure to work with Karie Potts for another one of her fabulous parties! Karie is so talented from photography to invitation design! We based most of the design of the cake off of the invitation and add a few other carnival ish items, we had so much fun creating the cake! Here are a few pictures from her party, ENJOY!

To see more of Karie's work visit her at http://www.kandkphotographyonline.com/

We made "cotton candy" out of marshmellows and then airbrushed them. NOTE to all: Real cotton candy will slowly shrink and dissolve into nothing (like it does in your mouth) in this lovely louisiana humidity, we learned the hard way ha ha ha!

They even made funnel cakes! mmMMmm,,,

Wedding Bliss

2010-07-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

We had the pleasure to do this sweet couples wedding cake(s) and mini cupcakes. When I first met with Hannah I knew this was going to be a great wedding to work on. She had great style and completely trusted us to come up with a great design. We went off of our beaded rose cake used for this

http://socialbitesofruston.blogspot.com/2010/02/photo-shoot.html

photo shoot as inspiration. We wanted to keep it more classy with pearl beads and a hint of pale pink roses. She was open to mix it up a little by adding mini cupcakes to the display. The wedding cake flavors included: italian cream cheese cake, strawberry cake with fresh strawberries, vanilla cake with buttercream. The mini cupcake flavors were chocolate cake with cream cheese, red velvet cake with cream cheese, chocolate swirl cake with buttercream.

Thanks Hannah and Brian for allowing us to be apart of your special day!

Thank you Kelly Moore Clark for the pictures, you rock! To see more of kelly's work check her out here:

http://kellymoorephotography.com/

T-shirts and a little giveaway!

2010-07-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

We now have T-shirts for all you Social Bites lovers!
I think this calls for a giveaway. All you need to do is post on your blog, facebook, or twitter "Social Bites has t-shirts! want one? www.socialbitesofruston.com". Then comment with a link to your post, you must comment with your link, this is your entry to the giveaway.

Sorry, this giveaway is now over.
The winner will be determined by http://random.org/

And the winner is....... Jennifer Tingle!

Adult Small- XL
$15

Adult 2X & 3X
$17

Thank you to Libby Gifford for the awesome design!

Vintage Dream

2010-05-20T10:33:00.001-07:00

We were contacted by Valarie from Southern Fete Event Planning about doing another photo shoot. Of course I was jumping up and down.I counldn't WAIT to work with Valerie again. Check out our last photoshoot together: http://socialbitesofruston.blogspot.com/2010/02/photo-shoot.html She directed me photographer's website who's vision was to create this photoshoot and I was BLOWN away. I fell in love with her work. I was stoked that they wanted us to be apart of their vision! After I recieved their inspiration board I started sketching right away! I had just received this button mold I had been dying to use for a cake, and then I went searching antique stores looking through old jewelry to make molds out of. I found a few pieces and began working on my vision for the cake. I used lace, vintage brouches, buttons, pearls, and a hint of ribbon. All of which are my favorite things! Courtney also thought it would be fun to have some desserts. Well... of course I was stoked about doing that! We did mini pecan pies, banana pudding shooters, chocolate chip cookies, and a new item homemade mini peach pies! I am super excited to show you guys these images. I couldn't believe all of these ladies attention to detail from the props to the invitations, and much more. This was truly awesome experience. I want to thank Courtney, Valerie,Katie and David for showin' off our desserts so well, Cherie for traveling, helping, and all of your creativity, and Anne for allowing us to use her kitchen for prep!

Here are a few images. Also visit Courtney's blog for more pictures and storyline :)
http://www.dellafiora.com/blog

Growing up:)

2010-05-18T07:05:00.001-07:00

I would like to start out by thanking ALL of you for being so supportive of Social Bites.
When I first started this little biz in September of '07 I honestly had no expectations. I thought, man wouldn't it be cool to have this as a full time "job" one day. Quickly that "one day" became a "right now". I was so overwhelmed with the response of people wanting MY cakes, something I came up with. It was such a weird feeling of people paying MONEY, real MONEY, to have something that I created.
Let me give you a quick background of where we began. I worked out of my parents house for quite awhile (almost 2 years) until I knew I completely out grew it and certain circumstances came along where I HAD to move. Well we searched for about 3 days when we received a phone call about a place that was for sale.It was truly a God thing, It was a little portable building that had to be moved but it came with most of the equipment needed. We jumped on the opportunity and now we have a little shop still located by my parents house. I was super excited to "have a place of my own" all of my cake "junk" was in 1 place!
I then quickly realized that I needed help. When I was working out of my parents house I would always have some family member doing something, whether I had my dad (who just walked in from a hard days work) mold me fondant figurines, or have my Mom (the perfectionist) make me what seemed like 100 buckets of icing, my brother roll out fondant or make bra and panty petit four toppers (we still make fun of him for that)or my sweet hubby to ice cookies. In this new place I had none of the free labor. I searched around and had emails of people looking for employment. This was a tough one for me, I have NEVER had an employee, I was only 21 years old. How in the world could I "boss someone around??" Well this is still a daily struggle but I think I am finally going in the right direction, I now have a employee,and just hired the 2nd!!! Is this real??
This business has completely changed me, I am constantly looking for inspiration, adding new things to the menu, thinking of business ideas and how to improve. I am still learning how to run a business. Sometimes I walk in the door and I have 10 messages on my voicmails, 14 unread emails and I am so completely overwhelmed. I am trying to do the best I can. Sometimes I make a mistake on a cake, or forget to call someone back, or think I have emailed someone back when I havent. I am asking for all of y'all to forgive me. I am working on being the best I can. I know I can't always please EVERYONE, but I can sure try to please as many people as I can. Happy Customer's = Happy Heather. Sometimes we as people want to point out only the flaws, I do this if I have a bad experience at a place of business, then I sit back and I say "Heather, think about this as if this was your business, do you want people to talk bad about you? Then my whole attitude changes.
Again, I am so BLESSED to have this business. We cannot WAIT to see what our future holds and we hope you continue to help us GROW GROW GROW!!

Dessert Bar -Ross + Rachel

2010-04-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

I was given the opportunity to create my first dessert bar for a couple of pretty awesome people (Ross and Rachel)! The wedding was held at Lincoln Parish Park. It was the perfect day for a wedding! I was so excited to have this opportunity and I thank Ross, Rachel, and Kelly for thinking of me! Of course I have to thank my wonderful hubby and my parents for helping me at the last minute:). Brandi- Your vision was amazing!Thank you to Mrs Shannon Inman for the awesome calligraphy! You can see her work at www.paperglaze.com. Lastly thank you to the Moore family for all of your love and support!
Photos by: Kelly Moore

Here are the desserts:

Photo Shoot

2010-02-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

About a month ago Valerie from Southern Fete contacted me, we were both fans of each other, and we began talking about doing a photoshoot together. She happen to have a few ideas and venders she wanted to use for the shoot and I was so excited to be one of them! A couple of weeks ago I traveled to Lafayette, LA to be apart of this amazing experience. We had such a great time, and it was so surreal to see everything come together! Valerie and Laura were such fun and so talented! Here is a sneak peek of the 2 shoots we did! Enjoy

Special Thanks to:
Laura Reaux of laurareaux.com
Tiffany Aragona with http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=49700075&ref=ts#!/pages/Rayne-LA/The-Warehouse/159525956610?ref=search&sid=1212990158.1057221790..1
Valerie Metrejean of southernfete.com

Valentine's Day

2010-02-11T20:00:00.000-08:00

We've been super busy this week with Valentine's orders. It's not too late to order your Valentine a sweet treat! We will taking pre orders tomorrow for pick up on Saturday. We will have only a few goodies wrapped up and for sale on Saturday! We will be closed on Sunday.

Here's a few pictures Emma(www.emmmylouphoto.com) took at the shop!

This Valentine "take out" package is filled with assorted cookies and 1 lg sugar cookie. $14

We also did fleur de lis cupcakes today :)

Mardi Gras

2010-02-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

It's been very busy here around the shop, I haven't been able to blog much lately. We have Emma joining our team that I am so happy to have her help! She's super creative check out her website www.emmylouphoto.com. Here is a Mardi Gras themed Dessert table we did last week. It was fun to set up and see it all together, a true southern event! Thanks Emma for the pictures, You Rock!

Fleur De Lis Cookies

The entire set up
Top to bottom: Banana Pudding Shooters
Mini Pecan Pies
Petit Fours and Red Velvet Cake Balls
To the right are Pralines

Valentine and Saint's post coming soon!

Valentine's 2010!

2010-01-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

Place your order today! Order’s placed January 12th- January 26th will receive a 10% discount on Valentine items between February 9th-13th

Peter Rabbit Themed Baby Shower

2010-01-03T07:43:00.002-08:00

I love it when I come across pictures that photographers take of my work. They do a much better job that what we can do here at the shop! When I was first contacted about doing these petit fours and heard the theme they were doing, I was so excited to have the opportunity to create them! Below is a couple of pictures of how it looked at the shower! Thank you Jenn of for allowing me to use these :)

Photos by: brennphotography

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-26T11:31:00.000-08:00

What a better way to begin this Thanksgiving with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and baking pies!
I have so much to be thankful for! My Lord and Savior who sees all things and continues to bless me and my family. My sweet mama, who without her I could NOT accomplish the things that I have. We are complete opposites, but she is still my very best friend. My awesome dad and his bill Cosby dancing,he also builds cake systems ,molds fondant figurines,makes cookie cutters when I don't have something I need,and washes dishes!! My hubby- I LOVE YOU!! You are simply amazing! My brothers,sisters(in laws)- all 7 of y'all are awesome! Niece's and Nephews for being my taste testers (kids don't mind being honest :) ),family,creativity to express through cakes, my successful business that keeps me on my toes and my awesome clients who without y'all I would not be successful. And my amazing friends the ones who have been with me throughout the past 21 years of my life and the new-we are just now beginning out adventure!- I love you ALL!

Here are a few things we have created this holiday

Fall Themed Wedding Cake

Turkey Themed Cake Balls

Turkey Themed Cookies

Gorgeous Fall Wedding Cake

2009-11-16T11:15:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to create a beautiful fall wedding cake. I also had the pleasure to attend this perfect back yard wedding full of fall leaves, candles, and hot apple cider. It was a perfect day for a wedding! The cake was 3 tiers off white in color with a chocolate brown demask pattern adorned with a fresh fall flower arrangement. Each tier had it's own flavor consisting of: Red velvet cake with cream cheese filling, Chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling, and White cake with buttercream filling.

Here are some pictures from the wedding...

We also created chocolate O's that served as party favors for the guests.

Halloween

2009-11-16T11:09:00.000-08:00

So I am a little behind on posting. Here is a few pictures of what we created for Halloween this year :)

3 Tier Camo Groom's Cake

2009-10-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

Whew! What a week with Reunion's, Birthday's, Wedding's, and so much more! Here is a 3 tier Groom's Cake. Chocolate cake with Oreo's and Cream filling. We delivered to Austin's located downtown Monroe,La.

New Building!!!

2009-10-20T11:15:00.001-07:00

Social Bites is now getting it's very own location! Here are a few pictures of what has been going on. Enjoy!

The oven!

New Blog!

2009-10-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I have created a blog for Social Bites. This is your place to go to look at our newest creations, announcements, updates, or just random thoughts from yours truly. I hope to update at least once a week! Stay tuned...

Heather McWhorter Bailey