Once Upon a Cupcake | Wedding Cakes in Jackson MS

Once Upon a Cupcake is on of the best vendors to contact for Wedding Cakes in the Jackson MS area! One of my favorite things about being a wedding photographer is the connections I make with other creatives in the industry! I love being able to serve my clients by providing them my honest opinion of other vendors and being able to help them pick the best people to help make their wedding dream a reality!

I had been following Holly from Once Upon a Cupcake, a wedding cake bakery and decorator in Vicksburg, MS long before I ever actually worked with her but this past summer I finally had the chance to get to know her in person when we worked on a styled shoot together! Since then, I have only grown my friendship with her and I am so blessed to have met her. I love being able to refer people to her for all their cake needs!

Speaking of cake-she’s magic! Seriously, I hate cake. Yet I LOVED her cake. And if that doesn’t speak volume I don’t know what will. Not to mention the fact that her work looks too pretty to eat-even though we all end up eating it anyways. Darrin and I even used her for our own wedding cake (pictured above! Photo taken by Refuge Photography)

Meet Holly Curtis – Once Upon a Cupcake

“I’ve been in the Vicksburg area most of my life. I moved to Utica when I was a senior in high school and lived there until I got married a little over ten years ago. We moved to Vicksburg together and have been here ever since!

My husband Jonathan and I have been married for ten years. We met in grade school (He was in second grade, I was in first.), so we’ve known each other a LONG time. We started dating in high school, and 17 years later we are still together. Jonathan is my best friend, my better half and my biggest fan. He helps me any way he can, he’s made countless supply runs for me and almost always helps with deliveries, and never complains about any of it. I couldn’t do life without him! 

We don’t have kids, but we have a dog named Millie who thinks she’s a person. Our families are all from here, his parents live in Utica and I have family there as well. My dad, stepmom, brother and sister in law are all in North Carolina now, and we try to visit them as much as we can.”

When did you start decorating?

“My aunt and I decided to take a Wilton cake decorating class together, probably about 12 years ago or more. I was curious to see if I would be any good at it, since my mom was an amazing cake decorator. She passed away when I was three, so I don’t remember her at all, but I saw pictures of her cakes and wondered if maybe I could do that too. So, we went to the class, made a total mess, but had a great time, and the rest is history.”

How did your business get started?

“I started my Facebook page a little over three years ago. Until then, I had only been making cakes for friends, family, and the occasional church function. I was also working full time at a bank, but was able to switch to a part time position, so that I could focus more on making cakes. From there, things took off fairly quickly! As of February of this year (2018), I was able to quit the bank job altogether and make cakes full time! I became a cake decorator almost by accident.

When I went part time at the bank, I thought maybe I’d get a few extra orders here and there through my Facebook page, and that was it. I didn’t love my bank job, but it never crossed my mind that I could one day quit to make cakes. It didn’t seem realistic at the time. But the more cakes I made, the more I found that I LOVED doing it. And I found myself more and more unhappy at the bank. It wasn’t that it was a bad job or work environment, it just wasn’t what I wanted to do. So…we took a leap of faith, and it’s been better than I could have imagined. {Now} I work from home making wedding cakes in Vicksburg, MS. I would love to have a storefront someday though!”

What is your favorite thing about the job?

“The best thing about my job is seeing the excitement on people’s faces when they see their cake! Kids especially, but I’ve had adults jump up and down, cry, hug me, etc. That’s why I love my job. Not everyone reacts that way, but when a sweet kid hugs you and says they love their cake, it makes it so worth while.”

What’s the most difficult part of your job and how do you over-come it?

“The most difficult thing about my job is trying to manage my time carefully so I can get everything done. I’m a one woman show, so that means all shopping, baking, decorating, cleaning, messaging, etc. is all done by me. Every week is different as far as orders go, so I’ve learned to sit down at the beginning of the week and write out all the order details, delivery times, etc. and it really helps to keep me straight.”

What’s it like behind the scenes?

“One thing people don’t know about my line of work is the sheer amount of TIME that goes into making custom cakes. Time talking to the customer, working out design details, flavors, giving quotes…Time shopping for supplies, baking, leveling, stacking, decorating, delivering and sometimes setting up if it’s a larger cake. Cakes don’t just happen, it takes time and effort, and I think that’s probably the biggest thing people don’t realize.”

What’s it like to work with you?

“I want to make things as easy as possible for my clients, from beginning to end. If you message me about an order, I can help you figure out what size cake you’ll need, and if you don’t have a design in mind, we can work together to make sure you get a cake that’s exactly what you’re looking for. I love it when customers give me creative freedom for their orders, it’s so much fun! And I love that I have customers that trust me enough to do that!”

Any fun facts about you?

{One of my favorite quotes is:} “My goal is not to be better than anyone else, but to be better than I used to be.”-Wayne W. Dyer

“I love to read, although finding the time to do it is an issue. Binge watching Netflix is always a good way to relax after a long day. Whenever I can, I spend time with my close friends and their kids. I love being able to spend time with my niece and nephew (my bestie’s kids), they are so much fun! {As for} hidden talents…does being able to quote episodes of Friends word for word count?”

Where can potential clients learn more about you?

“I’m on social media if you need to message me or see photos of my work! I’m happy to answer any questions you have to help you get exactly what you’re looking for facebook.com/oncecupakes and Instagram.com/_onceuponacupcake_“

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