It was seeing a cake decorating class at a Michaels store that inspired Rosie Cunill to leave her job as a medical assistant.
“I came home, and I told my husband I was going to change my career,” Cunill said.
But her beginning efforts, well, as she said, “If I show you the picture of my first cake [you’d] fall over. It was horrible.”
After that humble start and attending many pastry classes the couple built a business called Elegant Temptations.
Photographs of Cunill’s multi-tiered creation for singer Marc Anthony’s January wedding appeared in all of the celebrity magazines.
“We’ve done other [weddings for] NBA players, football players and big celebrity weddings,” said her husband and business partner, Leo Espinosa.
Wedding planners reach out to her on behalf of the stars.
The business that the couple began in their kitchen eventually outgrew their home.
Since 2007, it has operated from 10840 Northwest 138th St. in Hialeah Gardens.
Clients span the Florida Keys to West Palm Beach, and their celebrations range from quinceañeras (Sweet 15 birthday) to weddings to graduations.
The couple divides tasks: He does administrative work, she designs multi-tiered cakes with cascading sugar flowers that can look like fine lace; fondant icing that resembles marble and curtains and colorful cartoons for kid’s cakes.
A lively dinosaur confection with a dozen decorated cupcakes and a dozen cookies is $600, per their website (https://buff.ly/3WW5VbD).
Cake flavors are whatever the customer wants: Rum with vanilla frosting, chocolate, Funfetti, Oreo or caramel.
“She loves it when the client says to do whatever she wants,” Espinosa said.
When weddings were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, “We diversified and started doing more stay-at-home celebration cakes,” Espinosa said.
They also began taking online orders and will hold Zoom meetings with clients.
“Most places now offer remote services,” Espinosa said.
“We’re a little different from most bakeries,” he said. “We’re extremely focused on serving the event type of clientele … I think the difference between calling us or another bakery is they may not be specialized to accept the order.”
Elegant Temptations has survived a recession and the pandemic. The couple hope to continue to offer their high-end service, no matter what.
And, “Just continue to grow, one of our long-term goals is to turn this into a franchise,” Espinosa said.
Across the bridge in Miami Lakes is Mayra’s Weddings & Things.
For 35 years, Mayra Martinez has created and documented her clients’ most important moments.
And if she is working with a family as the photographer and event planner, she will likely be there for all of the client’s life events.
“My business has maintained because I did the quinceañera 20 years ago, and then she comes back for the wedding,” Martinez said in Spanish.
Martinez recently moved her business -- Mayra’s Weddings & Things – to Main Street in Miami Lakes.
“I had wanted to make a change for a long time, and I wanted to leave Hialeah,” Martinez said in Spanish. “It’s a [storefront] and its perfect for me. It’s in a better area.”
She will help a bride and groom achieve their dream wedding at a price, and at a location, they can afford.
“I honestly don’t have set prices, I work with the clients,” Martinez said. “If [someone] tells me what they have and they say it’ll be in a year and they can save more money, I can find somewhere else,” Martinez said.
The most popular locations she uses for photographs are Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami, Villa Turqueza in Homestead and Secret Gardens in the Redlands farming region of Miami.
She will rent tables and chairs and linens and decorations for weddings and events.
What she doesn’t do herself she has vendors, from notaries to makeup artists to florists and dress rental services.
Her business relies on word of mouth from families who have used her services, though she also has clients from across the country who find her on social media.
When Martinez first arrived in the United States from Colombia, she began photographing weddings.
Her goal is to make sure her clients have what they want for their special day, whether it’s a single service or a weekend of events.
“I do everything,” Martinez said. “I offer the complete package.”
For more information about Mayra’s Weddings & Things at 6820 Main St. in Miami Lakes and to see photographs of her work, visit https://bit.ly/45R0JtH.