Simply Elegant

New brides: never fear. Bling is still here.
At least according to Raymond Sauceda, owner of Simply Elegant by Raymond, one of the region’s premier wedding and specialty cake shops. As the baker of former First Lady Laura Bush’s birthday cake for her past three birthdays (George loved the cake!), Sauceda knows what is on trend in the world of pastries and wedding desserts.

Brides book Sauceda a year or more in advance for the perfect wedding cake. His reputation as an artist and genius baker permeates the Texas wedding industry. His business – housed out of a small, yet charming, cottage storefront – had been growing at a lightning pace for the past several years.
Then, two years ago, Sauceda suffered a debilitating stroke. Unable to move, Sauceda still had brides in line and cakes to deliver. What happened next could only come from a recipe of equal parts love, respect and admiration.

Corpus Christi area bakers stood in the same line as brides to help the local cake guru to make sure that he – and his business – survived, and thrived.
“Many different people helped us when the stroke happened,” Sauceda said. “Gary Homan (a local baker) came in and piped a wedding cake for us, and some local bakers sent their staff members to come over and help us. They showed genuine concern for my health and for our business. I will always appreciate that, and I hope one day I can repay all of the favors that were done for me.”
The day he suffered the stroke, a local baker delivered a wedding cake as a replacement free of charge. Within the next few months, Sauceda had to re-learn to walk and write, and re-learn to pipe a pastry. While Sauceda completed an intense rehabilitation schedule, his staff, along with other local wedding cake gurus, came to his aid.

Sauceda said he never expected the one silver lining that appeared after his stroke: a brand new direction in his career, the destination he planned years ago when he first opened his cake shop.
“It’s strange the way things work out,” Sauceda said. “Now, after the stroke, I am in the position I have always wanted to be in – the one I always worked towards when I first opened the shop. When we first opened, I was the designer and teacher: training people, helping the staff, doing a lot of the work myself. I always used to say, ‘I love what I do, but I don’t want it to be the death of me.”
The stroke served as the ultimate wake-up call for Saucedo.

Be sure to check out the full article in our June issue here

-The One Bride Guide Team