Lake Union Cafe & Custom Bakery

Kevin made my wedding cake and it was the best cake I’ve ever had. I just showed him a couple of cake décor ideas and was able to combine the elements from each picture to make one beautiful cake. He was able to deliver it to our venue in Issaquah for a reasonable fee.
LUC provided us with a cake sample tray and picking out the flavor was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make. The flavors were so rich and so amazing. We decided on the Chocolate Chip Raspberry Mousse.
I highly recommend this bakery for your wedding cake needs, even if you’re not getting married here.

Lake Union Café was very accommodating to our schedules as we were planning our wedding reception out of state. We greatly appreciated their flexibility in having a private food tasting for us since we were not able to attend one of their quarterly food and cake tastings. They also sent us home with a cake sampling tray with all 13 flavors from their bakery. We were able to plan our wedding reception relatively stress-​free as Lake Union Café managed the food, catering, serving set-​up, the bartender, and assisted with managing the day-​of timeline with our DJ. All the food is prepared onsite which provided us with hot and fresh food that was enjoyed by our guests. Also, we were able to bring our own alcohol to the venue as long as we purchased the Washington State Event Permit for $ 10. We looked at a lot of venues throughout Seattle and did not find a venue that provided a majority of the services onsite, which extremely helped with the planning.
Even though there was some staff turnover during the early stages of our planning once Tasia was brought on board everything was seamless! She is an expert in the industry and provided us with her opinions on what would work best for the venue and our guests. Tasia was always very responsive to our questions and we never had to wait longer than 24-​hours for a response.
Somethings to know:
— There is a minimum of 100 people for the venue and can hold up to 250 people, which may be tight
— The venue is already very beautiful inside and honestly you need very little decorations which is a huge cost saver
— We purchased the candle package and provided our own floral arrangements which turned out nicely
— There is a medium sized parking lot for an additional fee that is a huge perk given the limited parking in Seattle
— If you choose an outside bakery (not Lake Union Bakery) there is a $ 150 fee
Overall, we were (and our guests) impressed with Lake Union Café! We had several of our guests comment how awesome the venue and food was! The BBQ pork shanks were the biggest hit! We would highly recommend this venue to anyone getting married.

The bakery was great and I was very happy with the professional look of my cake. I spent a lot of time angst-​ing about the cost, but they were comparable and high quality. The LUC venue staff was helpful in the arranging of the event, but the execution on the big day was lacking. The staff there on our rehearsal was NOT the same on day of, so we got conflicting guidance and they had not communicated effectively what was agreed upon during the rehersal. I had spent a lot of time sketching out the theme, the idea, the flow. I had wanted Cocktail drinks prepped and served for just after the ceremony, on trays to get everyone quickly something in their hand. Instead, they had a caraffe in the back and my guests had to ASK for the drink, and it took the bartender un-​neccesary time to pour them all when they should have already been done. The florist is amazing, but was assigned as our bartender for the night of, which was a surprise. Overall a good price when compared to other places, but I am NOT comfortable with the «industry standard» of putting a Service Fee on everything (even when there is not service like a candle package).There was supposed to be a 2^nd plate boxed up for us to eat later, including a piece of cake. This was in writing, and discussed multiple times in person, but did not occur. We ended up having to get room service. The food there was AMAZING but i was so distracted w/​all of my guests and energy that i didn’t eat. Appreciate the 1-​stop shop of the venue as I was working on a tight schedule.

I recently coordinated an wedding reception at this awesome facility and couldn’t have been more satisfied. Both Tasia and Beth did a fantastic job. Not only did they stay on top of all communications with me but also handled the myriad of changes from the bride and mother of the bride with grace and ease. The event went off without a hitch and the staff (although they must have been exhausted due to an earlier event) stayed right on top of everything. The location and atmosphere were perfect as the ceremony was held 5 minutes away and the waterfront was lit up beautifully. The cake was also done here and was not only gorgeous to look at but taste fantastic. I am looking forward to encouraging more brides to book this place.

Trying to find a black cake is a lot harder than you’d imagine. I’m so pleased with the outcome of the cake I ordered. I wanted a matte black cake with gold covering the top, and falling down. What I received was so much better than I envisioned. It was perfect, and taste so amazing. (Got the vanilla cake with Bavarian cream)
Kevin was so easy to work with and really understood what I was going for! Thank you!
I highly recommend this bakery if you’re trying to get a speciality or «Pinterest» cake make. Or any cake really. You will not be disappointed. We will definitely be using them in the future.
Thank again for a great cake!

Can I first day how professional and on top of her game head baker Kathleen is? She kept in regular communication with me to help me decide the perfect treats for my wedding day.
Yesterday, the most wonderful lemon bars, brownies, and cheesecake were served artfully by Kathleen. I could not have asked for a more perfect and delicious way to end our meal. We had compliments from so many people, I couldn’t keep up with them!
Please, if you have any need for a sweet treat at your event, think of the Lake Union Bakery. Kathleen will make your day and then some.

We got married at Lake Union Café on the 4^th of July and it was absolutely a magical evening! They were able to take care of many key components — catering, desserts, and flowers — which was important because we were planning our wedding from out of town. The venue is very beautiful and requires few additional decorations, so we really didn’t have to do much else. Best of all, we were able to walk down to a nearby park to watch the fireworks at 10:00pm.
In terms of planning, our coordinators, Bethany and Amanda, were really great. There were a few communication errors along the way (partly because of some staff changes), but everything worked out very well in the end. They were also very flexible with some last minute changes, which we really appreciated. For instance, we made the decision to add some late-​night post-​fireworks karaōke a few days prior to the wedding and they worked with us to make it happen.
Overall, I highly recommend LUC. It’s a beautiful venue with delicious food and helpful staff. Everything turned out fantastic for our wedding!

Amazing taste, presentation, communication & professionalism! We had to plan our wedding remotely from Chicago so were not able to meet in person or do any tasting. We were taking a leap of faith based off other reviews. LUC communicated with us via phone and email, asked questions, answered all of ours and delivered with beautiful cupcakes that matched our vision and were sooo tasty! Many of our guests commented on how good the cupcakes were and loved that they weren’t too sweet. Although expensive, the quality matched what we paid for. They provided the cupcake stand and left a box so we could easily take home the left overs. They even matched the cupcake papers with our wedding theme. Highly recommend LUC!

I am SO glad we chose LUC for our May 30^th wedding. The venue is beautiful needing minimal additional decorations, and the event coordinators make planning a breeze.
Now the food. Best wedding catering, EVER. All of our guests were wowed by the food, from the passed Gorgonzola beef appetizers, to the entrée, down to the dinner rolls. I need to get a makeover and pretend to be in the market to get married, just so I can go to their food tasting again. Their cupcakes and cheesecake are also amazing, best cake to frosting ratio and not too sweet frosting. I’ve been to two other weddings at different venues where the bride and groom ordered cupcakes from LUCs custom bakery, and both times the cupcakes were incredible.
The event coordinators were always quick to respond to email and met with us in person as much as we needed to in order to plan our big day. They were very organized and provided very clear and helpful info. JJ our day of coordinator was amazing. I would have been lost without her. She met with our DJ first thing when he arrived to set up to plan the events of the evening with him and made the night go by so smoothly. I’ll recommend LUC to everyone I know in the market for a venue or bakery. (Mainly so I can eat the food again :))
Only negative — it’s in a old Seattle building, so their lovely Art Deco vintage décor also means their ventilation is also vintage. Bring a coat in the winter and dress light if we get lucky and it’s a hot day in Seattle in the summer.

Thank you SO much Dan and Victoria! We were married here three years ago and it could not have been more perfect. Everything was so well organized and executed. There are always hiccups at weddings but all of them were due to family members and Dan handled these issues amazingly. I’m so glad we had him to help us with our event. The venue is beautiful and the staff are amazing. If you’re looking for a place for your wedding that has it all, this is the one to choose.

Kevin was so great to work with– he took our ideas and a few pictures of cakes that we liked, and created a custom design that was perfect for us. The buttercream frosting instead of fondant was such a great touch to have! We absolutely loved our cake, from the look to the taste (not too sugary which was nice). The price was extremely reasonable, they delivered on time and worked seamlessly with our on site coordinator and florist for adding fresh flowers. The bonus: they gave you samples of every single cake flavor that you could choose so you were able to go through and get a real sense of which flavor would be the best option.

From start to finish, everything about my experience with Lake Union Café was wonderful.
I had procrastinated on ordering my wedding cake for my May 11^th wedding until March 20^th, and most bakeries ask for around 2 months’ notice for a wedding cake.
Before I called LUC and spoke to Victoria, I was brushed off by several bakeries. As I mentioned, I did wait until only 3 weeks before my wedding, so I understand why this happened.
Victoria set up a cake tasting for us, showed us some snapshots of past cakes. We ended up going with a fairly simple cake, we provided ribbon to go around the base of the layers of cake. A very friendly young woman delivered the cake to our wedding venue, as well as artistically placing the fresh poppies we provided.
Hubby and I have been married almost two years now, and I am still dreaming about that cake!

Lake Union Café made the cake for our 120 person wedding and everything turned out great. Felt their prices were in line for the Seattle area and they had lots of delicious flavors to choose from. Very surprising for me when I don’t even usually like cake :). They had lots of seasonal goodies to add too for those interested in doing a dessert buffet instead of just a cake. Can tell they use better ingredients, everything tastes fresh. Also, we were told that instead of saving our cake top, they will make us a fresh one for our 1 year anniversary to celebrate. Happy with our decision to use them!

We got married at Lake Union Café & Custom Bakery on 10÷3÷14 and it was AMAZING. Nothing went wrong, they were highly professional and extremely helpful. They did our cake as well, and it was perfect and looked EXACTLY like the picture I gave them, plus it was DELICIOUS. We did the pear/​almond cake with pear/​almond buttercream frosting. Lauren was very helpful and instrumental in making sure things went right. I’m so happy we found Lake Union Café to have our wedding at. I can’t imagine it being anywhere else. We are still receiving compliments on the venue from friends and family, telling us the food and venue are the best they ever had/​seen at a wedding before. The food was SO GOOD! We had the beef tenderloins, butternut squash ravioli, and panzanella salad, not to mention a spread of cheeses, bread, fruits…

Kathleen at LUC Custom Bakery was excellent! Our wedding cake was so yummy and she was able to capture our vision of what we wanted it to look like. Prices were fair, and customer service was top notch. Kathleen was great about returning my emails promptly with any questions I had. And did I mention the cake was DELICIOUS? We saved the top part for our 1yr anniversary, but we may have to bump that up to a 1 month anniversary… drool…

Lake Union Café was excellent and we were very glad we chose them for our wedding, reception, dinner and cake for 100 guests. Our wedding was a success and we were very happy with all that LUC did for our big day. Lauren the Manager was thorough and organized in the planning and execution of our celebration. We had no surprises. Freddy the Bartender was exceptional, and our guests were treated well by every server, as smiles were the order of the evening. The venue was beautiful for our evening event and the candles really made for an intimate atmosphere.
After our wedding their was unanimous praise from our guests for the quality of the food. Several said they’d never had meals that good at a wedding before. We had Salmon, Hibachi Beef, and Ravioli (for our veggie friends) and each dish was fresh, tasty and of high quality. The roast veggie sides and appetizers were great too. The spice cake, made in house, was excellent.
We found cheaper venues, but none were as comprehensive in the services provided for the price. And the venue itself is very charming. The layout of the café was conducive to mingling and dancing. We appreciated the ability to bring in our own alcohol for the event — all we had to do was apply for a «Banquet License» (or something like that) from the city for $ 10. We highly recommend Lake Union Café. Every aspect of our wedding went well.

When we first decided to start planning a wedding reception, my husband and I assumed it would be a matter of picking a venue, writing a check, and waiting for everything to fall into place. After talking to a couple of venues, we quickly learned exactly how much work was involved in these things. Flowers? Menus? Set-​up and clean-​up? I’m sure there was more, but I pretty much stopped listening after that… and then along came Lake Union Café.
From our first meeting with Victoria, I knew we were in good hands. She assured us that we could have as much or as little control over the event as we wanted, which is exactly what we wanted to hear. We opted for the latter (i.e. little control), and so she basically took care of everything… event set-​up, clean-​up, decorating, flower assistance, etc. She helped us decide the menu, the layout of the event space, and was very responsive to our questions and concerns throughout the process.
We did want more control over some parts of the event, and the level of accommodation provided by Victoria and Jimmie was incredible. Really, incredible. They responded to virtually every request we made with, «No problem. We’ll make it happen.» It was very important that my mom provide the wedding cake for the event. As she was flying in from out of town, Victoria offered use of the café’s refrigerator and freezer space to store my mom’s preparation material. The day before the event, Victoria went so far as to introduce my mom to the café’s pastry chef in order to coordinate shared use of the kitchen. This flexibility is something that definitely sets the Lake Union Café apart from other venues we considered which were bound by rigid policies and procedures, and helped as achieve the wedding reception we’d envisioned.
The price quoted was slightly higher than other venues we considered, but after factoring in the included services, the Lake Union Café was very competitive. The venue itself is beautiful — from the antique chandeliers, to the art deco décor, to the calming views of Lake Union. As a result, only minimal (if any) decorations and flower arrangement were necessary. We were required to pay for a minimum of 100 guests, and since only 70 attended, Victoria provided extra food and appetizers to ensure that we received adequate value for the money we paid. The food itself was exceptional, and we continue to receive compliments from our guests to this day.
Although we had primarily coordinated with Victoria when planning the reception, Jimmie supervised the event. We were initially concerned about this «shared» responsibility, but our concerns proved unfounded. If any problems arose during the event, we were certainly blind to them. Jimmie and his staff were reactive to every question or concern we raised during the reception, and ensured that our only responsibility was to enjoy ourselves. The event went as smoothly as we had hoped. The staff at the café was unwavering in their congeniality, professionalism, and dedication to provide an enjoyable reception — they were all simply a pleasure to work with.
Although our reception was 3 months ago, we continue to look back on it fondly as one of the greatest days of our lives, and one that can largely be attributed to the Lake Union Café.

I attended a wedding here last weekend. The couple were able to have their vow ceremony, buffet dinner and drinks, and reception all in the same space.
The venue itself is very classy and charming! It features gorgeous art deco details (such as gorgeous chandeliers and wall sconces, metal ceilings, etc). There’s a ton of tables and space for chairs for the reception area and can probably accommodate about 100 guests or so.
The staffed seemed very professional and the wedding had good pacing. My only wish is that the DJ would have played more original songs (instead of the usual upbeat MJ and dance hits) but you can probably customize your own playlist.
The buffet menu they provided was actually pretty good (cheeses, fruits, vegetables, salad, steak, shrimp pasta). I heard that the steak they had was excellent, though I didn’t eat any myself. That kind of thing usually isn’t great at weddings.
The wedding cake was pumpkin chai flavor with vanilla buttercream frosting and was superb. I talked to many guests who wished they had grabbed a second slice because it was so good.
Overall, a very good indoor venue for a wedding!

We got married at the Skansonia in Sept 2012 and used LUC for our wedding cake. We were so happy with the entire process. We were unable to make their scheduled group tasting because we were going to be out of town and we were able to set-​up an individual appt SO easily. We had a great time at the tasting, picked out our cake flavors and design, even got some great new ideas and that was it.
When the date of our wedding got closer, I spoke to someone at LUC to confirm details regarding how to provide the flowers we wanted on the cake. She confirmed back our entire order, which matched our instructions from the tasting appt exactly.
On the day of, the cake was delivered on time and it was so delicious! We got rave reviews from all of our guests (we chose the red velvet which had a much better frosting than other red velvets I’ve had) and honestly, my husband and I wish we had gotten a chance to enjoy more of it!
Oh and the best part, their pricing was so much more reasonable than other Seattle bakeries. We really feel like we got a tremendous value.

I’m rounding out what would’ve been a 2-​starred review after reading another reviewer who «lost» something here. I know this sounds crazy, but I lost the sash to what is for me an expensive dress.
I asked everyone I knew who attended, including people who were with me all night long, and even called the LUC to ask about it.
Other than that snafu, staff seemed accommodating, food was wonderful, and the place looked phenomenal. A gorgeous wedding!