About this vendor
Based out of Temecula, CA, LILA Cake Shop is a bespoke cake shop that specializes in contemporary floral wedding cakes and cupcakes. Alain and Lara Martins, the owners of the company, are a husband-and-wife pastry chef team who are truly dedicated to each soon-to-be newlywed. They bake delicious cakes that deliver on flavor while featuring intricate design elements, leaving lasting impressions on couples and their guests. LILA works to secure the trust of clients from the very beginning, incorporating their creative opinions throughout the cake design process.
Alain and Lara have more than 15 years of experience within the cake design industry. They find inspiration for their desserts when outside in the garden, making flowers a central theme for their designs. Alain and Lara both trained at the French Culinary Institute in New York City and have worked in a variety of bakeries, fine dining restaurants, and cake studios around the country. Their work has been featured in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Weddings, Style Me Pretty, Brides, Magnolia Rouge and more.
LILA will prioritize the creation of a meaningful connection with all couples, developing an understanding of their preferred style and tastes. Alain and Lara will spend time discussing each client’s desired color palette, florals, and overall aesthetic for their cake. They understand the importance of a seamless experience, offering cake tastings as well as delivery and set-up services at each couple’s desired venue. They will accommodate the specific dietary needs of couples and their guests, creating vegan and gluten-free cakes and cupcakes upon request.
Details
Business Attributes
- Asian-owned Business
- Hispanic or Latinx-owned Business
- Woman-owned Business
Cakes & Desserts
- Cake Accessories
- Cake Stands
- Cake Delivery & Setup
- Cake Tastings
- Cupcakes
- Groom's Cakes
Dietary Options
- Dairy Free
- Gluten Free
- Vegan
Awards and Affiliations
2022 'Best of Weddings'
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
you make those big decisions with ease.
5
out of 5.031 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
As a wedding planner, I have tasted a lot of wedding cake over the years, so when I say Lara's cake was the best wedding cake I've ever had, I truly mean it.
Not only does she cre...
ate some of the most stunning cakes you've ever seen, but they taste just as incredible as they look. Every detail of our cake was beautifully executed, and it was one of the most talked-about desserts of the night. Our guests absolutely loved it.
Lara has an incredible talent for combining artistry and flavor, which is such a rare gift. She brought our vision to life perfectly and created a cake that felt both elegant and personal to us.
It was truly an honor to have Lara as part of our wedding day. If you're looking for a cake that is breathtaking, delicious, and unforgettable, look no further. She is simply the best.
Lara was an absolute dream to work with! From the very beginning, she was easy, responsive, and genuinely listened to my inspiration. Lara completely understood the vision I had in...
mind and delivered it beautifully on our wedding day!
The Vietnamese coffee flavor was a HUGE hit with our guests and something people are still talking about. It was unique, delicious, and perfectly balanced—not too sweet. We couldn’t have been happier with both the design and the taste.
Lara was such a joy to work with, and her cake designs truly speak for themselves. She completely understood our vision and delivered a stunning cake that perfectly matched our des...
ired look and wedding colors. She even added a few tiny ladybugs in memory of my mom - such a thoughtful and meaningful detail that I’ll never forget.
And beyond the design, the cake itself was incredible. Honestly the most delicious cake we’ve ever eaten. If you’re deciding on flavors, do yourself a favor and try (or just order!) the pistachio rose. Trust us, you won’t regret it.
I truly cannot say enough positive things about Lila Cake Shop. I had all the confidence in the world about this member of our vendor team. Lara and Alan are an incredible team to ...
have by your side throughout the wedding planning process. Their entire process is impressively seamless. From arranging a tasting months ahead to design planning, and wedding day delivery, every detail was meticulously carried out. The communication was extremely clear, perfectly timed, collaborative, and just generally kind. The design process was easy, enjoyable and personalized. Delivery, set up, and planning to keep the cake safe on the day could not have gone better. The cake looked amazing all day and tasted unbelievable. We even froze our top tier for our one year anniversary and it tasted just as perfect as it did on our wedding day! This family owned business is committed to excellence in the quality of every aspect of what they do. They are a genuinely kind family who will make you feel so supported and cared for. I hope that you choose them to create the cake of your dreams- we are thankful every day!
We LOVED our cake from LILA Cake Shop. Lara made the process so easy from the beginning, starting with the delicious cake tasting. There were so many flavors to choose from and the...
y were all delicious!! We ended up choosing a lemon blueberry cake for the bottom tier and a pistachio rose flavor for the top two tiers. She had really unique flavors to choose from and the they were all delicious. The cake was also super moist, even in the small samples we got to try!
She was very communicative throughout and made the design process easy. We wanted a floral design that was a mix of painted and piped buttercream flowers and she sent us a couple sketches to choose from. We ended up choosing a design that resembled hollyhock flowers, which is a design, I hadn’t seen before on a cake and it turned out AMAZING. We got sooo many compliments on our cake design (even from our other vendors too!). We also added some of their delicious tarts to our order which our guests also loved. Would highly recommend this husband and wife duo :)
*Also shout out too for getting our cake to our venue looking perfect!! It was a long bumpy golf cart ride up to the venue and it arrived in perfect condition! Sorry to the team for any stress!!
We are still in awe of the wedding cake Lara created for us—it was nothing short of a masterpiece. Our four-tiered wildflower cake was breathtakingly beautiful and added such a spe...
cial touch to our day. Every petal was thoughtfully crafted, with the colors flawlessly blended to match our theme. You could immediately tell how much love, talent, and care went into every detail.
Beyond the artistry, Lara was a dream to work with—professional, responsive, and passionate about her craft. She brought our vision to life and created a cake that wasn’t just a dessert, but a true centerpiece for our celebration.
If you’re looking for someone who treats cake-making like a fine art and goes above and beyond to deliver something extraordinary, look no further. We feel so lucky to have had Lara be a part of our big day. Highly, highly recommend!
The best wedding cake you will find! Do yourself a favor and work with Lara to create the most incredible piece of art you can devour. The cake was sensational!
Alain and Lara Martins created my dream wedding cake. I genuinely wouldn't change a thing. The flavors were incredible, and the design was exactly what I envisioned. I had asked fo...
r dainty flowers to complement my wedding dress, and they designed both the cake and cupcakes perfectly, down to every delicate detail. Lara made everything so easy. She was responsive, helpful, and really understood my vision. Plus, for the level of talent and artistry they bring, their pricing is so reasonable. If you are looking for a cake that is both stunning and delicious, I cannot recommend LILA Cake Shop enough. (Photo by RIA GEORGIA)
Lara was amazing to work with designing our wedding cake and choosing our flavors. The cake turned out exactly how I wanted, and tasted even better. She worked with my flourist to ...
make our dream cake. Thank you!
Lara is incredibly talented! Her wedding cakes are a work of art, and are as delicious as they are beautiful. She made my pinterest board dreams come true! After sampling three fla...
vors of delicious mini cakes, we ended up choosing the lemon honey lavender flavor. The cake turned out beautifully and matched perfectly with the theme, color, and flowers. When we did the cake cutting, my husband was blown away by how incredible the cake tasted that he tried feeding me the whole slice instead of one bite! Everyone at our wedding loved it and many people said it's one of the best cakes they've ever had. Highly recommend!
I can't say enough kind words about LILA Cake Shop! Her buttercream work is absolutely stunning and flawless, the cake was SO delicious and the desserts she made for my wedding are...
still being talked about months later! We opted to have her provide decorated cupcakes in clear boxes for each of our guests to take home with them and I heard so much feedback that guests loved their cupcakes! I gave her the general design of the wedding and allowed her to run creatively with it and she blew my mind! The cake was such a stunning focal point of the evening. Her attention to detail is impressive!
Lara truly made our vision come to life. Our wedding cake was more than just a dessert; it was a love-filled masterpiece that added a special touch to our big day. The beautiful de...
sign, with delicate and lifelike flowers, was like a work of art that everyone admired. The subtle detailing, the florals, we loved every bit of it. People could not stop taking pictures of it!
And the taste? Pure bliss! The layers were soft and flavorful and pleased every palate. The buttercream frosting was just right – not too sweet, letting the flavors shine. The guava compote added a refreshing twist that made each bite a delight. Write it down everyone - the flavor is Romeo+Juliet. Heck all of the flavors Lara offers are so unique, it was so worth it to try every one of them in the tasting box.
I can't wait to order from Lara again in the future!
Lara created the most beautiful and delicious vegan wedding cake of my dreams. She was wonderful to work with from day one, and so extremely kind. We knew she was our baker the min...
ute we saw her tasting cakes - they blew the competition out of the water! I was apprehensive about needing a vegan cake, but Lara’s chocolate and raspberry creation was flawless - one of the best cakes I’ve ever had, vegan or not! And our guests had no idea it was vegan. Lara is incredibly talented and I’m just so grateful we found her! Thank you Lara!
Lara is truly an artist! She created the most incredible wedding cake for us, following exactly what we envisioned.
Not only was the cake stunning, it was absolutely delectable. ...
I am not typically a cake person, but this cake was by far the best cake I’ve ever had, many of our guests agreed! (We had churro and chocolate raspberry)
On top of everything, Lara is so friendly and was very easy to work with. Thank you so much to Lila cakes! Would definitely recommend you try their cake; you won’t regret it.
Lara was so sweet to talk to and she absolutely delivered for my wedding cake. The planning process went by so smoothly and she was able to sketch + create exactly what I was looki...
ng for. Aesthetics and taste - our wedding cake had it all! I think Lara makes the most beautiful cakes I've ever seen. Thank you so much!
Booking LILA Cake Shop to make our wedding cake was easily one of the best decisions we made in the entire planning process. Lara is an exceptionally talented artist--her buttercre...
am flowers (both abstract and realistic) will absolutely blow you away. She is making some of the most beautiful fine art cakes and cupcakes in the world. (Trust me - my favorite pastime for about 12 months was looking at pictures of buttercream florals.)
Lara is also SO sweet and fun to work with. Seeing and trying our tasting box (with my mom on Mothers' Day!) was actually one of the highlights of the whole year for us. She let me have a ton of input and brought my vision to life in a way that was more stunning than I ever could have imagined. And not to mention her CUPCAKES! And to top it all off, everything tasted INCREDIBLE. Dozens of people came up to me at the wedding to comment on how insanely gorgeous the cake and cupcakes were. My guests were floored, as was I, and I had seen the sketch!! The pictures speak for themselves. LILA Cake Shop is the absolute best in California, if not the country. Book Lara immediately before she gets booked on your date!!!!
Lara is so sweet and massively talented, and I was incredibly lucky she was able to squeeze me into her busy schedule! Her cakes are a work of art and honestly the most beautiful o...
nes I've ever seen. If you're looking for a cake for your wedding, definitely book her now! It's not all looks either; they're super delicious too! Our favorite flavor had been the lemon honey lavender. Everyone at our wedding loved it!
Lila is wonderful and super sweet! She made us tasting cakes and it was so hard to choose but we went with churro and strawberry shortcake! Billing was very easy!
4/5 because the ...
design wasn’t what I wanted really but it was still pretty. I sent pictures but I should have been more clear at the design meeting.
RECOMMENDING TO ALL MY FRIEND WHO SRE ENGAGED!!!
Wow!!!!!!! My cake was stunning and everything I imagined for my wedding day. It was 100 degrees at my wedding so she didn’t deliver until 6. She was in and out and set-up without ...
me even knowing. It was beautiful and perfect and I cannot thank her enough for her talents and professionalism. I wasn’t worried about if my cake would get there because she was so reliable. Not to mention DELICIOUS!!!!!
Wow, wow, wow! Lara is a gem of a person, so easy to work with and insanely talented. I found her work through Instagram and reached out on a whim, hoping she’d have availability f...
or my postponed wedding which by that point was only a few months away. I knew it was a long shot, since she's usually booked, but because my order was small and on a weekday, she was able to accommodate me! My venue told me that her cupcakes were the best they had ever seen. Our guests loved them! Not only did they look beautiful, but they tasted AMAZING! Can’t thank you and all that you do enough Lara!!!
Omg I could not say enough great things about Lara! She is literally the sweetest person, so easy to work with, so communicative and most importantly SO TALENTED! My goodness, I've...
never seen more beautiful cakes! We had a cake box trial, cupcakes for my bridal shower, and my wedding cake through her and let me tell you every single time she nailed it both aesthetically and taste-wise! My husband and I are not the biggest cake people, but we loveee her cakes; she has so many awesome flavors to choose from and even has dairy & gluten free options which was perfect because I'm allergic to dairy and sensitive to gluten. Everyone was raving about how yummy the cake was at each event, and how beautiful her designs were. If I ever need a cake again in the future I will absolutely be reaching out to Lara! Highly, highly recommend!!
Lara is the sweetest soul. During the pandemic, we had to postpone our wedding. Some of our vendors were annoyed (which I also understand), but Lara was SO patient and understandin...
g. She encouraged us to take our time, and she was so wonderful and super responsive throughout the cake design process.
I truly could not have picked someone better to design our wedding cake. It was a work of art. Lara's cupcakes are also STUNNING.
You will not regret choosing Lara to spearhead your wedding cake; or a cake for any occasion, truly. She is an absolute artist with buttercream and her cake/frosting flavor combina...
tions are amazing. If you have a design in mind, she will work with you to bring your imagination to life, and she is literally the sweetest (pun absolutely intended) person ever. She cares about the things that she creates and works very hard to ensure that you get your cakes on time and intact. She is very professional about every aspect of it--from financial to taste to delivery. If I had to do my wedding all over again, I would choose her to do my dessert in a heartbeat.
We booked Lara after our cake tasting! Our wedding isn’t until 2022 ! Glad I booked ahead she’s amazing you will not regret how beautiful and yummy her cakes are !!
AMAZING! Lara made me the most beautiful wedding cake that was beyond delicious! This was the best tasting cake I’ve ever had! The design of the cake was so pretty, like a painting...
! Everyone raved about it. Lara was a pleasure to work with. She was super friendly and responded quickly. She was very flexible and so very sweet. Thank you Lara for making my wedding day so special!
Lila’s cake shop gave us the vegan cake of our dreams!! I reached out in hopes that Lara would be able to make us a vegan cake and it turned out she would make us the most beautif...
ul dessert I have ever seen. We had both vegan and non-vegan guests and everyone could not stop talking about how beautiful and delicious the cake was. It was far beyond anything I have ever imagined. If I am ever in need of a cake I won’t go anywhere else. I cannot recommend her anymore!! You won’t be disappointed!!
Lara was pleasant to correspond with and delivered us the most PERFECT cake. It was exactly what I envisioned and it was executed with such meticulous detail. She is very talented....
The cake was also super delicious! Tasty and moist! You couldn’t even tell it was gluten free/dairy free... everyone was raving about it!!
Everything was absolutely perfect! This is a small, boutique-type cake shop with personal attention and detail in every aspect--from the tasting boxes with customer-selected flower...
s and colors to incredible flavors and punctual delivery. My guests and I were over the moon about this gorgeous and delicious cake! Several guests commented that it was too beautiful to cut but then could not stop eating it! Portions are large with stunning layers and colors. I wish I had taken more pictures of this cake! We are still thinking of other flavors from our tasting box, too. The Vietnamese coffee and bourbon pecan! Pistachio rose! I give Lara my highest recommendation and praise. Thank you.
I cannot say enough good things about Lara. She designed our wedding cake, and I could not wait to get our professional photos back so I could rave and post about our experience. N...
ot only was she SO quick to reply, and is incredibly nice, but her work is nothing short of amazing. Her signature buttercream flowers are impeccable and could pass for actual flowers. From our first correspondence to cake delivery, working with Lara was a breeze. She does tastings in the form of cupcakes, which is awesome because you get to see her amazing work from the start. Her prices are also very reasonable and she does delivery for an additional charge, which was extremely convenient. We sampled a bunch of flavors - Bourbon pecan (AMAZING...would've picked that one if we had a winter wedding), Vanilla, Strawberry, Churro, Passion fruit coconut, and lemon. They were ALL delicious, but We got the Passionfruit Coconut flavor, as we had a tropical vibe at our wedding. Everybody was raving about the cake at our wedding. We took leftovers home, and I was no joke just eating it straight out of the box for 2 days with my hands like an animal. We are definitely coming back for our 1 year anniversary, and cannot wait to enjoy more creations from Lila cakeshop!! Thank you again!!
We were recommended to Lara by our wedding coordinator. We knew the second we saw her work it's what we wanted for our intimate wedding. She happily custom designed our cake to sui...
t our colors and vision. The flavor was delicious, [coconut passion fruit!], but working with Lara was easy and stress free. I highly recommend! **we're already working with her to create a Christmas cake! Amazing quality and amazing woman, she is our go to for cakes here on out!**
We used LILA for our wedding of about 125 guests and they did absolutely lovely work on our cupcakes, wedding cake, and mini pies. Everything tasted amazing and the designs were i...
ncredible! We also appreciated LILA's flexibility and responsiveness leading up to the wedding as plans needed to be adjusted.
Contact
30300 Churchill Ct, Temecula, CA | Southern California + Santa Barbara
