Samper married investment banker Chuck Mosner this past summer at the Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange. Although they both grew up in Colombia, South America, just five minutes away from each other and went to the same country club as kids, they never knew each other. “The first second that we met, it felt like I knew him all my life,” says Samper.

The couple celebrated with 180 guests including her three children: Bianca, 13; Cooper, 10; and Fiona, 8; and his boys, Tomas, 9; and Joseph, 7. And the event was topped off with Samper’s masterpiece: a five-layered cake surrounded by lovely bundles of vibrant, 200 handmade and hand-painted sugar-crafted tulips and orchids.

Did you always dream about designing your own wedding cake? Yes, even when I had no idea that I would eventually become a pastry chef specializing in cakes.

What was your inspiration? The inspiration for my cake came from my favorite summer colors, flowers, and places that I find are very relaxed, yet with rustic beauty, such as Provence, the backroads of southern Italy, and La Guajira.

How long did it take for you to create the design and to actually bake it? I had worked on the design of the cake in my head and on paper over five months prior to my wedding. Each flower takes typically a few days to make depending on how many you need. They are handmade and hand-painted and are labor-intensive, but the result is quite stunning. I had to make about 150 flowers, so I had to start about a month prior. The cakes were baked about three days prior to the wedding, as I like cakes to be as fresh as possible. They were put together within the next couple of days, and the final details were done the morning of the wedding.

How was the process different from baking a cake for someone else? Baking my own cake was natural for me as it is something I am passionate about…also, I think that everyone expecting me—and reminding me about it—to make the cake intensified my decision. The most difficult part about making my own wedding cake is that it is an event that I was emotionally involved in to begin with, so I had to basically take myself out of the box and do it. On the wedding day, I got into my jeans and chef’s coat and went to work with my assistant on my cake. I focused exclusively on the cake, as if I were working for a client. Afterward I delivered it (in-between hair/makeup), and then I went into bride-mode.