La Doña Nanouce is a botanically inspired studio and sanctuary that tells the story of passion, taste, and beauty through festive cakes, cookies, craft items, and lifelike paper and sugar flowers. Founded by Spanish-Lebanese artist and artisan Nancy Ghaida, each creation is handmade and individualized in the style of fairytale and realism.
Beginnings
The seeds of La Doña Nanouce find their roots in the verdant backdrop of the Pocono Mountains. From a rich history as a mixed-media, self-taught artist, painting and selling oil and watercolor botanical prints in Long Island and restoring furniture, it was in rural Pennsylvania that Nancy took up a new, earthier medium of art: the art of gardening.
"A vibrant, healthy and happy garden was a lot like creating with love. Passion and love makes your garden come flourishing with life and it changes everything about your sense of inner-peace."
- Nancy Ghaida, ARTISAN & ARTIST
It didn’t take long for the garden, in all its beauty and imprecision, to blossom into a something of a sanctuary for Nancy. After many experiences of hardship, this mother of two discovered triumph, healing, strength and calm in the tending of her garden. In the vibrant flowers that grew under her careful tutelage was a little magic all her own-- a magic that, like all artists, she wanted to share with others.
Botanicals in Bloom
All elements are edible and hand crafted to perfections. Up-close photo featuring a wedding cake by Nancy Ghaida, Artisanal Designer.
From Natures Inspiration
Nancy dedicated her artistic skills to the precision and beauty of baking, recreating the bounty of her garden in the form of masterpiece cakes. Her expertise with sugarpaste rivalled her skill with a paintbrush, and Nancy’s signature garden-themed desserts awed family, friends, and broader audiences alike. She transformed her garden--that carefully-tended, earthy canvas of artwork--into festoons of sugar vines, leaves, and breathtaking florals wrapped around an artful cake, edible flakes of gossamer silver and gold, ornaments, and much more. Like a pumpkin into a carriage, Nancy’s deft and committed artist’s hands transformed her materials into edible and craft renderings of the subliminal beauty of the nature around her.
“The wedding cake is one of the last tastes you leave with your guests, and we loved working with Nancy. She is sincerely passionate about giving you and your guests the most unforgettable- and visually stunning- cake of their lives.”
- John & Ann Navarra, wedding Clients
Cookies handpainted into watercolor artwork. Airy macarons, melting to the bite. Party flowers and favors, handcrafted artisanal boxes, the delicate richness of a blooming rose captured in sugar. With meticulous care, perception, and attention to detail, Nancy not only creates beautiful treats, but builds a relationship with each client, tailoring her creations to fulfill their individualized desires and visions for events. Though each creation at La Doña Nanouce is custom-made, and no two cakes are quite alike, they all share two recurring themes: 1.) Everything tastes irresistible and 2.) Everything looks too good to eat.
An Artists Intuition
A Personalized Experience
Artistry and organic ingredients come together in each creation at La Dona Nañouce. From pure vanilla beans and cacao to small-batch fillings made from fresh raspberries, each cake and pastry is a piece of custom-made artwork, a personalized experience meant to be savored from the inside-out. The focal points of weddings, baby showers, birthdays, and special occasions alike, Nancy’s ethereal creations are collaborations between her clients, crafted with equal parts artistry, love, and dream-work--with a touch of garden magic to boot.
“We had so many ideas about our vision for the wedding cake, and we didn’t know how we’d make it all work, but Nancy cared about capturing the essence of our wedding. Nancy collaborated with us and catered to our vision. And at our tasting, we couldn’t decide between her variety of flavors. Everything was delicious.”
Tanya & Rowan Radwan, Wedding Clients
Etymology: In Spanish, the title “La Doña” describes a woman of esteem. In Arabic, “Nanouce” is an endearing pet name for Nancy. Respected for her uncompromising commitment to values and people, endeared to all who know and work with her, the studio name befits the remarkable woman behind it.