LilyRose Cupcakes Shine at Inaugural Ball

Celebrities, politicians and people from around the world got to experience cupcakes from LilyRose Monday evening at the first Ambassadors Inaugural Ball.

The store’s co-owners cooked up 400 cupcakes for ball attendees, which included members of the United States Congress, US State Department officials, cabinet members, appointees and other business and political stars.  The Ambassadors Inaugural Ball was held at the Carnegie Library at Mt. Vernon Square.

LilyRose co-owner Carmen Adams is a general consul to Robert Shumake, Honorary Consul of Botswana to the United States. In her role, Adams helped plan the first Ambassadors Inaugural Ball.

“We decided it would be an awesome idea to do a ball around unity, diplomacy, humanity and peace,” Adams said. “Once I got involved in planning I thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase LilyRose as well.”

Traditionally, any event held under DC Convention Center’s umbrella can only be catered by an approved vendor. LilyRose was not one of the approved vendors so Adams said they had to ask the Convention Center for permission, which they eventually got.

Adams said she and her niece, along with business partner Sandie Torres started baking the cupcakes on Saturday and didn’t finish until 6:45 a.m. on Sunday—but the tireless effort was well worth it.

“For LilyRose, the whole thing was just awesome,” Adams said. “Celebrities were tweeting about the cupcakes and people were coming up to tell me how good they were. One guest even said, ‘These are not just cupcakes, these are cupcakes at another level.’”

As a result of being approved by the Convention Center to serve cupcakes at the ball, LilyRose will have the opportunity to do a taste test with the center. If all goes well, they will be an official, approved vendor for all DC Convention Center events, which Adams said “is a big deal.”

Before opening LilyRose, Adams worked as a lawyer. She said being able to showcase her cupcakes at the ball was the perfect example of her two passions coming together.

“For me it’s just really, really fulfilling to see my passion turning into something real,” Adams said. “One of our mottos here is adding a little joy to your day, and that’s what I feel like I am a doing when people eat the cupcakes and they like them."