A Tale of Two Cakes

So here is a piece of advice from me to you. If you’re working with a vendor who comes with the package at your wedding venue… a cake vendor even… and said cake vendor offers you a trial of your cake. Take. It. Trust me, you can thank me for it later. Obviously, this is going to be a story about why I will never be sad that I did exactly that.

Yesterday we went on a wedding bonanza to get several things done at once. The first of which was a visit to the bakery to see the trial top tier of our cake. (Which I had wisely ordered the week before. Go me!) When we pulled up to the bakery, I pulled the cake inspiration picture out of my handy wedding folder so Mr. Lox and I could examine it and be ready to properly assess if the trial tier was correct. Just as a refresher, here is the cake-spiration we gave to the bakery.

Photo from The Knot/ Cake by Alliance Bakery in Chicago/Picture by Dayna Schroeder Photography

So pretty. On the phone last week, I told her I wanted it to look like this but with pink in place of the green. And, per my instructions, this is what they had for me today…

Personal Photo

Ummmm… yeah. I have to  give it to them, it looks like what I asked for. But, you see, apparently sometimes I’m wrong. And this is obviously one of those times. The nice lady told me that she had some feedback but she wanted to see what I thought first. I mumbled something about the spiky bits, and she said she didn’t like the multi-colored trim. Which was really unfortunate because it was about the only thing I really did like. And I told her I actually liked it. At which point she said, and I really do quote… “Well, is your wedding really casual?” And she was met with a blank stare and then me saying “Well, it’s definitely not formal!”

So eventually we had to reach a truce. I’m going to be nice when I say that I do not have a poker face. In fact, I have the opposite of a poker face. I describe it as making faces like a muppet. And I was giving her a full on look of muppety disapproval, tinged with muppety happiness that we’d had a trial cake done. So we decided to break it down, put our heads together, and figure out how to save this poor little cake.

In the end, she pulled out pictures of another paisley cake she had done which was quite lovely. My muppety disapproval waned because I truly honestly and deeply liked the cake in the pictures. And this time it was her work so I knew it could be recreated.  So we talked over how to tweak the colors and the design, and my poor inspiration picture ended up looking like this…

Personal Photo

The paisley paper up top is the pattern she used to  design the cake I liked in the pictures. We edited the colors a bit, made a few other design decisions, and then I stopped making faces at the nice cake decorator. in fact, I felt so darn guilty over the whole thing that I thanked her multiple times for taking the time to help us and for being patient with me. And then we went ahead and bought the trial tier.

I mean, just because it isn’t pretty doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste good. (Quite the contrary in fact…. it’s fantastic.)

So I feel more confident about our cake now. And about my bakery’s ability to create something I’d actually like to see later in pictures. I mean honestly, I’d rather not recreate the cake experience from my first wedding. 😉

Did you get to do a trial run with your cake, or did you have full faith in the way it would turn out? And if you’re married…. did it all work out?

My monkeys!

Yes, I know. I have talked and talked about this cake topper ad nauseum. However, the darn thing is in our apartment and I am unreasonably excited. Every few days I re-remember that it’s in our home and I run over to touch it. I have the coolest fiance ever for putting up with me, my odd monkey obsession, and my scary cake topper love.

I was so excited the day it arrived that I demanded Mr. Lox allow me to document the unboxing. See photographic evidence below of my dearest being a trooper!

How adoarable is the packaging on this? And are you seeing what's on the little card on top?

That's right, it's a sparkly thank you card with a picture of our monkeys on it! Not just any monkeys... OUR MONKEYS.

The monkeys are emerging... (Also, I love Mr. Lox's hands!)

My (I mean OUR) monkeys!

Okay okay, here is my vow to you, dear hive. I will not yap on about my monkeys again until they are on top of a cake. Our cake. The wedding cake. Seriously, until then, you will be spared from future monkey cake topper pictures. For now, you can pretend my three posts about them are simply part of my charm. Stop laughing.

Now that the laughing is over, what wedding item excited you the most when it arrived?

All photos courtesy of me. No one else could care enough about this cake topper to be responsible for the insanity.

Top This x 2 – Cake Topper Boogaloo

I am just too excited right now! Remember when I talked about our super awesome cake topper? Well today I got a message from the Etsy seller making ours. She included pictures so I can approve the final product before she sends it to me. This thing is absolutely too cute for words! I am bouncing!

This is our very own cake topper! I lurves it! Photo courtesy of Etsy seller Garden4Arts. Click to see her shop.

Look at their adorable little faces! Photo courtesy of Etsy seller Garden4Arts. Click to see her shop.

Monkey butts! Photo courtesy of Etsy seller Garden4Arts. Click to see her shop.

How can you not love that? How, I ask???

Did you ever get excited over a silly wedding detail? Tell me about it and I promise to squee with you. 😉

World peace is a problem!

Let’s take a little wedding detour so I can share the funniest wedding story I have.  Since I’ve already fessed up about my checkered past, I’ll set the stage by telling you this happened at my first wedding. Yes, to me. So sit back, put your feet up, close your eyes, and join me in the past.

I was 21 and marrying my college sweetheart. Sure, a few things had gone wrong on that day, but honestly nothing big. The ceremony was over, the receiving line was over, and the formal pictures in the church were over. We were enroute to our reception hall. (PS – irrelevant detail but my parents got lost. It’s kinda funny, but not as funny as what’s to come.)

So everyone was introduced into the reception and we made our grand entrace, which led directly to our first dance. During the first dance, I leaned over and whispered lovingly in my new husband’s ear… “That’s not our cake.” We turned so he could see it. Neither one of us knew what to say so we finished the dance and took our seats at the head table.

A few minutes later, my new MIL came over to talk to us. She was looking nervously in the direction of the cake table. She made small talk for a few seconds before I told her. “It’s okay, but that’s not my cake.” She was appalled. Horrified even. She left immediately to call the bakery.

Then my mother came over wanting to know where the MIL had gone. I was cool as a cuke my dears, when I told her sweetly and brightly that it was not my cake over there. She looked confused. I told her MIL was off calling the bakery, because that wasn’t my cake.

Now, let me tell you about the cake I ordered. It was a lovely three tiered beauty with smooth buttercream icing and delicate sprays of wildflowers cascading down the sides. It was even a picture in the bakery’s photo gallery book. I pointed to it in the shop and said “Just like this!” when I ordered it. And then I picked up a generic plastic bride and groom couple for the top of the cake. It was perfect.

However, what was sitting on the cake table, was this:

The Cake of Horror!

That was NOT. MY. CAKE. But I didn’t yell. I didn’t freak out. I didn’t even alert anyone else to the issue. I was sure they were going to find my cake and switch everything up before the cake cutting time arrived. That was when my MIL scurried back to the head table. “They said it’s your cake.” I just looked her. “No it’s not. That’s certainly not what I ordered.” She nodded. “Yes. They said they upgraded the topper as a wedding present, and they thought the red, white, and blue flowers would be nice.”

I blinked stupidly at her and then looked again at the cake. My mother rushed back over and received a recap of the conversation. Everyone watched me nervously, like I was going to explode.

And then I laughed. I mean, I had to. Just look at that cake! The two mothers were still eyeing me cautiously while I giggled some more. Finally, I caught my breath and informed them, “This is not a problem, world peace is a problem.” And I got up from the table, enlisted a couple staff members to help me, and we turned the cake around so its plain white backside was showing. Then I took off the creepy little children topper and nodded. I went back to my seat and proclaimed “There! It’s fixed!” My mother laughed, and laughed, and laughed. His mother edged away from the table slowly. And the reception went on as planned.

Years later, my mother’s co-workers would take this picture and have it printed on a mug for her. The other side of the mug said “This is not a problem. World peace is a problem.” My mother loved that darn mug too.

All of this is to say that even seriously ugly disasters do not have to ruin a day. And whatever goes wrong on the day Mr. Lox and I celebrate our new lives together, I will just think of this cake and let it roll.

Tell me, what is the biggest wedding disaster you’ve ever witnessed? And tell the truth, didn’t that cake make you laugh?

Pictures in this post are courtesy of moi.

Top this

Well, I hadn’t resolved my venue issue and I had been too sick to DIY anything for the several days. So what is a planning bride to do in this situation? The answer, dear friends, is clear. Buy a cake topper!

Now Mr. Lox and I had some cake topper drama, if you can imagine such a thing. I may not have been terrifically clear on this point, but we’re silly. I mean goofy and fun. We are both normal folks with 9-5 jobs, but if you look just under that? We are simply not normal. On some things we are traditional, which you’ll see as we get more into planning details. But on other things? We are…. well…. not. So enter the thought of the cake topper.

Once upon a time, I had a cake topper of two people. It was traditional, and expected, and came standard with our cake. I had no real feelings on cake toppers so that was that.

Something like this. Click for source.

That would not do for Mr. Lox and me. So enter Momma Lox. Now, you have yet to be introduced, I realize. So let me give you a quick synopsis here. Momma Lox is a devoted momma indeed. And she loves me with all of her heart. But if I’m silly? Momma Lox is bordering on looney. That is your only official warning. Because, you know, I can call my momma crazy, but you may not. Now you know. 😉 So Momma Lox enters the cake topper scene and has a grand idea. A vision even. She sees….. bobbleheads. But not just any bobbleheads. Bobbleheads that look just like us. On. My. Cake. And she became fixated. Determined. Single-mindedly chasing bobbleheads.

Seriously, just like this. Click for source.

Mr. Lox was horrified. I mean, he was stunned into silence and started making crazy “help me” eyes at me the night my mother suggested this. But poor Momma Lox was too excited to see them. Excited over the bobbleheads.

The fundamental problem was this: We had already chosen a cake topper. And what we chose lies somewhere between traditional wedding people, and crazy bobbleheads that look just like us. Ok, I have to admit… it’s a bit closer to the bobbleheads than it is to the other people. But it is also distinctly us. Silly, fun, and incorporates one of my favorite things in the world.

Yes, monkeys. Click for source.

Oh yes, monkeys. We will have funny little monkeys on the top of our cake. And somehow, this is perfect. Our wedding will be pretty, and somewhat traditional, and a celebration of us. And what celebration of us would be complete without a bit of whimsy and a couple of monkeys?

Do you have details in your wedding that show your personality? How about something silly that other people may not understand? Or what did you decide to put on top of your cake?