Rain on a Wedding Day

They say it is good luck to have it rain when tying the knot since a wet knot is much more difficult to break apart than a dry one. I say it was just great fun.

Dark clouds loomed in the sky above us as we waited for the wedding ceremony to begin, edging closer and closer to where we were all seated. Many umbrellas were at the ready, tucked beneath chairs or in laps. Mere moments in, the rain started, and didn’t let up for hours. It was magical.

I don’t know what it is about summer rain, but I love it. True, many of the decorations outside got, well, trampled on by the showers, but the lighthearted nature of the whole event kept everyone in a great mood. I’m sure the alcohol helped, and all the food that the groom personally caught. The salmon was amazing, the oysters succulent, the lamb so tender and juicy. I didn’t ask if he killed and slaughtered the lamb. Hmmm… I wonder? Oh, and the pies! There were so many choices of deliciousness from which to choose.

The wedding and reception was amazing. The bride and groom looked incredibly happy. But the rain made it unforgettable.

Rob and Betsy, may blessings be showered upon your lives together!

Weddings

With summer comes summer weddings. And here in the Pacific Northwest, unpredictable summer weather.

A friend of ours is getting married today. All is well and good except, of course, for the expected showers and the fact that it is an outdoor wedding. Now, if humidity was wanted, we have that and plenty of it. Not the nasty humidity you’d find in Florida or anything that sticky, but humid nonetheless. And stagnant. The air has been so still, so quiet that it is bordering on eerie.

But tonight my hope is that it will be filled with fun, laughter and love. If it rains, so be it. I just hope it doesn’t bring out the mosquitos!

Cake

I used to love making cakes. Of course, that was when I didn’t have a job.

Working and running a side business are completely doable. I did it for years when working at Crapmart. However, working most Saturdays and later nights then I used to now at the vet clinic, I find it nearly impossible to do the kinds of cakes people want me to do without taking time off of work. This isn’t such a great idea. The last wedding cake I did I ended up barely breaking even on the cake itself (I only charged two-hundred-thirty dollars) but lost two days I could’ve worked to bake and decorate it. If they weren’t friends of ours, I would’ve charged more to make up the difference, but me being me, I didn’t.

I’ve already had two brides ask me to make their wedding cakes this summer and I had to be honest that I don’t feel comfortable making cakes anymore, especially for a wedding. I mean, I can do it, but for what most people are willing to spend on cake I can’t. It seems people have no problem spending almost a thousand dollars on flowers, but three hundred dollars for a wedding cake large enough to feed two hundred people? Hell no!

Now I have a ninetieth birthday cake to make for another friend at church and I am not taking time off work to make it, but also am having to strategically plan how to pay for the ingredients because, surprise! I didn’t ask for a down payment. I know I am a horrible business person, but c’mon, at some point common sense has got to kick in. After this, it might be time to hang up my pastry bags.

Massive Wedding Cake

It seems, every once in a while, that people tend to get a little carried away. This would definitely be the case with the last wedding cake I did.

 Months ago when we met and did our little decision making session of sizes and cakes and fillings and such, we had figured on making sure there was plenty of cake. After all, there should be one-hundred and twenty guests and an after party where cake would be needed. It was also decided that wedding slices were not an option and opted instead for the larger party slices. Based on these factors, the initial plan worked out to be enough cake for about two hundred people, give or take. Two days before the wedding I got a call frantically saying we needed more cake and I suggested making the base bigger to accommodate and it was agreed upon.

Here’s the funny part, or the sad part, or whichever part you think it should be: There were only about forty people at the wedding. Which meant that not only would there be enough cake for the wedding reception and the after party, but also enough to feed the entire church after service the following day with the remainder of the base cake alone, which, by the way, is what they opted to do. However, even though they had so much cake, the impression everyone had of such a huge and lavish wedding cake was priceless. Best of all, the cakes tasted amazing, especially the German Chocolate cake with coconut pecan filling. This was meant to only be used for the topper, but I thought that since I had to go through all the work of making the filling that I’d also make the groom’s cake the same since it is his favorite. Sadly only people at the after party were able to indulge in this cake, but as one of those guests I got a slice too. It was delicious.

Auction Day

Today our house goes up for auction at the county courthouse. Honestly, I feel sorry for the poor bastard who actually bids on the house.

With all the rain we’ve had lately, the evidence that we are leaving this house at the right time couldn’t be more apparent. There are so many leaks in the roof it is ridiculous. Just walk into our garage while it is raining and you’ll be hard pressed not to get hit by the Drip Drip Drop of Little April Showers. Not to mention what it is doing under the house where all that rain water, and I’m sure the busted sewer pipe from the kitchen sink is helping in this matter too, has manifested into huge pools of standing water. It is no wonder the house always feels damp and why it has such horrendous mold issues.

I’m pretty sure any part of me that was sentimental about the house left after the busted sewer pipe in the kitchen where, thank God, my husband utilized the magical powers of duct tape to “fix.” It also helps that we’ve started packing away a lot of our stuff turning what once we called home into the empty shell of a house. The exciting part comes when we get to do the final walk through with the landlord either tonight or tomorrow morning, which if it is in the morning I’ll be unable to attend due to the cake order I’m working on. However, I trust my husband’s judgment, so I will only be slightly saddened by not going.

Alas, I must attend to making the fillings and icings for the wedding cake now. I suppose in a way, this will mark the end of an era for us. After all, we moved in on the day Princess Di passed away and we’ll be moving out when her eldest son William gets married. Not that the royal family is anything to get your knickers all in a bunch over. Just another one of life’s silly coincidences.

On a last note, I hope the house doesn’t get bid on and the bank ends up having to keep it in their stockpile for years to come until it has to be condemned for not being kept up. Evil? Yes. But that would make me a little bit happy about the whole thing.

Winter Wedding

Last night’s wedding went off without a hitch. And the orange cardamom cake was absolutely delicious.

Upon arriving at our destination, we noticed that there were quite a few people, many more than I had originally planned and made cake for. However, within a half-an-hour it became quite obvious that one party was just ending and what we found ourselves in the midst of was the combination of a very large reception and a very small wedding. I didn’t know this at first, and did a little freaking out about not having enough cake when out pops a Costco cake dressed in the same colors I did the wedding cake in. The homeowner and I reorganized the table to make a pleasing arrangement with their two Old English Sheep Dogs weaving around us.

With everything set, I walked away to mingle. A few minutes later, I noticed the people in the house halved as I went to check on the cakes to make sure none of the random children in the house had decided to sample them. Fortunately they didn’t, and now were absent from the picture, but now we had way too much cake. Oh well. It happens.

The wedding was beautiful and my stepdad’s vows actually made me cry, and I don’t cry at weddings. Even the homeowner was amazed at how quickly her and her husband’s living room was transformed into a wedding chapel, complete with an unobstructed view of the Columbia River behind the wall of nearly floor to ceiling windows. I now see why the bride wanted to have the wedding here, and honestly I think a winter wedding was a wise choice. Mostly because it allowed me to pipe snowflakes all over and use Christmas picks and rainbow LEDs on the cake.

And the orange cardamom cake? Divine. I’m still debating over whether to share the recipe, but I’m sure I’ll reveal it in tomorrow’s post. After all, it was far too delicious to simply keep to myself, and far too easy to hide it away. Unlike my chocolate chip cookie recipe which requires three days to make, and nobody will ever have it. I’m taking that one to the grave.

Surprise Wedding

You know when you are planning on attending a wedding next summer and then, SURPRISE! it’s been changed to Saturday? Maybe that only happens in my family.

Well my stepdad is remarrying his third wife this Saturday. The first time the marriage was annulled within six months, but the two have remained close since. I’m pretty sure that the main reason it didn’t work the first time was because of the kids, but now that each of their kids are grown I think they’ll fare a better chance. We’ll see. After all, they are both feisty, passionate and stubborn, which is too much alike. But then again, that combination seems to attract like-minded mates.

Anyway, so instead of planning a wedding cake for next summer, I’m having to come up with a design today. This wouldn’t be so difficult except that we offered to watch our friends’s nephews overnight, have our nephew’s birthday party to go to, and, oh yeah, I still have to make the cake! Fun day ahead, along with going to WorkSource for a couple job leads I want to apply for, the Health Department to renew my food handler card, and possibly the craft store for a cake topper. Good thing I got fired Wednesday otherwise I wouldn’t have so much time to get all this done!

So while I am happy for my stepdad, who seems to be really happy about all of this, I’m a bit saddened for the rest of the family, but only a bit. You see, they already had a big wedding the first time around and everyone was there for it, so thirteen years later when they are doing it again, I don’t really see a need for a repeat performance. My hope is that they make it work this time because they both deserve to be happy, and if that means finding each other again, then I wish them all the best. In the mean time, I’ve got a cake to make.

Random Guest Status

Last night I attended the wedding reception of someone I do not know. When asked to write our connection to the bride and/or groom on a name tag, I assigned myself as a “Random Guest.”

Okay, so I’ll freely admit I wasn’t planning on attending this particular reception. I had every intention of setting up the cupcakes and heading home as I wasn’t feeling well due to the heat and lack of sleep over the last few days. However, I was invited by friends of ours from church because it was their son’s reception, and after putting the cupcakes into place I felt much better. That, and there was beer and wine.

This isn’t to say that the only reason that kept me there was the presence of alcohol, but I’d be lying to myself if I say it didn’t factor into my decision. I guess I would also have to admit that I went to high school with the groom, albeit graduated the year before him and was quite familiar with him during the three years we attended Hudson’s Bay High School. However, we never talked nor had any classes together so our paths never crossed.

Still not enough of a reason to stay? Okay, the place was air conditioned. There. That’s the real reason. I mean, after baking in our home for the last few days in a hot kitchen in a hot house and spending the afternoon outside in the hot heat, the cool air coming out of the floor vents while I was putting cupcakes onto a stand and around the table felt quite refreshing. Mmm… Freon. During heat waves it is enough to make me want to just go turn the car on in the driveway and sit with the air conditioning on, feeling the cool breeze on my skin. But alas, this time it was in the form of a wedding reception with beer and wine and good food in an air conditioned building. At least I was honest when people asked my connection!

Does this make me a wedding crasher? I don’t think so. I did know quite a few of the guests, as there were people from our church there, so my “Random Guest” didn’t seem so bad… especially next to the jester who had “Groom’s Biological Father” on his name tag. Besides, I brought cupcakes.

Weddings

Few things in life can be as stressful while at the same time exhilaratingly fun as a wedding. Why not take as much of the stressful part out as possible?

My aunt got married last night and the wedding was, in her words, fairytale perfect. I’m not sure if she was smoking something funny or if she just woke up and told herself that no matter what, that day was going to be perfect and nothing could ruin it for her, but the attitude she displayed was far beyond the typical bride.

I guess when you are marrying someone you truly love it makes no difference if the cake had a few issues in the 100 degree heat in an air conditioned car for four minutes, or her niece decided the bridal path was the best place to continuously booty scoot causing a few rips and tears an hour before the ceremony started, or even the fact that her father didn’t want to leave the house (Papa unfortunately has dementia.) The day was perfect according to her. Of course things worked out anyway. I was able to fix the cake and make sure the back was hidden from view (brides take note, there is always a back!), the rips and tears on the bridal path were fluffed to be nearly hidden, and Papa came after all and had a great time once he was there.

Funny how things have a way of either coming together or suddenly not being all that important if they don’t. Perhaps my aunt’s attitude of waking up and saying no matter what, today is perfect is something that can be applied to every day.

Wedding Cakes

With summer finally here, wedding season is also in full bloom. And with weddings comes wedding cakes.

I’ve been making cakes for a while now so this isn’t to say that I’m incompetent or anything. However, with every wedding cake a certain, how should I put it, level of expectations is put into place, both by myself and the spouses-to-be. No cake is perfect unless it is a fake, and even those have issues probably only noticeable to the decorator, but nevertheless the strive for perfection for someone’s wedding day is always there.

No matter how many wedding cakes I do I always get nervous and begin overthinking details that really are quite simple. Scrollwork for instance is really not that difficult to achieve unless you are aiming for scrolls that are all exactly the same, in which case use a template in the form of a press not unlike a cookie cutter. Borders, dots, word piping, all of these little things I don’t really think too much about when decorating a party cake I get all flustered while applying these techniques to a wedding cake. Of course, there is good reason.

Wedding cakes are traditionally white. I don’t make very many white frosted cakes because the margin for error is practically not there as white shows every imperfection and every crumb and if the wedding is outdoors anything that might be blowing in the wind. Yes, white is evil. Now camouflage or chocolate… Anyway, so to counteract some of these, we decorators have a few tricks up our sleeves, but more than that there are things called decorations we usually use to hide any imperfections that may arise. Of course lighting plays a big role too, as bright light will show off every tiny crack and divot while low light will make it look flawless. And then there is the issue of heat, which we all know can melt the frosting right off the cake, or humidity which can turn a perfect fondant cake into something that looks like a pansy in heat.

Most cakes should be set up no more than two hours before they are to be viewed and eaten, but this isn’t always possible to accomplish. I know when I did my sister’s wedding cake, which was an eight tier monster that had to be driven ninety miles in the middle of winter over icy roads and set up six hours before the wedding for the photographer, I had to make sure I had everything with me to fix any mishaps that may occur until the event. But once I set everything up and fixed the areas that didn’t travel so well which of course meant they wanted to be the back of the cake (and yes brides, there is ALWAYS a back to a cake) it stayed in perfect form for eight hours, and probably would have been fine for a couple hours longer, until we cut it up and served it. Of course, we had cut wedding slices thinking guests might want to try all three flavors, but there ended up being over half the cake leftover in the end. Then again, this cake was enough for 300 people and there were about 150, so I’m not too surprised.

But still, wedding season is here and wedding cakes are needing to be made and with our lovely unpredictable Northwest weather we decorators never know which trick we are going to have to pull out of our sleeves. I just hope that for the cakes I am doing I’m able to put a smile on the newlyweds faces and fulfill their dreams of a wonderful wedding. After all, they chose me out of all the decorators and bakers out there.

Wedding Cake

Getting married is kind of a big deal. It takes a lot of planning, a lot of hard work, and a hell of a lot of luck to pull off exactly as you plan… all of which gets condensed into a quick ten minute ceremony and if you’re lucky, people will stick around after eating their cake.

Yesterday, my partner and I went to a wedding of a couple at church, and one which I made the wedding cake and groom’s cake. Why people want me to make their wedding cakes, I don’t know. I’m not a professional, a majority of my works leans toward the quirky, I only make cakes that can be stored at room temperature at least until they are cut, and I prefer taste over aesthetics, all of which screams, “Hire a real cake decorator!” But then they throw money in my face and I give in.

I do enjoy making cakes, but sometimes the cakes don’t enjoy being made. Sometimes my buttercream doesn’t want to stay where I spread it or form rose petals which magically become “mystery flowers” instead or in the case of joining two colors from the top to the sides decide they really weren’t meant for each other after all and the side color decides to slide away. “What? You like how the sides gently curve towards the cake board? Oh, I know, me too, it just gives the cake so much character, don’t you think?!” Sometimes as a decorator, you have to make executive decisions, and this one called for some decorative scrollwork to somewhat disguise any imperfections. Nothing fancy, just what I call “Viney Vs, Ss and lower case rs.” This was mostly done to hide the fact that chocolate cake likes to leave crumbs on the sides, even after two crumb coats to contain them. Fortunately it was just enough to make the cake look finished for me, and the kitchen crew church ladies agreed.

Now, making a groom’s cake is something different altogether. Groom’s cakes, by nature, have a quirkiness to them that draws me to wanting to make them, like a bear to honey. I just wished more people ordered them, and fortunately this bride did. Inside jokes that you plan to share with everyone at the reception work beautifully, as do what you really want your wedding cake to convey but your mother won’t let you. The best part of this whole experience was making the groom’s cake, which was simply decorated with a huge banana that had her phone number on it. At the reception, she told the story of how she didn’t have a piece of paper so she wrote her phone number on a banana, and he looked frantically in his man-bag for a banana to write his phone number on to give her, to which she said that he didn’t need to write it on a banana, a scrap piece of paper would work just fine. Yes, a goofy story, but a personal one and he loved the cake and found it hilarious.

Of course, the downside to making wedding cakes is when you give your expertise, they like it, then change their mind about a dozen times before the wedding. For one thing, I don’t like to use artificial flavors, especially when it is paired with the real thing. For the groom’s cake, decorated with a giant banana, was a banana cake and frosted in artificial banana flavored buttercream. The competition between the stand-out artificial and the delicate natural didn’t mesh well for me, but this wasn’t my cake. I did say that I didn’t think the combination would work well, but she thought it would and, well, customer gets what customer wants… even if that means that I can’t put the sliced fresh bananas on top of the vanilla cream filling between the cake and cover it with deliciously melt-in-your-mouth white chocolate ganache.