Not long after my brother proposed to his now-wife, he asked me if I would be willing to make the wedding cake. He knew I had taken a couple of Wilton cake decorating classes and had been impressed with the cakes I had made for the final projects.
With a bit of apprehension, I accepted. I knew it would be a HUGE, huge challenge, and I knew it would likely be almost an overwhelming task, but... I love my brother, and his wife is an amazing, sweet person -- I love them both to death, and I wanted to make them happy on their wedding day. I approached the project as I would any other art project, so I think that made it easier for me to deal with.
I started the process a few weeks prior to the wedding date. Fortunately, icing keeps well in the freezer, so I made all of that ahead of time.
Over the next couple of weeks, I bought the ingredients and equipment I needed, but had to wait to do the bulk of the work (like the actual baking, etc.)
I struggled for awhile with the design. I knew that the bride-to-be wanted Funfetti cake, but other than that, the entire concept of the cake was totally open. Fortunately, the cake stand I bought helped me to narrow down what I wanted to do.
Finally, on the Thursday before the wedding (which was on Saturday, July 11th), I decided on the final design and I bought the accessories I needed.
I started baking on Thursday night, and while the cakes were in the oven, I worked to assemble the accessories -- the beaded garlands that would circle the perimeters of the cakes.
I finished baking early on Friday, then worked late, late, LATE into the wee hours getting all the cakes filled, frosted, and covered with fondant. I didn't finish up til about 5 a.m.
The next morning before the wedding, I had to transport the blank cakes, the stand, and all the accessories to the reception hall, to finish assembling it. Once there, I arranged the cakes on the stand, hand-painted the metallic swirl designs (the "paint" is made of edible glitter powder mixed with vanilla flavoring), then added the ribbons and garlands to the base; then I affixed the bride & groom to the cake.
THEN, I ran the hell to the bathroom, got changed, and hurried along to the wedding -- I made it there JUST in time!
The wedding was beautiful, and as we headed to the reception, I felt relieved that I could finally relax. However -- I was worried that the cake wouldn't taste good, despite all the work I put into it -- but it turned out to be delicious, and got universal rave reviews. Most importantly, it made my brother and his wife happy, and that is the biggest and best compliment I could have received.
Making this cake was stressful, tiring, aggravating, nerve-wracking... and totally, totally worth it.
Slideshow of all the cake photos:
