When I started doing cakes I swore that I would never do wedding cakes. Maybe that was because I was looking back at my own experience at a bride when I was 25 with my exacting standards, once asking my husband if he liked the 1/4 ribbon to the 1/2 inch ribbon. That was all before the slew of bridal shows on tv which now turn weddings into spectacles. Not once when my husband and I have a disagreement do I look back and say- we can stop arguing because we had the two poached salmons at our wedding. A poached salmon station does not help you in future Geneva discussions with your husband. What will help is the foundation of the marriage- my marriage foundation is not based on smoked salmon, a carving station, canapés, or a towering cake. It is based on trust, mutual respect, and love.
That leads me to the cake, after my brothers cake I said that would be my one and only. Then at a dinner party at my mothers- she casually said- "Jennie does amazing cakes, you have to see them," next thing I know I am doing a wedding cake with very specific requirements. Carrot cake, three tiers separated by a white antique cake stand, decorated with flowers. I was emailed a several pictures. Not exactly my aesthetic but the train was now rolling down the tracks. In cake terms this was a fairly simple cake to construct- but it was not inspired because I was not inspired- it was so far away from the koi fish experience which I delivered on the same weekend.
I learned that weddings often become an outward expression of what the couple wants their relationship to be or hopes it will be- the cake is part of that, but it is their vision not mine. Translation of that vision is all in the details.
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