If you have had any length of conversation with me in the last six months, you probably know that my life has been very wedding-centric this year. No no no, not my own wedding of course (perhaps some day, although after this year, I am more inclined to elope than ever...). Instead, weddings of dear friends and relatives have been consuming my being for several months now (We won't get into the fact that I am probably too young to know so many people getting married). And, in this conversation with me, it probably would have been mentioned that I have been more than just a spectator for all of these weddings. My titles have included: Personal Assistant to the Bride, Reception Hostess, Set-upper person, Day-of Coordinator, and The Cake Lady.
Upon mentioning that I had volunteered to make a wedding cake for my friends Matt and Damaris, the reaction most normally was "You do wedding cakes?!". And the response: "Uh...I do ONE wedding cake, and it hasn't been done yet, so...talk to me after it's been done."
Well, it's been done. And the answer is. Why, yes, I do wedding cakes. Yesterday was D-day for me. The wedding climax of my year, if you will. And after talking to a lot of people and getting a lot of comments on the cake, I would say that it was a smashing success. And that makes me smile.
Matt and Damaris were amazing to let me make the cake for them. Their attitude was very relaxed, they didn't really care about specifics other than making sure it tasted and looked good. With requirements like that, there wasn't much pressure which made it A LOT of fun. The cake itself was a lemon cake with raspberry in the middle and cream cheese frosting. The design was not the traditional tiered cake, but rather several smaller cakes arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner. It was a design based on their invitations (I really like themes, and bringing things full circle...), but fairly simple. In the end it was beautiful and delicious, and I couldn't have been more excited or happy with it.
I will say that it is quite stressful making cake for 200 people. I had been so wrapped up in making it look good, that it wasn't until I had set them up on the table that I realized people would actually be eating the cake. My cake. That brought a new perspective to the whole thing. Luckily, the amazing ceremony and good company took my mind out of the hyper-ventilating state. And like I said, everyone seemed to like it.
For me, it's the baking and decorating that's the most fun, not the gratification of success. When I bake, I experience an inexplicable peace. Nothing in the world really matters, it's just me in the kitchen, and there's nothing else. All week people were asking me if I was panicking yet. And to be honest, I wasn't. Sure, the extravaganza wasn't completely stress-free, but there was no moment of complete melt-down (except for maybe that moment when we served the first piece, I haven't been that nervous since I got on a plane to fly to Senegal...). Few people interacted with me while I was frosting and decorating, which is probably good because it wasn't the prettiest sight in the world. There I was, in my grungy clothes, hair all askew, covered in frosting and cake crumbs, rocking out to The Fray and Mat Kearney, lost in my own little cake filled world. And having the time of my life.
Weddings are a big deal. So much so, that the people involved most often get so caught up in the details that it ends up being more of a stress-fest than a celebration. The fun gets overshadowed by the worrying and the anxiety. But what's the point if you're so stressed out that you spend all your time waiting for it to be over? I thought that's how I was going to feel about this cake. That it would be so much of a pain in the butt that I would just be wishing for the day to be over with. I was wrong. It's over now, and to be honest I'm kind of bummed. It was so much fun and I'm really glad that it turned out the way I wanted it to.
So thanks to the newly-wed Axelson's for letting me be a part of your celebration. It was an honor to be able to contribute to the fantastic party. Oh and thanks for taking the gamble and offering to be the recipients of my first wedding cake ever.
And thanks to everyone who helped build my confidence by supporting me through this. Having a tendency to self-doubt a lot, it was very nice to know that there were people who had faith in me.
(pictures coming soon.)
