The Mother of all Wedding Weekends
Everybody is under the impression that June is THE wedding month. Well, maybe in other parts of the country it is but in San Diego, everyone knows that June is usually the WORST month for weddings because of a little weather phenomenon we locals fondly call June Gloom. There's also May Gray which is why May, too, is very wedding un-friendly. The TV meteorologists could record "Low clouds and fog along the coast...." and go on vacation for 2 months.
This year, I'm becoming a true believer in the Global Warming theory. There was no May Gray or June Gloom. Even April was blazing hot. What's going on here?
Anyway, whatever. This past weekend sort of caught me off guard because, well, June isn't usually a big wedding month, right? It was really.......Wedding Hell. Don't get me wrong. I love my job. I love designing cakes. I love weddings and baby showers and birthday cakes. And so does my wonderful staff. But this weekend was definitely not for the faint of heart. It put all of us to the test. And we lived to tell the tale.
To the left, you can see our Door of Orders. Or, the Door of Terror. Each of those sheets of paper represented a cake. And not one was a "normal" cake. Oh no, there wasn't a "simple but elegant" one in the bunch. Not one cake that we could auto pilot through.
And, it wasn't enough that we were pushed to the very limits of what human beings should have to endure workwise. It was so bloody hot in our kitchen that we probably could have baked the cakes without actually putting them into the oven! I think we all sweat off about 10 pounds. And just imagine the condition of our buttercreams and ganache. Oh, and how about getting that second coat of icing over the crumb coat before it turns into an oil slick? AND IT'S ONLY JUNE! That's the really scary part.
But, the cool thing is, we turned out some pretty freaking amazing cakes. I'll show you a just a few.
This beautiful black and white Parisian wallpaper style cake was featured in The Knot magazine and was designed by Truli Confectionary Arts. As stunning as it was, I truly hope to never make it again. My index finger split at the knuckle, swelled up like a little vienna sausage, and eventually went numb from cutting out all those fabulous swirly floral and leaf motifs.
The Winery Wedding cake was made almost entirely by Brittany. She's developed quite a talent for making figures that really come alive. These clients basically wanted their wedding ON their cake. And the groom IS indeed dressed in a bathrobe, Hawaiian shirt, shorts and flip flops. I don't know if he actually donned that attire for the wedding but I would guess NOT.
This cake was based on the couple's wedding invitation and was done using the digital imagery technique. It also featured silver wired fuschia (VERY hard to find) and clear glass beads as well as edible jewels on the cake itself.
We also had: a pale blue, square, 3 tier, stacked cake with handmade seashells and coral. a 3 tier, round, square, round stacked cake with big pink bows and sparkly beads with silver accents. a 3 tier, square, stacked pink cake with a paler shade of pink "mod" flowers, a fuschia fondant ribbon around each base, and sparkly crystals scattered all over. a mini pirate's treasure chest, slightly opened, filled with edible jewels. a pool party cake featuring.....a swimming pool with 2 swimming kids, stone deck, deck chairs, an umbrella and palm trees.
AND, a Day at the Beach cake. Which is where we all wished we were.
The End
Comments
Hey Grace!
So I guess the weather was similar on up the coast a ways!
Loved seeing you on the Food Network challenge. Great job! Isn't it funnnnnnnn? b