Well, I haven't blogged recently, I'm sorry - there are less than 3 months until our wedding and there's a HUGE holiday smooshed right in the middle of those 3 months. We're making great progress. Tonight was the night Mike and I have been looking forward to almost as long as we've been engaged. We went and designed our wedding cake.
So, if you've been to one of my stamping events recently you may know about the cake, but if not, I'll fill you in on some of the details. Let me start at the very beginning....when we started dating, we watched a lot of Food Network on television. Probably because it was the only thing we could agree on. Well, during all of that food tv, we fell in love with a show about a little bakery in Baltimore, Charm City Cakes. So, when it was time to decide on a cake, we both quickly agreed that we'd like to research the possibility of having Duff and his gang baking our cake. Haven't watched the show??? Tune in some week and you'll appreciate this story a bit more.
In October I e-mailed them with all of our details and impatiently waited for them to respond. It didn't take long at all. They warned us about the expense a couple of times but that didn't deter us. So, on Election Day while I was voting - yes, actually standing at the voting booth - Mary Alice called me to make our design and tasting appointment! It seems like ages ago that we made the appointment, but tonight was our design and tasting!!!
We sat outside of the bakery trying to spot anyone we recognized from the show. And, at precisely 5:55pm, we rang the doorbell to the bakery (we weren't allowed to show up early). Anna greeted us at the door. I had to use the restroom before we began, I know....too much info. But, I was glad for the excuse because it meant I had to walk through the bakery. Duff was chatting with someone, but looked like he was on his way out the door. Unfortunately, that was the only time I saw Duff. Mike completely missed him.
I got back to the table and Mike, Anna, and I started chatting about our cake. Most of the cakes you see in the background on the show are just samples. I was actually quite grateful for those samples because our cake is being modeled after one of them....nope, not telling ya which one. But, it was definitely one I've admired during various episodes. Once we had an idea, Anna sketched our cake. Yes, we got a copy of the sketch. No, I'm not posting a picture. You're gonna have to wait until the wedding for that. But, I can't stop staring at the sketch - I know our cake is going to be everything I ever dreamed about - and Mike and I agreed about the details. In fact, we were done the whole design process, paid the 50% deposit, and were completely finished after only 20 minutes. I was a bit bummed. I wanted to spend more time in the bakery. That's when the best thing happened - Anna explained that the hour was ours. We were free to walk wherever, take pictures, ask questions - it was our time! I felt like I was in the way and taking up her time, but we did take advantage of it.
We got our photo taken with Anna, as I'm sure you can see. There was a film crew in the studio, but I doubt we made it on film. Apparently they film for three weeks straight then take a week off or something like that. And, an episode does truly represent a week at the bakery. It was really quiet in the bakery - apparently a very large wedding canceled at the last minute. It's only the third time it had happened. So, there were only 2 designers still there.
Oh, and if you think I have a lot of ribbon - you're wrong!!! You should have seen the ribbon storage they had going on!!! I never would have dreamed they used that much ribbon on cakes. I'll give ya one hint about the cake....there's ribbon on it! How appropriate is that?
Now, if you watch the show, you know their cakes are covered in fondant. I'd heard all kinds of rumors about how terrible fondant tastes. So, Mike asked - what does it taste like and can we have a sample? Anna brought out a couple of small pieces and it tasted exactly as she described. Fondant tastes just like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal!!! I wanted more - I loved it!!! But, if there's someone who doesn't like fondant, it's easily peeled off - revealing butter cream frosting.
We left with our box of six samples of cake. We didn't get to taste them in the bakery. So, after stopping by our favorite restaurant for dinner, we enjoyed dessert at home. I can easily say that it was quite possibly some of the best cake I've ever eaten. Nope, I'm not tellin' ya which flavor we chose. Yes, that's right, we unanimously chose a cake flavor.
So, now all we have to do is wait...and pay for the other half of our cake. Don't worry - I left samples of Soft Sky and Chocolate Chip cardstock so they knew exactly what colors we have for the wedding!
