The Great Cake Cutting Debate

How do you feel about the whole cake smashing debate? It seems to me that you’re either on one side of the fence or the other…you’re either in favor of the act of smashing cake in your newly married loved one’s face, or you’re not. Can you tell which side of the fence that I’m on? LOL.

Me thinking that there were only two sides to this argument was my first mistake…me trusting my husband 100% was my second mistake.

So here’s how it went down. After the toasts were over and hugs went all around, the DJ announced that it was time to cut our cakes. I really, really, really hated to slice into our main cake…it was THAT perfect! But slice it up is what we eventually did. First, we moved into position and everyone (or everyone that wanted to see) crowded around the table. There was a brief moment when a wayward kid got too close to the table and I thought that the whole thing might come crashing down, but luckily that didn’t happen!

We picked up the carving knife, and that’s the moment that B thought to ask me how exactly we were supposed to do this…in hindsight, it might have been a good idea to practice this before the moment was caught on camera. I’m just making a suggestion, do with it what you will. But cutting a sliver of cake to feed to your new husband/wife is definitely harder than it looks!

So we moved into position behind the table and I gave B quick instructions to just cover my hand with his and I would guide him through the process…thinking in my head that since I bake/cook so much that I was the pro at this. We make the first cut… And all looks well – so far so good as we go in for the second cut… I remove the knife from the cake and turn it horizontal so that the blade is flat and can be used to pull the cut piece out of the main body of the cake. At least that was my intention…but you can see the look of "concern" starting on my face as I realize that maybe this isn’t going to happen the way it turns out in the “picture perfect” reel playing in my head... By now, I’ve got some of the cake balanced on the knife, and realize that the only thing holding it upright is the rest of the cake. That’s all I can say about the face that I’m making… Now I think that maybe, just maybe this is going to turn out all right because the cake is coming out, not toppled over (yet) and the plate is waiting in the wings to catch if needed… Now you can see that maybe my plan isn’t working so well…B steps in to “save the day” Success!! The cake is on the plate…didn’t fall off on the table…and now we can move on to tasting it.

Before taking my bite, I give B “the Look.” You know, the one that reminds him of the agreement that we had made earlier about NOT smashing cake in each other’s faces…then I open my mouth to get my bite. But you can see that I’m still not 100% trusting him and I give him another "Look" as the piece is hovering right above my mouth… He was a good groom and I got my piece of cake without incident… This is me saying “Oh man, that is SO good!” without actually using words… By this point, the crowd is getting antsy and they’re REALLY disappointed that B didn’t smash cake in my face. As the taunts get louder, I gather up a piece of cake to feed to B…and a look passes between us… He licks off my fingers as I smile on…blissfully unaware of what his devious little mind has in store for me… You see, while I was getting his piece ready and feeding it to him, his free hand was moving steadily toward the cake plate again…out of my line of sight…maybe you caught it? If not, I present Exhibit A: Do you notice his free hand? Yeah…I didn’t.

So after feeding him his piece, I innocently lean in for a kiss from my groom…and since I love him SO much and am just basking in my newly married state of bliss…I am unaware of what’s about to hit me… Yep, it was a finger-load of icing…placed ever so sweetly upon my cheek… You can see my nose crinkling up there…but this is a better shot… Mainly because it shows how proud of himself he was! He immediately destroys the rest of the “evidence” on his hand… And I start giving him another “Look” but this time it might be in all caps – you know, a “LOOK!” I have to admit that 6 months later, while writing this post, he was pretty smart. He kept his word to me in not smashing the cake all in my face while he fed it to me, which is what I definitely didn't want…and still managed to save face with his guy friends and get icing on me at some point during the process. It was the best of both worlds for him.

Me on the other hand? Oh, I was mad all right. Not like hold-a-grudge mad because after all, it’s just icing. It was more like an I-can’t-believe-that-you-did-that-to-my-makeup sort of mad. I wasn’t really upset…it was funny, and I love the pictures that came out of the event…so I guess he was right to do it the way that he did it. But I can’t say that I was 100% happy with him at the time.

So where do you stand on the cake-in-the-face issue? Are you planning on smashing your cake in your newly married spouse’s face? Or are you going to play nice? Maybe you could be like B and have the best of both worlds!

Up next is our First Dance, so I couldn’t stay mad for long…we had to take a quick break and let MOH help me get all of the extra icing off of my face before more photos were taken!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...
Our Cake Buffet

Our Cake Buffet

Next on my list to post about is cutting our cakes…but how can I do that without paying tribute to the cake buffet first?!? I can’t, I tell you, I just can’t do it!

Making the decision to have a cake buffet instead of just one cake with two or three flavors was like doing simple addition in my head. You know the kind – like knowing that 2 + 2 = 4…those little math problems that you don’t really even have to think about to get the answer (not the ones that require use of fingers and possibly toes to get there!). I thought to myself about what my favorite cake flavor might be, and what kind of cake that B would like best…and I have to admit that the list was long…really long.

Not that B was contributing much to the list…his favorite cake is hands down Red Velvet. And the only other request that he had made was to include German Chocolate cake for his Dad. My side of the list? Not NEARLY that short! I immediately (without pausing to consider if my fingers were ready for counting) had strawberry, Italian Cream, white with raspberry filling, chocolate, Red Velvet and Carrot. (Yes, Mom, that’s a new one that I’ve developed over the past few years.)

So you see how the math led to the cake buffet, right? Right. Plus, at the time I was reading a lot on weddingbee.com and there were SO many other brides providing me with LOTS of inspiration on the cake buffet front…so it was a done deal. B didn’t even argue on this one!

Just to make it a little more special, I decided that I would have all the moms in our lives bring their favorite cake plate to serve one of the cakes on. Since we were having more than just three cakes (that’s the number of Moms that we have between us) I also extended the invitation to my Maids to have them also bring a cake plate that was special to them. MOH at some point suggested asking those bringing cake plates to also bring serving sets if they had them, which was a BRILLIANT thought and just goes to show that my thought processes stopped at the cakes!

I bought a length of black velvet on sale at a fabric shop off of Harry Hines Blvd in Dallas – favorite fabric shopping place of all time! – and the table was given some height by standard cinder blocks from Lowe’s/Home Depot. We had planned on taking these back after using them – don’t hate on me for being frugal! – but I think that we’ve actually still got them. For what, I don’t know…but they’re in the garage, and that’s B’s domain.

So here’s a shot of the set-up… And another shot at night, since I think that it shows up a little better… And just to showcase our baker, Michelle with The Sweet Stuff out of Kyle, TX here are some close-ups of the individual cakes.

More of a traditional wedding cake style…I think that this one was Strawberry… A newer design of just swirls that sort of mimicked our invites and other paper goods…this one might have been Italian Cream Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting... A standard German Chocolate cake… This one was a Chocolate cake with Raspberry filling and chocolate icing with Chocolate Ganache on top…I’m not swearing that I know what Ganache is…but it was yummy! This is one that B saw in her book of cakes when we went in for our tasting and he HAD to have it! And just to remind you about one of my little projects…here are the tent cards that I made for the cakes telling our guest the cake falvor and frosting information… And now, the crown jewel…the most beautiful of all of our cakes…our two-tier wedding cake… It was Red Velvet with Cream Cheese icing and Michelle took our exact scroll that was on all of our paper goods and copied it onto our cake. Not only that, but she also copied the monogram that I had designed, which was SO cool to me.

I had originally wanted to do a cake topper out of the monogram but ran out of time figuring out who to do it, where to get it and how much would it cost. This was free, included in the cost of the cakes, so killing two birds with one stone was worth the price of my sanity by that point!

All in all, I was thrilled with the work that Michelle did on our cakes. We were able to pick up the cakes the day before the wedding and store them onsite in our Reception Hall refrigerators and just placed them on the cake stands the afternoon of the wedding, allowing them to warm up a bit before cutting and eating. Michelle was easy to work with, had great prices and I’ve used her for two birthday cakes since having our wedding…you know that has to speak volumes for what I think about her cakes! If you're having your wedding at Texas Old Town, or anywhere South of Austin...I would highly recommend using Michelle for your cakes. Here's a link to her site.

Another tip for future brides doing cake buffets…have extra cake stands. One of the moms only had one cake stand, but one or two of them brought two (or even three) stands. Since we ordered multiple cakes in same flavors, it was nice to be able to “stage” the cakes in the kitchen on their stands ahead of time. That way, when the German Chocolate cake was all gone out front, someone just had to run to the kitchen and grab the next one without having to worry with swapping cake stands. Just a thought for you!

Now that we’ve all admired our cake buffet…and our tummies are growling…let’s get on to the meat of cutting cakes. Did we smash cake in each other’s faces??? You’ll have to hang in there to find out!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...

Raise Your Glasses...

You want to know the one problem with being a slacker bride when it comes to writing up your recaps? You have to look back at the file names on the pictures to remember some of the order of things! This is why you should write up your recaps right away, brides! Learn one more thing from me, please...

Once we had finished eating, we started making our rounds to visit with all the guests. Then, before I knew it, the DJ was turning the volume of the music down and asking us to make our way back up front. I glanced towards the front of the room and noticed MOH and Best Man S standing there at the DJ’s station with a microphone...that could only mean one thing – time for Toasts! MOH went and collected our glasses for us, and little J came up to stand with us while our friends toasted us... Luckily for us, we have good friends and there was no roasting! There were a few jokes made between B and S during Best Man S’s toast, but most of the speech was about what a great friend B had been to S over the years. The guys got a little choked up, but no tears were shed. Just like I can’t remember the order of the events during the evening specifically, I also can’t remember the exact words that S used in his speech. I do know that it was from the heart...with a few jokes thrown in for good measure...and meant the world to B. Next up, it was MOH’s turn. Now, I have to say that I was SO proud of myself for keeping my composure throughout the day. There was a moment of tears before I left the hotel...and then a few times during the ceremony where they threatened to make an appearance, but I held firm and they stayed away. That is, until MOH took the microphone. And then “ugly cry face” came out to party…

MOH had sweet, wonderful words to share with our family and friends, and even if I don’t recall each and every line of her toast, I do vividly remember her coming to my defense from nay-sayers who had threatened my choices and good mood the week before. It touched me so much that she (who wasn’t my actual sister) was supporting me (and us) like a real sister should (that’s how you can tell true sisters – not by blood, but by choice!). And that’s when it happened...ugly cry face came out to play...You can see the tears starting... And then I tried to stop them by laughing... But in the end, she moved me to tears, and I loved her for it. There were hugs all around at the end of the speeches, between the guys... And between us gals... And you know that B couldn’t resist trying to mimic my ugly cry face to MOH afterwards! He’s such a comedian! Next up, I needed to dry those eyes because it’s time to start the dancing...our first dance as husband and wife...with no clue about what we were going to do! No practicing or choreography for us, although it would have been REALLY nice!


**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography


Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!

Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!

B will totally be mortified that I’m sharing this picture with you all, but there is no other way to open this post...

Yep, that’s my husband. Literally SKIPPING and JUMPING for joy while waiting to be introduced to our reception...he’s SUCH a ham!

I can’t believe that one of the photographers caught that on film...and I’m just super-duper sneaky for sharing it with one and all! But it really relays with actions how we all felt at that moment, so it was too perfect not to share.

The pictures were taken, the guests were all inside the reception hall (mostly) and the wedding party reunited outside the reception doors for our grand entrance. We quickly met with the DJ and went over name pronunciations, and she went back inside to start the show. To say that we were antsy was an understatement...do I need to show B’s picture again?!?!

Having the ceremony over and done with and being finished with our pictures meant only one thing to us...it was time to PARTY! Not that we were planning on getting stinking drunk or anything, but the relief at having most of the wedding over and down with was so huge. Now it was time to relax, sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labors over the past several months...eat good food, visit with family and friends and most importantly dance the night away!

The DJ called us in pairs...Maid Britney and Groomsman R went first...

Followed by Maid Momma and Groomsman B...

Then MOH and Best Man S...and no, you haven’t seen the last of his antics yet!

And then it was our turn...Mr. and Mrs.!


I have to tell you that walking into our reception hall was the second best moment of the whole entire day! (Second only to being pronounced man and wife and kissing my husband to “seal the deal!”) The amount of love and support was just literally pouring off of our family and friends as they stood at our entrance and clapped. I was literally overwhelmed. It almost moved me to tears, and had B not been holding my hand dragging me towards the back and to the food, I think that I would have been struck dumb. You know, like when you can’t talk or even move because you just don’t know how to react? It was SUCH a positive outpouring of well-wishes, love and cheer for us that I didn’t know what to do.

Coolest thing ever!

We had made the decision earlier that the wedding party would start the food line, so we didn’t stop at any of the tables to talk to anyone. We just worked our way to the back of the room and fixes ourselves a plate of delicious BBQ and sides. It was mouth-watering good. I wish that I had pictures...oops, just another thing on my list of pictures that I should have specified – once again, it’s important to have lists! It doesn’t mean that you’re OCD or anal-retentive...it’s just good practice on such a busy day.

We took our food back to the front of the room and I immediately dug in. B was the gentleman and took our glasses back to the bar so that they could be filled with a drink, and I didn’t even offer to help...I was SO hungry! The food was wonderful, my plate didn’t even look like I had touched it after I was all done with it. Having the separate table on stage to ourselves really gave us a few minutes to sit back and enjoy. Yes, some people came up and talked to us and gave us hugs and well wishes, but for the most part, we had a few minutes as husband and wife to take it all in.

Our bridal party and their families surrounded us, and being trapped back in the corner with a bridal gown, heels and stairs really made it easy to just sit back and let someone else bring me what I needed! I won’t lie – I totally ate it up! It was nice to be waited on hand and foot, people!

Before I knew it, I was stuffed, and it was time to make our rounds and visit with all of the guests. We had timed things just right, it seemed – we finished just as the last person that was in line for food at the buffet got back to their table. I wanted to make it to each table and thank everyone personally for coming and celebrating with us, but I know that it didn’t happen. In reality, people get up and move around once they finish eating and I can’t blame them for that. I will say that I think that I hugged/talked to about 85-90% of the guests in attendance during our rounds, so that’s not bad!

Did you struggle to make it around to all of your tables too? I’m curious...

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...

It’s the Smallest Things...

…that make your wedding day perfect. I thought before I got to the reception pictures that I would share with you the up close and detail shots that our photographer, Christina Carroll, got of the décor around the reception hall.

These were all the projects that I sweat and slaved over...pouring all of my creativity and craftiness into making...and it was SO special to me that she got pictures of it all. To me, these are the things that made our wedding about US...they’re what made our wedding stand out and be special in our minds and in other’s minds.

Hope you enjoy!

Our programs – laying in their basket...the basket that I bought on sale, spray painted and made the liner for… And a close-up on one of the programs all opened up... Our Mason jar drinking glasses, which I painstakingly used as escort/seating cards...I printed them all out, stamped them, embossed them, mounted them and then tied them on...lots of work – but SO worth the effort! And a special shot of my glass...this is the last time that you’ll see it empty! Our favors...snickerdoodle cookies that I made from scratch...along with the labels explaining about our charitable donation...my Maids and Mom helped me stuff all of those cookies and seal all the bags. So much hard work, and SO yummy! The main table that guests saw when they walked into the reception hall...all decorated with our signing book and kids activity books. A close up of the activity books... And some shots of the quilt-piece “signature book” layout...an update on how that quilt is coming soon, I promise! And now for the table arrangements...our bridal table... Our bridal party centerpieces...recognize those bouquets? And our guest tables... Like I said before...all of these elements added together make your wedding your own. Was it a pain in the butt to work on all of this stuff? Sure it was. But I enjoyed most of it. And to me, the end result was MORE than worth it! Our wedding was exactly as I had envisioned it...rustic elegance...and it was all of these small details that helped make it that way! And, Mom/MOH, you HAVE to admit that those EGGGPLANT tablecloths really MADE the room!!! LOL!!! It was worth all the time that it took to find them, huh? ;)

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...