Classic Taste In Weddings

Yesterday I worked on altering Michelle's wedding dress and thinking about classical things. At our church weddings the bride must have the top of the shoulder and arm covered, nothing backless, and no cleavage. It seems like a simple request for a modest church wedding until you go wedding dress shopping. Then you realize just how many strapless gowns there are out there, and how few people really look good in them. It made me think beyond the cake to the whole wedding image. Hence, the photo of the Kennedy wedding of 1953. Just look at her dress! It fits all the modesty requirements, yet is lovely and flattering. And the cake! In an era of plastic Roman columns and piles of fern you see a modern stacked tier cake. How cool is that?

My own wedding was lovely but you can pretty much tell the date from the clothing and the cake. I have the poofy sleeves and fluffy hair traditional to the late 1980's. The cake was my biggest expenditure for the entire wedding. It was made by Marilyn Koch (a friend of the family and professional cake artist for decades) and served 250. The main cakes were apple spice (my husband's favorite flavor) with rose and wine colored flowers and wine colored butterflies, as that's what my name means. I asked for petal shaped tiers and columns to give it height, and she added the fresh flowers and greenery. The satellite cakes around it are heart shaped and cherry chip flavored. Since the main cakes only served 100 we needed the little cakes around it to make up the rest of the servings. It was a great solution and very attractive and romantic.

So if you want to design a wedding cake, get what makes you happy. That might be the stacked cakes with fondant and bold color popular in many weddings, or it might be something more unusual -- or classic. The sky is the limit, but keep it in style with the rest of the wedding. There are more wedding cake variations and designs out there than you can count so make sure you find what's right for you. And have fun in the process!