Southern Sweethearts: Toasts & Tosses

Right after we danced with our moms, it was time for some special toasts from our two closest friends.

I just broke out these flutes in anticipation of our first anniversary!

My best friend of over a decade and MOH Amanda went first. One year later, I admittedly can't remember her exact speech, but I do remember feeling all warm and fuzzy while listening to it. Thankfully, we had a videographer. We'll be receiving our full wedding video soon so I'll be able to relive those moments that photos alone simply can't capture.

Amanda spoke of the "old times", way back to some of our embarrassing middle school antics. Then she seamlessly transitioned into when I met Mr. Lab and how she watched our relationship grow and how Mr. Lab became her friend, too.

Amanda finished her speech and raised her glass to toast. Then Best Man Don walked up to the mic. He went off-script and settled into his funny-man status with some hilarious stories about Mr. Lab.

At times I reconsidered my choice to marry Mr. Lab....(I kid I kid!). But then Don got serious and I remember him saying that I made Mr. Lab a better man. That made me :D big time!

He finished by giving Mr. Lab his simple yet brilliant secret to a successful marriage: "Happy Wife, Happy Life!"

After the toasts, it was time for the tosses!

Like my super simple single button booty bustle? Say THAT 10x fast!

I told my girls to get ready and as Beyonce's "Single Ladies" began playing, I picked a target and turned around.

The girls actually dove and fought a little for the bouquet but one of my adorable nieces won out.

Then it was time for Mr. Lab to go fishing for his garter. The DJ started playing M.C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This" and he dove in!

Close-up of the special Georgia garter I got for him.

Just like the bouquets, I had two garters: one to keep and one to toss. I bought the special UGA-themed garter as a little surprise for Mr. Lab. Judging by the photos, me thinks he likey!

Mr. Lab is a trooper. I think he thought it would be all sexy to take the garter off with his teeth, but...

...I had some legit Britney Spears barefoot in a gas station bathroom-feet going on! I did spend most of the day shoe-less because of my missing Louboutins!

He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally got the garter off.

He checked to see who was waiting to catch the garter and got ready to snap it.

But it hit the floor and slid to my brother's girlfriend's son. There may have been some blatant avoidance by some of the guys along the way. I wish I had made time to attach some lottery tickets or a ten-dollar bill to the garter to encourage more participation!

Although the tosses were fun, I never considered the kids taking part. I wish I had designated the tosses as adults only. I had a couple friends who really wanted to catch the bouquet but weren't willing to completely plow over my niece to get to it. ;)

Will you have a videographer to capture things photos can't like the toasts? As for the tosses, will you have an age limit on those?

Previously on Southern Sweethearts:

• Southern Belles Do Tea
• A Rude Vendor Interrupts Our Rehearsal
• We Have Dinner on the Savannah River
• A Spooky Ghost Tour and My Last Fling
• Our Wedding Trailer
• Becoming a Blushing Bride
• I Slip Into My eBay Wedding Dress
• The Fellas Get “Sessay”
• He Got Boudoir, I Got Bling
• An Unplanned First Look
• Our Wedding Party…and Paparazzi
• Details Tell the Story
• Years of Waiting for This Moment (Ceremony Part: 1)
• We Tie the Knot with Faith, Hope, & Love (Ceremony Part: 2)
• My Wedding Party Poses for Mug Shots While We Take Formals
• We Shared a Private Dinner for Two During Cocktail Hour
• Our Wedding Party Lines Up for Introductions
• We Nom on Publix and Sanford Stadium Cakes
• Dancing with Our "Stars"

Next Up: We "Thrill" Our Guests

*All professional photos by Lindsi Jones Photography. Some images may have been slightly altered by moi.

Piece of Cake Part 2: There's Nothing Finer in the Land

Last Sunday my future in-laws and I stopped by Publix to pick up my cake samples. Boy were we surprised at Publix's idea of a "sample" size.

It was practically an ENTIRE cake! I honestly thought I wouldn't have enough to share with my FMIL & SIL when we went to try it. I was clearly wrong. Publix even threw in an extra flavor combo (half & half aka chocolate & vanilla). It was around lunch time when we brought home our sample, so we undoubtedly gorged ourselves. Hey, it's all in the name of wedding planning, right? ;)

Um, Mr. Lab, I am going to politely ask that you refrain from clicking the "read more" link below. K, thx!

As expected, I went with the red velvet and vanilla with raspberry filling, all in buttercream frosting. We managed to quit stuffing our faces long enough to wrap up some of the cake to take back to Mr. Lab when I visit him next week. Look how nom nom nom, er...yummy, they look!

The perfectionist dwelling inside me loves how the two flavors are alternating colors. It's going to be pretty even after the cake has been sliced and diced! As for the updated price for the red velvet flavor I mentioned in Part 1, Evelyn put down the same $165 on my order form! I'm assuming she gave me the prices with the extra 20% included already. Nonetheless, it's on the contract, so that's what I'm paying!

So now that the wedding cake was all settled, I excitely moved on the the groom's cake!

Some of you may remember my scare with Mr. Lab and his desire of a meat cake. Well, he assured me that it was mostly a joke. He definitely thinks meat cake is totally awesome and wants to try it one day, but he also said that he didn't really want it for his groom's cake. Whew! I'm was so relieved he felt that way!* It meant that I could move forward with my plans for a (surprise) cake that represents the pasttime we both share a love of: Georgia football games!

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I had a vision that our cake would be a replication of our beloved Sanford Stadium with a few added personal details. It would be presented soon after the cake cutting to the Georgia fight song and placed on a table full of photos of me and Mr. Lab at Georgia games.

Just some good-hearted fun with our arch enemies! :P

On the field would sit a "cake topper" of me and Mr. Lab playing some football, kinda like this:

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I love how the bride looks like she's tackling the groom. That's what I'm talking about! And to play on the idea of us in the middle of a "game", I'd have the jumbotron personalized with our "score": LeiLani (me) winning 11 to 7 against Chris (Mr. Lab). The 11-7 score reflects our wedding date and the fact that Mr. Lab scored a touchdown and made his PAT and I would have had to score a touchdown, miss the PAT, and kicked 2 field goals OR scored a touchdown, made the PAT, and gotten two safeties OR, well, you get the point! Can you tell I'm ready for the college football season to start? And can you tell that I take competition seriously? ;)

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Anyways, the first place we went for the groom's cake was Custom Cakes by Minette Rushing. She is Savannah's premeire cake designer. She's even making the wedding cakes featured in the movie Miley Cyrus is currently filming in Savannah! But because of her talent, she comes with quite the price tag. She doesn't sell any cakes under 100 servings or $550. I decided to still have a consult with her because I was saving so much with my wedding cake. So FSIL and I booked an appointment.

When we walked in the door, the first thing I saw was this:

I thought it was pretty ironic that I was there for a cake honoring the Georgia Bulldogs and ran into a gator! But I was helplessly in awe. I couldn't believe this was a CAKE! I felt extremely confident that Minette would be able to carry out my vision flawlessly. I mean, look at some of her other work on display around the room!




But alas! After the consultation, she sent me the price for what my vision would cost: $1200 plus tax! YIKES. I have expensive visions. For that price I would have to put the cake in a glass box and display it in my living room for the next 50 years.

So I went back to the search. I happened to run across a Sanford Stadium cake online and found out that the baker doesn't live far from Savannah. Thank goodness it's the weekend so I actually have the time to give her a call. Isn't this cool?!?

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So stay with me. This cake saga isn't over yet!

*Oh, and just because Mr. Lab was a good boy (hehe) about the meat cake, I'm planning to make him one in honor of our fourth anniversary in October! :D

All un-sourced photos are my own.

Meat Cake?

This post is a warning for all brides-to-be out there:

Do NOT let your groom watch wedding shows with you!

"Why?" you ask. Because there is the possibility that he may get some crazy idea from a show and force you to make it happen. You say "But it's GOOD that he's getting involved and voicing his opinion!" I politely scream back "Not when it that idea is a MEAT groom's cake!!!!"

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Mr. Lab and I were watching an episode of "Whose Wedding Is It Anyways?" when one groom insisted on having a "meat cake" for his groom's cake. It's a "cake" made of meatloaf and "iced" with mashed potatoes. Decorations are done with meatloaf-complimentary food items like ketchup.

Mr. Lab had been watching passively until the mention of the meat cake. He then perked up (as does every man at the mention of food) and was like "I want that! I want one of those for my groom's cake!" I gave him the stink eye. I couldn't tell if he was serious or just pulling my leg because I obviously had a look of horror on my face. I mean, I love meatloaf as much as he does, but not for our wedding! Maybe for his next birthday or something, but not for the wedding! Besides, I already had plans for his groom's cake that I was keeping secret as a surprise for him...

Mr. Lab, look away if you want even the slightest chance of having your meat cake!

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I'm currently searching for a baker for both the wedding and groom's cake. For Mr. Lab's cake, I was planning on presenting him with a replica of Sanford Stadium since the Georgia Bulldogs are so important to both of us. Okay, maybe it won't look as good as one of Duff Goldman's Charm City Cakes (like this one of Wrigley Field shown above), but it will sure be better than this:

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I'm really hoping Mr. Lab is playing around with this one. I can usually tell when he's joking, but I'm not so sure on this one. He's barely made any requests for the wedding (ironically, the only real requests he's made have been on the menu items-food again!). And to make matters worse, I feel like I'll have to comply since he has had SO FEW requests for our wedding. I mean, it is the GROOM'S cake, not mine. But I'll be sad that my "UGA table" idea will be nixed if this goes through. I planned to have the Sanford Stadium cake as the focal point on a table filled with photos of us attending football games together. :(

What should I do? Is anyone else experiencing trouble with a groom's request?