Piece of Cake Part 4: Avoiding the "Cake Wreck"

I spent this past weekend in Savannah tying up the last few loose ends of our wedding in person. One of those loose ends was making sure my wedding cake is constructed as close to my vision as possible.

When I first visited Publix to discuss my cake, I was told there would be no problem recreating the Martha Stewart cake I found online. Remember this?

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Well, when I stopped back by to actually place the order and hand over my inspiration photo, our baker suddenly realized that the cake was an oval, not a circle. I thought she knew this the entire time! But apparently Publix doesn't do oval cakes and she said she'd have to make the cake round. I reluctantly placed the order anyways, bit my lip and walked out with my head hung low.

But then a couple weeks later I was browsing through a crafts store and saw oval cake pans. I had an idea! What if I supplied the cake pans? I mean, all they have to do is pour the batter in the forms, right? So I called up Publix to see if they would accept them, and they said yes! :D

And then it gets even better. While I was shopping online for the best deal on the oval cake pans, I ran across this:

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They're the EXACT same culinary stencils used to create the Martha Stewart cake! I. Was. Flipping. OUT! Up until that point, I was secretly worrying that I might suffer a cake wreck fiasco ala Mrs. Perfume (sorry to use you as an example P!) because the scroll pattern is so intricate. But now all the work has practically been done for them! If they screw this up, something is terribly wrong with that bakery. But I know they won't because I've seen their work which is already amazing PLUS they have all these tools to help them out!

So this weekend, I made a quick trip to the Publix handling my cake and dropped off my cake pans (which I got on sale at A.C. Moore for $27),..

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...stencils, big arse peony, and ribbon!


I'm sacrificing the monogram on the top of the cake now that they have the actual stencil, but it's a small price to pay for piece of mind. Now I can't wait to see the cake in all its glory! Here's to hoping I've avoided the cake wreck! :)

Did you supply tools to a vendor to make sure a vision of yours was carried out perfectly?


Revisit the entire Labrador cake saga:

Part 1: Plain and Simple, Yet Oh-So Lovely...
Part 2: There's Nothing Finer In The Land
Part 3: Breaking The Mold

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?