The Wedding and The Cake

From left to right, that's me, Sarah (bride), Liz (sister/matron of honor), and Jim. The wedding is at the Lake Harriet Peace Garden. We know it's going to rain. It's just a matter of when. We're waiting for it to start.

This is little Esme, the flower girl. Esme really got into the whole idea of strewing rose petals. She would have done it all day if she hadn't run out.

Sarah, James, and his mother Mary. We're still waiting for it to start raining.

We actually had a Plan B in case of rain, but Sarah really wanted an outdoor wedding. We kept checking the hour-by-hour forecast, which changed every few seconds, going from a 10% chance of rain to a 50% chance of thunderstorms. That's when I said, "I don't want to have this wedding outside," and Liz said, "Let's go to Target and buy matching umbrellas." Sarah didn't answer her phone.

Naturally, as soon as all the guests arrived, it started raining.

But then it immediately stopped.

Liz signs the papers--it's official. That pink and white umbrella on the ground, no longer needed, is one of the matching pair we bought in case of rain.
And now, on to the reception, at Solera, in downtown Minneapolis.

Have you ever seen a more beautiful cake?

Can you tell how stunned I am by its beauty?

Okay, the cat's out of the bag.
Rose and Woody baked the cake themselves. I didn't cry at the wedding--why should I? Sarah was so happy. But I did cry at the cake, because it was so beautiful, and it was such a wonderful, generous, amazing thing to do.
This cake almost stole the show from the bride. Seriously, people were having their pictures taken with the cake! Jim did his best with his little shirt-pocket camera, and I think you can get some idea of how incredible this cake was, but I'm not sure that you can get the whole breathtaking effect unless you saw it in person.

You may recognize this lovely lacquer glaze from the cake that we just finished. This version is more perfect than the one I completed. It's decorated with hundreds of carefully hand-rolled chocolate fondant "pearls," each one individually weighed so that they'll all be uniform in size. Rose also made the beautiful rolled chocolate hearts from the same fondant.
And look at the flowers! Those are all from famous cake-baker/decorator Ron Ben-Israel, who did various sugar flowers, petals, and leaves.
Of course, everyone expected the cake itself to be a deep chocolate. But surprise!

It was even more astounding when cut, because it was a stunning red velvet cake, enrobed by a white chocolate buttercream underlayer. I'd say that it was so beautiful that you didn't want to eat it, but it would be a lie. Beautiful it was, but you definitely wanted to eat it, and, unlike most wedding cakes, it was actually good. No, it was delicious. I looked around, and I didn't see plates of delicately picked-at cake pieces; I just saw empty plates.
What a happy family!

And here's the top layer that Sarah and James can eat when they get back from their honeymoon in New Orleans.

Thank you, Rose and Woody! You are the absolute best!