Congratulations Crystal and Joel!

Before I get into the oh so anticipated pictures and details of this past weekend's wedding adventure I want to announce that today my doctor officially announced that I will NOT need bone grafting and that my bones are finally beginning to heal! Whoo!

Now back to the serious stuff....

This past weekend my good friend Crystal married the loudest, most talkative, amazing man, Joel Armstrong! I was excited when Crystal asked me to be a bridesmaid, but I was thrilled when she asked me to make their cakes! Now, I knew that this combination of responsibilities would be a bit tricky, but I was ready for the challenge.

Sine the wedding was taking place about 150 miles from where I live (and bake) I knew that I was going to have to make the cakes a few days prior to the wedding, and compromise freshness for mere attendance. Kind of important I guess.

Crystal and Joel are not about tradition (which I love), so she opted for 3 small wedding cakes (all strawberry) on stands, and 2 varieties of cupcakes (carrot and mint chocolate) for the groom's cake. I happen to love all of these flavors, and had a marvelous time "testing" them. :)

Let me just tell you something: transporting cakes is one of the most stressful jobs EVER!!! The combination of sugar overload, sleep deprivation, and driving 3 cakes and 200 cupcakes 150 miles does not do good things for your complexion. This is why God allowed man to invent concealer! Anyhow... there I am attempting to convert the car into a refrigerator by blasting the AC on 60F, bundled in a sweatshirt while the outside world melts under the 110F Texas sun. I am happy to report that there were no pastry casualties other than a bit of shifting between layers....enough to make the cakes less than perfectly even, but not enough for me to stress over.

The wedding was beautiful, and I was pretty happy with how everything turned out. This was my first real wedding, and I must admit that I was proud of myself. Everyone was very complimentary of the moistness and flavor, and there was even enough left over for me to take a few cupcakes home to share. And, I only had to ice my arms down for 2 days after this...not so bad. :)

Now, only if all brides were as laid back and carefree as Crystal....

Mint Chocolate goodness

Tori was a great assistant!

Why yes, I do get this dressed up for all of my catering jobs

Uuuh... Sure, that looks great...



Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong!!