There is a reason why people who are not professional cake bakers have significantly (so I thought) lower prices than professionals. When last my fiance and I were in Houston, we arranged to have two cake tastings, one with Who Made the Cake, and the other with a woman that works with my sister.
1. My sister called me the week before to tell me that "Susie" had given her a cake that day instead, because she had forgotten which weekend we were coming into town. I see this as a bad thing (though lateness has been a trend http://catholicweddinggirl.blogspot.com/2007/11/engagement-photo-session.html ); you wouldn't really want your wedding cake showing up a week early, or worse, a week late.
2. The first cake was covered in scrollwork. To the point where you couldn't see the actual cake.
3. We were only able to taste one cake, which is a downer, but I understand that since she's not making multiple cakes every week, she doesn't have time to make a tasting cake of every flavor. --My bridezilla self thought she would want to make multiple flavors, but it was too much to do.
4. The cake was not as good as the professional cake. I am sure this is not the case with all "make-it-at-home" bakers, but it was with ours. We had asked to taste a raspberry filling in the cake, and when I saw the filling, I knew what she had done. The filling had the consistency of the jelly that comes in the squeeze bottle. I have had cakes where people use preserves as the filling, and they are quite tasty, but jelly just doesn't work.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Careful how you say that...
Well, there was a bit of funniness that happened last weekend when we were in for the cake-tasting sessions (one left to tell, probably later this weekend). My fiance and I went to dinner with the whole family, and while we were there, we had a few glasses of our beverages of choice, and my dad decided he would ask my fiance what he thought about the cake.
So. Again, we are in a restaurant. They have seated us in a side room with 4 or 5 other tables. And we are drinking. He decided he wanted to imitate Franc from the Steve Martin version of the bride. So he said, "'Ow did you like the caaake?" Except it sounded like he was saying a word that started with "c" and ends in "ock."
So. Again, we are in a restaurant. They have seated us in a side room with 4 or 5 other tables. And we are drinking. He decided he wanted to imitate Franc from the Steve Martin version of the bride. So he said, "'Ow did you like the caaake?" Except it sounded like he was saying a word that started with "c" and ends in "ock."
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Cake Tasting Round 2
Last week I was able to go to Houston to meet with the professional wedding cake baker who has an amazing reputation. After many phone calls to the bakery (http://catholicweddinggirl.blogspot.com/2008/01/do-you-actually-make-cakes.html), I was finally able to get an appointment for Thursday morning. Luckily my sister was able to take a long lunch from work, so that she could come with my mother and I to the cake consultation.
Our appointment was scheduled for 11:15 in the morning, and despite a few "near catastrophes" with the driving directions (watch out for the driveway Mom), we made it to the shop around 11:10. Then we waited for twenty five minutes for the bride and mother in front of us to finish their appointment, which started at 10:15. I really hope that they were late, if only that I don't think that anyone should spend more than an hour discussing the design for the wedding cake. The real problem is that there aren't any chairs in the "outer chamber" where you wait to talk to the baker, just tables of sample cakes, so the three of us had to stand around for twenty minutes.
After we went in to the baker's office, everything went swimmingly. We looked at books with pictures of beautiful cakes, but most importantly we got to taste! All of the cakes were delicious, especially the butter raspberry cake with raspberry fillng and buttercream icing. I could eat that cake all day, I mean, I wouldn't fit into my dress, but I could eat that cake all day. The baker was gracious enough to let me take my two favorite pieces with me so that my fiance could taste them when he got into town the next afternoon.
Our appointment was scheduled for 11:15 in the morning, and despite a few "near catastrophes" with the driving directions (watch out for the driveway Mom), we made it to the shop around 11:10. Then we waited for twenty five minutes for the bride and mother in front of us to finish their appointment, which started at 10:15. I really hope that they were late, if only that I don't think that anyone should spend more than an hour discussing the design for the wedding cake. The real problem is that there aren't any chairs in the "outer chamber" where you wait to talk to the baker, just tables of sample cakes, so the three of us had to stand around for twenty minutes.
After we went in to the baker's office, everything went swimmingly. We looked at books with pictures of beautiful cakes, but most importantly we got to taste! All of the cakes were delicious, especially the butter raspberry cake with raspberry fillng and buttercream icing. I could eat that cake all day, I mean, I wouldn't fit into my dress, but I could eat that cake all day. The baker was gracious enough to let me take my two favorite pieces with me so that my fiance could taste them when he got into town the next afternoon.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Music Lady Meeting
Today I had a meeting with the music woman at the church. Originally, I was going to go to the meeting by myself, but since my mom and I were going to go to the reception site afterwards, she decided to come with me, but not to worry, she didn't have an opinion. I felt bad that I had scheduled the meeting with her, because she looked really tired. She explained that she had been working all week to get ready for Easter Week next week.
The first thing she asked was if I had any ideas for the music. I didn't know I was going to have to do any real preparation for the meeting. I had even asked her if we (my fiance and I) needed to do anything to prepare for the meeting, but she told us that we just needed to bring our selections for the readings. I hadn't thought about anything because I thought that I would be given Option A or Option B, or maybe Option C. Luckily she did have some ideas, and ran through some options with us. All in all, it only took 45 minutes.
For a while, we apparently didn't have any "meat" in the musical composition of the ceremony. We had worked through the psalm we had picked, then the processional and recessional. I picked out all instrumental pieces, so the music lady was somewhat disappointed that I didn't have anything else for the cantor to sing. Then when we picked out the song for the mothers to walk in on, we told her that we probably didn't want to have words, because there are several emotional people in the wedding party that might break down in tears if they heard a moving song while they were walking down the aisle.
Luckily, she recommended that we have the cantors sing during the prelude, and picked a song that would be good as a duet. My mom loved the idea, thank goodness she was there. She also really wanted the the cantors to sing because she thinks that everyone will be talking really loudly before the ceremony starts, which she realllllly hates.
The first thing she asked was if I had any ideas for the music. I didn't know I was going to have to do any real preparation for the meeting. I had even asked her if we (my fiance and I) needed to do anything to prepare for the meeting, but she told us that we just needed to bring our selections for the readings. I hadn't thought about anything because I thought that I would be given Option A or Option B, or maybe Option C. Luckily she did have some ideas, and ran through some options with us. All in all, it only took 45 minutes.
For a while, we apparently didn't have any "meat" in the musical composition of the ceremony. We had worked through the psalm we had picked, then the processional and recessional. I picked out all instrumental pieces, so the music lady was somewhat disappointed that I didn't have anything else for the cantor to sing. Then when we picked out the song for the mothers to walk in on, we told her that we probably didn't want to have words, because there are several emotional people in the wedding party that might break down in tears if they heard a moving song while they were walking down the aisle.
Luckily, she recommended that we have the cantors sing during the prelude, and picked a song that would be good as a duet. My mom loved the idea, thank goodness she was there. She also really wanted the the cantors to sing because she thinks that everyone will be talking really loudly before the ceremony starts, which she realllllly hates.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Possible Culprits of Magazine Madness
So, I spent the evening trying to figure out who could have sent me the subscription to Working Mother magazine. I'm a bit worried because I a) have yet to find a job for the fall and b) am nowhere near ready to have a baby.
1) my fiance - for him to do it, it would have to be a pretty sick joke, and I really don't think he wants me to even think about having a baby right now.
- I interrogated him about it last night and he couldn't even think why he would do it
2) my mother - for the obvious "I want to be a grandma" reason
3) my future mother-in-law - for the same reason, though she's never even hinted at her need
- my fiance also couldn't believe his mom would do something so passive aggressive
4) my sister - after drinking too much wine over Thanksgiving, I told her and her husband that we were going to beat them in the baby game
- I called her, and while she thought my new choice for reading material was hilarious, didn't send it to me
1) my fiance - for him to do it, it would have to be a pretty sick joke, and I really don't think he wants me to even think about having a baby right now.
- I interrogated him about it last night and he couldn't even think why he would do it
2) my mother - for the obvious "I want to be a grandma" reason
3) my future mother-in-law - for the same reason, though she's never even hinted at her need
- my fiance also couldn't believe his mom would do something so passive aggressive
4) my sister - after drinking too much wine over Thanksgiving, I told her and her husband that we were going to beat them in the baby game
- I called her, and while she thought my new choice for reading material was hilarious, didn't send it to me
Monday, March 10, 2008
Magazines, Anyone?
Last month, I unexpectedly received a free copy of Lucky magazine. Whoo hoo. I hadn't subscribed to the magazine, but I was more than happy to receive it. I looked at the label, and it showed that I had a subscription until next year.
All was well and good until I got the mail today. The next copy of Lucky was there (yippee), as well as a copy of Working Mother. ????????? Which also came with a one year subscription. Who on earth sent me that?
All was well and good until I got the mail today. The next copy of Lucky was there (yippee), as well as a copy of Working Mother. ????????? Which also came with a one year subscription. Who on earth sent me that?
Friday, March 7, 2008
Yet Another Anti-Climactic Moment
Everything in wedding planning is not as exciting as one would think. Only a couple of weeks after I placed the order for the invitations (from MyGatsby), I got an email saying that they had shipped, and would be here in another week. I "patiently" checked the updated shipping status until it finally read "Delivered," and then I went over to the apartment office to pick them up.
Much like picking up my wedding dress, I think I expected the birds to sing or sunshine to come out of the box. The contents of the box looked rather sterile. Each part of the invitation was bundled together in stacks and wrapped in plastic shrink wrap, and the stacks are wrapped in bubble wrap. At this point, I'm terrified of opening them. What if they get wrinkled? Aide from that, my dog has developed a taste for paper, so it's probably best that they stay in their box for the next two months.
Much like picking up my wedding dress, I think I expected the birds to sing or sunshine to come out of the box. The contents of the box looked rather sterile. Each part of the invitation was bundled together in stacks and wrapped in plastic shrink wrap, and the stacks are wrapped in bubble wrap. At this point, I'm terrified of opening them. What if they get wrinkled? Aide from that, my dog has developed a taste for paper, so it's probably best that they stay in their box for the next two months.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
More on FOCCUS
I've noticed that a lot of people have been looking at my post on the FOCCUS test, which is the test the Catholic Church (and others) requires couples to take as part of the marriage preparation course. Here's a link to the other post: Http://catholicweddinggirl.blogspot.com/2007/10/getting-to-catholic-part-foccus.html
All in all, the test is nothing to worry about. The test is certainly not anything that you should feel the need to "cheat" on. First of all, I don't know of any religions that are going to "fail" you and tell you that you can't get married. I think (based on how our marriage preparation went) that the test is to make sure that the couple isn't "glossing over" any issues. If you're ignoring anything that could become a "big issue," the marriage preparation sessions are a great place to talk about them, because the priest, deacon, or whoever gets to act as a mediator for the session.
All in all, the test is nothing to worry about. The test is certainly not anything that you should feel the need to "cheat" on. First of all, I don't know of any religions that are going to "fail" you and tell you that you can't get married. I think (based on how our marriage preparation went) that the test is to make sure that the couple isn't "glossing over" any issues. If you're ignoring anything that could become a "big issue," the marriage preparation sessions are a great place to talk about them, because the priest, deacon, or whoever gets to act as a mediator for the session.
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