The Story of Irene & a Whimsical Wedding

Sometimes, life has a way of just being funny. You can plan and plan, but sometimes things  (like a Hurricane, perhaps) can just sweep in and stir things up a bit! Here's the story:

My friends, Josh & Jaclyn were planning their wedding day for Monday, August 29th, and they graciously asked me to do their wedding cake. This was my very first wedding, so I was a whole range of emotions from thoroughly excited to entirely scared on any given day up until the wedding. Josh & Jaclyn are such wonderful, creative people and chose a theme that would be whimsical and fun! We planned out the cake, and this week, I started on the creative process. I made several flowers and rocks out of gumpaste earlier in the week and also made a small lantern, that would serve as their "topper."

Some of the Gumpaste Flowers & Hearts

The Lantern

Thankfully, I have a sister who is sometimes much wiser than I! We were talking briefly about the evil, impending Irene, and she mentioned how they were predicting power outages, and to get plenty of water, and la-de-da...And I thought, "Power outages??? What?!?!"  The thought really hadn't occurred to me, and I wasn't really thinking we'd be affected that much out here in Lancaster. Well, I heeded her advice, and decided to make and bake everything else that needed electricity all day on Saturday! And I am GLAD I DID...

Getting ready to bake some cakes!

We woke up at midnight to no power. Well, it'll probably come on in the morning, right? Hmmm, try Monday morning instead! The typical list maker that I am, had made up lists of things to accomplish on the cake every day. And Sunday's list was rather long...and I needed light...and I needed running water.

Joel's parents live nearby, and thankfully, they had power! So, we gathered up the cake entourage (and let me tell you, there was a LOT of cake stuff to transport), loaded everything into our car in the wind and rain, and set up shop at his parents' house. We spent a good 6 hours there, filling and decorating cupcakes, filling and preparing the cakes to make them "topsy-turvy" and then covering them with fondant.

Getting all set up! I had just covered the cake board in fondant and then hot-glued some dark purple ribbon around the edges.

Filling the cupcakes with Oreo Filling

Cupcakes Completed!

Peanut Butter Filling for the middle tier
Doesn't this look like a giant whoopie pie??

Oreo Filling for the top and bottom tiers
This is also the first step in making a cake "topsy-turvy." You slice a layer in half diagonally, and then flip it around so that the thick ends are on top of each other.

Top tier with the "crumb coat" of icing on top

All 3 ready to go!

Cutting out the inside so that the other layers will sit "flat" inside of this cake

Covering the cake with fondant

When we got back home to no power, I was kind of disappointed. I had really wanted to finish the cake here at our house, instead of loading everything back up again. Then, our Amish neighbor came over and gave us a super bright battery-operated light to use. Again, life is funny...our neighbors who never use electricity came over to share their light with us. :) So, I was encouraged, that at least I would have light for the next day.

And then, at midnight, Joel woke me up quite happily to inform me that the power was ON! Hoorrray! I love electricity and water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday morning, we layered the cake, and then the fun decorating process began! A waterfall, vines, and flowers slowly started making their way onto the cake.

Joel helped me out by cutting wooden dowels to place between the layers for support.

Waterfall time!

The first few branches

Vines completed

Making leaves with this awesome mold that I found at Michaels!

Adding rocks and grass

Painting the water with an edible "shimmer" dust

Adding flowers and leaves

Here are some views of the cake

By 2:00, the cake was done and ready to get driven out to the wedding. (Joel and I will add that driving a wedding cake to a location far away is not our idea of a good time...We were both quite nervous!)
Nevertheless, the cake arrived in one piece, and all was well. I am so thankful for all of Joel's help and support throughout the whole process, and I am thankful that God provided for everything that I needed, "just in time." :)

Congratulations to Josh & Jaclyn!!

The End!