Let them eat...styrofoam?

In September, I decided to brave the swarms of North Central West Virginia brides and attend my venue's semi-annual bridal show.  I went with the intention of finding a vendor for my cake.  It took me awhile to get to the cakes though.  Why?  Those sneaky bridal show folks gave us brides a little booklet we had to get signed by EVERY vendor.  If we had it all filled out, we turned it in and were eligible for drawings.  Since I'm always up for free things, I engaged in many an awkward conversation with competitors of vendors I had already booked.  Yes, I have no shame.

Once I finally made it to the "cake room," I found my three choices of vendors.  My venue includes a basic cake in the package cost, so I could really only use these three.  This may be easy for some brides; however, my mother and I decided early on that cake was the most important thing ever.  I know some people don't even notice cakes, but the design and taste of the wedding cake is the yardstick by which my mother measures a wedding.  Soon after I chose my theme, we decided that we wanted a topsy turvy Mad Hatter cake because, well, they're super cool looking.

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So I began my quest to find someone to create a beautiful topsy turvy cake next July.

We started in the center of the room, and there stood Vendor A, with a vast assortment of different cakes for us to try.  They were all horrible.  So horrible that my sister spat the piece out and my mother felt sick to her stomach.  I didn't even ask him if he could make a cake like what I wanted because his design book hadn't been updated since 1980.  Seriously.  I know it's wrong, but I judge vendors on their websites and sample photos.  When I feel like I've just taken a ride with Marty McFly in a Delorean gunning it at 88 while looking at someone's sample work, I quickly step away.  Mr. Biscuit and his mother were far more classy than I was, and asked polite questions before they ran away from the Cake Killer.

I had high hopes for the next cake from Vendor B.  I took a taste of the chocolate and it was moist and delicious (Vendor A hadn't found it yet).  Yay!  Since Vendor B had jumped my first hurdle, I decided to get right down to business and tell her what I wanted.  I have to give her credit.  She was very straightforward with me and said that she could make that cake, but only the bottom tier would be real cake and the rest would be styrofoam.

Um....whhhhaaattt?!?!  This was not acceptable.  I don't understand why I should pay someone to construct something that dare I say I could do myself.  Oh yeah, I went there.  In fact, I'll be brutally honest here.  With the proper patience, I'm pretty sure I could employ the use of dowel pins and create at least a small 3 layer topsy turvy cake fabricated 100% out of edible ingredients.  Seriously, I saw an online tutorial on how to make it.  Both my mother and I were super bummed with the prospect of not having my perfect cake.  She actually suggested outsourcing to Charm City Cakes, and using one of those cakes as a groom's cake.  She was almost having a meltdown in the middle of the bridal show.  I kid you not.

Forlorn and our heads hung low, we trudged over to Vendor C.  I didn't even want to TRY her cake because my stomach was feeling all gurgly (see Vendor A).   I sucked it up though, since I'm a real champ.  Once I stuffed a sample of Vendor C's Carrot Cake, my taste buds were flooded with a delight that I had never felt before.  Really.  Best cake I had EVER tasted.

Having passed the first test, I decided that I needed to ask her about my cake.  I couldn't get my hopes up, but I knew I had to be upfront so my dreams weren't dashed.  She said that she could make my beloved topsy turvy cake (well, the first 5 layers, anything else would have to be a sheet cake)!  Yayayayay!  I don't know any of the flavors of cake I want yet, nor do I have any idea of fillings.  All I know is that I finally found someone to make my really cool cake!

How did you guys find your baker?  Did you have limited choices as I did?