Cake Renege

Way back when, even before I came up with my Mad Hatter idea, I knew I wanted a Mad Hatter cake.  I had seen it years ago on some cake show and thought to myself, "Wow.  That's the coolest cake ever.  I must have this at my wedding."   Sure, I had other ideas about my future wedding to Mr. Someone-I-Haven't-Met-Yet (OK, let's be honest, Mr. Guy-in-middle-school-who-didn't-know-my-name), but that cake was the only thing that stuck into my adult life.  And that's a good thing.  If not, my wedding may have looked like Lisa Frank ate some bad clams and vomited all over the room.  Well, it may look like that anyway, but at least we'll refrain from having rainbow kittens riding on unicorns.  I swear.

Everyone in my family has been on board with my Topsy Turvy/Mad Hatter cake decision.  It was one of the elements of the wedding Mr. Biscuit was super excited about.  However, no decision could be that simple for the Biscuits.  Of course not.

I started thinking about how to design the cake and got nervous.  As my "wedding journey" (wow, how pretentious do I sound, huh?) progressed, I began wanting the reception to have a slightly more elegant feel than I had originally envisioned.  It also didn't help that I was looking at old pictures of my parent's and saw their monstrosity of a cake that was really "hip" in 1975.  They had not one, but two staircases coming off their cake.  And turrets.

And then I started worrying that maybe a cake decorated in the normal topsy turvy style would look a little bit like a birthday cake for a 5 year old. 

So I decided to Google "Topsy Turvy Cake" and most of hits were of cakes like this:

via Pinkcakebox.com

Not a 5 year old's cake, but still not what I was going for.

This was not acceptable.  Suddenly, my bride brain took over and the world felt like it was crashing down around me.  I was going to have an ugly cake, an ugly wedding, and everyone was going to judge me. 

I began obsessively looking at cakes.  Eventually, after hours of poring through buttercream and fondant works of art, I came upon this gem:

via Martha Stewart Weddings

It was perfect.  I loved it.  I needed to have it.  Only I wanted the cake and lattice work to be gold, and the flowers purple. 

But then Mr. Biscuit stepped in, and said he would be really disappointed if we didn't have our topsy turvy cake.  Way to be a Debbie Downer, Bis.  So I then had a big decision to make.  I'm completely embarrassed to admit it, but I really soul searched this one out folks.  Don't make fun of me.  Yes, I have gotten to the point in planning that I have to look inside myself before I make any decisions.  Because they are all SO important.

Eventually, we decided that we could keep the design I loved and make it Topsy Turvy to appease Mr. Biscuit.  I'm sure you all quickly came to that conclusion while reading this, but at the time, it was a very tough decision.  Now, we're both happy and I'm crossing my fingers that my four tiered beauty won't be ridiculously expensive (we don't find out until we have an exact number of guests and RSVPs are still trickling in).

Did you change your mind a lot during wedding planning?  Do small things suddenly seem like a BIG deal now that you're close to the day?

Can I win at shoe again?

Recently, I've been a little worried about my wedding shoes.  Remember the beauties?  As much as I love them, I know I'm not going to make it past the ceremony in them no matter how many gel soles I put in them.  I'm not exactly graceful when walking in heels.  Unfortunately, my dress is currently hemmed for my 5" shoes.  So, if I switched to flats for the reception, I'd be tripping all over myself.  A+.

So what's the answer to this predicament?  Easy: find cute shoes that are super comfortable and almost as high!  And that I did, today while shopping.

via Must Have Shoes

Come on, don't tell me these aren't the best shoes EVER (aside from the ones you're wearing, and ya know, the other ones I bought).   I'm hoping to get some more leverage out of them, but for the $80 price tag at DSW I can live with just traipsing around my house with them.

Did you choose a different, fun reception shoe?

Spicing Up My Ballroom

One of the downsides to having a ginormous wedding is the limited venue choices.  I've talked about it previously, but as my countdown nears the 100 day mark, I get a little bit sad face when I think about my venue.

You see, if I were positive my wedding would have fewer than 250, I would have been able to be in the other hotel ballroom.  The one with actual windows.  And a view of the slightly brown and silty gorgeous lake.

image via Lakeview Golf Resort and Spa

Instead, I have the ballroom with no windows.  And big fire doors.  There are no dramatic vaulted ceilings nor eye catching chandeliers.  I'd show you a picture, but I have none of my own and it would be rude to post someone's wedding photo under this circumstance.  Not to mention creepy.

Reception Regrets

Fair warning: I'm truly ecstatic about my upcoming nuptials, despite what you read in this post.  Also, I probably sound annoying and whiny.  If so, I'm sorry.

Miss Zebra's post earlier this week really got me thinking and opened up a can of worms regarding my reception emotions as of late.  At some point in the wedding planning, wedding regrets always occur.  A year ago, when I was freshly engaged, I dreamed of a hotel ballroom wedding.  Growing up, I remember thinking that my venue was the height of opulence.  I had Sunday brunch there every week and never believed I'd be able to have my wedding at such a beautiful place.

But of course, my tastes changed at a fast clip in the first few months of my engagement.  After I found blogs such as SMP, Snippet and Ink, Green Wedding Shoes, and the plethora of others, I yearned for a wedding that was in a lush, outside environment.  Unfortunately, such a venue doesn't exist within 25 miles of my church that could accommodate my number of guests.  I live in a state known for its outdoor beauty, yet I can't have my wedding outside because there's too darn many of us.

I'm not sure why I've suddenly had this flood of emotion due to my venue.   Perhaps I've been reading too many of the above blogs lately.  Maybe I'm starting to worry that my theme will end up looking silly and my DIY projects will look amateur.   Or maybe I'm thinking a bit too much about other people's weddings.

You see, two of my good friends are also getting married this summer.  One in Wisconsin and one in West Virginia.  They are both getting married in their parents' respective back yards, and the idea of a wedding like this just makes me swoon.  I wouldn't say I'm jealous per se, just a little regretful that I stuck my nose up to that idea when I began planning.

My parents are lucky enough to have a 2+ acre yard in the area by the lake in my town.  This area is getting heavily developed and real estate prices are heavily inflated.   Nothing like San Francisco or New York City, but our property values have exploded in the past 5-10 years.  A large yard is hard to come by now without paying an arm, a leg, and 15 fertile eggs.  Years ago, my mother had talked about having my wedding in our front yard.  I always dismissed the idea and rolled my eyes.  But here I am now.  Wanting that exact wedding.

In reality, I know a wedding a la Mrs. Scissors or Mrs. Glasses (or other bloggers, you two were just the first that came to mind :) ) is impossible for me.  Sure, my yard looks lovely here:

Cocktail Time?

One of the first decisions I made when wedding planning was the desire to have a venue either in or within walking distance of a hotel.  Why?  Because I wanted an abundance of alcohol, and not just any alcohol, I wanted some fresh, microbrewed drafts.  You see, Mr. Biscuit and I are beer people (some would call us beer snobs), and the day just wouldn't be complete without some of our favorite pretentious beers.  How snobby are we?  Well, Mr. Biscuit actually does beer tastings and has a beer blog...and I like cold hoppy stuff.

Venue Vents

Today, I wanted to talk a little bit about finding a venue.  This was pretty difficult for me.  Before I was officially engaged, I had my heart set on getting married at Fallingwater, a home designed by the awesome architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.

source

                                                                             *swoon*