My love for you is Giant!

This is my 5th wedding.

The first was exciting, but undocumented. The second was a labor of love. The third yielded many little ones. The fourth took a bit of coercing. And now, the fifth time around, I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of it.

Of course, none of these weddings were mine. While (unlike many of my fellow females) I did not spend hours of my youth daydreaming about my someday wedding, I will admit to presently wondering to whom, if I have a wedding, would I entrust the task of providing the cake? How do you decide who gets the honor of providing the piece that will represent you and your spouse and be served to all of your guests?

The weddings I have done so far have all involved some kind of personal recommendation. But there is something truly monumental about having your mentor from culinary school recommend you to another staff member for their wedding.

High stakes? Oh. Yeah.

Our librarian, Diana, wanted a clean, elegant look. And, having seen my work before, also requested cheese wax cake toppers.

I spent way too long smoothing out this buttercream. Seriously. Way too long. I could hear Chef Tim saying, "Back away from the cake!" A phrase he would tell us whenever he saw the OCD look in our eyes as we tried desperately to make the frosting on a cake look absolutely flawless. The bottom line? Cake is an IMPERFECT art. It's FOOD. It's never going to be flawless, and that's OK:-)

I used the lid of a yogurt container to give the wax family something to stand on. The toothpicks go through the plastic and into their legs for reinforcement.

This black cheese wax was given to me by a friend in middle school. I was so thrilled to finally have a use for it!

Wax family: Mike and Diana (dressed for their first date!) Buzz and Kitty.

Chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling, white chocolate buttercream exterior.

Next up: A puzzling gluten-free situation.