Pauline and EJ at the Zoo

I can't think of a cooler venue for a reception than the Discovery Bay room at the Minnesota Zoo. Where else could you share your happiness with a couple of dolphins and an open tank of sharks and stingrays?

For Pauline and EJ, this was the perfect match. They love the ocean and all the strange and beautiful little critters in it. Armed with books of sea life, they sat down with me and scared the living daylights out of me with requests to recreate everything from crabs to christmas tree worms out of frosting for their cake. Following my general rule of thumb "If it scares the crap out of me at the initial meeting, it's going to be an incredible cake" I gleefully obliged. We started the fish, anemones, and other advance elements of this cake a full two weeks before the wedding in order for the peices to dry hard enough to support themselves, then be hand-painted, then assembled. It was fun to see the bakery racks pile up with varying phases of completed sea life. I must say, I kind of miss that little puffer fish smiling at me each morning when I came into the shop.

Oh well, I can't think of a nicer couple to have adopted (or maybe eaten) him.