Bridesmaid Dresses!

Here's one for all of you fashionistas out there. The cake lady knows nothing of fashion, but these sisters do! Not only did they bring the dresses on which we based these cakes to the appointment, but they modeled them for us as well. Shoes, tiaras, the works. For those of you who have followed the blog for a while, this is that same family (some of my all time favorite clients) who we made the cowboy cake for last spring. I love them...but they think I can do anything. That's why, despite my minor stroke when they suggested I replicate four dresses, I somehow still muttered "okay". That's where the story starts.
Next step, how do we make these and more importantly, how do we get them three hours away from the shop without killing them. Answer...very carefully, and very carefully.
We needed a mold to cast the dressmaker dummy bodices. If there had only been one, I would have carved it by hand, but there were three, and if they weren't identical, it would have looked sloppy. So we went shopping. A My Size Barbie, the victim...Craig's list...the resource. I picked her up, and felt a slight pang of guilt for the gruesome acts that were about to follow. Let's be honest, what woman wouldn't derive at least a little pleasure from decapitating and ripping the arms off of that symbol of all that is unattainable in the female form, but before I get political, I'll get back to the story. Sorry to all my little cake fans, but Barbie had to die. We ripped off her arms, legs, and head, and cast a plaster of paris mold off of her torso. Admittedly, it actually was a little weird to do, plus, Mattel builds those suckers to last. It took a whole lot more effort and tools than anticipated to get the job done.





Being the frugal cake ladies that we are, we felt guilty throwing away perfectly good arms and legs, so we left them at the shop for a while. That provided seemingly unending entertainment for the Crew of Amazing Wedding Cakes, who would randomly appear for an OTF with a barbie arm sticking out of their shirt sleeve, or worse.

We don't typically practice cakes in advance of making them. This would be impossible to afford, but in this case, I needed a little assurance. So, we made a mock up a week before the cameras arrived, and then sent Jenna and her boyfriend Kyle out on a snowy Saturday afternoon with it in the back of my SUV. Once it stood normal driving maneuvers, they decided to test the limits, and I'm happy to report that it withstood a pretty wild ride (I believe they did doughnuts in the parking lot, but they won't confirm or deny this).

Once we were convinced that they were road-worthy, we made some serious friends by giving away chunks of that 50 pound dress cake to our neighbors.



The rest is pretty much viewable on Amazing Wedding Cakes, which I have been informed is now available for download on iTunes. Take that Lady Gaga, the cake ladies have arrived! And in style, for once.

Many thanks to Cat Manchank Photography for capturing these cakes for us before they became dessert!