Having it all

Compromise...Life is full of compromises...and marriage is a minefield of them.  After all, when you marry, you're committing to sharing your life, your home, your finances, and your bathroom sink with another person...forever.

When the Evil Cake Genius married The Captain, there were compromises even before the wedding.  I would take his last name (only after losing a fateful round of Rock, Paper, Scissors just before filling out the marriage license) and he would stop sleeping with a box fan (circa 1970) on high, aimed directly at his head. 

But sometimes, compromising to please your partner isn't a compromise at all.  The Evil Cake Genius is thrilled to admit that she and The Captain have attended both "La Traviata" at the Vienna Opera House, and the Premiere of Jackass the movie.  Yeah, I said it.  And both experiences expanded our horizons.  If you ask me, being open to your partner's tastes and wants leads less to compromise and more to "having it all".

That's where Carly and Ryan come in.

Carly and Ryan met in a soccer league.  They both love soccer.  Do they love soccer enough to have a soccer themed wedding?  No.  So when Carly brought in a magazine shot of her dream wedding cake, we needed to figure out just how to incorporate their love of the sport and its significance in their relationship into this pristinely preppy design.  Add to it, Ryan's love of airplanes.  He even works in the airline industry. 

Now, this is where we might need to take a detour into designing a groom's cake.  After all, the navy blue pleated cake that Carly loved really didn't lend itself to airplanes and soccer balls.  Or maybe it did?  The cake had a lovely trail of fondant ribbon flowers running down the front side, but the back was, well, the back.  Why not let this cake have it all?  Carly came up with the brilliant idea of having a soccer ball busting out the back side of the cake.  Ryan loved it, and the Evil Cake Genius silently reeled with questions about how to make it happen out of frosting (usually a mild panic means a great cake) so we added a little chocolate airplane in orbit around the ball, and it was a done deal.

We set up the cake in an area that the guests would all approach it from the front.  While stacking the tiers and putting on the finishing touches, we got to "test drive" it with the caterers and other wedding vendors wandering in and out of the room.  And it was a blast.  Nothing beats that look of puzzlement that quickly turns into delight when someone discovers a secret.  And this cake had a great one.

 

So my advice to the happy couple.  Stay the course.  Keep embracing everything that you love about each other and you will surely have it all.

Decorators Notes:

Carly and Ryan's cake was a beautiful deep blue fondant.  As many of you decorators know deep fondant colors are a nightmare to work with.  So for this cake, we tinted the fondant a medium blue, and airbrushed the tiers with a beautiful Navy Blue Luster Dust mixed with vodka to form a paint.  The luster gave the cake a mild satin sheen, keeping it from the dreaded "Play Doh" look that colored fondant tends to have.

The Soccer ball was a trouble spot.  We worried that the weight of the ball would cause it to tear away from the side of the cake during transport or worse, while it was on display.  So we molded a hollow chocolate soccer ball to keep it light.  

The little silver airplane was also molded out of chocolate and airbrushed with a mixture of our Evil Cake Genius Silver powder and Vodka.  The same mixture paints like a dream for those of you who don't have an airbrush.  The silver powder is available HERE