a beautiful Martha Stewart inspired autumn cake by Three Sweeties, Melbourne
[excuse the waffling, if you want to CUT TO THE CAKE click here]
Busy, busy, busy! That’s my excuse for not blogging for over a month. Seriously, it’s a freaking WONDER than any of us brides to be have ANY time at all to blog about the experience and ideas – what with work, domestic chores, LIFE it’s very easy to get out of balance.
We’re booked and ready to go to Bali in just over a week and I am hoping the Balinese notion of ‘rubber time’ will mean that our 2 weeks there will actually feel like 2 months. I am hopeful.
But now for a brief wedding update:
- Mum visited for a week, and we managed to drive up to the Dandenong Ranges (where we are having our wedding) twice to look at the ceremony and reception venues
- I now have, not one, but TWO vintage wedding dresses haha. Bit greedy huh. But the second was an amazing floaty 60s number that fits liked a glove that I picked up from the Geelong Mill Markets. And for a measley $35 how could I say no? But we actually have a legitimate excuse for TWO wedding outfits now, but more about that later.
- AA’s hunt for the perfect suit continues. He also has managed to pick up two outfits but isn’t 100% convinced that either is THE wedding suit. But in the meantime, both are pretty damn cool. Both vintage – one 60s woolen blue suit, and a 70s chocolate brown number with a nice satin trim on the lapels.
I’m a little reluctant to launch into all the details of our wedding on here just yet, I’m not sure why. Perhaps I feel like someone might just steal our ideas but really that can’t be justified seeing I got the lead on our reception from another wedding blog too! Or maybe it’s because I feel like I’ll be jinxing things a little. I’ve been fine with AA and a couple of select close people to see photos of my wedding dresses but I’m a little funny about divulging all details of the wedding here just yet. I’ll work up to it. I also feel it might be a bit of a spoiler for friends who are coming to the wedding but also reading this. Maybe I can just put ’spoiler alert!’ before I spill.
In the meantime I have plenty of other great ideas I have collated til now to share.
This one I just came across this weekend.
QUIT THE BLABBING BLUEBIRD AND CUT TO THE CAKE!
Three Sweeties are a Melbourne, Australia based cake shop that make AMAZING looking cakes, cupcakes and other sweeties for weddings, birthdays and other occasions.
We’re not big cake people and I *really* hate the cake cutting tradition. I mean, what on earth is that all about anyways? I think I’d barf from the cheesiness of it. I think cupcakes could be a good alternative.
So I did a google search and came across these guys. Look at some of these!
They can deliver and set up the cakes too to make sure they’re presented as intended but it all adds up though, so not sure it’s something we could afford at our wedding. But look at the workmanship! Just stunnning. But if we could afford it, I would definitely be seeking these guys out. So gorgeous, a work of art like that would double as a centrepiece at the reception.
Actually, all this talk of cake reminds me of a conversation that AA overheard when we were at Chatterley’s – the restaurant at Cloudehill Nursery.
A couple who were booking in their wedding reception there were talking with the owner and the bride said ‘We want a LOT of cake. I just really love cake and I think everyone should be able to have as much cake as they want’. The owner was saying ‘Look honey, that’s really sweet but the truth is a lot of it will just end up going in the bin, you really don’t need slices THAT big’. After a good couple of years working in catering AA said to me later, ‘always listen to the caterer about quantities. They always know!’ so maybe that’s a useful tip.
As it turns out we’re actually thinking we might skip the wedding cake or cupcake idea all together if it ends up being too costly. We’ll just have a dessert bar instead seeing we’re having a buffet dinner too. More variety and people can have what they like. Maybe some wedding cookies instead?. Hopefully everyone will be way too busy having an awesome time, no will notice there was no boring cheesey cake cutting ritual and photos.
What are your feelings on cake?
I went to a Bridal Fair (sigh) and admitted to a cakemaker I just wasn’t that excited about the cake, and her mouth kind of dropped open and in the most personal, not ‘i’m trying to sell you my product’, way she said “But cake’s the best part!” *lol*
I’m way looking forward to the cake cutting, actually. Pretty much because (a) I way like food; (b) it’s family tradition to cut the cake with my grandfather’s Freemasons’ sword. Yup, he was so high up he got a sword (and also a jewelled apron, but I’m not sure about that…). A sword for a cake! So awesome!
My big angst is that so many ‘wedding cakes’ don’t actually look edible. Like, if an alien walked into the room, they wouldn’t work out that the big lumpy thing in the corner is actually part of the meal. I’m thinking about just ordering a few whole cakes from our favourite cafe, arranging them on cake stands, and sticking a dinky bride-and-groom topper on one
(I do really want a topper. Preferably vintage, as the modern ones are all a bit naff).
Bahahaha cake is the best part… of course! I mean other than the couple getting married and all.
If I had my grandfather’s Freemason’s sword I’d want a cake too. I actually have a friend that was proposed to via sword. I’m not 100% sure how that worked but it was a real sword! Maybe she knighted her beloved when she said yes.
I hear ya on the inedible part – sometimes they just look so covered in icing and boxy. But I too love a vintage wedding topper, can’t we just have a topper sitting on the dessert bar or something?
I like your idea about a few whole cakes sitting on cake stands… variety! I really love carrot cake and lemon/ passionfruit cheesecake and chocolate mousse. And we fell in love with Belem tarts while in Lisbon and there is a place in Melbourne that does them but not sure how good they would be after a day if we had to buy them the day before. Hmm. I’m all for dessert but not so much a multi tiered cake that’s gonna cost us a fortune!
I know you have probably already planned this, but I just went to my brothers wedding and instead of having cake at the reception (when everyone is full and it all gets thrown out…) he had it after the ceremony instead. The cake was put in the middle of a pavillion and some drinks were served so that guests were able to have a bit of food and drink in their tummies (and also socialise) while the bride and groom snuck out for the photo session. This was a good way of filling in some time between the gap from ceremony to reception for guests.
They also had a non-traditional cake. Top tier was a teeny tiny wedding cake (for bridal party), but all the rest of the tiers were individual tarts & cheesecakes (passionfruit, lemon, etc) it was DELICIOUS and also such a good idea, everyone loved it!
I stumbled across this blog because I was really suprised at the lack of quality wedding suppliers/venues/blogs/inspiration in Melbourne, compared to some other states and especially America where there is so much choice! Do you find this too?
What a brilliant idea! Thanks for sharing that. I will definitely have to pass that on to a friend who just got engaged and wants a really casual small wedding. Wedding afternoon tea party could be just the trick!
And yes I totally agree re wedding blog inspiration in Melbourne… I was sick of getting jealous of all the cool barn weddings in America as well as the totally funky New York City Hall dos, so I started my own. I have a billion links and bookmarks I have been meaning to share, I will have to step on it and start putting them up this year!
Have you ever considered adding more videos to your blog posts to keep the readers more entertained? I mean I just read through the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I’m more of a visual learner,I found that to be more helpful well let me know how it turns out. This is good…thanks for sharing