Weddings...a memoir of last summer..

I so enjoy weddings. I love them really. The joy of two people declaring their love for one another in front of everyone they might know is so enthralling. And that is the exact reason why I love participating. Last summer two of my close friends asked for me to help with their weddings. One asked for me to craft some jewelry for her and her Five bridesmaids..the other with baking the wedding cake and jewelry for the bride. Completely touched by their asking me to create such key elements to their weddings I accepted. Of course, fate would have it, their marriages were within a month of eachother; needless to say it was a whirlwind summer..

The first task was the jewelry for the bride and her bridal party. The theme and color scheme were based on a California summer sunset so we went with firey colors. I chose freshwater pearls, amber, red coral, garnet, golden amber glass drops, and carnelian for the bridesmaids.
I strung two strands of the chosen beads and twisted them to form a spiraled rope of gorgeous color fastened by sterling silver clasps. For the earrings I went simple and made sterling silver chain drops ending with similar beads found in the necklace.




I went traditional with the brides jewelry; white pearl with freshwater pearls tinted pink. The earrings were simple pearl drops which worked excellent with her updo. The combo turned out quite stunning on the bride. To my surprise this photo was featured in our local wedding guide.

I thoroughly enjoyed the wedding; which was filled with amazing forms of art and music; live jazz, a female acupella group, west african dancers and drummers, and a gorgeous spread, not to mention a really, really strong beer on tap.

For the next bride I went a different path. She really liked copper and brass tones so I found some really nice copper and sterling silver chain and started creating. Now this lady has the skin tone to pull off anything, darker metals just seem to shoot right off her making her glow, I am trully envious :) The wedding was set at wonderful local beach named after a wonderful stone, a moonstone. I luckily found a gorgeous rainbow moonstone cabochon and went about making the necklace. Strands of copper and sterling swept together in arches to form the center peice that dangled the moonstone above her neckline. I wasn't sure at first, but then she put it on. I wish I had a photo of that as you wouldn't believe me but it seemed to glow on her.
Hm on to my favorite task: baking. I was very seriously contemplating attending a French pastry school last summer but many things changed around that time (i.e., finding the man of my dreams and more fulfilling work at my consulting firm allowing me to be outside utilizing my degree in botany and less time in the office). My plans switched but my love of pastry hasn't stopped. The couple are amazing organic farmers and wanted something fresh and light and of course organic for their guests. After several testers; including a chocolate-hazelnut and lemon-blackberry, the decision of a white chocolate raspberry cake was made.
Taking the day off prior as it was a Saturday afternoon wedding I got started early morning. Baking and baking, whipping and folding, layering and postitoning, frosting and smoothing all day long. Wedding cakes are not a quick baking experience but defintely a gratifying one. To create this tasty cake I layered white chocolate cake rounds with raspberry buttercream, fresh rasberries, as well as each layer getting a smattering of moistening syrup flavored by Chambord Royale Deluxe Liqueur. Each cake tier consisted of four layers (2 cakes each split in half)to create three filling sections. After making each tier I let them chill for an hour or so. During that time I whipped up an amazing creation that I learned from one of my cookbooks, an italian meringue buttercream. If you haven't tried it you will need to one day! Light and airy like whipped cream and sublty sweet like a buttercream, not to mention an excellent winner for frosting a cake, spreadable when at the right temperature and extremeley stable after chilling, no melting or moving at all. So, I went about making several batches of this which calls for whipping egg whites into a meringue while cooking a syrup to firm ball stage and then combining, whipping till cool then adding butter. Voila! I was ready for frosting the cake. Getting my nifty buys of a turntable, cake spreaders, spatulas, bags and tips I went about creating the wedding cake. The bride didn't want too much decoration mainly a smooth surface ready for the organic hawaiian orchids I purchased for a cascade down the cakes. With that finished I placed each cake in a cake box and schemed on getting it to the reception hall the next day. My brother-in-law a skilled woodworker *not kidding here, he and his father have created amazing works of art* made me a wonderful cake holder per my request. I wanted each layer to stand alone and float and since the only ones on market are plastic I asked if he could create a wooden form, he went above and beyond my expectations and created a beautiful oak and maple floating cake tier holder. He even constructed the base layer and entire unit to spin and lock into place once you have it positioned correctly. This turned out to be a great tool as once the cakes were placed I was able to spin the entire cake to get the best effect without having to touch the cake itself. After arriving at the reception hall I was greeted by the Wedding Coordinator and took over a section of the kitchen for the last touches. Adding the fresh orchids. All in all this was an excellent experience I trully loved every second of it. The finished product is below. Whoo so glad I got a photo of it, even if that photo is a phone cam one ;)

I hope you have enjoyed this blog, it's my first and I realize now how easy and fun it is to share your thoughts to the cyberworld. Thanks for reading!