We got home from San Francisco on Wednesday, and for a solid 48 hours I went to work on two wedding cakes I had for friday. (Tight timing I know, but sometimes it can't be helped!) The best was this one, (see below) for a lovely wedding that managed to be trendy in a very F. Scott Fitzgerald-esque way. Again, an instance of old becoming new again. This is a close up of the top wedding cake layer. Who would have thought that a paisley wedding cake in brown, orange, and green could turn out so stunning? Miles away from a plain white wedding cake!
The wedding was outside, despite a torrential downpour mere hours before, and the constant threat of more rain. Nevertheless it was lovely. The tent over the buffet was lined with lantern lit chinese take out boxes in various colors. The wedding buffet was a very trendy crepe bar, complete with savory chicken, mushroom, and curry options, and a dessert bar. (Cherry crepes with whipped cream. Yummm.)
The outdoor pavilion was hung with ribbons and flower balls, and arrangements of orange gerbera daisies on every table.
I just loved the Japanese Kimono wrap hung behind the cake. It was the perfect shades of orange and green, and offset the bright orange lillies, and the paisley design on the wedding cake perfectly. The horizontal stripe around the second layer was done in chocolate fondant, and rolled very thinly. Chocolate fondant has to be rolled out on a greased solid countertop, unlike white fondant, which I roll out on corn starch. A complete how-to on chocolate fondant is forthcoming.
Paisley was surrounding me this week. This pic is off the side of a store front in China town.
In keeping with the Great Gatsby feel of the wedding the guests typed out their well wishes and greetings on parchment colored paper on an old typewriter. The Bride wore cream colored lace and silk, while the Groom was in a cream afternoon suit. Very South Hamptons!
The wedding was in a stunning new park in Orem called Nielson's Grove. It was built on the site of an old park and social hall from the early 19th century. Wisteria draped arbors, duck pond, fountains, gravel lined walks, and reflecting pools. It is our favorite new picnic spot. Gorgeous.
And I loved these flowers lining the walks. After the reception the bride and groom drove off in a 1928 Model A Roadster, completing the trendy vintage wedding feel.
Last weekend I made a cake for a very good friend of Ron and I's. It was a beautiful autumn themed wedding in a backyard in Orem. It was a lovely day. and although I had to rush through some of the week to get it done, it was a beautiful cake. Four small bottom layers, a larger second layer, glass pillars and a small top layer. All were done in a dusty pink, with white crown borders, and brown ribbon accents.
The flowers were red zinnias, gerbera daisies, alstromeria, white mini zinnias, and some awesome brown, red, and green foilage I purloined from someone's overgrown shrub. (Thanks, it was just what I needed!)
It was all balanced on a plexiglass square, on four glass vases, filled with red petals. It did turn out quite well, and I was pleased. I knew I wanted to take pictures, so I took the girls with me, set up, and the boys came later to wish them well. (Congratulations Noelani!)
While I was there, in a beautiful setting, with my four kids, all reasonably mess free, camara dangling from my shoulder I thought, "hey, why don't I take some pictures of the kids?" As I look at these pictures now, I wonder why I wait for some special event to take pictures. Aren't the every day events just as special? (If a little more messy) My kids are growing up faster than I would like, and I would like to freeze them all, just an hour, and sit down. Forget cakes, and lessons, and homework, and just laugh, and treasure the little moments we have together.
"Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”
So this is my goal. Play with the toys, don't just pick them up. Laugh with my kids everyday. Let them help, even if it makes a mess. Let them be themselves. Make time just for time. And hope they don't grow up too fast. 
I love you guys! 
