Can you have a cake and eat it too?

I felt very strongly about not having a cake at our wedding. Sure it is was the perfect photo opportunity, but really, was I going to frame a photo of my cake? Was anyone is anyone going to frame it? As a wedding photographer, one of my favourite shots is of all the guests running like a herd of stampeding buffalo to get that one shot of the cake cutting. Everyone wants the shot – and it rarely even makes it to the photo album. Would mine make it to the photo album? Sure it’s an excellent style element and nice detail for the reception but could I do without it? I’d watched Bride & Grooms miss out on enjoying a nice piece of their cake because they were busy. I’d seen guests waste the wedding cake because they were full from dinner or worse yet, complain about the taste, the flavor, the icing color or texture. Why would I spend that much money on something that would possibly be wasted?
So I decided. NO CAKE!

Then it happened... Our friend *A*, announced that she was going to make our wedding cake as our gift. HUSBAND made it clear that if there was going to be a cake, he wanted it to be chocolate. He really didn’t give many opinions and I didn’t want a cake so – chocolate was easily decided. I wanted original. I wanted it to look and taste good. I didn’t want it wasted. I didn’t want anyone to have anything to complain about. After many discussions about what we (o.k. I) did or did not want, *A* came up with an excellent idea. She made us a solid milk chocolate sculpture, in the form of a cake.

It was fantastic. It looked just like a regular cake. We posed and pretended to cut the cake traditionally – then HUSBAND smashed it with a mallet and everyone was able to help themselves to a chuck of chocolate. When the wedding was over and we had come back from our honeymoon we pulled the leftover cake out of the refrigerator, melted it down and had a mouth watering chocolate fondue with 25 of our friends and family.

I am not suggesting that you don’t have a cake or that smash your cake with a mallet like we did. I am suggesting that you take time to consider your cake and plan it out. Do something different. You are going to spend a lot of money on your cake – make sure it tastes good. Go for a “taste test”. Make sure your friends will like it so it won’t be wasted. Make sure YOU will like it. Get one that will provide a nice wedding detail for photos. Have fun with it!
So, yes, you can have a cake and eat it too, we did and we loved it!