You may or may not know that last Saturday was the hottest day of the year to date.  It was 98 degrees in the shade and felt like 105-or so I’m told.  I don’t know if you can really tell the exact temperature when it gets past 90 or so…it’s just varying degrees of HOT.  Laura and Mark had wonderful intentions and lovely thoughts of an outdoor summer wedding with the smell of freshly cut grass in the air, beautiful flowers in bloom, a nice soft breeze…and that’s where we’ll stop the thought.  There was no breeze.  Did I mention it was hot?  

I met Laura and Mark back when it was cold outside and in fact, it actually SNOWED the night of our consultation.  I have included a link to the wikapedia definition for snow because here in the south we don’t get a lot of it.  I knew they would be a fun couple to work with.  Their place made me think of Jimmy Buffett with it’s shades of orange, yellow and green and the massive tropical tank that Mark obviously has worked on extensively.  They were both active and spirited and although Mark is not a fan of cake, he loved my cake truffles at the Nashville Bridal Show. 

The couple chose colors in coral and lime green from Liberty Party Rentals and though I more than likely would not have put those together for myself, the contrast was brilliant.  The tables were draped with alternating colors and the white chairs toned them down just a bit.  Laura likes square cakes but preferred the offset look and wanted them to have ribbons around the bottoms of the tiers and a bow as a topper to put one in the mind of stacked packages. 

The bottom tier of the cake was Sour Cream Almond with a Caramel filling that was Laura’s favorite on the night of the consulation.  The second to bottom was a Double Chocolate with Dark Chocolate Whipped Ganache filling.  It was for the chocolate lover and most definitely not for the faint of heart.  The top tiers were a French Vanilla/Strawberry Swirl with Strawberry Creme filling.  The entire cake was enrobed with my traditional buttercream and adorned with white chocolate fondant ribbons, gumpaste monograms, and patterns that Laura loved.  She handmade their wedding invitations with a paisley print and asked if I might incorporate it into the cake.  I obliged on both the bottom and top tiers.  I used the paisley impression mat and then traced some of the pattern in three different colors to make them stand out.  I incorporated the paisley print onto the topper as well.  I really loved the overall look of this cake. 

Laura and Mark were married at the Pick Inn in Gallatin, TN.  This is a terrific venue for outdoor weddings and Joy McReynolds who runs it is quite possibly the sweetest and most caring woman in the state.  There is a very large open air shelter with plenty of room for guests and also a beautiful “cabin” or house decked out with everything you need to get ready.  I love the look of the Mason jars hanging from the trees.  It must be a gorgeous site to see them lit up with candles at night.  I am quite excited to go back for a fall wedding when all of the trees have changed color and the air is slightly cooler.  I am sure it’s picturesque. 

Provisions by Doris helped things go smoothly all day (what a gem she is!) and a Moveable Feast catered the event.  I must say that the food smelled terrific!  Kristin Dineen Photography was there to catch those precious moments on film.  At 5:15 when I set up the cake it was still 96 degrees by my thermometer and that cake remained standing tall until it was cut hours later.  I wouldn’t recommend taking that chance as 75 degrees is optimal temperature but isn’t it great to know your cake would remain standing just in case of a sudden 20 degree spike? 

Congratulations Laura and Mark.  May the color of your love shine bright forever!