Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A Carolina-themed wedding rehearsal

My friends Tristan and Miranda gave me the ultimate compliment back in the Spring of 2009 by asking me to make the cake for their wedding rehearsal. They were actually the first folks to ever ask me to do a project for them!

Tristan and Miranda first met their freshman year at UNC back in 2000. They became very close friends, and ultimately started dating in 2006. Tristan proposed to Miranda on November 14, 2008, and they set their wedding date for exactly a year later, on November 14, 2009. I was so excited to be invited to the wedding to begin with, and then, when they asked me to do the cake for their rehearsal dinner, I became even more excited!

We decided that since they met at UNC, a Carolina-themed cake would be both fun and totally appropriate. The cake needed to feed 50-60, so we decided on an 8-inch square 2-layer cake, topped with a 6-inch square 2-layer cake. Each tier was to have a Carolina-blue and navy-blue argyle pattern on the sides. We then decided to include the Old Well on the top of the top tier, with the wedding date printed on the "apron" of the well.

So, I started with the argyle pattern. I thought a frozen buttercream transfer would be the best approach - I could make it a few days ahead of time, and the diamonds would be smoother than if I piped them onto the cake directly. So, I printed out the argyle pattern, taped it to a cookie sheet, then covered the pattern with wax paper. I then used white and tinted buttercream icing to pipe the argyle pattern:

Then, it was time to make the Old Well. I wish I had taken a picture right after I piped the date, but I forgot. Anyway, here's the Old Well:
And, here are the pictures of the final product:

And, the happy couple! They got to practice cutting their cake before the wedding day.A big, big thank you to Tristan and Miranda for inviting me to be a part of their celebration. Also, CONGRATULATIONS and best wishes!