I’ve got weddings on the brain because I’m plotting out a new story that opens at a wedding. Of course, I want the scene to be memorable, and maybe a little bit funny, so I’ve started to recall various weddings I’ve attended, and any mishaps or details that made it stand out in some way. I’d love for you to share such a moment from you own wedding with me. Who knows, it could end up in my scene.
I’ll start you off by sharing some personal details. My own wedding had many memorable moments (like my husband lip-syncing with the Italian band), but the stand-out incident involves the wedding cake. What could be interesting about a cake? Well, this wedding cake almost didn’t make it through customs because the Italian officers thought it was a drug mule.
Now you’re thinking, WHAT? Let me go back to the beginning. It’s important to note I was not a young girl who grew up dreaming about my wedding. My mom, however, did. In fact, long before I had any serious relationship, she’d begun to collect photos and information about dress designers, locations, and cakes. Her favorite cakes were made by Sylvia Weinstock Cakes. She’d saved photographs of these cakes and, periodically, would look through them and swoon.
So, when my husband and I planned our wedding in Rome, Italy, it posed a problem. I was too busy working (and not all that interested in the details) to travel to Italy before the wedding to make the plans. My mom gladly volunteered on my behalf, reveling in the utter freedom I gave her to plan the wedding of her dreams! Having found a wedding planner named Eletra (who looked like Olivia Newton John), she spent a happy week there and returned with everything finalized except the cake. She had the audacity to claim there weren’t ANY suitable wedding cakes in all of Rome. Really? But I digress. The truth was she was unwilling to give up on the Sylvia Weinstock cake. Thus, she and I traveled to Ms. Weinstock’s bakery in New York to discuss this problem. 
The solution? Not only did my mom buy this extravagant cake, but she also purchased an airplane ticket for it! I’m NOT lying. They actually loaded several boxes (layers and flowers were all separated) into a seat. Mind you, it came after my mother had flown over, because our entire wedding party arrived several days ahead of the wedding to partake in a series of pre-wedding events we’d planned for all the guests to enjoy. I still giggle when I think about whomever was stuck sitting beside my cake.
Anyway, since the cake arrived unaccompanied, my step-father had to go to the airport to retrieve it. He showed up just in time to stop the customs officers from cutting it in half. They thought were were using it to ship drugs into the country because they couldn’t believe any person on the planet would be crazy enough to ship a wedding cake from New York to Rome. It took an extra day, and a lot of talking, to convince them not to tear it apart. Thankfully it made it to the reception in tact and on time.
Naturally, the cake became THE topic of conversation among the guests. Fortunately, my mother took it all in stride, and was somewhat redeemed by the fact that (a) it was truly spectacular looking (those flowers are all edible, icing), and (b) the cake itself tasted fantastic (each layer was a different flavor, including a chocolate hazelnut layer…YUM). Of course, time and age makes us both realize how utterly over-indulgent this was, but at the time my mom just couldn’t let go of that part of her dream! And I’m grateful to her for planning a flawless, beautiful wedding day that everyone fondly remembers.
Now that I’ve shared my story, tell me what is the standout memory from your wedding? It can be big or small, funny or terrible, romantic or not…but something you will never forget.
Can’t wait to read them…and I’m serious, if one fits my story, I’m going to use it!
xo-Jamie
