Mercedes and the Girls

Today was the day!!!  Faith and Clayton tied the knot and it was such a wonderful occasion.

Early this afternoon Mac and I and Grandpa G set out with the cake tiers so I could assemble there and put the greenery on.

Transport is always the most nerve wracking part of this whole thing.  Thankfully the swiss meringue buttercream gets really hard when it's cooled (thanks to all the butter!), and that allows you to be able to use your hands to stabilize it in the car.  I don't know how bakers who transport on their own do it!

Their wedding and reception was at a garden center in Orem, and it was lovely!

I got the cake all set up, the greenery all put on, the table in as level a spot as I could find, and boom!

It was such a fun evening!  We don't go many places in the evenings because Zada goes to sleep so early, so it was fun to break that for just one night and enjoy the company of family.

My own little family...and we looked great!

Miss Zada does the mind meld with both her grandmothers and it's hilarious.

Jon looked handsome as can be.  It was fun to be reminded of OUR wedding and celebrate that in our hearts as we celebrated Faith and Clayton.

Zada was in rare form, a super good mood and just funny.

The girls were thrilled about the icee machines Faith and Clayton had rented.

I was so nervous to have them cut the cake.  This was the first cake I've done that was going to be professionally photographed and for someone other than me!

I was SO excited though.  I've always had such a hard time with wedding cakes.  They are so enormous, so the slices are just huge and not at all in alignment with say Wilton's guidelines of serving numbers per tier and all that.  UNTIL LAST NIGHT.  I was up kind of late, reading about how to cut wedding cakes, and I found the easiest, most clear tutorial, and it saved the wedding cake day!  I put a cake board in the middle of each tier, thus limiting how much of the cake was cut at once.  Then you slice the cake in huge slices of the whole tier, and cut THOSE into wedding cake serving sizes.

So I took off the top layer, and got to work.

It worked out so well!  These little pieces were perfectly sized and looked uniform, and fit on the cake plates!  This has revolutionized my cake serving for weddings!

I was flattered and so grateful about all the many compliments I got on the cake.  Apparently most people don't expect wedding cake to taste good, but this one did!  I figure, why make a cake that doesn't taste good??  In a word it was a hit!

Mimi almost caught the bouquet, and in the process almost mauled the small child who DID catch it.  It was a funny thing to watch.

Miss Zada had had enough, even though she was very well behaved, and thanks to the (too) warm room and a Grandma to hold her, she zonked, which was honestly a relief.  It allowed us to enjoy a bit more of the evening.  And Grandma got to enjoy baby snuggles.

Next up was dancing, and Jon was amazing and danced with all the girls.  He asked Leiden but she declined, I think she felt self conscious.

The other two are anything BUT self conscious!

Clayton, always a favorite anyway, was so great to dance with the girls, too.

Mimi really got into it.

And then Leiden joined in, and look at that smile!!

Solo dancing was also enjoyed!

Leiden looked lovely this evening.

She's mine!!

Congratulations, Faith and Clayton!!  It was an awesome party to start off your married life together.  We are so happy to be part of your family and we love you and wish you the best!!!