Love

When Lisha and Rich broke up last summer we were all in a tizzy. They couldn't possibly! They're so perfect! We tried to remain calm and outwardly nonchalant. "Oh, you broke up? Huh. Do you want us to set you up with someone else? No? OK. Whatever."

"Oh, Rich is flying up here this weekend? Huh. Oh. What do you think he wants? Well, whatever."

"So, uh, what did Rich say? Oh, sweet, you're back together."

Relax, everyone, play it cool, take a deep breath.

Inside we were going bananas.

A month later he roped us into the surprise proposal. I was supposed to call Lisha and suggest getting gussied up for a night out, and then Rich would show up instead. I called Lisha and she said, "Oh really? You want to go out? And get dressed up? Or is someone else coming to get me?" (She says it just like that, with italics.) I tried to lie my way into it, but she's the most skeptical person I know, and I failed.

It's a good thing he wasn't really depending on me.And who could blame him? Just look at her!


You know how you go to weddings and maybe half of the people are looking at each other in a knowing way that collectively assigns the marriage an expiration date? You feel a little nervous for the couple because you're not sure if they're going to make it? This wedding wasn't one of them. There was no drama, no anxiety, no panic, just love.

(Well, and a little makeup never hurt.)

The joy and laughter filled the rooms as we truly celebrated.


Rich's brother toasts the bride and groom, one of the many dedications to the couple.

Lisha's private blog, the one she wrote to chronicle their relationship, the one that she wasn't going to show Rich for a whole year, was outed by her best friend Mo, who read entries aloud. I don't think it's a wedding unless you can embarrass the bride.

She got her revenge, of course, when she booked the karaoke. What are you kidding? Nothing says party like karaoke!Mo recovers, with support from Ruel and Hyeku, from Josh's rendition of "Rio." Yes, Josh sang "Rio." Burned on my brain.

The girls sang "Build Me Up Buttercup"

There are a suspicious lack of pictures of me singing "Don't Stop Believing."

Rich's mom and two uncles dedicated "Close to You" to the bride, air guitar by the little cousins.


At the end of the night I leaned over to hug my dad. "How did you feel it went?" I asked, ready to get into my car. He looked up with a smile and said, "It was just storybook, wasn't it? Just storybook."

Indeed.






**All photos, except for the crappy ones in the middle taken with my substandard camera, courtesy of my photographer sister Jennifer, who is available for bridals, weddings, portraits, etc., etc.

Glowing and Golden

Tonight I did not spend the New Year with Anne, but we can celebrate the arrangements that she put together for the wedding. Lilies, old fashioned roses, hydrangeas, the scent just hit you when you walked onto the floor. Other Half put it this way, "It's like Mother Nature farted in my face, but in a good way."

Indeed.

If you look closely you can see the white feathers and berries in the flowers. I loved the gold wire curving over the roses, and especially loved the tiny birds nestled in the blooms.



*****
Catch me over at Segullah today for a sort of New Year reflection.

15 Hours of Sleep Over Four Days

Enough of this no blogging thing, it's time to get back to work. I'm sure you all had lovely Christmases and/or Winter Solstice celebrations, spending time with your loved ones in cozy piles of naps or drowning in nog. Not I, but it was so worth it. I thought I'd give you all a peek into what we were up to at Cent Com.

This is Lisha's wedding cake. She wanted a devil's food with a hazelnut praline filling (what can I say? We're all nuts for filberts.) We discussed ideas for the cake until we came up with something that would be unique and yet fit into the theme of the wedding. I prefer a collaborative method when it comes to cake design. I covered the cake in a white fondant and hand-painted matte blue cherry blossoms all over the tiers, followed by gold branches and pearl dust brushed in the negative space.

We decided on a spun sugar nest for the top of the cake. Dad was tasked with actually spinning the sugar. He's always game for a little kitchen experimentation (none of us had ever actually spun sugar.)

Melt white sugar with a little corn syrup and a touch of vinegar and bring it to hard crack stage. Immediately remove the caramel from the heat and let it cool, but not too much. Using the tines of a fork, or a cut whisk, dip into the caramel and let drip until the stuff is running down the individual tines in a stream. Fling the caramel between two dowels and plenty of newspaper to catch the threads. Marvel at the adorableness, I certainly did.

Could you just die? I nearly did.

We had enough for a good nest and a few back ups, just in case. Dad went back through and pulled out threads that had larger globs with tweezers to keep the threads ethereal. They're even thinner than cellophane noodles (if you are familiar) and almost as thin as thread.

We found a perfect pair of flocked birds with golden tails to sit atop our nest. I sugared white and blue jordan almonds for the nest. Delighted, the mother of the groom wondered if the eggs represented the number of chicks to join their future nest. We whooped (in the most tasteful way) when the eggs added up to ten.



I took a few more sugared almonds and just a handful of tiny white orchids and placed them around the tiers. The effect was breathtaking.

And that's the finished cake. Anne sugared lemons and placed them around the cake (and in the bouquets and on the table tops, but more of that tomorrow.) The catering manager was in a tizzy about the sterling silver mint bowl (snatched from a sideboard when no one was looking) you can spy under the cake. Feign ignorance! Blame anonymous florists who are certainly not your friends!

Dense and thick with a knock-out hazelnut butter cream. Just divine.

More to come...