Champagne, Pearls & Hot Pink Flowers Wedding Cake

I almost didn’t post this cake. But ya’ll know I love to share a good story so I figured I’d dive in and share… here’s the story of this Champagne & Hot Pink Flowers Wedding Cake.

Well, this cake was almost a disaster on so many levels. I did this cake back in 2015, but I still remember that day very well – how frazzled I was. So why, you ask, would I not want to share?

First off – and most obviously – I got zero good pictures. And this makes me incredibly sad because I really loved this cake.

But looking at that picture? The fuzziness makes my head and eyes hurt. For that – I’m sorry. I’m only sharing this one picture (it’s the best I’ve got) but it’ll just have to do 😁

Why else do I hesitate to share? Well… gosh. Where do I start?

The problems…

Let me start with the champagne ribbon borders. The bride requested champagne ribbons on the buttercream cake. I initially thought “no big deal,” but boy was a I wrong.

First, I couldn’t find champagne ribbons that really looked good. So I started researching alternatives and somewhere I read that the Wilton Gold Sugar Sheets actually looked like a champagne color. So I ordered a few and did a trial run. Lo and behold, they looked great!

Unfortunately, I didn’t let that cake sit overnight so I was unaware that those edible sheets would not hold up long-term on buttecream. Wanna guess when I found out? Yeah… when I was delivering the cake.

You can’t tell in the pics, but the sugar sheets that I had cut into ribbons had started to pucker and ripple as they absorbed the oils (butter/shortening) from the buttercream. It was not pretty!

In fact, I was on the verge of tears. Thankfully the very kind florist and the venue-owner both assured me it didn’t look nearly as bad as I thought. A few well-placed flowers didn’t hurt either 😉 🌺

I forgot…

Aside from the rippling ribbons… I got halfway to the location (45 miles from my home) only to realize I’d forgotten the cake stand that the bride rented. I was SICK. There was not enough time to go back and get it nor did I want to add an extra 40+ miles of riding to that buttercream cake. I was panicked!

I called my Mama (who lives just a mile or so from my house) and thankfully, she was willing and able to hop in the car, grab the stand and fly (I don’t wanna know how fast she drove) to bring the stand to me at the venue.

Then, as I’m standing there watching the ribbons get worse and worse, she brings in the stand and we get ready to set up the cake … only to discover the floor in the very old building was incredibly uneven and the table was SUPER wobbly!

The cake stand was a pedestal stand – not your typical platform – so the wobbly table paired with a tall cake and a tall stand… I was terrified to leave it.

We tried and tried and tried to level the table by moving it here and there on the floor and wedging things under the legs. But it just wasn’t happening.

Finally I called the venue-owner over and she agreed that we did not need to leave the cake on that stand, on that table. Ugh! My Mama had drove like a crazy-person for no reason at all. We couldn’t use it.

I was so disappointed and then further terrified that the bride was going to be upset over the wrinkly ribbons and the lack of stand. It was just turning out to be a bad day all the way around.

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Anywho – I did the best I could – and after the flowers were added, I really thought the cake was beautiful. The venue owner also complimented the cake and was so encouraging.

I honestly don’t remember if I ever heard from the bride (which makes me sad). At the very least, I’m sure I never got a complaint. I know I’d remember that! So either she was happy with it , or she was not so upset that she felt like calling.

Whichever – I was grateful.