Michael's Groom Cake and the Wedding!

Cake Transportation Day was a complete success and a relay race! We headed with cakes in coolers to Gardendale to meet Aunt Frankie and Emily. Joey, the kids and I were able to meet in Birmingham with some friends we have not seen in at least 8 years so. This made the transporting a bit complicated but only for a few moments. I was, at the last moment, hopefully going to meet Mom T. in Birmingham, but our schedules were all packed and Aunt Frankie came to the rescue! I did have a sinking feeling as the cakes were leaving my care. Will they thaw before they get to the Thompson's? Is it okay that they are standing on their sides in the cooler? Will Uncle Billy eat the cakes? (just kidding) There were no problems and the relay began. Frankie passed the cakes to Billy and Billy took them to Mom T. There they were stored in the deep freezer until Friday.

Friday was fun! Joey and Mom T. are seen here leveling the cakes. We cut and cut and cut and iced and iced and iced.

Mom T and Pop surprised me with a new mixer and it's a fancy one! I was thrilled! Look at me mixing!

This cake thing was a family affair for sure. David came over and provided encouragement like "You know its going down the toilet in three days, right?" He was also key in assisting Joey with the math needed for this operation.

At the end of Friday, the layers were iced. It took all day.

But the results were worth it! On Saturday morning I glazed it with the ganache' and placed the "A" on top. It broke in half, but that's the great thing about fondant. I just smoothed it back together and it was as good as almost new. My sister-in-law, Tammy, offered the final piece to the cake. "How about strawberries!" Fantastic! That was the final decoration that would bring it all together. Thanks Tammy!

Dad and Joey crafted a box that would be used to transport the cake to the wedding and voila! Which was also quite a little project but good thing Dad used to work at a moving company in his younger years (who knew). We drove the cake to the wedding (about 45 minutes away) and put it in place. I arranged the strawberries on site. WHEW! It was done!

The rest was just enjoying being with family and hoping that when they cut into the cake it would be eatable.

It rained all day but come wedding time everything dried out and the weather was beautiful. Here, my niece, Ashley and my brother-in-law Kenny are riding in on a horse and carriage. Gorgeous!

My nieces, Kayla and Eryne, were exquisite. Eryne was the maid of honor and she sang two songs beautifully. Prior to the wedding, she fell and really banged up her knees. She had been in braces all week but you could not tell today, she was a real trooper.

Rarely do we get a picture together just the two of us.

My beautiful family! Angie (my sister in law), Ashley, her husband, Michael, and Kenny (my brother in law)

Goodbye cake! It actually tasted great! Thanks again, Selinda, for giving me this fabulous recipe!

The wedding was beautiful. It was a great time to just be family. Truly a treasure!

I could not have done it alone and so I would like to give a special thanks to:

Recipe Contributors:
Selinda (cake)
Leigh (fondant)
Wiliton's

Cake Advisor Committee:
Selinda
Janett
Mom T.
Joey

Special Listeners and Sounding Boards:
Amanda
Cindy
Leah
Tammie
Mom T.
and all the ladies at Southside who listened to me go on and on about this cake

Deep Freeze Committee:
Traci
Jason
Mom T.

Cake Transporting Team:
Frankie
Emily
Billy
Mom T.
Joey

Cake Cutting Team and Math Geniuses:
Joey
David

Box Making Specialist:
Dad
Joey

Taste Testers:
The Clement Family
Pop and Mom T. (thank you also for the mixer)

Last Minute Ideas Committee:
Tammy T.

Staying Away from the Cake Committee:
Andrew and Alora

Encouragers:
Thanks to all my friends who read the blog and who support me with your phone calls, comments, texts, emails, etc. etc. etc.

Thanks to all of my family!

And a special thank you to my dear mother in law: I could not have done it without you!

Another special thank you to my fabulous husband: I could not have done it without you!