A Wedding in a Week: Rehearsal Dinner and Cake

Believe it or not we had a rehearsal dinner for our quicky wedding. Well, at least that is what we are calling it. Friday night my parents, Mr. Pineapple, myself, and Oliver & Rooney the dogs roasted hot dogs and marshmallows down at the pond where we live.
Our house is the white one you can see off in the distance. We live on a 100 acre farm, which is very relaxing during crazy times like these.
Rooney spent the RD eating sticks and choking on acorns.
As you can see it was COLD. Here I am rocking about 5 layers including a massive CMU sweatshirt. I am one beautiful bride.

Here is Mr. Pineapple making our gourmet hot dogs.

Earlier in the day Mom Pineapple and I baked the wedding cake. When I was a very little girl, I used to watch my mom's cake decorating videos over and over. I was most amazed by the frosting roses, that were made so effortlessly. My dad also tells stories of his mom's amazing wedding cakes. So, when I had to opportunity to test my own skills, I jumped at the chance. I was really hoping I would be the next Bob Ross of cake decorating. Turns out, not so much. I think I need more practice, our cake looks like it has spikey hair. :)
Luckily it tasted better than it looked!

Did you ever try your hand at cake decorating? Any tips for me? (Like avoiding all those peaks on top of my dollops.)

1 Little, 2 Little, 36 Little Wedding Cakes

Since Sister Pineapple/Maid of Honor lives in New York, Mom Pineapple and I are giving her a hand by doing some of the bridal shower projects she had originally planned to do when she got here. One of which is the one I had heard whispers about a couple months ago: a wedding cake decorating contest! I know the games are usually a surprise, but I am glad to help out my sister. I can't imagine her doing everything the night before the shower.

Sister Pineapple bought two of these Wilton Mini Wedding Cake pans from Amazon.com and sent them to me. So, Mom Pineapple and I bought 7 white cake mixes, a couple dozen eggs and 14 tubs of frosting. Yeah we cheated, these cakes aren't from scratch. Just don't tell Martha, okay?
It is times like these that I really want that stand mixer we registered for. This mixer is quite powerful though, I am pretty sure the low setting could still mix concrete.

The cakes were much bigger than I had pictured. Each wedding cake used about the same amount of batter as two cupcakes.

Of course they baked up all poofy, so we cut the bumps off of the tops so they would lay flat when time to decorate.

Voila! 36 mini wedding cakes! It took a few hours and it was not the only baking project we did yesterday, but more on that later. My sister and I both have backgrounds in fine arts, so maybe that is why we are so excited. Or maybe it is because it is the only part of the shower I know about. Either way, I am looking forward to tapping into my inner Ace of Cakes!

Did you help out with any of your bridal shower planning?

Cake CAke CAKe CAKE! mmmmm

Last night Mr. Pineapple and I traveled to Plum, PA to meet our baker at Jennuine Cakes and Cafe. We did not know quite what to expect because the cake was included in our venue/catering package. We were pleasantly surprised, the cafe was adorable and the cake was delicious!
No wimpy tasting portions for us! Sweet. The chocolate one is well... chocolate with chocolate ganache and chocolate butter cream. The white is vanilla with strawberry filling and butter cream.
When we got there I told Mr. Pineapple "I'm going to let you decide if that's okay with you." It was, so vanilla with strawberry it is! That was easy.

As far as what the cake will look like it will be something like this (click to enlarge):

{cake images via the knot}

The butter cream will be a champagne color similar to the cake on the left. I will be decorated in white swiss dots like the cake in the center. Finally it will be topped with a big white clay peony made by DK Designs Hawaii. I wasn't particularly excited about the cake until meeting with the baker. Now though I cannot wait to see the final product. I think it will be perfect for our wedding - sort of traditional, sort of modern and of course the clay flower.

What will your cake look like?

Cake-spiration

Our cake is included with the rest of the reception package from the River's Club, so that is one less vendor we have to choose. We have not yet met with the baker for a tasting and to discuss the design. In the meantime, I have been looking for some cake-spiration to bring along when we do meet with her.

I love the simplicity of this cake with the cute little bows around each layer. I think this would be perfect for a spring or summer outdoor wedding. (So, maybe not ours.) I colored the flowers to see what they would look like in a light copper - I guess it looks more peach though.

This cake is ultra-modern. A look that I originally thought my wedding would follow. However, it seems I have been heading toward a traditional and vintage look, so I don't think this would work for us. I love the stripes, but these are made of ribbon and I don't like having so much inedible garnish on a yummy cake.

I love the linen paper look of the butter cream on this cake. This cake could work for any wedding depending on the flowers or other adornment chosen.

I love the flowers that adorn this cake. They were pulled from a fabric that was used throughout the wedding. They are definitely vintage.

I am drawn to this two-tone cake, especially when picturing it in champagne and copper. The couple had wreaths of rosemary around the base of each tier as a symbol of eternity. Which is lovely, but would the cake then taste like rosemary?

Here is another modern cake, very elegant. I think the use of ribbon is more appropriate here because it is so minimal. Also, the use of one flower as an accent is very striking.

This is my favorite cake so far. The lace on the sides mimics the bride's dress without going way over the top. By way over the top I mean this cake. I also like that is not white, but it doesn't scream birthday cake either. I would probably replace the fondant bow on the top, but other than that - gorgeous.

Which is your favorite?