So just pretend it's last Friday, k?
'Cuz 10 years prior.......
...a couple of not-so-young, but very crazy bikers got married!
Okay, everyone say "Awwwwwww!!!"
Actually, we had a surprisingly classy Garden Wedding. It was one of those "Package Deals" which was handled by Freedom Hall. I highly recommend them if you want to have a nice wedding, on a budget, and don't want the hassle of having to coordinate EVERYTHING yourself.
Sure, we could have done a very nice "Destination Wedding" in some Tropical Locale (we actually did consider it), but since hubs and I had been single for sooooo long (I was 39 and he was 45 - and neither of us had ever been married before!); and we had so many friends that would not have believed us! - Well, we opted for a semi-formal ceremony where everyone could attend and witness it (and/or prepare for Armageddon) themselves!
Anyway, it was a very classy ceremony - for a couple of bikers! We even opted for live chamber music (a trio with harpsichord, violin and cello) - SUPER classy! And a former boss of mine, who was an amazing opera singer, sang for our wedding as well. I still get a little verklempt thinking about it!
After the ceremony, we did the whole "picture thing" with the photographer. A friend of hubs spent the night before - scrubbing and polishing his Harley (a Softail Springer) the night before so that we could use it for the photo shoot. My mom was absolutely APPALLED that I was going anywhere *near* "that filthy bike" in my beautiful Princessy lace-and-beads-with-the-super-long-train wedding gown!
"Damn straight I am! Oh, and don't forget my black leather jacket, k? The one with the fringe?!"
God bless mom. She realized that resistance was futile and - if you can't beat 'em, you might as well join 'em! She ALSO brought along a large white bed-sheet that we could drape over the bike BEFORE I sat on it!
No, I did not get any grease spots on my dress! (Hell, the bed-sheet was still spotless afterward!)
Anyway, we had a very nice ceremony with all of our nearest and dearest friends (and voyeuristic disbelievers!) in attendance. Followed by a VERY fun party with a live DJ and the usual stuff. Our biker friends stayed 'til the very end (and were very proud to announce that they got "86'd from our wedding reception!") (only because Freedom Hall had another ceremony scheduled after ours - lol!)
Now, ELEVEN years prior, Hubs (then boyfriend) and I had gone out for dinner at our local Outback Restaurant. Big huge wait for a table, so we sat out on the porch, out front, waiting for our name to be called. Hubs (who was still a "Shy Boy" at the time) was behaving strangely nervous and fidgety. Now we had been together since... March? April? I think I semi-officially moved-in in April, so let's call it April!
August 17th 2001 is when he "popped the question" and he actually worried that I might say "No!" How precious is that?! Now, he was too shy to do the "bended knee" routine - especially with all those people around! But that's okay.
Ummm... I did say "Yes!"
Annnnnnnmyyyyhooooooo... Ten years sure flew by quickly! It's been a roller-coaster ride, for sure! We've had some ups and downs (as do all couples, I'm sure!). For as many things as we have in common, we have just as many where we have to figure out how to "Agree to Disagree!" He is an A/R Engineer-Type, and I am a "Que Sera-Sera" Psycho-Gemini-Type. He is über organized and, well, I'm not! He balances his entire portfolio - to the penny - every day. I write checks until I think "I should probably stop!" And I do *glance* at my portfolio - from time to time!
Like I say, even with the differences (which keeps things "Interesting!"), I wouldn't change 'em for the world!
Love ya, Babe!
Now... Part of my running-around on Friday included picking up a replica of the top tier of our wedding cake - from the very same baker that made our original wedding cake (and yes, we *did* eat the original top tier on our first wedding anniversary).
I was very pleased to see that they were still in business and willing to bake us a 10th Wedding Anniversary Cake. Unfortunately, they had lost their database with all of the details from 10 years ago, but if I sent them a photograph, and flavor selections, they would be very happy to re-create it - for a princely sum!
Ahhh... But it's our 10-year anniversary, right? I'll pay it!
True Confession: I *know* I still have every contract, every note, every snippet of paper related to Wedding Planning in a box in the back of our shed - and yes, I readily acknowledge that there is absolutely NO reason to hold onto that sh*t! Well, except for times like these, right?!!
Well, except for the fact that with temps in the mid- to upper-90's, the thought of ransacking the (NOT air-conditioned) shed was... For lack of a better word: "Not Gonna Happen!"
Screw it! I'll scan a photo of our wedding cake, check-out their webpage for flavor-selections and choose something tasty - "Hubs ain't gonna remember!"
Original Cake - Aug 17, 2002
I chose to have it recreated with white cake and chocolate custard filling (Can't go wrong with that, right?!). And the gal called me to confirm my order (and obtain my credit card info). "Yes, I'll get my own purple flowers/grapes/ivy to place on the top of it." "Yes, I still have the cake topper, should I bring it to you?" "Hell, it'd be easier for me to transport without the cake topper, I'll just put it on myself, that's fine..." "Why yes, it IS heavy. It's made of pewter!"
She, evidently, made note of it in her contract because - supposedly - for *heavy* cake toppers, they have to do something different to the top of the cake so it's stiff enough to support the topper, right?
Wellllllll... EVIDENTLY... Somebody didn't "get the memo!" The cake, when I first brought it home (to our HEAVILY air-conditioned house - after a brief ride in my HEAVILY air-conditioned car), looked simply gorgeous.
Well, about an hour before hubs was due home (and, appx 2 hours after I'd picked it up), I figured I'd set it up on a pretty cake-stand, in front of the GORGEOUS bouquet of roses and lilies he'd sent me. So I got it all set-up, all pretty-like, right? I gently set the HEAVY PEWTER cake topper on top of the cake and it immediately fell backwards, effectively f**king up the frosting!
"Sh*t!" Oh well, I guess I'll stick some grapes there.
So then I smushed the cake topper into the top of the cake a little deeper...
Sumb*tch STILL fell backwards!
"Well f*ck!" I guess I'll add a sprig of goldenrod as well...
I smushed the friggin' cake topper down til you could only see the top half of it AND grabbed a bunch of toothpicks in an ill-fated attempt to build-up some kind of scaffolding/support around it. "Jay-ZUS Criminy!"
I did manage to snap ONE picture in the midst of the destruction:
Re-created cake - "Before the Fall"
Now, I'm not sure if you can notice, but on the front side - kinda to the left and right-ish sides - the middle of the cake is starting to kinda "pooch out?" They look almost like bubbles on either side of the frosting grapes... Well, the "pooching" started even BEFORE I started the Cake-Topper-Squishing. :::sigh:::
Honestly, I was pretty upset over the whole thing at this point. But rather than get all worked-up over it I figured "WTF - It'll still taste good" and I ended up removing the cake topper (leaving a big ol' gaping rectangular hole in the top of the cake) and piling more flotsam on top of that (Cakewrecks-style!).
Like I said, it'll still TASTE good - after we remove the bunch of grapes and wads of flowers that I crammed on top of it. And, in fact, it DID taste good!
"But wait! There's More!"
So hubs and I decided to celebrate our 10-year Wedding Anniversary (and 11-year Engagement Anniversary) at The Scene of the Crime: Outback Steakhouse. We enjoyed a lovely surf 'n turf dinner and opted out of dessert because, well, there's CAKE at home!
So we each had a slice of cake and - as I'm sure I've mentioned - I don't eat much sugar as a rule. The freaking buttercream was soooooo sweet, it made my teeth buzz! (Srsly! And no, I do NOT blame the baker for that - I am pretty sure that is 100% normal and I am just NOT sugar-tolerant anymore) (and I have to laugh and shudder at the same time because - when I was a kid - I would look to scrape off THE biggest buttercream rose and gobble it up with glee!). So we thoroughly enjoyed the cake (even if I had to scrape all the frosting off and throw it away!), and then we left it sitting, overnight, on the dining table (in our HEAVILY air-conditioned kitchen)...
Well, the next morning, half of the cake had, literally, COLLAPSED! We're talking full-on Avalanche off the side of the cake platter, down onto the table, glooped over hubbies cigarettes and enveloping his cigarette lighter (rendering it inoperable)!!!
I probably should have taken pictures - just for the comedic value - but I didn't!
In retrospect, it was pretty funny. We did end up cramming what-was-left-of the cake (which was still standing, at that point), back into the cake box and sticking it in the fridge for future enjoyment. And - even after that - it has CONTINUED to deteriorate! It's basically just an amorphous blob of cake and chocolate custard, glued to the sides of the cake-box with white buttercream! Yes, it STILL tastes good (teeth-buzzing nonwithstanding), but I daresay, had we been planning a Formal 10-year Wedding Anniversary Party with friends, I would've been extremely p*ssed-off!
As it stands, it was just the two of us, and we can kind of laugh about it. But I think I will be sending an "I was extremely disappointed" email to the baker. Not for a refund or anything like that - but more as an "FYI" so that other couples don't have to experience this. And yes, you may have noticed a LACK of a link to the Wedding Cake Baker's website. Honestly, we were EXTREMELY happy with the Wedding Cake itself, but the Anniversary Cake was bad enough that I don't feel I can recommend them...
Anyhoooo... It was a Very Nice Anniversary, and hubs and I exchanged Very Nice Gifts, and - honestly - it's been a pretty F**king Awesome 10-years!!!
"Who'da Thunk It?!!"
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1 comment:
Happy Anniversary, Dear! It was a lovely cake, nonetheless!
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