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Mrs. Perfume, DC Age and Occupation: 36, Consultant (and Part-Time Professor) Fiance's Age and Occupation: 41, Consultant Engagement Date: May 13, 2008 Wedding Date: May, 2009 Venue: The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia About Me: I'd like to think that I'm a modern day Little Edie Beale. Only not as..."talented". More realistically, I'm a foodie who can't bake; a dancer and dilettente; an art collector with a penchant for the whimsical and subversive. I live in the city and adore the country, but not much in between. I like smart design, great craftmanship and good value. Most of all, I love the new vintage aesthetic: classic, sweet, delicate, bespoke. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go for a culinary arts degree rather than a PhD; but wouldn't trade Mr. P for the world.
About Mrs. Perfume

Okay, okay, one (maybe two) more random post before the recaps…

Hello, I’m Mrs. P and I had an ugly wedding cake. Remember when I was trying to decide between the blue cake and croquembouche? Well, I should have gone with the latter.

On our last planning trip back in February, Esme (our coordinator) informed me that the resort’s pastry chef could not do the cake in my requested design after all.

The lacey details required a special mould which he did not have.

The Case of the Ugly Cake: Part 1 - Sorry We Can't Do the Cake :  wedding cake Aqua An1
What it should have looked like. Source

At first, I was not at all disappointed because I had been thinking of the croquembouche in the back of my mind.The Case of the Ugly Cake: Part 1 - Sorry We Can't Do the Cake :  wedding cake Croquem1

I should have gone with this. Source

But then I started to feel dissed. I wanted that cake more than ever now that I couldn’t have it. How ridiculous is that? Esme said they could do this cake….

The Case of the Ugly Cake: Part 1 - Sorry We Can't Do the Cake :  wedding cake Wreath06

Shoot, at the very least, I should have conceded with this. Source

No, no. I wanted the other cake. Whyyyyyyy??? I’m kicking myself now. We had tasted the lemon and raspberry filled delight and loved it. Why didn’t I just bend a little with the design? Stupid, stubborn bride brain.

Then she said another option would be an off-site baker. She said this off-site baker said she could do the cake, and it would actually be a bit cheaper at $10 a slice (rather than the $12 previously quoted). That’s not really even a good price. But whatever. Why didn’t I have any doubts? Grrr. I guess the risks were obvious. We would not be able to taste the cake given the time constraints and we were so mired in other details that we didn’t even bother asking for sample pictures of this baker’s work.

I was happy that Esme put in the effort to find someone and trusted it would be fine. Um yeah, no.

Lesson learned (okay, everyone knows this lesson), do a cake audition. Taste it, look at previous cakes done, etc. Oh yeah, and go simple if you’re in doubt. Don’t let ugly cake happen to you!!! I am so jealous of all the cake ideas I read out there. I see the simple cakes and think, Yeah, I should have done that. Less is more. Speaking of more, you’ll see it in Part 2. (Sorry.)

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38 Responses to “The Case of the Ugly Cake: Part 1 - Sorry We Can’t Do the Cake”

1 2 

1.
MsHymanRoth
Member
MsHymanRoth (message)  2,434 posts, Buzzing bee

Awwww. I’m sorry you didn’t like your cake! I’m very serious about mine … I cannot wait to see it on the wedding day.

 
2.
mmc4474
Member
mmc4474 (message)  71 posts, Worker bee

ok you hooked us! the suspense is already killing me. I had a similar experience at a bridal shower i threw for my MOH a few months ago, and I feel like every decoration was thrown off because of the ugly cake sticking out like a sore thumb. I can only imagine how I would feel if it was my WEDDING cake

 
3.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Kitten (message)  868 posts, Busy bee

Oh Mrs, Perfume, our cake was absolutely fugly. I feel your pain. Major cake disappointment. Those cake cutting pictures may not make it into our album!

 
4.
Guest Icon
Guest
nina

Although a baby shower doesn’t compare to a wedding, I was VERY shocked & disappointed with the cake we got for my sister’s shower….we planned the cake to be a focal point of the event…instead it was on a table in the far corner :-)

In our case, the baker had a fabulous portfolio, but, they were not able to produce the custom order that we wanted…they should’ve declined that particular design :-)

 
5.
Lillindy
Hostess
Lillindy (message)  7,974 posts, Bee Keeper

Ooohhh nooo, I so sorry that happened to you!

 
6.
Miss Mouse
Bee
Miss Mouse (message)  5,844 posts, Bee Keeper

I want to see your ugly cake! I’m having a crisis of cake confidence right now, but I’m just going to have to deal with it later!

 
7.
Miss Star
Bee
Miss Star (message)  2,057 posts, Buzzing bee

Oh no, that sucks! I’m so disappointed that you didn’t include the pics in this post, you tease, you! ;)

 
8.
PrettyKitty
Member
PrettyKitty (message)  505 posts, Busy bee

awww, cliffhanger! I want to see your cake! And I bet it wasn’t that ugly…I mean its not a cake FAIL is it?

 
9.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Perfume (message)  2,253 posts, Buzzing bee

Ha. When I told Mr. P that everyone was dying to see the ugly cake his response was, “It won’t disappoint.”

 
10.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Perfume (message)  2,253 posts, Buzzing bee

@PrettyKitty: Fail? Yes. Total fail. It looked like Play-do.

 
11.
Miss Labrador
Bee
Miss Labrador (message)  1,805 posts, Buzzing bee

I’m with PrettyKitty…maybe to you it was an epic fail, but to us it was okay? At least that’s what I’m hoping? But then again, if the bride’s not happy, it really doesn’t matter if anyone else is. I’m so sad for you! :(

 
12.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Cloud (message)  802 posts, Busy bee

I’m dying to see it now! And also really worried this will happen to us too!

 
13.
D.Marie
Member
D.Marie (message)  2,484 posts, Buzzing bee

I hate to hear when a couple’s cake doesnt turn out the way they wanted it. The cake is something pretty special at weddings…well to some couples and it sounds like it was something special to you so Im sorry to hear that it wasnt even the least bit pretty. But in writing this and sharing your cake mess with us…be sure to know that Im going to go with a more simple design now that i hear horror cake stories like yours. We should have to pay for someone like Martha Stewart or whoever makes her cakes and everyone else that does awesome cakes…if people are in the wedding business they should have a wide range of knowledge of designs not just some little dots on the cake and thats fine…but it does however make for a memory you wont forget and hopefully can laugh at on your 50 anniversary looking back at the cake pictures.

 
14.
D.Marie
Member
D.Marie (message)  2,484 posts, Buzzing bee

another typo by me…”Shouldnt have to pay…”

 
15.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Sunbeam (message)  545 posts, Busy bee

Oh man, I really want to see the wreck now. I’m so sorry this happened to you!

 
16.
D.Marie
Member
D.Marie (message)  2,484 posts, Buzzing bee

PS…have you seen the Friends episode for Rachel’s daughter Emma’s 1st birthday where the cake with Emma’s face on it is supposed to be a bunny and when Rachel opens it up her daughter’s face is on a cake that looks like male genitals! Rachel and Ross tried to take the cake back but I think the store was closed by the time they got there…can you imagine seeing this cake with your daughters face on it!!

 
17.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss D'orsay (message)  2,272 posts, Buzzing bee

k, I need to see your cake now - I’m on the edge of my seat! D.Marie is right… at least it wasn’t male genitalia? Though, I really do feel terrible you didn’t end up with the cake you wanted (or, it sounds like even close to what you wanted!!!). Maybe I’ll bake you a nice, simple cake whenever we meet up. <3

 
18.
ladybuglove
Member
ladybuglove (message)  740 posts, Busy bee

awww…i’m sorry to hear about the ugly cake…..maybe you can insert the pretty cake in your albums instead, and just try to forget the ugly cake was ever there. i am dying to see this ugly cake!

 
19.
His Barista
Member
His Barista (message)  5,774 posts, Bee Keeper

I need to see this cake! lol. I’d be so mad!

 
20.
Member Icon
Member
phruphru (message)  184 posts, Blushing bee

Our cake tasted amazing; it was seriously delicious. Buuuut… The cake baker was way old-school and horrified that I didn’t want piped-in rosettes on the cake and said it would be too plain. So I agreed to the rosettes. On the day of the wedding, there were so many red rosettes and neon green leaves, it was hard to see the actual cake. But it was delish and whatevs, it was the smallest part of our day. I’m sorry you were disappointed, Perf! I hope that for 10 bucks a slice it at least tasted amazing!!

 
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Mrs. Perfume
Mrs. Perfume

Mrs. Perfume, DC Age and Occupation: 36, Consultant (and Part-Time Professor) Fiance's Age and Occupation: 41, Consultant Engagement Date: May 13, 2008 Wedding Date: May, 2009 Venue: The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia About Me: I'd like to think that I'm a modern day Little Edie Beale. Only not as..."talented". More realistically, I'm a foodie who can't bake; a dancer and dilettente; an art collector with a penchant for the whimsical and subversive. I live in the city and adore the country, but not much in between. I like smart design, great craftmanship and good value. Most of all, I love the new vintage aesthetic: classic, sweet, delicate, bespoke. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go for a culinary arts degree rather than a PhD; but wouldn't trade Mr. P for the world.

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