Weddingbee Blog

Let’s take a little wedding detour so I can share the funniest wedding story I have. Since I’ve already fessed up about my checkered past, I’ll set the stage by telling you this happened at my first wedding. Yes, to me. So sit back, put your feet up, close your eyes, and join me in the past.

I was 21 and marrying my college sweetheart. Sure, a few things had gone wrong on that day, but honestly nothing big. The ceremony was over, the receiving line was over, and the formal pictures in the church were over. We were en route to our reception hall. (PS: This is an irrelevant detail, but my parents got lost. It’s kinda funny, but not as funny as what’s to come.)

So everyone was introduced into the reception, and we made our grand entrace, which led directly to our first dance. During the first dance, I leaned over and whispered lovingly in my new husband’s ear…“That’s not our cake.” We turned so he could see it. Neither one of us knew what to say, so we finished the dance and took our seats at the head table.

A few minutes later, my new MIL came over to talk to us. She was looking nervously in the direction of the cake table. She made small talk for a few seconds before I told her. “It’s OK, but that’s not my cake.” She was appalled. Horrified even. She left immediately to call the bakery.

Then my mother came over wanting to know where the MIL had gone. I was cool as a cuke, my dears, when I told her sweetly and brightly that it was not my cake over there. She looked confused. I told her MIL was off calling the bakery because that wasn’t my cake.

Now, let me tell you about the cake I ordered. It was a lovely three-tiered beauty with smooth buttercream icing and delicate sprays of wildflowers cascading down the sides. It was even a picture in the bakery’s photo gallery book. I pointed to it in the shop and said “Just like this!” when I ordered it. And then I picked up a generic plastic bride and groom couple for the top of the cake. It was perfect.

However, what was sitting on the cake table was this:

That was NOT. MY. CAKE. But I didn’t yell. I didn’t freak out. I didn’t even alert anyone else to the issue. I was sure they were going to find my cake and switch everything up before the cake-cutting time arrived. That was when my MIL scurried back to the head table. “They said it’s your cake.” I just looked at her. “No it’s not. That’s certainly not what I ordered.” She nodded. “Yes. They said they upgraded the topper as a wedding present, and they thought the red, white, and blue flowers would be nice.”

I blinked stupidly at her and then looked again at the cake. My mother rushed back over and received a recap of the conversation. Everyone watched me nervously, like I was going to explode.

And then I laughed. I mean, I had to. Just look at that cake! The two mothers were still eyeing me cautiously while I giggled some more. Finally, I caught my breath and informed them, “This is not a problem. World peace is a problem.” And I got up from the table, enlisted a couple staff members to help me, and we turned the cake around so the plain white back side was showing. Then I took off the creepy little children topper and nodded. I went back to my seat and proclaimed “There! It’s fixed!” My mother laughed, and laughed, and laughed. His mother edged away from the table slowly. And the reception went on as planned.

Years later, my mother’s coworkers would take this picture and have it printed on a mug for her. The other side of the mug said, “This is not a problem. World peace is a problem.” My mother loved that darn mug, too.

All of this is to say that even seriously ugly disasters do not have to ruin a day. And whatever goes wrong on the day Mr. Lox and I celebrate our new lives together, I will just think of this cake and let it roll.

Tell me, what is the biggest wedding disaster you’ve ever witnessed? And tell the truth—didn’t that cake make you laugh?

Pictures in this post are courtesy of moi.