Let them eat cake

By By Leada Gore, Editor
I grew up surrounded by wedding cakes.
My grandmother owns a catering company in Birmingham and for more than 30 years, she’s had hundreds of brides come through her shop. Sometimes, she’s catered the same bride’s second wedding. And third. And fourth. I guess if you find someone that works, you stick with them.
Through the years, she’s had some odd weddings. There’s always the bride who insists on getting married outside even with 100 percent chance of rain. One such bride then yelled and screamed that her cake had pock-marks in it, something that’s generally caused when rain hits icing. Or the bride who married in the McDonald’s playground because that was where the couple met. I don’t know if she served McNuggets as an appetizer, but I hope the cake at least had Ronald McDonald on top.
Once there was a bride who ordered a combination wedding/baby shower cake, killing, I guess, the proverbial two birds with one stone. And then there was the shy mother who came in, placed her cake order, and then asked if they could have two grooms on top. Unflappable, my grandmother smiled, said sure and moved on, much to the lady’s obvious relief.
Ask anyone who deals with brides and they will tell you they can often be high strung and difficult. They are under a lot of pressure and, barraged with a myriad of questions, often tend to snap at the closest person. Through the years that I worked at the catering business, we all dealt with more than our fair share of those.
Once we had a lady who ordered an entirely pink wedding cake (it looked like it had been dipped in Pepto Bismol). She even provided a picture of exactly what she wanted. When she came to pick up the cake, she started yelling and screaming, saying she wanted “pink but not that pink.” We showed her the photo, complete with pink icing exactly like what was on her cake.
Not knowing what to do, I went back to get my grandmother. She walked up front and told the high-strung bride that if she didn’t want the cake, she didn’t have to take it. Then my grandmother turned around and went back to the kitchen. Not getting the reaction she wanted, the bride decided she’d take her cake and then, after the wedding, sent a thank you note saying how much everyone loved it.
I learned a lot from that encounter. I learned someone can’t get you upset unless you let them. And I learned Pepto Bismol and wedding cakes aren’t a good combination.