Let them eat cake

Of all the wedding traditions, for me, the most iconic is the cake.
It may be that I have cake on the brain because tomorrow is my birthday and I am setting out to make myself (and my friends and family) a 6 layer neopolitan (chocolate, strawberry and vanilla) cake, but really, what else says wedding like a stacked, sweet confection, possibly topped with a cute couple or kissing doves/swans? I love the symbolism: something sweet to start your new life with, and the ideas around the cake standing for fertility isn't so bad either. (though we aren't there yet!)

I have toyed with bucking tradition in a few areas of our upcoming wedding, but when it comes to the cake, I am just too attracted to traditional wedding cakes to stray very far. One thing that kills me though, is the price of wedding cakes. Like everything else wedding related, the W-word increases the price astronomically. We have decided to splurge on an incredible cake stand by Clara French Ceramiques and save on the cake by having my lovely Aunty April co-bake it with me. We are both skilled bakers and since there is zero interest in anything complex (like covering it with fondant!) she and I feel quite confident we can pull it off. As for the cake stand, have you ever seen anything so beautiful? We are getting the "flora" pattern in white with black accents. I think it will make a beautiful keepsake/heirloom and I'd rather spend the $ on an artisan's ceramics than on cake that will just be eaten, or worse yet, tossed out.