A couple of weeks ago a customer came into the bakery with the most beautiful vintage wedding photo I had ever seen (other than that of my own parents of course). She was asking that we put the image in edible form on the cake for her parents 50th wedding anniversary. These kinds of cakes are actually very rare since the divorce rate is quite high these days, and not to sound morbid but due to our current lifestyles so are the death rates. As a manager I get stuck being the 'face of the bakery' and often times doing a lot of paper work, but this cake I had to do myself. I couldn't pass this one up. When the day came to make it I was actually really nervous about it. The daughter of the couple was very sweet and gave me complete reign on whatever I thought would look good. She was maybe hoping we could recreate some of the flowers in her bouquet. The cake size they were getting was rather small, and I wanted to keep the photo the main focus. So I used some gold accents since it is the official color of the 50th wedding anniversary and only had enough room to fit just a few flowers around the picture.
That afternoon a small older lady came to pick it up and when I handed it to her she fell back into her buggy and started crying. I've never seen such a reaction to a cake before. I looked at her closely and asked 'Is this you?!' she replied 'Yes it is. I haven't seen this photo in 20 years. And those buttercream flowers, they match my bouquet!' And she started crying again.
I was hoping this meant she liked it.
It took me 20 minutes to get her calmed down. Then I started crying myself. Her name was Barbara and she explained how her and her husband had been married 50 years ago on St. Patrick's Day, the luckiest day of her life. She got the man of her dreams. Now Barbara's husband has Alzheimer’s, but their love from their wedding day is still there.
She hugged and kissed me and thanked me a thousand times for making it so special. What an honor to create the centerpiece for such a magical day. But let's be honest, the centerpiece was this outstanding couple.
Barbara let me take a picture of her with the cake so I could keep that memory with me forever. I've made a ton of cakes in my years as a decorator, but that by far was my absolute favorite. Though very simple in design, it's meaning meant so much.
She came back in today to see me, still raving over the cake and she showed me all of the pictures from the party. Her husband looked so happy, and she looked radiant. I've never seen such a handsome couple. And have never been so proud to be apart of something so special. So here's to you Mr. and Mrs. Benny, and many more years of wedded bliss!
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