The Wedding

Well, The McLaughlin Family got it's official start last Saturday on May 10! Mark and I were married on the Oregon coast in Bandon. We rented a beach house with an amazing view of the ocean and celebrated with immediate family only. Even though we had a small, simple wedding there were plenty of details that needed attending to. My mom took care of most of them (thank you mom!!!), but a few were my responsibility, i.e. the cake, the flowers, my dress, Mark's suit, etc. For these were the details that needed the bride's full attention! I must admit that I am a detail person. I pay very close attention to details as I believe that even the smallest details can make or break a look. Therefore, I took ample time to make arrangements and discuss details with all the necessary vendors who would play a large role in making our wedding memorable.

Mark, Ryan, and I left for Bandon last Friday afternoon when the work day was over. However, there were a few stops to make before we left for the coast. I was already feeling overwhelmed and anxious, so I went home to pack and load the car while Mark ran the errands and picked up his suit, the flowers, and the cake. Everything was going well until Mark showed up with the flowers. Keep in mind these flowers came from a professional florist and cost quite a bit of money. I had only ordered a bouquet of white calla lilies, a boutonniere, and a simple cake top consisting of nothing but miniature white roses. These flowers were the ugliest, most unprofessional looking arrangements I had ever seen!!! My lilies weren't even open! I kid you not, they looked like stalks of celery. The cake top did have miniature white roses as ordered, however, it also had greenery, a lot of ugly greenery (it looked like Christmas tree branches), and it also had a lily sticking out of the top. So, while I had a mini-meltdown, Mark and Ryan went to pick up the cake. My mini-meltdown consisted of some tears and frustration. I immediately called Mom, who was already in Bandon, and unleashed. She of course thought I was over reacting but flew into "SuperMom" mode and went to a florist in Bandon. She bought me a brand new bouquet of open calla lilies (imagine that) and did her best to calm me down. By the time I got off the phone with her, Mark and Ryan had returned with the cake...

Where do I even begin describing this cake? Let me give you some background information first. I mentioned earlier that I tend to pay close attention to details. Naturally, for my own wedding, details were of the highest priority. I had met with Nancy (the cake designer) after winning her drawing for a free cake at the Bridal Fair in January. Now, I know you might be thinking to yourself, "Emily, haven't heard that saying, 'You get what you pay for'?" The answer is yes, I have heard that saying, which is why I met with her at her business, sampled her cakes, and previewed her photos of cakes that she had designed. I left feeling very impressed with her work and she even let me take some miniature cakes home to eat. I felt so lucky to be the winner of her drawing! When I met with her, I discussed the color of the cake. I didn't want plain white, since I knew I wanted white flowers on top. My dress was a champagne (ivory) color and Mark's vest/tie were scheduled to match my dress. So, my brilliant thinking led me to the decision to have the cake that same color. Details, right? So I took a sample of material to ask if this simple feat could be accomplished. To my delight, it could be! Not only could it be accomplished, but I was assured that it could be accomplished with ease.

So, while I'm panicking over the hideous flower arrangements I had been given, my mind had not been worried about the cake. Mark and Ryan came home with it boxed up ready for travel, and the car was loaded. We were off to the coast to get married the next day! Our wedding was finally here! Curiosity got to me, and I peeked at the cake before we left. To my astonishment and horror, the cake was not the color we had discussed! (I bet you couldn't have predicted that, could you?) This cake was not only a tad lopsided but it was a pinkish-orange color. At this point, there was NOTHING that could be done. We got in the overloaded car and left for the coast. Upon seeing the peach nightmare (also known as my cake) I teared up again, but started laughing. Things were almost comical at this point...As you can see from the picture of our cake, we did not use the Christmas tree looking cake top. "SuperMom" came to the rescue again, and pulled the whole thing apart, making her own arrangement cascading down the cake. It looked as beautiful as we were able to make it. Needless to say, the cake became a source of humor during the wedding and I reminded our photographer that any pictures we'd be ordering of the cake would be in black and white.

I should mention all of the things about our wedding that went well as to balance the message of this post. However, the things that went well aren't as amusing to read. The ceremony itself was absolutely stunning. Mark looked handsome in his suit, and I didn't look too bad either. The food was delicious and Mom's efforts for making the whole day special were acknowledged. She also acknowledged that the flowers I brought with me were in fact hideous, and felt that I had not over reacted! The house was beautiful and all went smoothly on the day of the wedding. So now the big day has come and gone. We can laugh about the wedding snafus and begin to celebrate our marriage; we have officially started Family McLaughlin.