Chandeliers and Cake Zen

Last night Jen and I attended the Indy Getting Hitched premiere party at the wedding/event venue Community Life Center at Washington Park East. While the space is beautiful on both the inside and the outside, I couldn't shake the fact that it is located right in front of a cemetery and CONNECTED to a building that holds funerals. It just seems like an ominous place to hold a wedding/reception. But if you can get past the things I've mentioned, and for the right price, even I could, then it would be the perfect venue. There are many gorgeous chandeliers that glitter and catch every bit of light in the room and would probably make for some breathtaking photos. I also loved the rich tones that occupy the space which far exceed the average "ballroom" at a convention center or hotel. It truly was a beautiful space, but then there's that cemetery...

Photo from Community Life Center

I apologize for my somewhat negative review, so let me make it up to you by telling you about an event that has probably changed my life. Within the venue, various vendors (whoa, that's a lot of 'v's) were set up with their booths. I don't like cake. I never have and probably never will. As we were browsing, Jen and I stumbled upon Cake Zen. There were some cupcakes that were very aesthetically pleasing, but I didn't try them. However, I will say that I was very tempted because words like "chili powder" and "pow!" were being used to describe them. There were also mini lime meringues in adorable little double shot glass sized glasses. I also don't like meringue. BUT this meringue was different. The second the spoon touched my palette, I almost died from excitement and content at the same time. It tasted like someone crushed a pearl, mixed it with silk, threw in a dash of magic, and dropped it on my tongue. It even shimmered as though there really were pearls in the recipe. It was, hands down, the best pie-esque, nay, dessert I have ever had the honor and privilege of enjoying. From now on, I will always compare other desserts to this one, which is extremely unfortunate for all those to come after, because I'm fairly certain nothing will compare, and now I really wish I had tried the cupcakes. Someday, when I get married, I'm giving Jama a call. Not only are her culinary skills superb, but she was sweet as can be. Cake Zen gets 1,246 thumbs up (I realize I don't have that many thumbs, but if I did, they'd all be up).

Photo from Cake Zen Blog

Jaimee

A Bite Of Tradition

Yesterday my husband Brandon & I celebrated our first wedding anniversary! It was filled with romance and flowers and birds chirping and double rainbows and of course, the traditions.

The top tier of our wedding cake has been in a box filling up half of our freezer for a year and I could not wait another moment to get it out of there! I let it thaw the day before and even put a cheap bride and groom on the top (since ours was a family antique). B and I toasted out of our toasting flutes and set up the camera to take pictures of ourselves reenacting the cutting of the cake and took an eager bite.

The result? We both immediately spit out the bite of cake into the trash can! It tasted like everything we have ever put in our freezer mixed with a hint of vanilla cake. Fearlessly I tried a piece from the center of the cake and it was actually very good!


I recently read up on the traditions of wedding cakes. I had forgotten the belief that if a single girl sleeps with a piece of wedding cake under her pillow, then she will have sweet dreams of her future spouse. What a fun treat to pass out in decorated boxes to your single gal pals at your wedding! Perhaps I will mail a piece of my cake topper to my sister.... and maybe my brother, too.

Will you be saving the top layer of your cake? This tradition seems a bit wasteful and unnecessary, but I am a sentimental nut so this was a great way to remember that amazing day!