My PERFECT wedding cake! (And the crazy secret behind it)

In my opinion, the cake is one of the best parts of wedding planning!!! The possibilities are endless! They can be virtually any color, any height, any shape...they can have one layer, or eight, they can be fondant, or buttercream, or filled, or.....like I said: endless! Don't even get me started on the flavors! Mmmmm. Now I am craving cake.

photo from www.theknot.com

photo from www.theknot.com

I always imagined that my cake would look somewhat like the picture on top. I always thought I would have a decent sized wedding in my hometown. But when you marry a soldier, your priorities change! I decided to move to his base and marry him here because every time he submitted a request to come home and marry me, it was denied. It was absolutely impossible to plan a wedding. So....we "eloped!" The " " are because we told people. We didn't run off in secret and come back married. I did run off...but I brought family with me! There were nine people total at our little wedding. Mom and I drove 24 hours to Paul's base, and well, there was no room in the car for a big cake! 

My Mom is amazing. Even though we had to plan a last minute, tiny little wedding (which I would NEVER trade for anything), she wanted me to have as many things as possible that traditional weddings have. She didn't want me to miss out! One of her ideas was that we should go to the commissary (on base grocery store) and order a little cake there. We would eat it after the ceremony in the hotel lobby. 

Some of you may have read this on my Facebook, but here is the story behind our cake:

We (Mom, Paul and myself) went to the bakery section of the commissary and ordered an 8 inch white cake, buttercream frosting, white cake. When the lady found out this was our wedding cake, she asked if we wanted any decorations on it. Not knowing what type of decorating an army grocery store would come up with, we just said "you can put some little white flowers on it if you want!" They said okay and gave us a receipt. Two days later, Paul and my mother-in-law Beth went to pick it up, and it was the prettiest little cake I have ever seen. It completely blew my mind, and exceeded my expectations. There was some type of whipped frosting that was designed in a lace-type detail. The flowers were gorgeous....It was just...wow.  

The best part:  it cost ten dollars. 

And being on an army base....it was tax free!

Some people pay hundreds (maybe thousands??) of dollars for a wedding cake. 

Mine cost ten! And....it was honestly the freshest and most delicious cake I have ever tasted. We ate the leftovers for three days! And guess what! Since we ordered it at the on base grocery store, if we ever want to taste it again, we can just order another cake for ten bucks!