My fiance's mother, who was flying in from overseas, had planned to make our wedding cake -- until about three weeks prior to the day, when she ultimately decided that it would be too much work. I was so afraid that we wouldn't find someone who... would be able to make our cake. I called Connie's Cakes first in my search because it was the nearest to Wayland, where we live. And I'm so happy I did!
My fiance's family is British, so we wanted a bit of British flair in the cake. We were lucky enough to talk to Pinky, who, when I explained our plan, said, "I'm the British girl! I can do that for you!" She didn't sound particularly British, so I wondered what she meant. I made an appointment to meet with her two days later.
When we arrived, I knew what she meant. A third-generation Brit, she was an avid Joe Strummer fan and had Union Jacks tatooed all over her body. I knew we were in good hands. She had made two cupcakes for us to try, which were delicious, and I explained our design (which was not complicated) and then said that we would like to be a little experimental with flavors. We wanted a heavier cake with hints of lavender and earl grey in the icing. We also wanted to do a small amount of gluten-free cupcakes for guests with special dietary needs. She was so excited (apparently she'd been trying to talk people into lavender flavoring for some time) and said, "No problem."
About a week before the day, Mary, the owner, called us to confirm what we wanted. Pinky called us again the day before to confirm pickup. She was able to get hold of some lavender extract and also crushed up some lavender and earl grey and mixed it with the icing.
We picked it up on schedule and without any problems. The cake only had to be stored in an air conditioned room, so we didn't even have to make any additional fridge space.
And then the reception arrived. We were the first to try the cake, and it was exactly as amazing as we'd hoped. The flavors were a hit with our guests, and my new mother-in-law (who was supposed to have made our cake) had two pieces and said it was better than anything she could've made. We ordered a three-tiered cake (10", 8", 6") and it was ALL gone by the end of the night. Our gluten-free guests were happy with the cupcakes (which ended up being carrot cake), and even the non-gluten-free guests liked them!
The price for all of this was EXTREMELY reasonable compared to other local bakeries. Especially for a last-minute request.
Thanks, Pinky, Mary and the rest of the crew, for your hard work and for turning our idea into delicious reality!