Early on in our planning, Mr. Waterfall and I entertained the notion of having a cupcake tower instead of cake, but I'm so glad that we opted for a traditional cake instead! Our cake was hands-down the most amazing, gorgeous, fabulous cake I've ever seen. We found Sweet Couture at the Elegant Wedding Bridal Show held at our venue a few months before the wedding, and were instantly smitten with Claudine's gorgeous cakes. She specializes in intricate designs, and worked with me to come up with a five-tier, Marie-Antoinette inspired creation that surpassed even my wildest expectations.
Photo by BM Green Eyes
The best part? Claudine was just starting out at the time, so I feel like we got a great deal on our cake. She could have charged us so much more, given the intricacy of certain design elements, but she was just as excited about the cake as we were! In fact, it was so beautiful that our guests kept asking if it was a) real and b) completely edible. The answer, of course, was a resounding YES. Every single decoration on our cake was completely, 100% edible, minus our adorable cake topper, of course.
Our lovely cake topper from Laduree/ Guest picture
After my sweet dance with my father, it was time to cut the cake! Our package included a sweets table, but not a desert, so Mr. Waterfall and I decided to serve our wedding cake as the main desert as a way to cut down on costs. As a result, our DJ and coordinator suggested that we cut the cake right after the first course to allow the kitchen enough time to cut and plate everything while dinner was still being served.
Our MC announced the cake-cutting, and the DJ started playing "Sweet Caroline" by Glee.
We took our places and began to cut the cake, using the cake-cutting set MIL Waterfall gave us at my shower. I don't know what we expected, but it was surprisingly hard to cut through the fondant. To be honest, the whole cake-cutting experience is kind of extremely awkward. Everyone crowds around and takes a million pictures as the bride and groom cut the cake and feed it to each other? Weird. Then again, so are most wedding traditions. The knife was barely making a dent in the cake, and I felt like we were failing at putting on a proper cake-cutting performance, so I kept saying things like: "Go harder!" and "You're not going deep enough", to which somebody replied with "That's what she said!" Yup. Good times.
After we finally managed to cut a sliver of cake, we proceeded to lovingly feed it to each other in typical newly-wed fashion.
Throughout our engagement, my dad kept telling Mr. Waterfall that he should smash some cake on my face because it would be hilarious. Thankfully, Mr. W knows what's up! We discussed our cake strategy beforehand and agreed to forego any and all cake smashing. Apparently, Mr. Waterfall actually tried to fake me out before feeding me a bite, but I didn't even see it while it was going down. Can you blame me? I was STARVING! See the cake. Be the cake.
The verdict: DELICIOUS!
After our ceremonial first bite, the staff wheeled the cake away, never to be seen again. Guests were offered three different flavours: chocolate with chocolate ganache, lemon cake with raspberry filling, and dulce de leche, as a nod to my Cuban heritage. Since our cake was our main desert, we made sure that we had at least one slice per guest, even though we knew not everyone eats the wedding cake. That being said, our guests LOVED our cake. So many guests actually said this was by far the best wedding cake they ever tasted, and we got so many compliments on how moist and tasty it was!
Chocolate with chocolate ganache/ Guest photo
Sadly, the only cake we had was the ceremonial bite. By the time the cake was served, we were either visiting guests or out on the dance floor, and didn't give another thought to the cake until we were back at our hotel, starving. My parents took home the leftover cake, and we were really excited to have some the day after the wedding. Unfortunately, by the time we finally made it to my parents', the leftovers had long been devoured by them and the dozens of guests staying at their house. True (and very sad) story. Thankfully, they froze the top layer for us to eat on our first anniversary, let's hope it doesn't taste disastrous!
Around midnight, the Sweets table was set up in the Peacock Alley, where Cocktail Hour had been. And it was beyond amazing! I'm going into a full-blown sugar coma just looking at these pictures! Seriously, I die.
Left: Cake pops/ Right: Mini chocolate and raspberry mousse shooters, Mini cupcakes
Left to right: Mirror of Fresh fruit/ Mini tiramusi en verinnes/ Mini creme brulée/ Mini ricotta canolis/ Mini fruit tarts/ Mini chocolate and raspberry mousse shooters
As a rule, Cubans have a serious sweet tooth. Needless to say, our guests devoured these deserts, and all the sugar made a perfect midnight snack (or rather, feast) to fuel many more hours of dancing! Even despite this, there was plenty of leftovers, which MIL Waterfall and Lil Waterfall were very excited to take home. Can you blame them?
All photos courtesy of the amazing Bachmann Photography unless otherwise specified Miss a recap?
I've already mentioned that my dad and I share a special bond, so we were both really looking forward to the traditional father-daughter moments, like him walking me down the aisle. A few months before the wedding, my dad told me how excited he was to speak at the wedding. My mom is really shy and hates speaking in public, so she let my dad do his thing while she looked on proudly.
Hello everyone. Thanks for being here and sharing this important moment with me and my wife and our family. October XX 1985 was one of the happiest days of my life; it was the birth of our beloved Mrs Waterfall. From that day, a lifetime contract started and there is no possibility of resiliation whatsoever!
I love that my dad threw in some legal humor for me!
We have always tried to teach our daughter what is good in this world and I think we succeeded. She has grown into this beautiful woman that she is today, making us so proud of her. You know your mom and I love you really deeply... So much! And we wish you lifelong happiness with Mr. Waterfall. Let me tell you a story: that guy is a smart one. When he started dating my daughter ten and a half years ago...I don't know how, he found out to do things the Cuban way... So, he met with me in our den at our house to ask for my permission to date my daughter! How cool is that?
At that very same moment, we adopted him, so he's been a part of our family ever since, and we love him very much. Mr. Waterfall, you know that. So, we really wish you a lot of happiness in the new life that you're starting together. This love foundation that you have is really the beginning of everything. Love conquers all and I really think that you will conquer everything.
A little side note though. This was a really hard year for all of us. I don't want to go into a lot of detail but unfortunately, fate hit us very hard this year and our lovely Mrs. Waterfall was very sick. We are so proud that she met Mr. Waterfall because he was there all the time and it was really a hard test for him; but he really aced the test. We wish you all the best, my love to both of you.
After dinner, it was time for our father-daughter dance. My dad had been dreaming about waltzing with me at my quinceanera since I was a baby, but since I never ended up having one, we never got to have our dance. For this reason, I really wanted the father-daughter dance at the wedding to be special. I asked Mr. Waterfall if he wanted to dance with his mom, and he didn't, so I set out to look for a perfect song that was all about the special bond between a dad and his daughter. Surprisingly, this wasn't easy because I didn't want something that was overdone. My dad suggested Butterfly Kisses, and while it's a lovely song, I kind of wanted something a bit more unique (and a lot less country). Meanwhile, my grandmother was pushing hard for a song in Spanish, which significantly narrowed down our choices. I finally found Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman, and I knew it would be perfect for us. My dad actually taught me how to dance when I was a little girl, and we always watched Disney movies together, so the lyrics really hit close to home. We didn't even practice once, but I thought we did a fabulous job, even though my poor dad was so scared of stepping on my dress. I pretty much cried through the entire thing! Feel free to listen along. You might want to get your tissues ready.
She spins and she sways
To whatever song plays
Without a care in the world
And I'm sitting here wearing
The weight of the world on my shoulders
It's been a long day
And there's still work to do
She's pulling at me
Saying "Dad, I need you
There's a ball at the castle And I've been invited And I need to practice my dancing Oh, please, Daddy, please?"
So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone...
She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress
She says, "Dad, the prom is just one week away
And I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"
So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
Well, she came home today with a ring on her hand
Just glowing and telling us all they had planned
She says, "Dad, the wedding's still six months away
But I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"
So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
At this point, my dad started spinning me around and around, like he used to when I was little, and my dress picked up and started spinning too and everyone started going crazy.There wasn't a dry eye in the house! Even Mr. Waterfall said he cried a little bit!
We had initially told the DJ to stop the song at the halfway point, but I guess he decided to play the whole thing because everyone was seemed to be enjoying it so much!
When the music finally stopped, I caught a glimpse of my grandfather, and he was sobbing in his chair. I don't think I'd ever seen my grandpa cry before, so naturally, I lost it too. I'm so thankful that my photographers captured the moment! The video is also really priceless if you'd like to check it out!
I know we're not professional ballroom dancers or anything like that, but dancing with my dad at my wedding is definitely one of my favorite moments from the day, and a memory that I will cherish for as long as I live. What song did you choose for your father-daughter dance?
All photos courtesy of the amazing Bachmann Photography unless otherwise specified Miss a recap?
You know that episode of How I Met Your Mother? You know, the one where Marshall and Lily get married, except they're not able eat any food at their reception and Lily gets totally bombed? Yeah, that one. Well, when Mr. Waterfall and I first saw that episode, we swore up and down that that would never be us. No, we were better than that! We would eat at our wedding, and it would be glorious. So we put a lot of time and effort into choosing a menu that everybody would enjoy, especially us. And then we didn't eat... I don't know how or when, but at some point during wedding planning, we decided that receiving lines were tacky and we hated them.
image via degrassi.wikia.com
So, like many other couples, we decided to skip the receiving line and greet every table during dinner instead. Of course, what I now realize is that nobody likes receiving lines; they're merely a way for the bride and groom to greet every guest without having to spend the night table-hopping. I really wish I had read Mrs. Palm Tree's post about visiting every table before my wedding -- it would have saved me so much heartache. You see, we became obsessed with visiting every table, and not only did we fail --we actually missed out on eating at our wedding, the one thing we swore we wouldn't do. Before we go on, let's take a look at the menu, shall we? While our photographers didn't take any pictures of the food, our awesome guests sure did! FIRST COURSE:
Grilled chicken breast pesto in a Genovesesauce, with garlic duchess potatoes, grilled peppers and a bouquet of asparagus
or
Guest Photo
La Bavette de Boeuf (Flank steak), with bordelaise sauce, garlic duchess potatoes, grilled peppers and a bouquet of asparagus
or
Eggplant Parmiggiana (Vegetarian Option, not pictured)
DESSERT:
Wedding cake served on a mirror of strawberry coulis and fresh fruits
Our plan was to eat quickly and visit tables in between courses. What we didn't anticipate is that guests are generally very excited to see the bride and groom (duh!). Once the first few guests came up to say hi, chitchat, and take pictures with us, the floodgates were open and everyone wanted in on the action. I'm pretty sure a makeshift receiving line actually formed in front of our sweetheart table at one point.
Note my appetizer sitting on my plate/ Guest photo
We also didn't anticipate how much people would dance in between courses, since the dance floor was already opened. We showed up at some tables, only to find that half the guests were out shaking their bom-boms. Because of this, we ended up greeting some guests twice, and missing some people entirely.
Couldn't miss these guys!
BF Blue Eyes, Mr. Waterfall and BM Green Eyes/ Photo by BM Tiny
MOH Long Legs, Honorary Bridesman/ BBF J, Mrs. Waterfall, Mommy Long Legs (don't they look alike?)/ Guest photo
My first piece of advice is this: eat when you can, where you can:whenever, wherever, people! I started my day off with an amazing bridal brunch, filled with chocolate. However, by the time we finished taking pictures and finally started dinner, it had been over ten hours since we'd eaten anything. Thankfully, BM Green Eyes was wise enough to stuff my face with appetizers while my dress was being bustled, or people would have had one hangry bride on their hands! My second piece of advice would be not to schedule anything during courses. Since we wanted to visit tables in between courses, we had a few speeches during the meal, and nobody wants photos taken with food in their teeth, so...we didn't eat. At least, we made up for it by taking advantage of the Martini bar.
Interrupted once more... Observe how longingly I'm staring at my salad / guest photo
My last piece of advice would be to arrange for a doggy bag. By the time we got back to our hotel at 4 a.m. we were starving! I really wish I had thought to ask our venue coordinator or caterer to pack us up something to eat back at our room. To this day, we're so sad that we didn't get to enjoy all the yummy food. Actually, I had one bite of my steak, which was enough to taste it... and get brown sauce all down the front of my gown... Which brings me to my last piece of advice: stick to white food, especially if you're accident prone like yours truly. Thankfully, I had packed stain remover in my emergency kit, and we got the stain out in a second!
A tender moment between Mr. Waterfall and Lil Waterfall. Also tender was my steak, which sadly, remained uneaten.
Married ladies, did you eat at your wedding? For those that are planning, are you doing a receiving line? Next up, my dad gives a heartfelt speech and we cut the cake.
All photos courtesy of the amazing Bachmann Photography unless otherwise specified
After we finally managed to cut a sliver of cake, we proceeded to lovingly feed it to each other in typical newly-wed fashion.
