Cake Rage
On some level I suppose it would have been considered a masterpiece. We stood back and gazed upon the buttercream miracle that we had just manifested with only seconds to spare.
The day started as any other Saturday in the height of wedding season. The team I worked with had staged seven weddings throughout the shop to be loaded in an almost military fashion with specific boxes and bins customized to hold each bouquet perfectly in place as we made our delivery route. I remember at times thinking you couldn’t possibly shove another bloom into the van it was so full, and yet somehow we would cram another entire wedding worth of flowers inside it like some terribly stressful game of Tetris.
We had flawlessly delivered six of the seven weddings that morning with each bride feeling confident that the day was solely hers. All that stood between us and a glorious afternoon nap was one more set up.
It was honestly supposed to be the easiest one. We had already left the bouquets and such with the bridal party at the church and now we were going to drop off the centerpieces for the hotel staff to stage and pop a few flowers around the cake. That was it.
My boss dropped me off at the front desk while she parked the van and I went in to make sure that the ballroom was unlocked. I had done this at least one billion times and that staff recognized me right away.
I was directed to the proper room and as I opened the door I noticed a smudge in the carpet. I reached for the lights and immediately felt my heart drop.
The smudge on the carpet was the beginning of a trail of buttercream and cake that spanned from the dessert table to the ladies room at the back of the ball room.
Both curious and mortified I followed the sugary trail to find cake smeared all over the ladies room mirror spelling out some choice language that made it clear the artist was not pleased with the bride.
I SPRINTED to the front desk just as my boss was walking in. I’m sure they could see the utter panic in my eyes as I blurted out “HURRY WE HAVE A CAKE EMERGENCY!!!”
I led the hotel staff and my boss to the ball room and showed them the cake carnage I had discovered. There was no time to waste – this was an emergency.
The hotel staff immediately gathered what seemed like an army of housekeeping staff to frantically vacuum the buttercream out of the carpet as another crew hosed down the bathroom and polished the mirrors.
My boss worked the phones, and within minutes had a baker on site with extra cake and some buttercream.
As we assessed the damage things only seemed to get worse. Of course this bride had chosen a marble chocolate and vanilla cake. We quickly cleaned our floral knives in the kitchen and joined the baker as we sculpted a new face for the cake. We piled on the buttercream as though it were mortar and then sent another driver to the flower shop to gather anything we had left.
It felt like hours but within about forty-five minutes we had saved the day. The bride got even more flowers on her cake than she asked for and was thrilled with the way it turned out. The hotel staff pulled the groom aside and told him what had happened as no professional would dare tell a bride and ruin her special day.
We later discovered that a scorned former girlfriend had come into the hotel and channeled her rage into that poor innocent cake.
Cake rage isn’t something you see everyday as a wedding professional but I assure you it forever impacted the way I go into an event. Though duct tape may fix everything – never underestimate the power of a tub of extra buttercream.
Takeaway Tip - Ask your venue if they have good relationships with a variety of vendors. Being able to call on a network of professionals when you get in a pinch can make or break an event. And Ladies, this sort of vengeance doesn't look good on anyone. No need to waste buttercream. If he (or she) has moved on, then so should you.
Here's to Happy Ever After...
Harmony