The most exciting part of getting to New York a few days before the wedding day was that other people were starting to trickle in to the city too! We got a chance to meet up with friends and various family members here and there in the first couple of days, and this culminated in our “rehearsal dinner” on the night before the wedding.
We didn’t actually have a rehearsal, but we thought it would be a good idea to round up the immediate family and wedding party before the big day. Bek and I were running a little late, so we were the last ones to arrive - it was SO amazing to walk into a room full of everybody you love (and it obviously got us excited for the super-sized version of that experience that was going to happen the very next day).
A gift from a close friend of Bek's - Custom Cake Topper! (picture by A. Bracken)
One of the nicest moments of the dinner was when a friend presented us with a special gift. We’d had a little unpleasant run-in with a vendor on Etsy a while ago: I was trying to have a custom cake topper made for us, and the vendor wouldn’t do it because she didn’t “support same-sex marriage”. This sparked a long, drawn-out complaint process with Etsy, whom I love and was disappointed to have a bad experience with. As far as challenges of same-sex weddings go, this wasn’t so bad – but it was a sad moment nonetheless and I abandoned the cake topper idea altogether because I’d been shot-down by the artist that I knew was perfect for what I wanted. I had told our friend Gillian about this incident a while back, and she was outraged, but it never came up again. So we were so surprised when at the dinner, she stood up and told the story to everyone, and presented us with a cake-topper she’d had made by someone who specializes specifically in making them for same-sex couples! So amazing.
And I surprised Bek with an Armadillo “groom’s cake”, like in Steel Magnolias. It was the cutest little thing! He was definitely the hit of the party. Thanks to Jacy Cakes in NYC for doing an amazing job!
Red Velvet "Bleedin' Armadillo" Cake (picture by S. Pyle)
After dinner, we had both planned to spend the night hanging out with our friends separately. We didn’t want to spend the night apart, but we did want the chance to each be able to catch up with our old friends… because how often do you get a chance to have all your friends in one place? So our wedding parties each planned a little party for each of us, and after dinner we got whisked away to have some fun!
Mine involved going to the bar where Bek and I first met! And I was given the “Bridey Crocket Raccoon-Skin Bridal Hat”, which we had made for another friend’s bridal shower several years earlier. She is about to have a baby any minute now and couldn’t be at the wedding, so she sent the hat in her place! I think we officially have a tradition started.
Bridey Crocket and The Armadillo Head - My brother was especially fond of the Armadillo, and he brought its severed head out with us for the night. (picture by A. Bracken)
Bek’s evening apparently consisted of a piano bar, drag queens, and some pretty classic bachelor-party antics.
I know some people who live together still like to spend the night before their wedding apart, like stay overnight at their own parents’/friends’ homes or get sperate hotel rooms. But we couldn’t do it! I needed to snuggle the night before! I really wanted Bek to be the first person I saw when I woke up that morning, and it was so much fun to crawl into bed and get to be excited with the only other person who’s as excited as you are! WEDDING!!!
Love the cake!
I love the handmade cake toppers and the Davey Crocket cap with bleedin’ Armadillo cake is classic!
i am so jealous of that cake!
Jealous that you had that cake, not of the cake… sorry random
So fabulous – that cake! Who is the artist that specializes in cake toppers for same sex couples? I am really looking for a topper myself…
The Armadillo was amazing.
Brian, I asked our friend about the cake topper and it seems I had misunderstood – apparently she doesn’t necessarily specialize in same-sex toppers. But does delight in doing them! And she was apparently also outraged by our cake-topper descrimination and was very excited to be the person who got to make one for us… So I would happily recommend her! Nicole W Clark http://www.nicolewong.com/Home.html
A Bleeding Armadillo cake!!! I have the sound bite of that line from Steel Magnolias has been on repeat in my head since we started to get married. Alex and I are going to have a bride’s cake in California (instead of a groom’s cake), too! <3
[...] post about our wedding cupcakes, and I wrote a little something too about our experience trying to get a same-sex cake topper; so I thought for our 5 Takes Cake Week I would write a little something about Groom’s [...]