A while back, one of my family members asked if her grandmother would bake her wedding cake, and asked her grandfather (on the other side) to ice/frost it. Both were happy to be asked, and very willing. She had put together clear instructions of what she wanted on it, and had a charming little topper made. The cake was prepared and delivered as expected - not to a perfect professional standard, but everyone admired it, and the grandparents were well applauded for their work.
Fast forward a few years to a (M, 20-something) cousin's wedding. He asked if the same grandfather would bake and decorate his wedding cake - this one 3 rather than 2 tiers. No instructions were given, no design ideas or inspiration, so upon discussion with my family, he decided on a simple art-deco stained glass-style design, with the characteristic black lines and coloured flowers on a white background. This was chosen as simple and elegant, with connections to my cousin's background. The idea was checked with the cousin, who seemed happy with it. The grandfather set to work, baking, buying icing supplies, designing, practising until he was happy with the final piece. And all was well.
Until the week of the wedding.
A few days before the wedding, the cake was delivered to the bride and groom, in perfect condition - again, maybe the lines weren't perfectly smooth, but it was a very good piece of cake artistry for an amateur. And yet... it did not meet the bride's approval.
The bride went to find a last-minute cake decorator to strip the icing from the cake entirely - hours of preparation, meticulous line work and hand-painting by the groom's own grandfather - and had it re-iced in some white fondant with minimalist white squiggles.
All that work and thoughtful care gone in an afternoon.
Come the wedding, who can fault us if we were a little frosty towards this woman who had so unkindly spurned a requested gift? The wedding was just some soulless insta-vision in bland colours and forgettable decor, the most generic wedding-catalogue copy-paste you can imagine, and with the grandfather's hastily covered up artistry at the center, obvious and unmentioned. The grandfather was stoic throughout, smiled for the couple, congratulated them - but never again did he pick up an icing bag.
Fast forward a few years to a (M, 20-something) cousin's wedding. He asked if the same grandfather would bake and decorate his wedding cake - this one 3 rather than 2 tiers. No instructions were given, no design ideas or inspiration, so upon discussion with my family, he decided on a simple art-deco stained glass-style design, with the characteristic black lines and coloured flowers on a white background. This was chosen as simple and elegant, with connections to my cousin's background. The idea was checked with the cousin, who seemed happy with it. The grandfather set to work, baking, buying icing supplies, designing, practising until he was happy with the final piece. And all was well.
Until the week of the wedding.
A few days before the wedding, the cake was delivered to the bride and groom, in perfect condition - again, maybe the lines weren't perfectly smooth, but it was a very good piece of cake artistry for an amateur. And yet... it did not meet the bride's approval.
The bride went to find a last-minute cake decorator to strip the icing from the cake entirely - hours of preparation, meticulous line work and hand-painting by the groom's own grandfather - and had it re-iced in some white fondant with minimalist white squiggles.
All that work and thoughtful care gone in an afternoon.
Come the wedding, who can fault us if we were a little frosty towards this woman who had so unkindly spurned a requested gift? The wedding was just some soulless insta-vision in bland colours and forgettable decor, the most generic wedding-catalogue copy-paste you can imagine, and with the grandfather's hastily covered up artistry at the center, obvious and unmentioned. The grandfather was stoic throughout, smiled for the couple, congratulated them - but never again did he pick up an icing bag.