The tiles came with cards, blessings for a happy life together, beautiful gifts and sweet little notes. They were plastered with“ do not bend!” and packaged with more bubble wrap, tissue paper and cardboard than you could imagine. There is a standing joke about me and marshmallows so Kara Andretta secretly messaged everyone suggesting marshmallows as a perfect form of packaging. I have eaten more marshmallows in the last few months than I would care to admit. Receiving those packages was just amazing. There were many tears of gratitude, and it was completely overwhelming in the best possible way.
The flowers that the girls had made started arriving too and they were incredible- the detail, the colour, the tiny little buds and leaves. They were perfect and I couldn’ t stop staring at them; I couldn’ t believe they were for us. I arranged the flowers in styrofoam dummies so we could easily see what colours were missing from the palette, and Robin Apted continued to make beautiful flowers in different hues to fill in the gaps.
here at my place for the local girls( and I know that some of the girls overseas got together and did the same) and we all had a ball. Between the laughs and love in the group and having the girls over in person it made the lead up to the wedding all the more special. I felt like I had 75 bridesmaids and that I was the luckiest girl on the planet.
When I put the cake together I was floored at how well everyone’ s tiles worked together. Some were a little darker or lighter or different in hue but that made it all the more perfect. They tied in together and yet were unique to themselves. It was everything I had imagined and I was ridiculously proud of the girls( and guy!) that made it happen. Even our two children Liam and Maiya painted tiles for the back of
lucky I am to have discovered cakes and these wonderful people along with it. Thank you so much to everyone involved, I will never be able to express what it meant to Az and I.
As the time drew nearer and a few people couldn’ t do tiles due to unforeseen circumstances I had heaps of friends putting up their hands to do more. Jacki Fanto painted over 10 tiles for the finished cake. I am so grateful to everyone who not just put their hand up to do tiles but offered to do extras to make sure the cake would be complete. We had tile painting parties the cake and my husband-to-be made the beautiful navy stand seen in the pictures. I was lucky enough to have Robin here for the wedding to help me arrange the last batch of tiles, the flowers and put finishing touches to the cake. It was the first time I had met her in person, and it was such a beautiful thing to be able to do together.
Our friends and family were amazed by the cake on the day- the sheer beauty of it as well as the story behind it. I just looked at the cake and felt nothing but love and awe for the people that had made it for me. It was everything I had imagined and the best gift anyone has ever given me. It has cemented friendships and reaffirmed just how