Wedding Cake

It's that time of year when the 'Secret Society of Wedding Cake Makers' start to line their cake tins and mould their sugar paste. The dense balls of white clammy paste are lovingly kneaded and coloured; pulled, rolled and folded into delicate blossoms and blousy divas. These creators of edible gardens silently and deftly conjure any flower or leaf the fretful bride demands.

Gone is the plainly elegant three tiered, iced fruit cake decorated with a tiny plastic wedding couple, fresh flowers and silver horseshoes. The cake is no longer an ancient symbol of fertility and prosperity to be shared with the guests- in it's place is Cakenstein. Cakes of every shape, size, height and colour. Cakes that cost as much as a car and leave the happy couple in debt for the first years of marriage. Cakes featured on daytime TV, wedding magazines and at those huge wedding fairs. The poor bride, it's just another excruciatingly difficult decision in her long list of trinkets, trimmings and other tat that she is being led to believe she needs to make her day 'special'. How about keeping it cheap and simple to avoid debt and keep the marriage special?