Love is All About "We": A Surprise for My Groom

All photos below by The Wiebners unless otherwise noted. We purchased a disc of all unedited images from our wedding day, so some post-processing has been done by me for the purpose of sharing the photos with you. Click on any photo to enlarge.

After we cut the cake, we had planned to say a few words of thanks to our guests. While we didn't write anything down ahead of time, we knew that we just wanted to express to everyone how amazing it was to have them all there, in one room, supporting our relationship and celebrating with us.

I took a moment to thank those of our guests who were attending the third wedding for my immediate family in just 15 months! Brother and SIL Cupcake got married in June 2007, Momma and Stepdad Cupcake got married in February 2008, and we were celebrating our wedding day in September! It was a busy, busy 15 months for our family and close friends.

Admittedly, I had an ulterior motive for saying our words of thanks at this time... it gave the staff a few minutes to take our cake back into the kitchen for cutting, and replace it in the ballroom with a little surprise I had put together for Mr. C.

When we finished thanking our guests, the sound of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" began playing. Mr. Cupcake had no idea that I had anything planned.

Here it comes....

He sees it....

And it clicks!!

My surprise for Mr. Cupcake was a Boston Red Sox hat cake, made by the spectacular Suzy of Cakes by Suzy (whom I found thanks to Weddingbee reader and former Real Weddings subject Rebecca!).

Mr. C grew up in Central PA without a "home" sports team to admire, so he somehow became a Red Sox fan at a young age. He has since also become a Philles fan now that he lives in Philadelphia, but he'll always have a special place in his heart for the Red Sox.

Despite his love for the Sox, he had never been to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park (or even been to Boston). Last Christmas I surprised Mr. C with Red Sox tickets, and in June we took a weekend trip and experienced the magic of Fenway Park together. We always travel well together, but this trip was especially fantastic and we still talk about it constantly. During the 8th inning of every Red Sox home game, "Sweet Caroline" plays in the ballpark and everyone sings along. Considering that Mr. C also loves Neil Diamond — well, let's just say he had some happy tears in his eyes when he got to be there in person for all of this.

Obligatory "point at sign and smile" shot... we are cheesy { photo by Mrs. Cupcake }

{ photo by Mrs. Cupcake }

Mr. C's love for the Red Sox combined with the meaning behind that trip for us made this cake a no-brainer for me! I had toyed with the idea for months, and finally a few weeks before the wedding I decided I couldn't NOT do it — I contacted Suzy and went for it, and she was awesome to work with. I didn't have time for a tasting so I trusted Rebecca's recommendation that the spice cake was delicious, I sent Suzy some requests and photos for reference, and let her do her thing. It turned out even more amazing than I had hoped! (As an aside — you all know I'm obsessed with Sweet Jazmine's, but alas they do not make cakes in special shapes so they couldn't help me out with this surprise.)

Alongside the hat is a baseball, some Red Sox shoelaces, and a game ticket. The shoelaces actually have a cute story behind them: one Christmas when Mr. C was a kid, MIL Cupcake put some Red Sox shoelaces in his Christmas stocking. However, they fell to the bottom of the stocking and he never saw them, until the next year when he pulled them out and his mom exclaimed that they were from the year before! Every Christmas since then, Mr. C has pulled and out and put back the very same pair of Red Sox shoelaces in his Christmas stocking. It's a silly little tradition, but I love the sentimental meaning behind it!

The game ticket is something I laid out in Adobe InDesign and emailed to Suzy — she printed it out on fondant with edible ink (who knew?!?), and it has the date of the game that we attended.

The Groom's Cake is not really a well-known tradition in the Northeast as this seems to be more of a Southern tradition (although it seems to be a growing trend elsewhere), so I made a little sign that sat in front of the cake with a description of the tradition. I also made a sign with a photo of us at Fenway Park last June that explained the meaning of the ticket and shoelaces.

Mr. Cupcake was totally caught off-guard and LOVED the surprise! He was so excited, he couldn't stop smooching me :-)

I think my Mr. Sensitive even got a little teary-eyed (again)... imagine that ;-) Hehe.

His mom was in on the whole plan and had sent me a photo of the shoelaces so Suzy could make replicas out of fondant!

Again with the smooching... sheesh.

Perhaps my favorite part of the Groom's Cake: the paparazzi that it attracted.

I love this photo... that's my "Yup, I did this just for you!" face.

In case you're wondering, here's how the whole thing unfolded as seen on home video (and what a great transition it ended up being to get everyone back on the dance floor). Please don't mind how horribly annoying my voice sounds at the end of my little speech. I don't *think* that's what I really sound like... or is it???


How cute are my mom and her girlfriends swaying along to the music? And how funny are my mom's cousins discussing the "bah bah BAHHH" behind the camera? Another reason why I don't mind having a home video over a professional one... you just can't pay for this stuff :-)

Coming up next: let's get this dance party started (again)!

Previously in our wedding recaps:
The Eve of Our Big Day: The Rehearsal Dinner
Love is All About "We": Getting Gorgeous
Love is All About "We": The Dress!
Love is All About "We": The Guys Get Sexy
Love is All About "We": The First Look
Love is All About "We": Our Entourage
Love is All About "We": Almost Time
Love is All About "We": We Do!
Love is All About "We": Ready for Our Close-Up
Love is All About "We": Cocktails, Anyone?
Love is All About "We": Ballroom Sneak Peek
Love is All About "We": A Grand Entrance (and a First Dance)
Love is All About "We": Toasting and Twisting
Love is All About "We": Mingling, Impromptu Dancing, and Cutting the Cake!