MILdor?

Wedding lingo is quite extensive. From FI, to MOH, to STDs, you can really get lost in all of the acronyms! Recently, I have made an important addition to my bride-to-be vocabulary: friendor.

Now, from my understanding, a friendor is a friend or acquaintance who agrees to "work" at your wedding for a minimum or no fee. I plan on fully taking advantage (uhm....exploiting) the talents of my family and friends at our wedding, and will post about this in the future.

So here is a question for you: what do you call a future Mother in Law that agrees to replace an important vendor for your wedding? A MILdor? Is it just me, or does that sound too much like Frodo's destination?

I am extremely lucky to have a Mother in Law who is a wedding cake expert. She has made the wedding cakes of all the brides and grooms in her family (and the fact that she has 10 siblings makes this quite a feat!). She is not a professional baker, but her work is definitely professional.

Here are some examples:

(photo by Mr. Pudding)

A cake made by FMIL Pudding for her niece's wedding in Chicago - Summer 2009

Cake made for Mr. Pudding's uncle's wedding in New Hampshire - Summer 2006

I was thrilled when FMIL Pudding volunteered to make our cake. I was hoping that she would offer, but didn't want to pressure her into it, since it will add extra stress to an already stressful (although joyous) day. Despite this, FMIL was up to the challenge, and I was thrilled that my cake would be beautiful, full of sentimental value, and, as awful as it sounds, free!

I am envisioning something inspired by the crispness of a well tailored dress shirt. I am a major fan of the white dress shirt with an unexpected ruffle, bow, or tuck, so this aesthetic seems fitting. This is the Martha cake inspiration:


I LOVE everything about this cake. I would not change a thing. The problem? The frosting is made with gum paste and fondant. Mr. Pudding, FMIL Pudding, and I all agree that fondant is, well, not the most appetizing option for our cake. My "baker" makes fantastic butter cream and cheese cream frostings, and I want our cake to taste as good as it looks. I am hoping that she can figure out a way to replicate this cake without sacrificing flavor.....perhaps only use fondant for the bows and flourishes, and butter cream for the rest of the design? I'm not sure how easy this would be, or if it's even possible, but I sure hope that we can, as Tim Gunn would say, "make it work".

Are you having a family member bake your wedding cake?