Our Wedding Cake-1976!

When my husband and I married in 1976, I honestly knew immediately that Kern’s Bakery in Longview, TX would be making our wedding cake. I suppose that there were other bakeries in my hometown, but my family only went to Kern’s and everyone person I knew went to Kern’s. If Kern’s had not been able to make another wedding cake on August 7, 1976…I probably would have changed the wedding date to another Saturday.

My history with Kern’s was long. I remember going there as a child with my mother. She would always let me get a small petit four with white glazed icing smoothly covering the top and sides of the little cake. I would always choose one with a tiny perfectly shaped pink rose on the top. I made up a rule that I couldn’t take a bite until we were almost back home and driving down our street. Years later, we would sometimes get take-out dinners from a favorite Mexican restaurant. I told our children that we couldn’t have any tortilla chips until we reached a certain place on our route home. A person who does this is either stuck on finding self-control or just downright crazy. Actually, I think that the petit fours were more important than the chips!

As our children grew up in Fort Worth, we regularly were customers at Harper’s Bluebonnet Bakery. We still go there because their petit fours are unbelievably delicious. If a wedding cake has the same taste as a bakery’s petit fours, you have a real winner for your reception. That is just my opinion…based on experience!

When I chose Kern’s to make our wedding cake, I had not one worry about the cake, the taste of the cake, the beauty of the cake. And then…the day of our wedding arrived. Early in the morning, I became totally enveloped in worry about the cake making the ride from the bakery to the reception. Would it be in one piece or ten pieces? I have mentioned in another post that I sent my maid of honor to check on the cake’s arrival. She doesn’t even remember going out there. Possibly, I turned into a micro-manager before that term was even used.

To tell the truth, Kern’s did everything just right…  especially éclairs and crème puffs in addition to the petit fours and wedding cakes. My high school was located just two or three blocks away from the bakery. The practice field was located almost across the street from the bakery. During summer practices for our drill team…The Viewettes…some of us or probably most of us would go over to Kern’s for a treat and a soft drink from a Coca-Cola machine. I am certain that this resulted in some alterations to our uniforms in September!!

So really…I would never have even considered any other  bakery for our wedding cake. When our own daughter married in Fort Worth almost two years ago, choosing the wedding cake was so different than my own experience. There are so many wonderful bakeries and different cake designs and unusual flavors. My husband and I spent the better part of a Saturday afternoon tasting cakes at an Arlington bakery. They were all delicious. We would have chosen any of those cakes.

Our daughter’s major wedding cake search marched on. Another bakery had one day a month when you could purchase slices of wedding cakes to help with the choice. My husband must have been into it big time…one day he came home with six slices for us to try. He “just happened” to be near the cake location! Finally, the choice was made and the cake was perfectly gorgeous. So much more elegant than my own wedding cake. And the cost was a lot more “elegant”…that is for sure. We found the cost of wedding cakes to be very similar at every location.

The wedding cake was chosen, the church for the wedding was chosen, the reception venue was chosen, all of the bridesmaids and groomsmen were chosen, the flower girls, the junior bridesmaids, the ring bearer were chosen, the invitations, the dinner choices. However, even the wedding cake was not the first item that was decided upon.

Before the cake…the band for the reception was booked. Music…top importance. I had my priorities mixed up, I guess. All I could think about deciding on first for our wedding was the cake. But wait! We didn’t have a band with two singers and brass instruments and guitars and a drummer! We did not have a band at all! I am thinking we need to do our wedding all over again! Even though my old bakery named Kern’s is not the same and I would have to go through that whole cake search. We would not even need to have a dinner! We just want the band!

Our daughter’s Wedding Cake- 2014! 

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