Veggie patch

I mentioned the other day how excited (and shocked) I am that my plants are not dead. Woohoo! Well, I have more vegetal excitement today:

These fondant and gumpaste veggies from Angee of wonderworks are true works of art. Seriously, they are amazing... look at the color detail! I honestly think they're my favorite wedding-thing so far. She wrapped them beautifully so they didn't get damaged or melt in shipping, which is amazing for mid-July. Angee even sent two "tasters" (one little piece of fondant, one of gumpaste - Tim and I both like the gumpaste more, to my surprise) so I can hold onto all the veggies as keepsakes. In a combination of excitement, boredom, and a penchant for the absurd, I created this on the kitchen window ledge:

The elephant is a little engagement gift from my mom that I can put rings on when washing dishes... Tim thought the idea of me doing dishes was pretty funny :-P ; the pig is a brass "love pig" my parents gave me on my 13th birthday (I think it's from Scotland, but I can't find anything relevant on the Interwebs); and the rubber animals were used to decorate a present Tim gave me a few years ago. His comment when I made him come into the kitchen to see it: "You're on drugs."

The edible sculptures are also the perfect size to embellish the cupcakes my mom experimented with the other day:

She's freezing them for a few days to see how they hold up (should be fine) - she's coming into town the Monday before our Sunday wedding, and I think we'll probably make the cupcakes Thursday or Friday, depending on how they hold up in her trial run. She's also hunting for more silicone baking cups like the one in the forefront of the picture. Unfortunately, because Crate & Barrel is so good about constantly changing up their inventory, they no longer have the "flower baking cups!" We've checked outlets, eBay, all that, and no luck. But she said she found some cute bundt-like cups at another store, so I think we'll do half-and-half. That'll look pretty freakin' adorable when the veggies/mini cakes are all lined up like a garden patch - some variety will be nice.

source - I fear that if I photograph my own "garden," it will disappear in a puff of smoke.

What do you think of how the cake idea is shaping up? I wish you could taste the beet cake, because I think it could be stuck to the pan and burned and still taste ridiculously good.

Oh, and by the way - I emailed Chrissy with pictures and asked what she thought of my dress issue. She was totally on the page with me, which is great - it's always hard when you have some kind of criticism of an artist's work, but she is so gracious and understanding. I told her that if it's easier, she could send some fabric to me and I could find someone local to take care of it. She thought it was a good idea, so I think I'll go to the woman in Milwaukee my MoH, Melissa, always goes to. I'll update after I'm there next week!