...is wedding cake."  -James Thurber

We don't want a gigantic 5-tier fancy-pants wedding cake.  I have tasted some delicious wedding cake in my day, but it always seems like so much of it goes to waste.  At this point it's just a little bit hard for me to rationalize spending hundreds and hundreds on something that will either be eaten or thrown away. 

So.  We are thinking that we will have a small 2-tier cake.  (bottom layer to ceremoniously cut, top to stash away in our freezer.)  For our guests, we would like to have a delicious, summery, strawberry shortcake.  This will probably be a sheet cake that will be cut and plated behind the scenes.  We're imagining this will be a less expensive approach, but who knows what kind of surprise we'll be in for when we meet with a baker!  While we both enjoy strawberry shortcake, this is also kind of a nod to my wonderful Papa, my grandfather, who has always adored this dessert above all others.  I think he'll enjoy it.

As an alternative, this also looks amazing:

Picture
via Martha.
And the fish-theme-crazed woman in me is in love with this beauty:
Picture
found on theknot.