A Sunday Kind of Love: CAKE.

I've been holding out on you, hive.  And I apologize.  Up to this point, I haven't shared any photos of either of our amazing cakes.  If you recall, we had not one, but two incredible pastry chefs making us cakes for our wedding.  The first one was gifted to us by my incredibly talented MOH. I didn't give her any specifications as to what I wanted, flavor, design or anything.  She had free reign to create something beautiful and delicious, and she did.  Our second cake was included in our wedding package from Cescaphe, and we decided to use that as our groom's cake.  Mr. Ly basically gave the caterer a list of all of the things he likes, from superheros to video games, and it was incorporated into a really intricate, airbrushed cake.  Our cakes were highlighted throughout the reception under a spotlight, in the location where the ceremony had taken place, and they received a lot of attention throughout the night.  If there was one thing that stood out when looking at our guests photos after our wedding (besides photos of us) - it was photos of the cakes!

Photos by Mike Landis Photographer, unless otherwise noted. 

Everyone taking pictures of the cakes!

Our cakes were displayed prominently in front of the fountain 

2 cakes, both incredibly crafted.

Photo by Jeffrey Fehder Photography

 The wedding cake was a 7 tier, chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream, covered in blue fondant and hand crafted sugar flowers.

Groom's Cake 

The Groom's cake was a 4 tier chocolate chip pound cake with traditional buttercream frosting, covered in fondant, and airbrushed with his favorite games, movies, cartoon characters, etc.

We cut the cake before the dessert stations were opened.  We chose to cut the cake to Weird Al's classic hit "Eat It,"  and we only cut the one cake.  Neither cake was actually served at the wedding, since there was so much dessert to be had.  A slice of each cake was placed in a bag and placed by the exit so guests could take some home with them for a sweet treat the next day!

We had agreed to NOT smash the cake, but I think we were both expecting the other one to break that promise. 

No smashing, just a sweet kiss 

Eating all the cake... we both just wanted to wipe our hands at this point (Mr. Ly is trying not to get cake on my back here) 

With our very talented MOH

 The cake was such a generous gift to receive from my best friend, and apparently we're not the only ones to think it's such a gorgeous cake.  If you're in NJ, and pick up a copy of New Jersey Bride - Fall/Winter edition - you just may see a picture of our wedding cake! How cool is that?

Personal Photo / New Jersey Bride Magazine Fall-Winter 2013

I pre-capped our recaps with a big announcement!
Recaps began with our Same Day Edit video.
I needed to get some perspective the week of the wedding.
Personally brewed beers gave our rehearsal lunch a special touch!
I spent a fantastic last day as a Miss.
I shared some gifts for my bridesmaids. 
The girls spend an easy and relaxing morning getting made up.
The guys spent the morning building a chuppah and doing guy things.

I panicked when the morning went by too fast.

We exchanged lovely notes and gifts on the wedding morning.

I put on my dress and became a Blissful Bride.

Bridal details and my "somethings" rounded out the wedding morning.

We had our not-so-private first look.

We took some silly pictures, just the two of us.

Broad Street gave us gorgeous shots, but we nearly lost some of bridal party in traffic.

The Lyres and their huge bridal party storm the art museum, Rocky style.

I shed tears of pain at our final photo stop in Olde City

The ceremony space and details took our breath away when we arrived for a quick rehearsal.

We were officially married under Jewish law when we signed our Ketubah.

Guests were seated and the bridal party got our ceremony started.

I got a little emotional for my walk down the aisle.

We did not take our eyes off each other in our traditional Jewish ceremony.

Post-ceremony photos were taken with some special gender pictures for our surprise!

Our extra-long cocktail hour was full of delicious food and drinks, and a controversial ice-sculpture.

Our ceremony space was flipped into an elegant reception space with gorgeous details.

The bridal party made their entrance to some very viral video tunes. 

We danced our first dance as husband and wife.
I was lifted (briefly) in a chair during the Hora.
Our very special guests toasted us with well wishes, love, and happiness.
The food at our reception was hands down the best wedding food ever.
Parent dances and an awkward family crowning ceremony took place while our guests ate.