The Big Scary Cake

So this past weekend, my little sister Ashley got married and she had asked me (read: told me) to make her wedding cake for her. Now, I like to cook and decorate cakes, but a wedding cake is different. It's huge, fancy, and presented in front of potentially hundreds of people. I was terrified of making this beast. I baked all of the cakes, made all the frosting, fillings, and fondant and got ready to tackle this. She requested a three-tier cake--bottom layer was lemon, middle was chocolate, and top layer was white with a cheesecake layer inside. All of this was to be covered with fondant. At first, she wanted white and navy blue designs on all the tiers. I talked her down to a simple white cake with white designs on it. Now, I was feeling better, but then I stacked the layers together and the bottom tier was HUGE--6 inches tall, 14 inches across, and about 30 pounds. Scared again. So I continued this stressed, scared, worries cycle all throughout the construction of this beast. I finished it about 30 minutes into the reception and we walked it out to the reception area. It felt great to set it on the table and be done. I thought it was cute...and delicious. Mission complete. A big "WHEW"!