I haven't shown these photos to anyone. Ever. This was my first paid wedding cake and it served 300 people and it was rife with mistakes.

Here is a list of each known mistake:

1. This was the 1st time I had covered this large of a cake in rolled fondant. No prior experience.
2. I mixed only enough fondant for half of the cake, hence the two tones of champagne.
3. The cake was crooked.
4. The cake was viewed from all sides but I made it with a definite, "back side".

This list may not look very long or horrific but take a closer look at each photo.

I tried to use greenery to cover up some of the bigger lumps and bumps. It didn't work very well and I haven't used greenery on any cake since. I only use sugar flowers I make by hand.

Look at the side seam I made to cover up the crease. In fact, look at all of the border ribbon around the bottom of each tier. Notice how they are all uneven? What a silly question.. it's glaringly obvious.

One of the wait staff walked up to me and said, very loudly, "Your cake's crooked." I said, "thanks but there isn't anything I can do about it now". So she went and told all of the other waiters and they stood around pointing and critiquing my work.

My hands were shaking but I finished the job.

Even from far away it didn't look that great.

Okay, now the positive side of things.

1. The cake tasted really good: lemon curd, fresh raspberries, Italian butter cream & yellow cake.
2. The bride and her mother loved it.
3. The flowers were pretty.
4. I made an overabundance of sugar flowers which enable me to make up for the other flaws.
5. I was able to use a photo of the sugar urn filled with sugar flowers for my early portfolio and on my website.
6. I learned a lot!
7. I got paid.

When I first started reading cake decorating books and thinking that, "maybe I could make beautiful cakes too," I had many doubts and hurdles to overcome. The way I handled it was to keep my ambition to myself and practice everyday.

When I did tell people that I wanted to do cakes professionally they discouraged me with white noise: "everyone already gets their cakes from xyz bakery," or "have you gone to culinary school?" These questions only revealed their insecurities, not mine.

Nobody knew that this was my first paid wedding cake, and in the end it didn't matter. I've been embarrassed all these years and now I just laugh.