Another wedding! BF and I made it to the wedding of one of BF’s friends, one year after Rafael & Carmen’s lovely  affair.

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Hi, Again, Dear Readers:

Have you tried one of the new foodie trends yet? No? Me either. BF is glad that I haven’t cajoled him into a Boba Tea shop yet—the local PJ’s Coffee shops and Starbucks in Hammond are enough for him any day.

He likes that PJ’s offers veterans discounts, and some of the tasty things they have, too. Especially in that PJ’s next to the military recruiting stations in Hammond. We did try one of the recent Aldi Finds, Priano tomato and mozzarella gnocchi from Italy. Not bad, but he didn’t care for it. It’s OK, though, we at least tried some.

An Invitation

Once again, we were invited to a wedding. Traveling was about an hour round-trip, and it was a great time. And guess who forgot to get pictures of the food? Yup, your intrepid blogger. But I got pictures of everything else, including me and BF, and the gorgeous wedding cake, too. Note that I was using an iPhone 11, so not all of the pictures are top-quality.

BF has known Ray, usually called “Ray-Ray,” for many years. He’s been to the Casa de Rurale several times, sometimes with his brother Gerald. We’ve not met his wife Angela yet. We only saw her at the wedding and didn’t get a chance to chat.

Then one day BF sent me a text message with a picture of an invitation:

Who? What? Upon asking, he confirmed that it was, in fact, Ray-Ray. I was surprised because I didn’t know he was getting married, nor that we would be invited. We made our plans to attend.

Wedding Venue

This wedding was held in The Knights of Columbus Hall in Ponchatoula, a nice-sized venue. I didn’t get to ask who did the décor, and everything was elegantly done. (Even if I didn’t get pictures of the food tables.)

We weren’t told this ahead of time, but it looked like the theme was black and white:

I think this was the groom’s cake–but I confess, I don’t remember, and I think I forgot to ask, too.

And there was a table and chairs for the couple following the wedding:

A beautiful backdrop for the ceremony:

Most of the family members wore black and white in keeping with the apparent theme, although there were some exceptions. I was the only one wearing Navy Blue. Later I was told that the far side of the room was reserved for family members, but nobody minded me taking a few pictures before the wedding started.

More venue pictures

This was the card box:

Another part of the family-reserved area:

On the other side of the room, the settings were slightly different but equally elegant:

The bell had a message:

And we did!

The Ceremony

It was short but meaningful, led by the groom’s brother, who is a minister. The bride wore a lovely light grey gown with a corset back and a sparkly tiara.

The walk took a few minutes:

Once the bride made it to the wedding arch, they started:

I zoomed in for a closer look:

Following the ceremony, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Dantzler:

There were lots more pictures, and BF and I even posed with them for their photographer. I didn’t get a picture of that, though.

The Wedding Cake!

Ok, just get an eyeful of this beauty:

And that detail:

I thought I took a picture of the slices passed to us, but I can’t find it now. We both enjoyed that delicious confection. Oh, the smooth, creamy icing. . .it was just everything you expect in such a rich confection.

The “Wedding Cake” Flavor

Local bakeries have something called “wedding cake flavor.” Anyone who grew up in the New Orleans area knows that it’s the traditional flavor of local wedding cakes. Out-of-towners have no idea.

That distinctive element of wedding cakes of New Orleans—and this one—is the presence of almond flavoring. It’s a local tradition. While the cake at Rafael & Carmen’s wedding was indeed delicious, it did not have almond, or the“wedding cake flavor” you find in and around New Orleans. A Texas baker isn’t likely to know about it, nor would the couple, and probably wouldn’t ask to include it—unless they knew.

I’d forgotten about that until I took a bite of this one and remembered it well. It’s been a while, and you don’t forget that taste. A quick search turned up this article from the local newspaper about that very thing. A small amount of almond extract is added to both the cake and the icing. Not too much, because almond extract is very strong.

At Justin & Bronte’s wedding in 2020, we had a slice of the groom’s cake, not the actual wedding cake. So, I don’t know if the cake was “wedding cake flavored”—we’ll just guess that it did.

Now that I think about it, I want to make some kind of keto cake and icing with almond extract for that taste. Who’s with me?

Champagne, Cocktails and The Dinner Menu

Right after the wedding concluded, champagne servers were walking around and pouring at every table. I had one and was hoping for a second sip but couldn’t find anyone serving anymore. The bar area was making strictly mixed drinks, wine, and beer. I could have had a cocktail, but didn’t, even though BF was doing all the driving that night.

Dinner was. . .barbecue! No kidding, along with mac and cheese, green beans, and a couple of other things (that I don’t remember.) Everything was delicious. (And of course, no pictures of it unless I can cajole them from the groom.)

The man who did the catering was seated at our table and told us he was the one who made everything. No complaints! Everyone enjoyed dinner and the company that came with it at our table.

Dancing After Dinner

The one thing I heard the most was, “The music’s too loud.” Admittedly, it was kind of on the loud side, but all the DJs do that now, right?

Gerald was sitting at our table with a nice elderly lady, who pointed out one song sung by the sister of R&B musician R. Kelly. (Yes, that guy.) I thought the lady said her name was “Sheila,” but I can’t find it now. It was a pretty good song, but I was completely unfamiliar with the music myself. A lot was going on that night.

After dinner, folks were getting up and dancing. I should say some folks were getting up and dancing. BF was not one of them, nor were most where we were seated. I hate to say it this way, but the white folks were kind of boring, and everyone else was having fun.

After a few of BF’s odd looks, I got up and danced with some of the ladies and tried my best to learn their dance moves on the fly. They were friendly and gave me some help. If I’d had a bit more time I would have gotten the moves down.

And then the music changed, and everyone danced a different step.

Gerald showed his amusement when he saw me get up and attempt dancing with the ladies on the floor. Guess I should have danced with him once. They’ve been to the Casa de Rurale since the wedding. They haven’t forgotten and let me know about that.

Should have started dancing with the ladies long before I did.

My Outfit

Ever the fashionista, I wore the same Badgley Mischka cocktail dress from Rafael & Carmen’s wedding—because why not?

I finally got around to hand-sewing a bunch of snaps onto the drape and the fringe so I could remove the fringe later. I don’t even want to know how many snaps I sewed by hand, and it took me a while to get them all on so that the drape looked right.

Three years after Justin and Bronte’s wedding, I finally finished the Navy blue birdcage headpiece I originally planned to wear to their wedding, and also planned to wear to Rafael and Carmen’s. I made it from this out-of-print Simplicity pattern of accessories.

Amy’s cheat: I bought the white flowers already made from Hobby Lobby and cut the stems short instead of making the flowers. The Russian veiling I ordered from Etsy, where you can get things like that in nearly any color.  One day maybe I’ll attempt that fascinator, View E, in a deep red.

I thought it would look good with the Badgley Mischka dress during the ceremony. Then, I would remove it for the reception, carefully tucking it into a bag and in my purse. And I would have, but BF put up a big fuss about it, insisting that it would look “funny.”

So, I didn’t wear it inside the venue. It stayed in a bag in our vehicle.

Honestly, I should have worn it anyway. I’m not taking fashion advice from a mechanic again.

A second opinion

Later, I posted those pictures of the pattern and veil on Facebook, both on my page and in McCall’s sewing group. Carmen said on FB that she wanted a birdcage but couldn’t find one she liked. She might have gotten me to make one had she known I could. Wouldn’t that have been fun if we were both wearing the same headpiece in different colors?

Responses were mostly positive in both places, except for one troll in the Facebook group who wasn’t paying attention and felt the need to remind me that “only the bride wears white.” Not only did I not wear white, but neither did the bride, her beautiful dress was very light silver gray. DUH, lady.

BF, of course, wore khaki trousers and a white/blue checked Izod dress shirt like this one.

Can’t tell you how old it is, only that I’m tasked with occasionally ironing it for him.

Another lovely wedding

Each wedding is unique and reflects the personalities of the couple getting married. As nice as each one we attended was, the only thing they all had in common was a man and a woman getting married, and a big cake.  The details were all completely different and made each occasion special for everyone who attended. Each had its own vibe. There is no comparison of one to the other.

Like the previous two we’ve attended, everything went perfectly. Everyone had a great time and were all happy to see them get married. Ray and Angela’s elegant affair was just a half-hour drive home for us this time with no toll roads. Eventually, I’ll have our pictures printed up in a little Shutterfly book. As soon as I am finished with the book for the last one we attended.

We wish them a long and happy life together and thank them for their gracious invitation to a lovely evening.

Congratulations to Ray and Angela!