Destination Weddings and Honeymoons

Lauren and Tim with Mollie Stone

Enlarge Photo

One thing you should probably know about both Tim and me is that we are super-accommodating. To a fault actually… dinner decisions are always problematic because we rarely have an opinion either way and want to please the other.

So when it came time for us to pick the flavor of our wedding cake, we were dancing all around our choice. My favorite cake is probably carrot, but for our wedding, I had lemon cake in mind. Perhaps with raspberry filling. I mean, seriously — doesn’t that sound heavenly?

My best pals gave me this doozy of a carrot cake for my 30th birthday.

Tim, on the other hand, had it in his head that we’d have a simple white cake with vanilla frosting. Looks nice — and classic — and tastes good too. My mom offered a suggestion — have different flavors in different tiers: one of white, one of lemon.

For some reason I just didn’t like that idea. All these questions started circling in my head — what flavor will our top tier be for our first anniversary? Selfishly I wanted lemon, but I wanted my husband to enjoy our crusty year-old traditional cake too! And what will our first slice be? We’re doing the traditional cake cutting at our reception, so which one would we choose? (Clearly you see how neurotic I am.)

Tim, the ever-pleasing groom-to-be, said, “Let’s go with lemon! It will be tasty!” But then I started feeling horribly guilty, because this is just as much his wedding as it is mine. So then we settled on white cake with white frosting.

Enter Mollie.

Mollie Stone is a baker in Savannah. She’s a local celeb, is a pal of Paula Deen, and came highly recommended by a friend. Don’t try to look up her website; she doesn’t have one. The reviews of her cakes online (and when you ask around) are outstanding. But finding one of them to look at is near impossible. When my mom called her to set up an appointment, she immediately called me after she hung up.

 “Oh my gosh, Lauren — she is crazy.”

 “Good crazy, or like, straight-jacket crazy?”

 “Our kind of crazy.”

 “Oh yay! This will be fun!”

When we arrived (at her house, where she has all her appointments), we were greeted by a slobbering 110-pound black lab — that actually climbed into my mom’s car to say hello. We are total dog lovers, so this was absolutely a welcomed event! You see, Mollie doesn’t trust people who don’t like dogs, so “Chum” is sort of her human-resources department. He weeds out any potential dud couples.

Luckily, we made it to the next step — going to her front door and being asked, “Who are you?” She knew someone was coming for a meeting, but had no idea who. Now, some brides may take offense to this, but not me. I knew I loved Mollie right from the start. She is totally scattered, much like my mother and me, but completely organized in her own way.

We sat down at her kitchen table and looked around. Cakes were everywhere — amazing, beautiful, tasty-looking cakes, one of which was for the fire-station bake sale. But sadly, none of them were for tasting. You see, Mollie is — well, in all honesty, a legend. You just have to trust that all her flavors are amazing; you don’t get to sample for yourself in advance. She’s known for her sour-cream almond pound cake with orange and almond extract, which she went into great detail telling us about. Then she mumbled a few other flavors (lemon, white, chocolate).

She showed us picture album after picture album, and I flagged a few I liked. Then Tim said, “Oh! I like this one!” It was a simple cake, and I had originally breezed by it. But when I took a second look, I realized it was perfect for our wedding. It’s exactly what we had talked about before going to see Mollie — and he was the one who spotted it! (He is so good.)

One of Mollie's amazing cakes. Photo by: Greg Ceo

We decided right then and there that that was the cake we wanted! Mollie smiled and said, “I really appreciate you guys choosing your cake together. It’s really great to see.” She went on to tell us about a few couples she’d decided she wouldn’t bake for, solely because of their negative interaction with each other. She is a people person, she can tell if she likes someone pretty much immediately, and she won’t make your cake if she doesn’t. Yay! She likes us!

My mom said, “Have you guys decided what flavor you want?” I started breaking out in a cold sweat.

That’s when Mollie piped in. “Oh, they’re getting the almond one. I decided. It’s the best, and they will love it. End of story.”

Both Tim and I laughed and looked at each other knowingly — this is going to be the best decision we’ve ever not had to make.

If you decide to get married in Savannah and want Mollie to make your cake, you have to call her at 912-352-8993 — no texts, no emails. Pick up the phone, ladies!

Miss one of Lauren's blogs? Click here for more from DWH's very own destination bride!

Related Articles:

Expert Tips on Wedding Cakes With tips from the pros, building your ideal confection is a piece of cake.

How to Find Quality Wedding Vendor Your wedding vendors can make or break your day, and choosing the right professionals across the miles can be tough. Ease the stress with these handy tips.

45 Tips fo a Romantic Destination Wedding You don't need a huge budget or a creative arts degree to mastermind an uber-romantic destination wedding. We turned to our trusty DWH A-List Planners for 40-plus of their best ideas on how to pull off a dreamy do.

Real Weddings from Around the World Find destination wedding photos, advice and planning tips from brides just like you who have already pulled off their big day away from home.

Historic Hotel Wedding Venues Historic hotels have an ambience all their own. Add in a great location — our nine picks are within walking distance of sites like Yosemite National Park and the White House — and you have an unbeatable home base for a wedding away.