The CAKE TOPPERS - Our HANDMADE ETSY WEDDING - Dorana & Todd 12/26/2009

Do you know what you get when you throw two Alpha-type personalities in a kitchen renovation after buying a new house, hand them a couple of power tools they've never used before, demolish the floors throughout the entire house forcing them to move into a windowless dungeon for three months with two smelly cats and a 14 year old, 90lb yellow lab, that can't walk up and down the stairs on his own, sprinkle in a four-week engagement and Christmas wedding - all in less than 6 months:

Yoda and Chewbacca!


If you've ever experienced any of these things, then you're probably at least a little familiar with the conflict that can arise from such chaos; kinks in the budget, hot dogs cooked by hand-held plumber's torch 'cause you forgot to refill the propane tank and there's no stove, the occasional electrocution, and arguments... lots of arguments...

Arguments between two Alpha's who are NEVER WRONG.

It was during one of those arguments on day one million and 82 of drilling cement screws into cement backer-boards, preparing the hallway and kitchen floors for the 1500lbs of Kale Multi-colored Travertine that I yelled back at my now husband, for what exactly, I can't say,

"OKAY YODA! Whatever you say, MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE!"

"What!?" he replied.

"Don't call me that!

And Yoda wasn't Master of the Universe - that's HE-MAN!"

I raised my sword-like power drill up in the air, clenched with both hands pointing straight up and yelled:


"I HAAAAAAAAAAVE THE POOOOOOOOOOOOWER!"

collapsing in a fit of laughter!

And thus, "Yoda and Chewbacca" were born...

My rolling eyes now had a verbal partner: "OKAY YODA!"

"OKAY CHEWIE!" he always responds hoping to get the same rise out of me that he gets out of my Yoda-ing.

Now, to me, that sounded perfectly logical! I mean, have you seen my hairy Chewbaccaness!?

Yoda, wasn't a new nickname in our family... We've been calling my little sister Yoda ever since her little pointed ears coined the nickname as a baby!

Over the summer a fellow More Meaningful Gifts threadmate had ordered fondant little Yodas for her son's birthday cupcakes as toppers from fellow Etsian The Lil Details.etsy.com and I had bookmarked them for my little sister's birthday!

My brilliant idea was vetoed by my mother, but when I started planning our wedding, I KNEW I had to order her fondant Yodas for our wedding cake!

Even better, I wrote to Jenn and asked her if she could make a matching Chewbacca!

When I opened up those adorable little cake toppers I couldn't help but squeal in delight! I knew Todd would pee his pants when he saw them!

They were absolutely PERFECT!

Jenn even covered them in a sparkling finish- the perfect embellishment for a wedding Yoda and Chewie!

And after our ceremony when I brought my new husband to see the beautiful cake that my little sister had lovingly made for us on Christmas day and put together just hours earlier, adorned with the beautiful clay roses from Diane Phillips of dkdesigns.etsy.com and our special Yoda and Chewie Cake Toppers, the moment was just as I had imagined; filled with joy and laughter and even some magical powers with my new Master of the Universe!


Photography by Stephen Shadrach.