MNBelle blog

Hey Everyone! I'm a 26 year old female with Celiac Disease. I was diagnosed @ 15 months old. I don't know anything other than living wheat and gluten free. I thought I knew everything there was possibly to know about CS until it was time to plan my wedding. I've always been different according to everyone else because of the foods I do eat and because of the foods I can't. Snack time in daycare or elementary school was always hard. I was not invited to social activities such as birthday parties etc. because of the Celiac Disease. My CS has always been a source of pain, loneliness, and sometimes even embarrassment. I have had other related illnesses due to my CS and have recently been in and out of the hospital. I have an incredible fiance who refuses to leave my side when I am hospitalized. Thank God for him! When I was released from the hospital in March my fiance proposed. I decided immediately to get married in October and that I wanted a huge formal wedding. I will be having a sit down reception and EVERYTHING will be gluten-free but my guests will be none the wiser. We will serve individual cornish game hens, wild rice stuffing, twice baked cheddar potato, asparagus etc. My guests will be well fed and no one will think, "Gee, this is different". Right away I was dreaming of wedding cake. Just because I have CS doesn't mean I can't have cake. There are many gluten-free cake mixes and recipes that are so yummy. I've never had "regular" cake so I don't know what it tastes like. However, many people have eaten my gluten-free cake unknowingly and didn't know the difference until I told them. Back in March I found a woman with a fabulous reputation who makes wedding cakes. She had never made a gluten-free cake before but said she would be willing to make one for me in a kitchen where there would be no cross contamination. She asked me to ship her a few boxes of mix to try out. I was so excited that I rushed right out that day to do just that. She finally got around to my practice cake this past weekend. She called me labor day to tell me what she thought. You can imagine my disappointment and the heartache at what she said. She told me that the gluten-free mix was awful and that she did not want to be associated with a gluten-free wedding cake. She said she refused to make the cake if we would serve any gluten-free cake to our guests. She said she would make a gluten-free top tier for my fiance and I to freeze and one tier with gluten-free mix for us to cut but NOT to serve any of "that awful mix" to our guests. I agreed and thanked her for her phone call and hung up. Then I began to cry for 2 hours. I couldn't believe this womans tackiness. How unprofessional and hurtful can someone be? All I've wanted throughout any of this was for things to be as "normal" as possible. Her words sent me back to snack time in Kindergarten when I was so aware of how "different" I was. My wedding is only 32 days from now and I don't know what to do. I really don't want to employ this woman to make my wedding cake but there's no guarantee I will find someone else willing to do it. I reside in Florida but am originally from Minnesota. Minnesota is where I will be getting married. If anyone knows where I can get a gluten-free wedding cake in MN or has been through this senario before, any information would be helpful. Thank you so much, A Desperate Bride