From afar, it looks so simple - a pure white wedding cake rising up from the desert.

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The guests were served an all-white, seven-layer white rum wedding cake that was covered in white fondant and sugar crystals, and adorned with crystal brooches and the couples' monogram on the top layer.

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There is room for a billion-dollar wedding industry serving a generation of young people who, though marrying later than my generation did, have embraced the white wedding gown, a dozen attendants, the cake, the song, the speech and the party after.

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