WEDDING PLANNING

I started baking as a child and always carried on with it. When Jamie (our son) was born and I was at home with him I got into it more. I started making family and friends birthday cakes and Christmas cakes etc. When Jamie was diagnosed with his various health issues it became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to go back to work. And so I started baking now and then for a local café. From that I got asked to make a wedding cake. I loved it! The rest is history as they say.

The main challenge was juggling running a business with Jamie and all his appointments etc. Thankfully they got less and less as he got older. It was also hard to push myself to ‘get out there’ and make myself known. Networking and doing wedding fairs terrified me! But I quickly learnt just what a wonderfully supportive industry I had joined. 

Making my clients happy and getting the thank you cards and emails. 

I’ve got to say sugar flowers. I think they are the thing I love to do the most. And getting to be creative with colour and texture to produce something truly unique and special. 

Oh that’s a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question! It will depend on a lot of things. Some of the sugar flowers and other sugarwork will have been made well in advance for example. All the actual baking is done as close to the wedding day as possible though. For a fully iced and decorated cake, I’d allow a week altogether to do all the different processes. 

It wasn’t a wedding cake. It was a 40^th birthday cake many years ago. I did a quarter scale of the birthday boys motorbike. It was huge! I had to get a special frame made and spent all night getting all the little details right. It was worth it though.

I think be realistic when setting the budget for the wedding cake. Have a look on the price guide pages of a few cake makers you like, to give you an idea of an average price. I will always do my best to give my couples what they want within their budget, whenever possible. Having fresh flowers from your florist instead of sugar flowers can be one way to bring the cost down. And sponge cakes are usually cheaper that fruit cake too. 

I think the semi naked cakes will be around for a while yet, their rustic style makes them very popular. And buttercream cakes with the combed effect. The watercolour and marble effects on fondant are going to be around a while yet too. I love doing both of these so I hope that’s a trend that stays. I also think dried flowers on cakes will become a bigger thing too. 

It’s always good to know what style a couple have in mind for their wedding. So if you have any mood boards or Pinterest boards they can be very helpful to have with you. Find out from your guests if there are any allergies or dietary requirements that need to be catered for. Then we can discuss the best way to accommodate them.

I like to knit. Again this was something I did as a child. Any crafts really, I’ll give most a go. I think it’s the creative part of me that never really switches off.