One of the favourite parts of the planning process for couples is choosing their Wedding Cake, not only because it allows them to let their creative side blossom but also because you get to try lots of cake!
Authors Bio: Vivienne May Weddings was founded and created by Kerrie May. With over 8 years of experience in the luxury wedding & event industry, Kerrie has worked at some of the UK’s most iconic venues alongside a selection of renowned industry professionals and worked with a selection of high-net worth couples.
Kerrie is a UK Wedding Planner and has a distinctive reputation amongst her fellow luxury wedding professionals. Her wealth of experience, industry knowledge and unrivalled passion for bringing her clients vision to life is what drives her to plan impeccably designed, style-led and perfectly co-ordinated weddings, with romance at its heart.
One of the biggest questions my couples ask me when it comes to choosing their cake is 'How do we choose when there are so many options?' And if you've ever scrolled through Instagram or Pinterest looking for ideas, you will know there are LOTS of options for your wedding cake. So I turned to these incredibly talented professionals to get their advice and guidance to help you through finding and designing your perfect wedding cake!
Introducing Poppy Pickering Cakes
Tell us a little bit about you and your business: My name is Dominique Pickering and I am the owner/designer at Poppy Pickering cake design. I live in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside and work from a home based studio which is all white (my favourite colour). My passion is creating elegant timeless wedding cakes decorated with handcrafted sugar flowers. I have two lovely daughters and outside work as a family we love going walking in the countryside and climbing hills (much to my daughters displeasure). Previous to Poppy Pickering I trained in textile design and worked in the Homeware Textile industry for 13 years. I absolutely adore being creative hence the reason for my transition from textiles into cake designing.
When and where did your love of cake making come from? I’ve always had a love for baking (from my dad and grandma) and some of my recipes have been adapted from theirs. I do like trying out new cake flavour combinations and seeing couples reactions to new choices and options.
When should couples to start looking for cake makers? Ideally as soon as a couple have booked their venue I believe that then they should secure all the main suppliers, such as florist, photographer, cake designer, band etc. Suppliers with a good reputation get booked up very quickly (up to 2 years in advance). Many are a single person company hence they limit the amount of commitments they take on per week. Making a wedding cake is at least a 4 day process and quite often the sugar flowers alone can take additional days to hand craft which is on top of the cake baking.
Where's the best place for couples to get inspiration and ideas from for their wedding cake? I still believe that Instagram is a good place to look however all the wedding blogs and Pinterest are also excellent places to find inspiration. I know that I can often lose myself scrolling through pretty inspirational images for a couple of hours! Really think about what look you wish to achieve and prioritise your budget allocation as often some wedding images you may see are stunning as they are promotional shoots but might not be commercially achievable. Take inspiration from your stationary, fresh flowers, table place settings and venue.
What's the best piece of advice you give to couples when choosing their wedding cake? I would research your cake designer and ensure that their creative ‘handwriting’ is what you are looking for. For example if you are wishing for a rustic semi-naked dried flower wedding cake, if a cake designers website showcases beautifully sugar floral wedding cake then maybe they aren’t the best company to contact. Also ensure that you budget enough for your wedding cake, check out your wedding cake designer website prices and be upfront about what you are wishing to spend.
What do you think the upcoming cake trends will be? I still believe that elegant timeless wedding cakes with beautiful handcraft sugar flowers will be ‘on trend’ for this year however I am seeing many textural non-floral looks, pearls, wafer paper embellishments and dried flowers.
How would you describe your signature style? My signature style of cakes are timeless, elegant with a beautiful colour balance.
Who is your inspiration/where does your inspiration come from? I love many US and AUS cake designers, too many to name. Possibly because in Australia many couples seem to think about how their wedding cakes are displayed hence everything always looks gorgeous. Nothing is more disheartening to a wedding cake designer is to have spent hours handcrafting and creating a cake of beauty for then it to be displayed on a plain white (and often creased) table clothed table, stuck in a corner, with a fire extinguisher behind and in poor lighting.
If you could design one celebrity or royal wedding cake from the past, who's would it be and why? I would have loved to have designed a wedding cake for Audrey Hepburn, I just love her style & elegance. I can imagine her wedding cake would have been something quite simple in look but very classy and timeless.
Take a look at more of Dominique's incredible cakes here.
Introducing Amelia Rose Cake Studio
Tell us a little bit about you and your business: Hello I’m Leean, I run Amelia Rose Cake Studio and I am a cakeaholic! (there I’ve said it, and I’m not even sorry!) Once upon a time I used to have a very “normal” job, working in the Fire Service taking 999 calls. I loved the job and, I have to admit, it was incredibly rewarding but, I’m not going to lie, it was also emotionally draining. To unwind I used to throw myself into my favourite pastime on my days off which, for me, was making cakes. I found it incredibly relaxing to be creative and really loved making friends and family happy with a cakey gift. Soon I was being asked to make special cakes for other people. That was 10 years ago now and I can honestly say it was one of the best decisions of my life and I’ve never regretted it for a second.
I particularly love making beautiful sugar flowers by hand, so I was naturally drawn to making wedding cakes. Supplying a cake for someone’s wedding is amazing! It’s such a huge honour to be chosen to be a part of a couple’s big day and I am humbled that so many people ask me to make their special cakes.
When and where did your love of cake making come from? Some of my earliest and happiest memories are of me as a very small child baking with my mum in her little kitchen. She was so patient with me as I undoubtedly made a god awful mess of her pride and joy (her 1970’s Formica fitted kitchen, in a VERY dodgy shade of mustard!)
When should couples to start looking for cake makers? This is easy and it’s the same answer for all your wedding suppliers – do it as soon as you possibly can! Wedding dates get booked such a long time in advance, years in fact, and the more popular your supplier is, the more demand they have for their work. Even if you haven’t got an exact idea of the theme or colour scheme that you want for your wedding yet, ask your suppliers to price up something that, although may not be exactly what you finally go for, will at least give you a good understanding of their pricing structure and will allow you to decide if they fit in with your budget plans.
Where's the best place for couples to get inspiration and ideas from for their wedding cake? Inspiration for your cake can literally come from anywhere. Some people choose to trawl the internet and the glossy magazines and find all sorts of wonderful designs. Other people arrive in my studio with absolutely no idea what they want or even what is possible. There’s no right or wrong way to approach things… I always ask clients to bring any ideas or colour swatches along to our consultation so that I can understand the overall feel of the wedding. Once I can get inside your head and really understand what your vision is for the day, I can make some wonderful suggestions that will give you a stunner of a cake!
What's the best piece of advice you give to couples when choosing their wedding cake?
Allow your cake maker to have some creative freedom with the design. Clients can, unwittingly, clip our wings a little by being quite specific about details. Trust in us – if you’ve taken the time to choose a supplier whose work you love, you should really get the most from their talents. A good supplier absolutely thrives on creativity, so give us a little creative freedom and you’ll be rewarded tenfold. Definitely the best way to get the most stunning results!
What do you think the upcoming cake trends will be? Cake trends are very different depending on your perspective. As a cake designer I see lots of very high fashion designs with striking use of colour and texture and innovative shapes that seem to defy gravity. I certainly love to stretch myself creatively with new techniques and concepts.
However, much like catwalk fashion isn’t the same as high street fashion, the popular cake choices for couples won’t always be the same as some of the breathtaking Instagram or Pinterest pictures we all see either. The wonderful thing about cake design is that there are just NO RULES – you can have whatever you want - that’s why I love it so much!
How would you describe your signature style? Striking elegance - clean lines, sharp edges and flawless finish teamed with delicate handmade sugar flowers. I love cakes to exhibit timeless romance but to be mixed up a little, by incorporating some innovative techniques.
Who is your inspiration/where does your inspiration come from? I find it totally impossible to turn off the creative side on my (teeny!) brain so I constantly have random concepts pop into my head. If you go into any room in my house, or empty any of my handbags, you will, undoubtedly, find sketch pads everywhere! They are filled with excited scribbles from random brainwaves that eventually go on to become beautiful cakes. (I often describe my cake scribbles as being much like a Dr’s handwriting – impossible for anyone else to decipher but they actually make total sense to me!).
If you could design one celebrity or royal wedding cake from the past, who's would it be and why? I think I would have to choose Prince William & Kate for this one. They are both so utterly dignified yet seem so down to earth too. The dress that Kate wore was simply stunning and showcased her elegant choices to perfection. They opted for a classic white on white cake design and included a huge number of elements that were significant.
It had to reflect the flowers of the four UK nations, and it also had to reflect the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace, where the cake was going to be displayed, to show some of the architectural detail. What an amazing remit to be given! A massive challenge, executed to perfection by Fiona Cairns for them.
Take a look at more of Leann's incredible cakes here.
Introducing Beth Haxby Cakes
Tell us a little bit about you and your business: I'm 32 years old and live in Norwich, Norfolk. I started my business 4 years ago when I was pregnant with my son, and I wanted to see if I could turn my love of baking into an actual business that could be flexible around my son.
When and where did your love of cake making come from? I've always had a sweet tooth even from a young age, I was the person who looked at the dessert menu before the mains menu! I've been baking since I was a teenager, it's always been a passion of mine to find perfect cake recipes.
When should couples start looking for cake makers? As early as possible, I book the majority of my wedding cakes around 1-2 years in advance.
Where's the best place for couples to get inspiration and ideas from for their wedding cake? I think Instagram is great, as well as wedding blogs and Pinterest.
How would you describe your signature style? Whimsical, soft, floral, and romantic.
What's the best piece of advice you give to couples when choosing their wedding cake? Don't rush the design part of the cake, this can be finalised in the months leading up to the wedding, in the meantime keep an open mind. Book a cake maker who encapsulates the feel of your wedding day, then let them come to you with ideas you may have never considered.
What do you think the upcoming cake trends will be? I try not to focus on trends too much, I want my couples cake designs to be unique to them and timeless. Personally though I'm loving playing with wafer paper designs, I still love pressed edible flower designs and piped florals I think are just stunning.
Who is your inspiration/where does your inspiration come from? I follow some incredible cake artists from around the world who inspire me, but also just the natural beauty of flowers and my garden, florals play a huge part in my cake designs.
If you could design one celebrity or royal wedding cake from the past, who would it be and why? Oh gosh I wouldn't even know where to start, but I love that Megan and Harry were the first royal couple to have a non-conventional royal wedding cake with their trio of buttercream cakes!
Take a look at more of Beth's incredible cakes here.