Updated: Sep 14
I recently wrote about my preparations for a couple of Autumnal Wedding Cakes and so before 8 months fly by and it’s summer again, I thought I’d follow up with photos of the actual cakes.
The week when I was set to make the two aforementioned wedding cakes also brought with it an unexpected invitation to take part in an autumnal themed wedding photoshoot. Though I literally only had a day to prep for this event, I knew it would be a chance I didn’t want to miss.
I’ve been involved in a few photoshoots and I’ve always really enjoyed being part of a lovely collaboration. The chance to meet and work with other creative wedding suppliers is one of the best parts, as is getting to visit some truly awesome and sometimes unusual wedding venues. And of course getting a selection of professional photographs of my cakes to use on my website is the icing on the cake (excuse the pun). Often photoshoots are organised by stylists who spend a lot of time coordinating all the suppliers, models, photographer, venue as well as styling the event. After the event, the stylist or sometimes photographer will submit the photos to magazines or blogs in the hope that their shoot could be featured. In this event, none of the suppliers involved are allowed to share the pics on their websites or on social media until the magazines or blogs are published. Occasionally this can mean that you don’t get to share the pics for ages but that is the chance you take when getting involved. I’m still waiting to see the professional pics from an amazing shoot I was involved in months ago.
I really hope the images get selected soon as everything about the shoot was stunning. The venue was incredible, the styling was perfect and the florist provided some fantastic displays.
A while ago I provided a cake for a photoshoot in the woodland grounds at Gressenhall Museum. It was a freezing February day and the models had to be wrapped up in between shots! Myself and the other suppliers were working outside all day and we were numb with cold. It was at this shoot that I met Jasmine; a florist who at that time was juggling working in retail with running her own small business. She has since ditched the day job and is now fully focussed on Flowers By Jasmine.
We met again when we were working on the same summer wedding this year. Jasmine provided the flowers for a very labour intensive painted and pearl encrusted cake I had made.
While we worked together on the cake Jasmine talked about some photoshoots she was organising herself in order to gather some good quality professional photographs. These events weren’t aimed at being submitted for magazines, they were purely to provide portfolio shots for a group of wedding professionals.
At the last minute I found I was able to attend one of Jasmines shoots which was held at Glebe Farm Barn. As I was already booked up before the event, I only had a day to make and decorate two cakes. I revamped a previous chocolate covered dummy cake using airbushing to create a warm, rustic , ombre effect. I also baked a delicious almond and salted caramel drip cake decorated with gilded autumnal fruits and berries.
I had planned on making my own toffee apples to use as favours on the tablescape but I was running out of time so I cheated and bought the apples and decorated them using twigs, cinnamon sticks and star anise. Oh and of course I added a little touch of gold with ribbon and a dusting of edible lustre.
There were various people involved in the shoot from models who had their hair and make up done by Boho Beauty Box wearing dresses provided by Maisie Mae. The vintage china and cutlery was supplied by Lou Lou Loves and the crowning glory was a beautiful lantern display by Sam Race. There was an artificial flower wall by Prestige Events which provided the backdrop for the models hair shots and of course there were all of Jasmine’s flowers.
Our photographer for the day was Jessica Elisze who brought along her awesome and very well trained French Bulldog Mr Nibbs!
Jessica created a fantastic tablescape incorporating my cakes, with the foliage, flowers and china, on the mammouth wooden refectory table.
I made a quick attempt at some autumnal place name settings using a couple of mini pumpkins and some glossy green leaves. My calligraphy is embarrassingly bad but I did them off the cuff with no planning and they turned out pretty well considering.
Another great thing about being involved in photoshoots is that it gives me the chance to practise my own very amateur photography skills. Since being advised to buy a decent second-hand camera and having had a bit of expert tuition from the super awesome Lucy Kayne Photographer, I feel so much more confident about taking my own photos of my cakes. Compared to those I used to take on my phone, I’m so happy with how much better my photos look now. All the photos from here on were taken by me and aren’t too shabby!
Back to the wedding cakes I mentioned on the previous blog post.
Here is the Log Slice Wedding Cake with chocolate bark and the edible wafer paper leaves from my tutorial. I set this cake up at the Reading Rooms in Alby. The cake was gluten free and was a delicious combination of chocolate orange, zesty lemon and champagne strawberry. It turned out really well and the bride and groom loved it!
It tasted AMAZING!!!! Sugar Buttons is incredible…we were honoured she did our cake!
They also asked for some not-very-autumnal-but-still-super-cool Unicorn Cupcakes for their younger guests.
The next wedding that week was at Southwood Hall. The cake was a 4 tier semi naked cake with trailing foliage, flowers and a few carefully placed blackberries. Each tier was a different flavour from traditional Victoria sponge with bramble jam, to coffee, carrot and zesty lemon.
If you are planning an autumn wedding or indeed a wedding at any time of the year, get in touch and we can have a chat about cake!