It’s not every day that Norfolk is compared to coastal California, but Michelle and Owen’s gorgeous summer wedding brought more than a bit of Cali cool to East Anglia. It was a total honour to make their Californian poppy wedding cake, and be part of their boho wedding day.
Contemporary cool styling
Michelle and Owen wanted a modern day with a contemporary cool edge, so they assembled a crack squad of Norfolk wedding suppliers who could make it happen. They got married at Hill Farm Massingham, a Georgian era farmhouse that has been lovingly restored with a modern aesthetic, and is surrounded by acres of stunning land. It’s a fairly new venue so this was my first time visiting, but hopefully not my last! It’s a jaw-dropping venue, especially when it’s styled to perfection by the dream team of Smoke and Wildwood, Array Wedding and Event Hire, and Quirk Lighting.
Wedding planning from across the pond
Michelle and Owen knew that they wanted non-classic flowers incorporated in their cake design, and one flower in particular: the Californian poppy. Michelle really likes this beautiful, showy flower, and with it also being known as the ‘sunlight poppy’ or a ‘cup of gold’ you can see why!
As well as being aesthetically pleasing, Michelle and Owen currently live in California, so their choice of a Californian poppy wedding was a nod to their home, too. A lot of my clients don't live locally – because of Norfolk’s abundance of character venues, clients come from not only across the country but across the world. For clients that can't visit in person, I share images and inspiration over email as well as on Zoom consultations. If they’re within the UK, I can send samples through the post. But if you live abroad, don’t worry, you don’t miss out! Usually, couples who live abroad pop to Norfolk for a venue visit at least once during planning, so they tend to come and see me for a tasting while in the UK.
Californian poppy wedding cake
As they wanted a bold, modern cake, Michelle and Owen envisaged a colour palette of white, green, black and grey. This leant itself really well to using a concrete effect for the base of their Californian poppy wedding cake, against which I also splattered black paint to add an artistic edge. They had two tiers, one a classic Victoria sponge and the second a rich yet fresh Chocolate & Cherry.
To soften the industrial vibe of the cake and add a delicate, romantic touch, I then added some Californian poppy wedding flowers. Normally I work with fresh flowers provided by the florists, but since it wasn’t possible to get hold of real Californian poppies, I decided to make them!
I love working with wafer paper for artistic wedding designs, and they worked perfectly in this cake to replicate the fragile poppy petals. I had to use a little bit of artistic licence when putting the design together because real Californian poppy wedding flowers are huge, so I had to make them slightly smaller to work well with the size of the cake tiers – but they ended up looking amazing.
To form the flowers for Michelle and Owen’s Californian poppy wedding cake, I veined and formed each petal before wiring them together around a fluffy centre, which also provided a bright pop of yellow against the grey and white concrete style. I experimented with a few new techniques to faithfully reproduce the effect of the fuzzy stem and bud, and I was delighted with how it turned out. Botanically, they weren’t exact replicas, but a stylised version which fitted the contemporary brief. I think Michelle and Owen’s face in their cake-cutting photo says it all – and look at Michelle’s dress! It has pockets!
Sleek monochrome
I always love arriving at the venue to see the wedding styling and decor brought to life, and Michelle and Owen’s big day was no exception. Smoke and Wildwood had pulled out all the stops in their rustic, boho styling of props and furniture from Array and the two long trestle tables were adorned with taper candles, white flowers, and a really chic knitted lace. The Californian poppy wedding theme ran throughout the day, whilst remaining chic and refined: featuring particularly in the sleek, monochrome stationery and signage by I Like Pens Studio, which was finished with giant paper poppies that perfectly matched the cake poppies I’d made.
In Michelle and Owen’s words:
“Ordering our cake was a great experience, very friendly and professional. Our ideas were taken on board and brought to life. Communication was great, especially as we planned the wedding from California. We love the cake, it was definitely modern but romantic, with our favourite Californian Poppy taking centre stage!”
If you love how this Californian poppy wedding cake turned out and have a similarly bespoke, artistic cake idea in mind that you’d love someone to bring to life, I’d love to chat - you can get in touch here to tell me your plans, and I can start dreaming!
Suppliers:
Photography: Aurora Grey https://www.auroragrey.co.uk/
Planning, design, set up & style: Smoke & Wildwood https://www.smokeandwildwood.co.uk
Venue: Hill Farm Massingham http://www.hillfarmmassingham.com/
Catering: Trios https://www.trioscatering.co.uk/
Florist: Romeo & Succulent https://www.romeoandsucculent.co.uk/
DJ: Aj Moreno https://www.instagram.com/ajmorenouk/?hl=en
Props: Array Wedding & Event Hire https://www.instagram.com/arrayweddingandeventhire/?hl=en
Lighting: Quirk https://www.quirkevents.co.uk/
Tables, chairs, crockery: Banqueting Hire https://www.banquetinghire.co.uk/
Stationery: I like Pens Studio https://www.ilikepensstudio.com/
Makeup: Love Moi https://www.lovemoimakeup.com/
Hair: Gemma Holiday http://www.gemmaholiday.com/
Carriage: Snailriver Horsedrawn Carriage Co https://snailrivercarriagehorses.co.uk/
Wedding Nanny: Jo Hadfield https://www.facebook.com/theweddingnannynorfolk/
Dress: Galia Lahav https://www.galialahav.com/
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