Updated: Sep 14
I’m always working. Either on orders or on my never ending list of admin tasks. Something I rarely get a chance to do is to make any display cakes based on the millions of ideas I have going round my head. I find inspiration for cakes all over the place and I either jot down notes on my phone, take photos of cool textures and colour combinations or if I’m really organised I sketch my ideas in rough in one of my many note books.
Recently I decided to actually do something with my copious amounts of notes, ideas and sketches. I’m planning on doing a monthly* blog post to share my ideas and inspiration. I won’t always be able to provide beautiful finished drawings but I aim to show that Wedding (and celebration) cakes can be based on absolutely anything and that they can be personal to the client without being too obvious. You don’t need to have a mini replica of yourselves as bride and groom on top of your cake to make it yours. You don’t also need to have the logo of your favourite football team or your favourite film directly on a cake; colours, shapes and textures can convey your message without being too blatant.
Digressing slightly (as usual!) an example of this is when I made my brother’s wedding cake(s) a few years ago. They left the design up to me and I chose to make a 3 un-tiered cake with the designs painstakingly cut from edible images of their wedding stationery. As a little nod to my brother’s obsession with collecting Nike Air Max trainers, I created a pattern inspired by a Nike shoe. It was placed on top of one of the cakes and to most who saw it, it was just an abstract image of textures and pattern but to those in the know it was something specifically for my brother.
*I say monthly, that’s my goal but come wedding season I can’t guarantee anything other than the fact that I will be working 7 days a week for several months, so regular blogging may fall by the wayside.
So back to my inspiration sharing for this month.
I recently took a trip to London to take part in a Business Boost course with Be.Loved at the Hive.
I got the train to London the day before the course which saved me £102 in fares compared to going there and back in one day. Mad huh? Being in London overnight gave me the chance to go and visit my lovely friends and their awesome and hilarious toddler as well as doing some pottering around. It turned out to be the most productive 34 hours I’ve spent in ages!
I used the uninterrupted 2 hours on the train to reply to emails, answer enquiries and send out quotes. On arrival in Liverpool Street, I had a very quick mooch around Spitalfields before grabbing something to eat and then heading off to meet one of my London based brides for a consultation to finalise designs** for her upcoming gorgeous wedding cake.
**another good example of inspiration coming from all over the place is this brides cake. Here’s a sneaky peak of some of the visual resources I’ll be working from. I’ll reveal the final cake once it’s been made and delivered in a few months.
Back to my mooching, I nipped into Anthropologie to see if I could buy a little something for my daughter Elsie who has placed this store on her list of favourite shops. It has that tantalising “we don’t have one in Norwich therefore it’s extra special” feel about it, and she’s seen various bloggers she follows, referencing items from Anthropologie.
I texted this to Elsie as a tease.
After checking out the cute gifts and smelling a few gorgeous candles, I headed downstairs to my own personal shopping Mecca: the homewares section!
With the whole marble, metal and Geode trends still sticking around, I’ve had many, many cake designs floating round my head and recently I’ve been itching to make an agate inspired cake. The first thing that hit me when I got downstairs was a huge display of agate slice table mats and coasters as well as some super cool cheese boards combining coloured marble and some brass monogram details.
By the end of the first day I had achieved so much and I hadn’t even got to my reason for going to London in the first place. Here’s a link to the next post which is all about becoming part of the hive tribe!
So what did I do with my Anthroplogie inspiration?
I’ve come up with a few rough sketches purely inspired by the items in one small part of the shop.
I love these crackle glass coasters and I’ve got plans to incorporate them into a cake design. I’ve been experimenting with creating a crackle glass effect using sugar.
Back to the agate and for once I found the time to make up one of my ideas into a display cake. Here’s my mood board for the cake inspired by this agate coaster from Anthropologie.
And here is the cake:
So this is a 3 tier cake with a hand painted agate slice with copper edging, blue rustic brushstrokes and a beaten copper effect. The complementary coloured peach roses complete the look.
So this is the first in my series of inspiration posts, I hope it’s shown that the design of a special cake can come from all sorts of sources.
I’m looking for couples who dare to be different! I love naked, semi naked and beautiful classic prettiness. But I also love to work on something a bit more out of the ordinary. I’d love to get together with some awesome couples to work on creating the wedding cake of their dreams. If you are planning a wedding in 2018, 2019 or beyond and you fancy something a little bit different for your wedding cake. Get in touch and let’s create some magic!