Catherine and Steven married in the Italian Gardens at Hever Castle. The ceremony took place under the beautiful arched columns of the Italian Loggia, which overlooks the 38 acre lake. The ceremony was followed by drinks on the stone piazza and a formal reception in the newly refurbished Guthrie Pavillion. The Guthrie Pavillion is absolutely stunning; high vaulted ceilings and floor to ceiling arched windows, overlooking the Italian gardens and lake beyond. Luckily the weather was kind and the setting looked absolutely beautiful.
Catherine and Steven came to see us about 6 months ago and Catherine absolutely feel in love with our signature Rose Cascade design. However, Catherine really wanted to incorporate some detail from her dress and wasn’t sure whether we would be able to do this.
Catherine’s chosen bridal gown was ‘Bow Belles’ by Ian Stuart. Ian Stuart is a multi awarding winning London wedding dress designer, renowned for cutting edge designs and a huge focus on quality and customer service.
It was evident within minutes of meeting Catherine that she is not only a girl with impeccable taste, but generally gets what she wants – and she wanted a showstopping cake!
It would probably have been easier if we had made Steven sit in the car (!) while we designed, plotted and schemed, but instead we talked in code, turned the computer screen out of Steven’s view and had a look at Catherine’s dress online – as well as some close up images on her phone. I have included here an image of Catherine’s dress (this is not Catherine, but taken from the Ian Stuart Website!). Catherine’s dress was to be ivory and ivory lace. You may not be able to see very clearly from this picture, but at the top of the basque, the dress has rows of crystal beading….. Catherine wondered if we could also include some crystal detail. Why of course!
Here are some images of the final creation. Still using the Rose Cascade as the base, but incorporating the rippling and Bow Belle of the dress as well as three rows of Swarovski crystal banding on each tier. The tiers were made up of (from bottom up) rich fruit cake, chocolate with cocoa buttercream, lemon with lemon zest buttercream, vanilla with vanilla bean filling and raspberry preserve and the top tier, rich fruit cake to keep…..
On a personal note, we had received some very upsetting news last week. But, being in the wedding business the show goes on and work still comes first, whatever else is happening around you. So, when I received the following text from Catherine on Monday morning, big tears filled my eyes and I felt a huge sense of pride and accomplishment..
”Hi Nicola, well, what can I say??? I was speechless. It was absolutely amazing. Nobody could believe it was actually a cake as the detail was absolutely stunning – it definately upstaged me! Thank you so much, it was truly spectacular and not only look amazing but also tasted fantastic. I am definately going to put a few pounds on as we can’t stop eating it! Thanks again. Catherine xxx…