I will never forget Lauren for many reasons. One being that she just made me laugh from the minute we met and also that she and mum were so warm and friendly it was like having two old friends round for the morning. We could have literally chatted all day.
I loved the fact that Lauren made no apology for being a teeny weeny bit of a snob (in a lovely way) and wanted every detail of her wedding to be absolutely perfect. And, it certainly was.
Lauren wanted her wedding cake to be one of the main focal points of the room and wanted us to design something that was classic, elaborate, very traditional and very ornate. Lauren absolutely loved our ‘Truly Victorian’ design featured on the website and was delighted that this seven tier design was on display in the studio when she visited.
The ‘Truly Victorian’ design was originally created in white, but Lauren wanted to change the base colour to ‘ivory’. I thought that ivory would work perfectly and even make the design slightly more vintage. Lauren also wanted to add just a hint of colour to compliment her floral displays and out of the colour palette available I advised that ‘peach’ would work beautifully with the ivory. It only needed to be subtle, but would be very effective.
Lauren particularly wanted the Victorian style sugar vase on top of the cake – filled with sugar flowers and blossoms, this would not only give the cake more height but, would also be a beautiful keepsake.
Owing to the numbers of guests, Lauren did not need a seven tier cake but she did want it to be tall and as I said above, one of the main focal points. Eventually, we settled on six tiers with the base tier actually being a dummy tier (Lauren did not want fruit cake so the only other option in supporting a cake of this size is a dummy tier).
In terms of flavourings, Lauren settled on vanilla sponge with vanilla buttercream and raspberry preserve, carrot cake with orange zest buttercream and lemon sponge with lemon zest buttercream. In addition, we needed to bake one of the smallest tiers ‘dairy and gluten free’ in the vanilla flavour, especially for mum.
We hadn’t visited Cain Manor before, but being that it is one of the Bijou venues, I knew it wouldn’t disappoint. Bijou venues are a small selection of exclusive private country houses and are five star in every detail.
The venue was a 70 mile drive from us so another sleepless night to be had the night before delivery…..! The drive was mainly motorway except for the last few miles which were a little bit hairy to say the least.
If you plan to host your wedding at Cain Manor, I beg you to forewarn your cake designer of the ‘driveway’. The driveway that is without doubt a wedding cake designers’ absolute worst nightmare. A very very beautiful, winding country track, through lovely woodland but, not designed for one of our beautiful babies…..
Thankfully, I had done the necessary research beforehand and made the decision to stack the final two tiers of the cake on site.
Whilst working on a cake on site involves a lot more time and work at the venue. It is certainly worth it and often the only viable way – especially for designs that are very intricate and detailed.
Arriving at the venue slightly early was just fantastic as literally walked in to see Lauren minutes from walking down the aisle. She looked absolutely stunning. As usual, I had a few tears and then waited for the ceremony to finish before starting work on the cake.
An hour or so later work was complete and Lauren came in to see the final centrepiece. I was thrilled to see how much she loved it and I think one particular image her is proof of that! This is my favourite cake image of 2012 by far.
It was just a pleasure working with Lauren and I am so glad she had the absolute perfect wedding that she worked so hard to plan. My very best wishes to her and Christopher for the future.
On a final and slightly separate note……. It is only possible to run a website and blog with stunning visuals. Whilst I have become (quite…?) good at taking my own images I do rely a lot on photographers supplying me with their material
Most photographers are very obliging, some not quite so obliging(!) and now and then you come across someone who is so unbelievably wonderful it just knocks your socks off. Nicola Rhodes of K and E Photography supplied us with so many fantastic images of the cake I have been spoilt for choice as to which to use. Nicola, they are amazing. I cannot tell you how much your skill and your generosity are appreciated. I sincerely hope we get to work together again. http://www.kandephotography.co.uk
Nicola x…