Mr & Mrs Y Country Féte Bunting Wedding

Mr Y& Mr Mc have been friends for years and years and years, and when Mr Y announced he was engaged to the talented now Mrs Y we were ecstatic!  I sat with Mrs Y when we had get-togethers to excitedly discuss wedding planning, everything from bunting to puddings were scrutinised, and I listened on unable to conceal my excitement for them (I LOVE a good wedding!)  It was at one of these get togethers where they asked if I would do the honour of making their wedding cake!  OMG, would I?  Hell yea!  I was one giddy kipper!  Let the cake making commence!

Instead of rambling on about dragees and pillars, let me talk you through their day instead as the cake speaks for itself in its beautiful simplicity...

The now Mr & Mrs Young got married September 2011 on a beautiful warm September day, the sun was shining and the rain clouds had subsided - perfect!.

The ceremony was in their local village church which was decorated with the dusky pink and sage green chosen for their day and looked just oh so handsome!  After the ceremony they were then whisked away by horse drawn carriage to the village hall which was their gorgeous quaint venue for their big day, it was for lack of a better word, just perfect.

The village hall was absolutely lovely.  It was set out for their wedding breakfast with round tables with pink gingham table cloths and trugs of flowers for their centrepieces.  They also had bunting and fairy lights adorning the roof.  the whole effect was just simply beautiful!  The cake?  well it had its own little table off to one side of the top table, taking pride in its position and blending into the scene with ease.  Mr & Mrs Y had pulled it off with gusto! All the careful planning had paid off, it was a wedding to remember for its quirky sweet retro feel, and I feel so pleased to have been a part of their big day and to have created a cake to fit in seamlessly.

The cake - 4 Tiers of rich fruit, victoria sponge and chocolate cake, decorated with pale ivory sugarpaste adorned with ivory dragees and contrasting ribbon, topped with a posy of fresh flowers. - It speaks for itself really...

Mr & Mrs F Black & White Wedding

I was asked to make a black and white polka dot wedding cake...  No problemo!

But sometimes, stuff doesn't go as planned.  The bride, the gorgeous Mrs F then announced several months later that she needs to meet with me to discuss cake planning!

She had been collecting images of things she liked.

Great, I like pictures!

None of which had any polka dots...

Instead, she had found some pretty amazing cake images of lace effect cakes and cakes with pearls, cakes with satin ribbons with diamante brooches.  Mrs F wanted black and white glam.  She wanted a stunning statement piece instead of a quirky centerpiece.

In my world, what the bride wants, the bride gets!

So... lace effect/brocade/swirly stuff

She had found this gorgeous pic but didn't want it as "fluffy"

This one had too much lace as beautiful as it is - she wanted it just on the second tier creeping up and down on to the tiers above and below  with dots in black & white...

This was the effect she wanted, but not as  "busy" 

I now had a good idea of what she wanted and I went off doing what I do best when starting a new project 

Googling stuff.

The main issue was going to be the "lace"  she didn't want it stencilled as she wanted a slight relief to it to give the cake some texture, so I was going to need cutters.  Patchwork cutters to be precise!  I love them.  They have some beautiful designs which all have that little bit of an edge over other types of cutters.  I was also going to need some shiny stuff such as brooches to give it a bit of bling!  She also wanted dots creeping out from the lace and working their way up from the lace up to the top tier which would be completely covered in dots.  But they need to start off white and end up black...

I think I invented some new profanities whist making this cake as it seemed to be the hottest week ever!  My icing just sweated constantly and was drooping!  I just couldn't cool my kitchen down enough to deal with the temperature, which meant there was only one thing for it...  working through the night.  Difficult when I work Monday-Friday 9-5, but a cake needed to be created!  Its almost life and death dontcha know!?  (well not really, but its pretty important that I try 150%  to get the cake done to the best of my ability and get it set up and ready on time)

So congratulations Mr & Mrs F!  May your married life be full of laughs and love!  x

Shiny Shoes.

I am a self confessed deranged magpie when it comes to anything shiny...

So when I saw an advert where a lady wore diamante studded shoes, I wanted some!  But how can you justify flouncing round in a pair of crystal slippers?

Then I got engaged.

A friend of mine who's advice I take extremely seriously said to me "Your wedding day is the only day in your whole life where you can unashamedly be self indulgent".  This to me is extremely sound advice!  Cinderella, you shall go to the ball and wear your silly shoes!

I then began googling stuff and found out that buying crystal studded shoes is an expensive business...  but why not make my own?!  Cue a silly girl project!

I shall explain something else before I start.  I blummin love shoes!  Its unhealthy.  But I don't actually own any "silly" shoes as I just can't wear them...  10 minutes in a pair of killer heels and they kill me.  So I just stick to sensible shoes instead.  So when I started out on my silly girl project, I didn't just need a pair of shoes to decorate, I needed a pair of comfortable, elegant, practical yet pretty shoes.  So I went on ebay and found these beauties for £6

Peep toe, 2" heel in silver... should be able to stand for an hour in these surely?

I then found a brilliant blog called The Bride Fairy where she demonstrates how she made her very own crystal shoes!  Following her very sound advice I went about obtaining lots of crystals to start my silly girl project!

I bought 2000 4mm flat backed diamantes, 4000 3mm diamantes, 4000 2mm diamantes and 4000 1mm diamantes.  I went for the smaller diamantes as I wanted a more tightly packed look to my shoes, where pretty much none of the shoe fabric would be visible.  I also bought a pair of gem setters and 20ml of gem-tac.

I can't actually tell you how long it took me as I spent an hour here and there over the course of 2 months to finish them... But what I would suggest is that if you are not wanting your shoes to be tightly packed, opt for 5, 4 and 3mm at the smallest as it must have taken me in excess of 30hours in total to finish them...

Personally, I think they're worth it.  I love my shoes!  Now to decide what to do with the fronts!  (that blank bit where the pinch is)  It needs something... something spectacular?  Or just something to tie it together?

Ill let you know how I get on!

Peace, Out.