Sampling a selection of delicious flavours is our idea of heaven, but there’s more to getting your dream wedding cake than that. Six recent brides share how they found their standout bake
Sprinkles on Top
Sarah Jackson and Stephen Clark got hitched on 3rd June 2021 at the Waterside Hotel in West Kilbride
“I had been struggling to find a cake-maker who could cater to my gluten intolerance, but when I came across Samantha from Sprinkles on Top on Facebook, I fell in love with her work. As soon as we started chatting, she was so reassuring.”
“We had a tasting session in person and I even left with some extras she had made of different gluten-free cakes for me to try. They were delicious! Stephen chose red velvet and coconut for the ‘normal’ layers and I picked chocolate and butterscotch for the gluten-free tier.
“I had a few ideas for the cake design, but I wanted to wait until I’d found my dress before we finalised the look. When I showed Samantha my dress, I told her to do whatever she wanted, although I did pick some elements of the cake (mostly colours and textures). She sent over a few sketches and I fell in love with them all, making it very hard to choose. In the end, the cake tied into my dress by featuring floral decorations inspired by its beautiful appliqués.
“I had an idea to personalise the back of the cake by decorating it with dates that have a special meaning for me and Stephen: the date we met, the date we bought our first home, the date we got engaged, and then all our postponed wedding dates!
“Samantha guided us on serving suggestions and did a great job. Luckily, we got to keep the whole gluten-free layer to ourselves.”
Gorgeously Sweet Cake Emporium
On 11th June 2021, Megan and Craig said ‘I do’ at the Carmelite Hotel in Aberdeen
“I discovered Kate Archer on Facebook. My mum had actually followed Gorgeously Sweet’s page for a while and suggested I send her a message. The pandemic meant we couldn’t have an in-person tasting, so we based our decision on Kate’s reviews and on how reassured she made us feel. She just felt like the right choice.
“I really like the rustic look and my husband’s number one criteria was that the cake be kept quite plain and not look overly feminine. I sent Kate a few pictures of designs we’d found online. She then followed up with one picture, and it was perfect – just what we both wanted.
“Our cake was all white sugar paste. The bottom tier had a smooth plain finish and our top tier had a rustic ruffle effect. It was very minimalist but looked absolutely amazing. On the morning of the wedding, Kate messaged me, explaining that she felt it needed something to finish off the look. I had total faith in her so I agreed to let her go with what she felt was right. She chose two white Juliet roses, which were just perfect.
“I picked white chocolate and raspberry sponge with a raspberry-ripple buttercream for the top tier, and Craig went for vanilla sponge with buttercream and strawberry jam for the bottom tier.
“We wanted enough cake to share with loved ones who couldn’t be there on the day and Kate made sure we had plenty, which we really appreciated. We actually have some in our freezer, ready for our first anniversary.”
Jappacakes
Emma and Nathan Cassidy sealed the deal at Chatelherault Country Park, Hamilton, on 11th October 2019
“We tried some of Jappacakes’ samples at a wedding show at Braehead Arena. We then did tastings three more times with family. Eventually, we settled on four flavours: lemon; chocolate orange; white chocolate and raspberry; and Nutella.
“Shortly after we’d booked Laura at Jappacakes, our plans changed and we decided to have a more intimate wedding at a different venue. The new venue, Chatelherault Country Park, is very grand so we wanted a cake to match it. One of Laura’s more elaborate cakes had caught our eye at the wedding show and when we discussed the change of venue with her, it turned out that this particular cake had been made for a photo shoot at Chatelherault!
“We wanted the cake to be white and include a monogram of our initials. Laura spent lots of time talking through the details of tier sizes and shapes, flowers for the cake and the specific design for each tier. She was so helpful and sent through loads of sketches to give us an idea of what the whole thing would look like, and was always on hand to answer our millions of questions.
“We only had 50 guests but we wanted a four-tier cake as we thought it suited the style better. That meant we had lots of leftovers. We spent the day after our wedding hand- delivering them to all of our guests who had missed out – it was a lovely way to relive the day. We also gave some to the venue staff who had made our day so special.”
Lana-Lou’s Cake Studio
Sammy Roger tied the knot with Simon West on 30th April 2021 at the Seafield Arms Hotel in Cullen, Aberdeenshire
“I went to school with Alanna, who runs Lana- Lou’s Cake Studio, so I knew how talented she was. I’d always thought I’d ask her to make my cake when I got married.
“Covid meant we couldn’t have an in-person tasting, but Alanna provided us with a sample box. I had already tried her cakes anyway, so I knew I wanted salted caramel, vanilla, and white chocolate with raspberry.
“Even before speaking to Alanna, I had a vision in mind of a timelessly glamorous cake, in keeping with the look of the whole day. She is so versatile in her style and really took this challenge in her stride. She listened to all of my ideas but was able to put her own unique spin on it by suggesting various textures for the different layers. I wanted wow and I definitely got it!
“With restrictions forcing us to have a micro wedding, I knew I wanted to keep some elements of the day just as grand
and impressive as they would have been otherwise, and our cake more than delivered on that front.
“Alanna was so helpful and kept us right with everything. She gave us advice and information sheets so we knew exactly what to go for. Most of the cake was eaten at our white-themed barbecue celebration the day after our wedding, but we also handed out some to people who should have been at our wedding, and we placed a piece from each tier in our freezer to enjoy on our first anniversary.”
Cake Couture by Caroline
Whitney Stirling wed Charlie McManus in a ceremony at Gretna Hall Hotel, followed by a reception at Smiths at Gretna Green, on 28th May 2021
“When we started looking for a baker, we knew we really wanted someone who was based close to Gretna, and who was reliable and an all-round nice person. When we came across Caroline’s Facebook page and saw some of the cakes she’d made previously, we knew we’d found what we were searching for.
“Caroline was amazing. We didn’t have a clue what we wanted. I had some ideas for a rustic look, but was also thinking about including my husband’s football colour. I sent her loads of different designs and she sent me sketches and was so accommodating. She was lovely to talk to and really took the stress out of it. I knew we could trust her to do a good job. In the end, we went for a more elegant and classy cake.
“The one thing we knew even before getting in touch with Caroline was which flavours we wanted; we opted for a simple vanilla sponge with buttercream; carrot cake; red velvet cake; and coconut cake.
“A real benefit of choosing Cake Couture was Caroline herself – she just couldn’t have been nicer. When we had to postpone our wedding last year, I told her straight away and she was very understanding. She was also great when I phoned to let her know the new date. She calmed me down about wedding stress, then we ended up nattering about life in general.”
The Bluebird Cake Company
Megan Drummond married Alan Paterson on 1st May 2021 at Deer Park Golf and Country Club, West Lothian
“Alan and I wanted to get our cake from a local maker as we know last year was so hard for small business owners. When we came across Nicola’s fabulous designs on Instagram, we were sold.
“In-person tastings were not allowed at the time, so Nic sent us a selection of delicious sample flavours. It was so hard to choose just one, but we ended up going for traditional vanilla sponge with jam and buttercream.
“Because it was all quite last-minute due to pandemic uncertainty, we really put our trust in Nic to create our dream cake. Alan loves geometric shapes, slick lines and abstract designs, whereas I prefer more romantic and delicate styles, so we sent Nic some images of cakes we loved and asked her to combine them all. We mentioned that our wedding would have a bit of a rustic feel with lots of dried flowers, and that we like the idea of including these on top. She managed to do it all. The cake had gold leaf and really subtle geometric shapes printed onto it, giving it a subtle Art Deco vibe. The result was amazing!
“After the wedding, we had a couple of slices left over so we took them with us on our mini moon doing the NC500 – we ate them sitting by a loch.
“All of our guests loved our cake, with some – including us – looking at getting Nic to make them birthday cakes. She was just fabulous and really made sure we were happy every step of the way.”