Laura Japp of Jappacakes shares her favourite creations and explains why everything you need to plan your wedding could be right on your doorstep
Pre-wedding to-do lists can seem overwhelming at times, with dress fittings, venue visits and ring shopping just some of the vital trips to be made before the big day.
For many, a trip to your nearest city is the easiest way to make a considerable dent in your wedding checklist, but not in the eyes of owner and founder of Jappacakes, Laura Japp and her team of cake decorating gurus, who are proving that wedding shopping a little closer to home can really pay off.
Nestled away in the quaint royal burgh of Lanark, Laura’s wedding and celebration cake empire has grown from strength to strength since she started it in in 2013, and she recently opened her first shop in the town.
But it is not just decadent designs, seamless quality and faultless customer service that makes Laura stand out from the wedding cake crowd, but her crusade to drive new business to her neighbourhood.
“I opened the shop initially because I needed more space,” explains Laura. “I was so busy with wedding cake orders that I hadn’t taken a birthday or celebration cake order for two years and was turning people away several times a week.
While Laura’s shop is just minutes from Lanark train station, there’s heaps of suppliers within a stone’s throw. “The street the shop is on has florists, jewellers, kilt hire and suits, stationers and a bridal shop. Plus we have a whole host of amazing local photographers and other suppliers.”
“Lanark is a fantastic town where you can easily plan all aspects of your wedding, so drawing more couples from Glasgow and Edinburgh to our part of the country is the goal.”
Laura has a small team who help her manage the high volume of orders she receives, but with further growth and expansion on her mind, she aims to further enhance her staff’s skills through training and mentoring this year.
“What I was most adamant about when opening the shop was that we were able to increase the number of orders we were taking without compromising on the quality of our cakes.
“Often as a cake business grows and they are forced to hire, staff with differing levels of skill are finishing cakes and it means there is often no consistency in the finish. We won’t allow that to happen at Jappacakes.”
And she’s not wrong there. Jappacakes has already scooped first prize for Wedding Cake Baker/Designer at last year’s Scottish Vows Awards and been shortlisted for the Scottish Wedding Awards. Fingers crossed!
Here’s some of Jappacakes’ best bakes:
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