CakeBuds

Can I include my own?!?! No...okay. Then it would have to be a wedding I supplied a cake for in February 2020 at Northbrook Park Hotel in Surrey. The couple actually found me on Bridebook and were amazing. They came to me wanting one thing and went away with something completely different. The colour theme for their wedding was black and gold and a lot of thought had gone into the styling of their big day. Their cake was probably one of my favourite cakes I've made to date. It was a three tier textured charcoal square cake with a sugar foliage cascade down the side of the cake. You can see the cake in my photos.

contemporary, textured, movement, artistic, bespoke

After only working in the wedding industry for just under 11 month I achieved the title of South Central Wedding Cake Designer/Maker of the year in The 2019 Wedding Industry Awards. Twelve months later I went on to win the title of South Central Wedding Cake Designer/Maker of the year in The 2020 Wedding Industry Awards for a 2nd year running! Only two months later I won National Highly Commended in the 2020 Wedding Industry Awards and I am now a judge for the 2021 Wedding Industry Awards alongside some amazingly talented wedding cake artists. These are definitely my proudest moments!

Don’t just put your wedding cake in a dark corner at your wedding venue. Think about where your cake will be placed and how you can dress the table to give it the wow factor! Just some simple decorations such as candles or flowers can really make a difference.

More and more couples are breaking the boundaries when it comes to their weddings and want to do things a bit differently. A wedding I provided a cake for last summer had set up a confetti bar for their guests to mix their own confetti using dried petals. I thought this was a lovely touch to add and it really fitted in with the whole rustic theme of the wedding too.

As soon as you have booked your venue, it is best to get in touch to check my availability.

It is only myself who designs, bakes and decorates all of the cakes at CakeBuds, therefore I am only able to take on one wedding cake order per week to maintain my high standards. As a result, certain dates do get booked up well in advance.

If you love my style, then you can secure your wedding date with CakeBuds by paying a £100 non-refundable booking fee. The design of your wedding cake can be finalised at a later date.

After securing your wedding date, we will arrange a suitable time to meet at a complimentary Tasting Consultation.

This is a great opportunity for us to meet and discuss the design of your wedding cake. So please feel free to bring along any photos, stationary or colour swatches which you would like to use as inspiration.

You will also be able to taste a selection of cake flavours from my menu.

After your consultation, I will send you a selection of cake sketches with accurate quotes. We can then finalise the final design of your wedding cake, flavour choices and price via email.

Approximately two months before your wedding day, I will be in touch to confirm your chosen wedding cake design and flavours.

This is when your remaining balance is also due.

I will liaise directly with your wedding venue to arrange delivery and set up of your wedding cake, so all you need to do is sit back, relax and enjoy your wedding day.

If you would prefer to taste my cakes before securing your booking with me, we can arrange to meet at one of my Tasting Consultations for a small fee. Alternatively, if you are unable to attend one of these sessions, you can order a Tasting Box instead. Should you then go ahead and book your wedding cake with me, the cost of the consultation or sample box will be deducted from your final balance. Please note that no booking is secure until a £100 non-refundable booking fee has been paid.

I currently offer 18 different cake flavours. One of my most popular flavours (and mine!) is Salted Caramel. This is a Salted Caramel sponge, drizzled with a homemade syrup and filled with salted caramel sauce and a silky smooth salted caramel buttercream.

As of my design are bespoke so this is a difficult question to answer. I would probably say that the most original design would have to be one I did for a wedding in summer 2019. The bride and groom mixed a contemporary design of torn paper ruffles with a classic design of roman columns to add height. You can see the outcome in my photos.

So, how did CakeBuds originate? Well, since a young age I have always enjoyed baking. However it wasn't until September 2016 that I started baking celebration cakes, as I wanted to create something special for my daughters first birthday. Family and friends then asked me to make cakes for them, so I taught myself to decorate cakes using books, Pinterest, YouTube and other online tutorials. The feedback I received was overwhelming which ultimately encouraged me to set up CakeBuds in summer 2017.

At the start of 2018, I decided to expand my business into wedding cakes. Expanding into wedding cakes has led to many exciting opportunities such as styled photoshoots, becoming a recommended wedding supplier for several wedding venues across the south of England (including The Elvetham, Highfield Park, The Grange, Rownhams House, The Dome in Worthing and new wedding venue The Barn at Avington) and winning the title of South Central Wedding Cake Designer/Maker of the year in The 2019 Wedding Industry Awards.

Hahaha... you do know that a wedding cake takes days to make and not hours don't you? Realistically I could never create one of my wedding cakes with the time constraints of the Great British Bake Off. So my show stopper would have to be something pretty simple due to the lack of time. I would go for a really tall single tier buttercream or white chocolate ganache covered cake and decorate it with lots of colourful flicks of paint to make quite an abstract feature. Then decorate with a single sugar flower attached to the side of the cake.

However, if there were no time constraints, then I would create a multi tiered asymmetric cake with each tier being a cube. It would include a textured stone effect finish on the cake in tones of white and very pale green, with some additional texture such as bas relief in metallic tones and isomalt crystals. Maybe with a few modern sugar flowers on the cake too to really draw your eye to certain parts of the cake. Watch this space...!!