Here is a selection of Q&As from Your Bristol and Somerset Wedding magazine whether it be about flowers, hair and makeup, fashion, wedding themes, health & beauty, cakes, stationery, legal advice. If you would like your question answered by our experts, please email it to editor@yourbristolsomerset.wedding
To view more expert advice on a different topic, please select one from the list below.
Fresh flavours
Q. How do you inject your wedding days with the spirit of spring?
A. Claire Hansen says: Springtime always means flowers to me; the first blooms of the year bringing with them brightness and joyful colour after the cosy darkness of winter. To bring a fresh, seasonal touch to your big-day bake, your cake designer and florist can work together to create something really special.
The incredible blooms pictured here, supplied by Posee Floral Designs, perfectly encapsulate the spirit and beauty of the season and add a playful, light feeling of spring to the overall design with their candy colours. I also used a clear middle tier to add a dimension of light and air to the design, which reminds me of the feeling of a fresh spring breeze on the skin.
Couples also love to bring a seasonal theme into their cake using the element of flavour. Lemon and elderflower is a particularly popular choice in the warmer months, as it's so beautifully light and refreshing. Pink champagne is popular all year round, but especially so during the spring, when it subtly echoes the colour of cherry blossoms as the sponge itself is a delicate shade of rose pink. Who doesn't love a glass of bubbly in the sunshine?
Claire Hansen, Claire Hansen Cakes
www.clairehansencakes.com
Bright and beautiful
Q. How do you inject your wedding days with the spirit of spring?
A. Kerry Hemms says: Spring is such a beautiful time of year to get married as there's so much new life and promise of great things to come. So, it's the time you can really have some fun and add some fabulous colour pops to your day!
There's no rule to say your cake must be white for example. Why not go all out with a gorgeous bake, painted with the bluest of skies and adorned with bright sugar flowers for a vibrant and beautiful bake that reflects your day? Or how about a rustic buttercream or white chocolate ganache covered cake decorated with the most delicate of pressed flowers and herbs? This theme is also so easy to incorporate into other areas of your day, such as in the favours and invitations. Speak to your cake designer and see what ideas they have for you... we all love a chance to break away from tradition every now and again!
Kerry Hemms, Angel’s Kitchen
www.angelskitchen.co.uk
Dynamic bakes
Q. What are your trend predicitions for 2023?
A. Claire Hansen says: "The recent trend for adding colourful tiers to your wedding cake is set to continue in 2023. Where deep, rich hues of blue and green have been popular over the last few years, I'm starting to see couples with colour palettes that feature shades of burgundy, pink and magenta, which coincidentally has just been named Pantone Colour of the Year – Viva Magenta.
"Cakes that feature a combination of small and tall tiers or an alternatively shaped tier, such as hexagonal, continue to be popular and are often used to highlight the addition of a colourful tier bringing drama and interest to the overall look.
"I'm also very excited to see couples opting for more design-led cakes featuring wafer paper foliage with features such as sails. This is something I specialise in and really enjoying making. Wafer paper silver dollar leaves are a beautiful, subtle way to add structural design elements to your cake wile staying true to a traditional white wedding palette. These can easily be mixed with cakes, leaves and flowers in other hues to create a dynamic and showstopping centrepiece – gorgeous!"
Claire Hansen, Claire Hansen Cakes
www.clairehansencakes.com
A taste of Autumn
Q. How can we tie our wedding cake in with our autumnal theme?
A. Sarah Churchill says: Autumn is a great time for a wedding and there are a few ways to incorporate the season into your wedding cake. Reds, yellows, greens and browns are great colours to use for flowers, foliage and ribbon. Fruits, berries and even woodland animals can also add a wonderful feature or element to your cake.
When it comes to flavours think of warmth and spice. The traditional rich fruit cake is a great fit for this time of year, and how about a decadent chocolate indulgence or a carrot cake full of sultanas and walnuts? My toffee fudge cake with pieces of creamy fudge, filled with toffee fudge buttercream and a caramel sauce offers flavours reminiscent of Bonfire Night and Halloween, while my Baileys infused sponge would send you towards Christmas in style.
Sarah Churchill, Sarah's Sugarcraft
www.sarahssugarcraft.co.uk
A taste of spring
Q. We're looking for light seasonal springtime flavours for our wedding cake. Do you have any recommendations?
A. Emma Harvey-Egle says: For a spring wedding, this can mean light sponges with citrus and floral flavours symbolising the growth of flowers and fruit, as well as the increase in sunlight. My Amalfi lemon and English elderflower signature sponge, or the slightly more classic Madagascan vanilla and English raspberry, are ideal choices for this time of year. In fact, springtime is a great season for cake flavours in general, as the weather is neither too cold nor too hot, which lends itself to a huge variety of options from carrot cake with Sicilian orange curd and matching Swiss merigne buttercream to red velvet cake with a light and creamy ermine buttercream. Of course, indulgent champagne cake is always in season! Organic floral arrangements in warmer and brighter shades can look especially lovely, whether in sugar flower form as I do, or with fresh flowers, paired beautifully with those light citrus and floral flavours. You might even experiment with the incorporation of a savoury flavour such as rosemary, to complement a wedding's natural vibe.
Emma Harvey-Egle, Emma Atelier Cakes
emmaateliercakes.co.uk
A slice of the action
Q. What trends should I look out for to make my big-day cake stand out?
A. Georgiana Tamas says: Your wedding cake should tell a story, without it becoming a novelty cake. It can reflect moments from your life as a couple, details of the gown or your wedding flowers. If you want to show off and have an oversized cake that's impossible to miss, then go for it! It's your day, your way.
A crisp and smooth cake will always be en vogue, but the finish doesn't always have to be so precise. A more textured, unfinished look is on trend at the moment, made with buttercream or royal icing and finished with arty metallic elements. You can choose to have one textured tier or go all out. Also, the texture can be bold, such as a rustic stone look, or more discreet by using white on white with a hint of sparkle.
Floral cakes remain fashionable, but you can update the look by totally covering your bake with flowers. Handmade blooms in sugar or wafer paper will be met with the most admiration. Contemporary sculptural cakes in unusual shapes will catch the eye, especially when topped with a dramatic rice or wafer-paper sail. We also love skilfully hand-painted floral cakes overlapped with 3D flowers to bring the design to life.
Georgiana Tamas, Posh & Cake
www.poshandcake.co.uk
