Top 10 Wedding Cake Tips from a Leicester Wedding Cake Maker
10 Tips for Choosing the Perfect Wedding Cake!
Shirley Rae, A leading Leicester Wedding Cake Maker, shares her top tips on all things cake, weddings & a shared a bit about her home-baking business…
Here is where I first spotted Shirley Rae’s baking skills! Her simple but classic white design topped with green foliage looked perfectly at home in The Factory, a private function venue in the heart of Hinckley.
So ShirleyRae, for anyone out there looking with no idea where to start, what are your Top 10 Tips for finding the PERFECT Wedding Cake?
*These images were taken from ShirleyRae’s Instagram page, @_shireyraes and are not my own.
One
Before contacting a Leicester wedding cake supplier, have in mind what you’d like your dream wedding cake to look like {Pinterest is great for this!} - It just helps to have a starting point when you have your initial consultation.
Two
Let you venue know that you’d like some cake put aside for you both to share. Your wedding day is so busy and you might not get a moment to enjoy some of your cake, but by making sure you have your own stash put to the side you can enjoy this at your leisure either that night with a cuppa or the next day as you soak in all of your wedded bliss.
Three
Consider your budget - yes no-one’s favourite topic, but it’s really worthwhile having in mind what you are aiming towards and this can then be discussed with your supplier to see what can be achieved, if necessary.
Four
Wedding cakes are completely bespoke and designed to compliment your wedding theme. If you are wanting floral decorations, this is something to definitely discuss with your florist as they can match your cake flowers to the rest of your floral design. If it’s a cake topper or models, these will also need to be organised well in advance to ensure time to make them or order them in.
Five
When planning how many people you’d like your cake to serve, bare in mind that not all of your guests will have a piece of cake and not everyone likes cake either (absurd I know!) This can help reduce waste but also cost.
Six
Consider where you will want your wedding cake to be and how you’d like it to be displayed. Would you like it set on an oak barrel or regular table? Completely on its own or with floral decorations or other decorative elements? These are the finer details but a lot of couples don’t consider this when planning their wedding cake and it’s actually really important to ensure that the overall desired ‘look’ is achieved.
Seven
Consider if any of your guests have dietary requirements and if you’d like to accommodate them in some way. Even if it’s just a couple of separate cupcakes, it’s an inexpensive way of making sure that all of your guests have been included & from experience this goes a long way!
Eight
Flavours - now I’m sure we can all agree that you can’t go wrong with a traditional Viccy sponge, but there are just so many flavours that you can choose from for your wedding cake. From lemon and elderflower to strawberry and Prosecco this is the time to choose something a little different if you fancy something other than a traditional route.
Nine
Don’t leave organising your wedding cake to the last minute! Although, this is often one of the last things a couple will sort out, if you have a specific cake maker in mind contact them as soon as possible to secure your date, especially during the busy wedding season when dates become super limited!
Ten
Enjoy the process! This is often one of the less stressful and fun parts of your wedding planning. Not only do you get to plan your dream cake but you also get to try out your wedding cake samples and let’s be honest what’s better than cake washed down with a hot beverage?! Well, I’m biased of course, but seriously enjoy it!
& from all your experience as a Wedding Supplier, what would you say were your general Wedding Tips for couples getting married in the near future?
It’s your day - have what you want and not to please anyone else. Make it all about you guys, your fave foods, drink, music etc! When your guests leave you want them to have experienced all of your favourite things together.
What things could you not imagine being part of your big day? Prioritise these in your budget!
Pinterest! This is your best friend for wedding ideas!
Invest in wedding insurance - this will help take some of the worry away if anything unforeseen was to happen.
Create a spreadsheet to help track expenditure and when your final balances are due.
Allow plenty of time on your big day to get ready: assign roles to your bridesmaids and make sure the fizz is flowing!
Take time on the day to spend with your other half. The day goes so quickly, so plan to have some time together - have a drink, a walk away from the venue etc it’ll give you a little breather and some quality time together to soak it all in as newlyweds!
Let’s find out more about ShirleyRae, and her foray into the Cake World…
Firstly, Tell us a little bit about yourself, ShirleyRae’s Cakes & why you love what you do…
I’m a Black Country girl born and bred now living in Leicestershire who loves a good brew, binging on Netflix, getting out in the fresh air and spending time with my beautiful son and husband. ShirleyRae’s was born out of my passion for cake, but also having been made redundant during the covid pandemic. The main aim of ShirleyRae’s was and still is to bring the joy of cake to everyone irrespective of their dietary needs. This is even more so important on your big day when you want to enjoy your dream cake without the worry of it making you poorly! The icing on the cake (no pun intended) is standing back and looking at one of your creations knowing that in a few hours time a newly married couple will be cutting into in front of their loved ones! What an honour and privilege that is.
What do you think draws your couples to your services?
ShirleyRae’s provides a professional wedding cake service from start to finish whilst also making couples feel at ease and informed about the whole process. From the initial chat to discuss their ideas, to receiving their wedding cupcake samples, I try and make the couples feel excited and confident about the whole process. I always say that cake is one of the really fun parts of wedding planning and I really try and embody that every step of the way!
How long have you been a cake maker / baker for, and what made you want to be one?
I’ve always baked, but when I was made redundant during covid, I decided over a rather large glass of Aperol to launch ShirleyRae’s. I’ve always loved cake - making it and of course eating it! As a coeliac, baking almost became a necessity as finding decent gluten free cake can sometimes be challenging! ShirleyRae’s specialises in dietary requirements as I firmly believe that everyone should be able to enjoy cake, especially on your wedding day when the last thing you need to be doing is worrying about whether your cake is safe for you to eat. Of course, we do bake normal cakes but we are very passionate that everyone should be able to have their dream wedding cake on their special day.
What is your favourite go-to cake EVER, and the what would your wedding cake look like if you were getting married this year?
My favourite go to cake is a tall rustic buttercream finished cake with dried floral embellishments, stencil work and gold leaf. Simple but elegant! Flavour wise, I’m quite partial to white chocolate and raspberry, but you can’t beat a traditional Viccy sponge.
We tied the knot in 2019 and our wedding cake was a three tier naked cake, with the central tier decorated with a tree bark effect and our initials in a heart. The cake was displayed on a log slice, and had sprays of fresh flowers on the tiers but also at the bottom, and finished with a cake topper. As a coeliac the entire cake was gluten free, but no-one knew the difference! If we ever renewed our vows I think we’d still like a three tier cake, but this time with a full textured buttercream finish and finished with large sprays of dried flowers.
Why should people choose a home baker over a visible bakery?
Of course I will be biased on this question but ultimately a good baker is a good baker whether that be from home or in a purpose built unit. With the rise of content creation on social media and YouTube providing the know how, coupled with covid hitting, the home baking world exploded. Of course, not everyone continued post covid, or decided to make it a business venture, but honestly being home based I don’t feel makes any difference!
Do you think home baking cake companies are on the rise?
Oh definitely, home based baking is definitely supplying the wedding cake world more than ever! This makes me super happy, and proud, that as a home baker you can still create beautiful bespoke wedding cakes without the need for a custom unit (although, sometimes the extra room would be nice!)
& finally, what are your 2023/24 trend predictions for the wonderful world of Wedding Cakes?
Looking ahead to 2023/24 weddings, I honestly feel that couples are looking for more simple and crowd pleasing options. Dessert tables or stands are ever increasing in popularity and I really think that the idea of offering different options for guests to choose from is a more relaxed approach that couples are leaning towards. Dried florals and rustic finished cakes are a match made in heaven and I think these will also continue to be as popular as ever! Here’s to another fantastic year of wedding cakes!
Contact ShirleyRae via the following channels:
W E B S I T E | Call / WhatsApp: 07957002156 | I N S T A G R A M
*All images shown on this page were taken by Amie Seal Photography {that’s me!}, excluding the ten thumbnail images which were taken from ShirleyRae’s Instagram page*
Have you found this blog helpful?
Or have you experienced the delicacies of Shirley Rae’s delightful Wedding Cakes?
If so, comment below!