As often happens in the office of Arctic Fox Weddings, our conversations tend to lead to the enviable… Cake!
Sarah is our resident “cake expert “ and once upon a time, was our in house Cake maker. Here she shares her top tips on choosing a cake with you!
Wedding cakes are one of the most important centrepieces at a wedding and being involved in someone’s big day is such an honour!
The tradition of the wedding cake stems back to Ancient Rome and may go back even further back to Greece. A loaf of barley or wheat was broken over the brides’ head to bring good fortune to the couple and the guests would scramble for the crumbs to take home for their own good luck. Fast forward through the ages and we have gone from fruit cakes that were cut and given to guests to take home and slip under pillows to dream of future husbands, to today where practicality wins and the cake is now mostly served as dessert.
Whether you are ordering your cake through a baker or your cake baking aunty, here are my tips for choosing your wedding cake.
Have a clear view of the style of wedding cake you are after and make sure it aligns with your overall wedding theme. Knowing the style you are looking for will determine what baker you chose based on their experience.Go in for a tasting
At a tasting, clients are invited to the baker to choose from a selection of flavours of both the cake and the frosting. This is a great opportunity to meet the baker and understand the range of their abilities. Just because they are great with fondant doesn’t mean that they have skills with frosting and vice versa!
You will need to let your baker know how many guests and how you will be serving the cake. As a rule of thumb, if you are serving the cake as dessert you may pay more per slice. The slice of cake is slightly larger and served as part of the dessert course. You will also need to talk to your caterer to ensure they are happy to cut and plate. This may incur extra charges for “plateage” with some caters offer ice cream, cream or coulis to be served alongside the cake.
If you are after a buttercream frosted cake, make sure you have adequate refrigeration. Leaving the cake out for any prolonged length of time can result in a sloping soft mess that is hard to cut. Take to your baker about what is best for your climate and how it can be stored to keep it photo ready and plated to perfection.
Photos of perfect cakes have a team of stylists and bakers and lighting professionals around them keeping things looking perfect. They can also have the cake covered in inedible objects that just aren’t exactly tasty on your actual wedding cake! Having a cake out in the elements can lead to sweating, leaning and even sagging if it is left for a while. Enlist a friend to watch the cake if it’s out and to ensure the caterer can whisk away to a cool room if needed.
Your choice here is endless! As a rule, your topper should always be given to the baker or the person who is adding your decorations to the cake. If you are placing fresh flowers or anything substantial where your topper might be, it’s a good idea to supply the topper to ensure that it can be seen without rearranging the flowers creating unnecessary damage to the cake.
Cake delivery takes work. Ideally you want your baker to help with delivery but if your saving on delivery costs, make sure whomever is in charge of pick up doesn’t go alone. It’s a 2 person job every time!Storage
It sounds incredibly romantic to save the top tier of your cake for your first anniversary but the truth is it sounds a lot tastier than it actually is! Cake can take on all your freezer odours and over time will lose its flavour. If you really do want to stick to tradition then ensure the cake is wrapped tightly in a few layers with clingfilm and placed in a tightly fitting airtight, freezer proof container.
And lastly and most importantly!
You picked your favourite flavours and planned this masterpiece so enjoy it! Ask your caterer to save a slice for you and your partner so if you do happen to miss out, you can enjoy and savour later.
And now after all that cake talk, I think I need to find some for myself!
The difference between a Wedding Planner and a Wedding Stylist is pretty easily (and I should say often) confused. Here we will outline what the roles entail, hopefully making to make it a little clearer for you to make your decision on what will suit you best and of course suit your budget!
Tina’s brief for us was classic and elegant, so we filled the beautiful Summergrove barn with white florals and added dark green glossy foliage to compliment. To bring in an element of luxury, we added gold touches with our Gold Rim Charger Plates + Gold Cutlery, alongside our Floor Length Linen Table Cloths.
April has shown us that South-East Queensland has some unpredictable weather. Many of our couples’ has to switch their wedding ceremonies and receptions to their wet weather backup plan. We’d say that rainy weather crosses the minds of most of our couples in the lead up to their wedding day. We’re here to tell you not to worry (and that you’re not alone).
Here are some Q&A’s for how Arctic Fox handles wet weather backup plans.
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