Eat and drink pink!

Here we are at the end of week of perfect pink prettiness. Too many 'p's for you? Too bad! Complete the pink theme with your food, drinks and cake.

Cake
Too much pink might be a little much for your guests' eyes. Ask your cake designer to adorn your tasty creation with sugar flowers, or consider a single pink layer? Less is more!

from the wedding of Todd and Kylie | Karen Buckle Photography

from the wedding of Rohan and Danielle | Andrew Rankin Photography 

from the wedding of Jayde and Callum | Stella Studios

From the wedding of Tim and Ashleigh | Jess Marks Photography

from the wedding of Daniel and Ashleigh | Toni Snell Photography

Lolly Tables
Pink and lollies seem to pair well. Why? We don't know. But we do enjoy chomping on a pink sweet! The key to this look is delicate glass jars, cute signs, and of course, pink treats!

from the wedding of Urszula and John | Yoori Rose Photography

from the wedding of Troy and Johanna | Adore Photograph

from the wedding of Hilton and Paulina | Casey Jane Photography 

Pink Drink, Drink Pink
Pink glasses, cups, straws, or even a signature cocktail will put the pink into your drink.

image from Flickr.com

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Thanks to our guest contributor, Anna, for this week's pink perfection!

Check out Queensland Brides at www.queenslandbrides.com.au, Facebook and Twitter. Get the latest issue here.

Style coding your cake: What your choice of flavour, colour and finish says about your big day

Your chosen theme and style should tie into every element of your wedding - and the cake is no exception. Read on to discover which piped details, sugared flowers, fondants and fillings are perfect for your special day.

Modern simplicity

Studio Sixty Photography

Classic Cakes

Porfyri Photography

The modern wedding cake comes in many forms, but is usually streamlined in shape and one or two tiers. A bold, limited colour palette characterises these cakes, whilst customised patterns are also becoming a big trend.Try simple floral additions or use succulents to decorate, or for some edible artwork incorporate spun sugar or chocolate shards.

Rustic country

Karen Buckle Photography 

Studio Impressions Photography

Rustic, barnyard affairs created by nannas and mums have well and truly entered the wedding cake world. Homemade-style sponge and fruit cakes with thick, luscious cream and visible layers have become a fantastic personalised option. However, if you just want a taste of homemade style, ask your cake designer about incorporating a textured buttercream frosting or a sprinkling of coconut.

Bedazzled glamour

Studio Sixty Photography

Frosted Indulgence

Shutterstock

Bling-loving brides and grooms can easily incorporate dazzling elements into their wedding cake. Crystals, pearlised finishes and large diamante accessories can be extremely striking. For just a touch of sparkle, try a shining jewelled cake topper which can be personalised with the initials of the bride and groom.

Seaside elegance

Life, Love & Light Images 

UK designer Antoinette Patisserie

Beach weddings are the perfect opportunity to use novelty cake decorations – think scatterings of seashells, starfish and pearls. For just a touch of kitschy beach style, simply feature a single starfish atop stiff fondant or ‘waves’ of soft buttercream. Want to keep it simple and elegant? Stick to a fresh colour palette of white against navy, fresh aqua or zingy green.

Fairytale

TWK Studio

Rosalind Miller Cakes UK

Decadence is key when creating a fairytale- worthy cake, so multi-tiered creations with rich chocolate filling, overflowing cupcake stands or extensive dessert buffets are all fitting choices. Buttercream icing adds a mouth-watering softness and can be piped into detailed ripples and features, whilst beaded and piped royal icing is also perfect for ‘princess’-style cakes. Add florals or metallics to complete the dreamy picture.

Colourful and fun

Cakes by Judy C 

Flour Girl | Sarzy O Photography 

Andrea Thompson Photography

Couples looking to inject their wedding day with some fun, humour and colour have set their sights on the wedding cake – a perfect outlet to let their personalities shine through. Brightly-hued mouldings, air-brushed finishes and fondant shapes are all customisable elements and allow total creative freedom. For a touch of the unexpected, try personalising your cake flavour – we’ve seen Mojito, Cinnamon and Neopolitan filled cakes!

Vintage romance

TWK Studio 

Rosalind Miller Cakes UK

Cakes by Judy C

Vintage is an ideal theme for those who love delicate femininity. Lace and crochet elements are becoming a popular choice for vintage-style wedding cakes, as are autumnal shades and pops of antique pink roses. Serve the cake on chintzy, second-hand china plates or create an entire lolly buffet featuring decorative cake stands, glass decanters and delicate pink food labels.

Formal tradition

Flour Girl | Sarzy O Photography 

Sterling Studios

The traditional wedding cake, despite its many reincarnations, is still a popular choice for brides and grooms around the globe.These multi-tiered, white visions can feature extremely detailed beading, latticework and filigree patterns on top of a white fondant canvas.Traditional bride and groom cake toppers are still available, or for a more modern take try delicate sugared flowers or ribbons.

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Let them eat cake! All you need to know about wedding cakes

On QB this week it's all about food, so it was only a matter of time until we got to one food selection that we all know and love... CAKE!

As far as applause-worthy moments go, the cutting of your wedding cake is right up there with your first kiss as newlyweds. So, will this attention-grabbing confection be a surefire classic or something a little nutty? Foolproof fruit or decadent choc-mud? Two tiers or a tower? Here’s a few delicious tips to ensure sweet success in the cake stakes.

Wedding of George and Stefanie | Porfyri Photography

Cakes are pretty important!
With all the fussing and fretting over gowns, guest lists and gourmet fare, you could assume that when planning your wedding and reception, organising the wedding cake would come way, way down on the list of important things to do. 

In fact, next to the ceremony itself, the wedding cake has pride of place in the annals of wedding history. As far back as 5000 years, the marital customs of the ancient Greeks and Romans included a very basic form of the contemporary cake, as a means of appeasing the household Gods. It was hoped that they would then bestow their blessings on the impending marriage. In Elizabethan England, whole kernels of wheat were tossed on the bride as she left the church, as portents of fertility. Indeed throughout history and across many cultures, there seems to be a habit of thrusting cake or cake substitutes at the bride. Funnily enough, this rather messy exercise actually symbolised a couple’s union and intention to share all of life’s offerings. Still today, the wedding cake conveys the same message. So for all those who require clarification, it is not for want of extra cutlery that the bride and groom wrap their fingers around the one knife and cut the cake together!

Wedding of Alexandra and Fortunato

Which cake is the right cake?
Certainly, there is a range of traditional options that will have the problem licked before you’ve even given it a second thought. For instance, the two-tiered fruit cake — enveloped in sticky, sweet marzipan icing is a surefire winner, particularly among wedding stalwarts. However, there are also countless, less customary cake selections to wade through, before setting your decision in stone. At this point, it is only fair to warn you not to be fooled into thinking that because the cutting of the cake is usually the last of a reception’s formalities, the details won’t really matter.


Let your cake express your personal style
As well as being a symbol of the couple’s sweet future together and marking the end of the reception’s formalities, the wedding cake has become a gastronomic and visual spectacular. Forget the home-baked oatcake option of yesteryear, current expectations will have you searching for a positively sublime confection that not only stimulates the tastebuds, but also looks superb in the snaps, cuts like a dream, expresses your personal style, meets your budget and doesn’t clash with your dress.

Wedding of Tony and Amanda

Wedding of Trent and Julie-Anne

Plan well in advance!
By now, you can probably see how cake selection is as time-consuming and crucial to the success of your reception as selecting the wines to accompany the courses. For this reason, it is wise to order your cake at least three months before the big day; having taken into consideration its size (dependent on the number of guests), style, icing and decorations. Depending on these variables, the seemingly humble gateau can cost anywhere between $200 and $3000. Remember also, that the average two-tiered torte serves about 100 people.

Wedding of Rohan and Danielle

Serve your cake for dessert to save $$$
With a view to cost cutting, many couples choose to serve the cake for dessert and, while this should save you money on catering, check first that your reception venue doesn’t have a ridiculously high plateage fee! 

Wedding of Anthony and Lynette

Anything goes!
In terms of the look of your wedding cake, absolutely anything goes. From heart-shaped to three tiered and vanilla iced with cascades of orange blossoms, to chocolate frosting, topped with blood red sugar roses, the possibilities are endless. By the time you’ve finished consulting everyone from the chef to your partner’s great aunt thrice removed, your mind will be awash with decorative ribbons, gold leaf angels and plastic images of you and your beloved (please, no!). In the meantime, the family has no doubt reached an impasse over Gran’s famous fruit cake — a recipe that dates back to the Tudors and requires almost as many generations to make – and a nouveau chocolate mousse, with or without fruit, custard and all the trimmings. 

Wedding of Claricke and Jonathan

Time to break traditions!
If it’s any help, there is a gradual movement away from the traditional two-tiered fruit cake and the croquembouche which, while sentimental favourites, tend to cater for only a niche market of guests. So, why not go against the grain and make cake selection a teeny bit more enjoyable, by considering you and your partner’s personal tastes. For instance, you could stick with the two-tiered tradition, but mix a layer of chocolate truffle with one of carrot, banana or cheesecake. 

Wedding of Kieran and Ashley

Feeling sentimental? 
With multi-tiered styles, you can also uphold the romantic custom of serving the bottom tier to guests and keeping the top one for your first wedding anniversary or the birth of your first child (whichever comes first). Here, the old fruit cake does win merit points for longevity, but your cake specialist should be able to advise on storage methods for most other cake types. 

Wedding of Daniel and Ashleigh

Forget getting the bride to the wedding, get the cake to the reception!
You should also arrange for your cake’s creator to bring this key confection to your reception, as they know the best way to transport it. They can also perform any necessary touch-ups, in preparation for its big debut. 

Wedding of Sudipta and Josh

Simplicity? Schimplifity!
The rule of thumb when planning your wedding day is generally, elegance through simplicity. However, in the cake department, we give you licence to purge your over-the-top fantasies, go a little crazy with the decorations and, most importantly, try before you buy! So allow for some extra inches in that wedding dress or tux and nosh down on some of the melt-in-the-mouth morsels on offer; an extra dollop of double cream on the side for good measure!

Wedding of Adam and Erin

Check it off the list!
Here's a helpful list of items to check off to help you decide on the right cake for you.

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Cakes and Bouquets? Do it Yourself!

Over the course of this week we've brought to you a bunch of different DIY wedding ideas, and today is no exception! 

Another fabulous incorporation of DIY into your wedding is by mixing up the traditional floral bouquet with something a little more fun. 

Bouquets made out of non-floral materials have become more and more popular in recent years, and they truly are a great alternative - particularly for a bride who has allergies!

Here's a few styles to think about: 

Button bouquets

This button bouquet was made for Leah and Jamie's wedding, Leah says that they didn't do DIY to save money, but as a way to express themselves. The reason they decided on button bouquets was because Leah hates flowers! "I'm also allergic to them so I wasn't going to have a bouquet at all. But my husband insisted I shold have something to hold, so he made me and my bridesmaid button bouquets. There were all sorts of pink and white and silver buttons including croquet ones and a few skulls to fit our Friday 13 theme."

Wedding of Jamie and Leah

Wedding of Jamie and Leah

Wedding of Jamie and Leah

(Brides' bouquet made using a bouquet foam holder, florist wire, buttons and ribbon.) 

Jewelled/brooch bouquets
For her chic homestyle vintage wedding, Sheridan spent time making her jewelled bouquet and the button bouquets of her bridesmaids.

Wedding of James and Sheridan

(Psst, for a bride who loves the look of a jewelled bouquet, but doesn't like DIY-ing, try looking around as you can find companies that specialise in them.)

Debbie Carlisle Bouquets

Fabric flowers
Lauren's bouquet was made out of fabrics from each of her bridesmaids dresses, as well as her own.

Wedding of Scott and Lauren

The great thing about these bouquets is that they are timeless, you can keep them for reminiscing in later years, or even share your bouquet with a friend or family member. Twahnee suggests storing your bouquets with incense, "would you believe they still have a lovely scent."

Cakes are another outlet for the creative bride.

Urszula made her very own wedding cake for her wedding day. "I had never really done any cake decorating and certainly had never made a wedding cake, but I really wanted to make ours. I started practising months before and then made our cake during the week before the wedding. While it added a tiny bit more stress to that week, it was absolutely worth it and turned out exactly how I wanted it to."

Wedding of Urszula and John

A little more practically, this cake stand was made for Leah and Jamie's wedding. Jamie "designed and constructed our amazing cake stand. Our cake maker had never made them before so had nothing suitable for them [cake pops] to be presented on." The cake stand was "Built with wood and screws, sanded and lacquered with 80 small holes drilled into the 2 lower levels for the cake pops to stand."

Wedding of Leah and Jamie

For Selina and Brian's wedding they "wanted to incorporate origami into the wedding, so the white flowers in all the bouquets are all paper origami flowers and the wedding cake was all paper flowers."

Wedding of Selina and Brian

DIY doesn't always have to be the bride or the groom to be. Family and friends are great to recruit into any DIY projects you attempt. Amanda says that for her wedding to Craig, "My aunt, Diane Williams, made the cakes and she also, along with my other aunt, Della Lynch, and their husbands, set up the reception area for us."

Wedding of Craig and Amanda

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