‘The inspiration sunny styled shoot at the eclectic Voewood came from the verdant and exuberant Spring Fling. Our beauty team consisted of Lisa Frost on lots of plaits and tumble-down hair, Sarah Patterson MUA wowing us with sunset eyes and Laura from The Beauty Hobo on cabochon mustard nails.

Our florist Sharon at Flower30 created a uniquely wearable bouquet studded with a selection of rose buds, succulents and live blooms and a matching buttonhole for the groom. Tables were trimmed with blue velvet, honeysuckle, mint, air plants, anthurium, apple twigs and candles.

Sam Wood laid blue printed palm menus for each place setting, as well as a suite of stationery for the couple. Table settings by Chalk and China styled with authentic aged crockery mixed with glass and gin bottles.

Our 2-tier lemon meringue wedding cake referenced the eclectic vibe throughout Voewoods arts and crafts venue and the aperture in the cake referenced stone-holes found on the nearby beaches of North Norfolk. The textured cake was framed with palm fronds, scabious, celosia, roses, grapes and greenery from Flower 30.

Aperture Cake

International jewellery designer Monica Vinader adorned the bride and maids with silver and gold bracelets, 30s jewelled hairpiece by Melissa Morgan Designs. All images captured timelessly by Janie Richardson from Big Phat Photos

Featured in Your East Anglian Wedding Magazine Feb/Mar 2019

Supplier Love

Venue: voewood.com

Photo: bigphatphotos.co.uk

Flowers: flower3o.co.uk

Cake & Concept: bunsoffun.co.uk

Makeup: sarahpmua.co.uk

Nails: thebeautyhobo.co.uk

Stationery: samjwood.co.uk

Dresses: camillabrides.co.uk & willowandpearl.co.uk

Jewellry: monicavinader.co.uk

Hairpiece: melissamorgandesigns.etsy.com/uk/shop/MelissaMorganDesigns

Hire: chalkandchina.com

Models: IG: @chloejadepeek, @barneyholmesmusic

x Emma

E: bunsoffun@hotmail.co.uk

M: 07932 874576

The post Styled Wedding Shoot – Voewood Spring Fling appeared first on EDIBLE ART BY BUNS OF FUN BAKERY.

Exactly when do I need to arrange myself a cake maker? Some guides will tell you that 6-9 months is enough to book your wedding cake… now, this might be okay to try if you are marrying ‘out of season’* or mid-week but you need to contact your wedding cake maker asap as every day the diary’s a-fillin’.

(*nb: every season is wedding season if you’re a sought-after cake maker ;o))

Diary Alert- If you have chosen May – October, Bank Holidays or somewhere the around school holidays you may find that those dates have been booked already, even well in advance (some of the more sought after cake creators can find themselves booking 18 months to 2 years ahead!)

So in order to clear up a bit of cake Q&A I’ve prepped a little guide to those newly engaged or looking to mop up wed-min pertaining to an as yet un-ordered wedding cake.

Image:  ‘and so the adventure begins’ topper  – Most Unusual Wedding Fair – Godwick Barn

When Should I Book My Wedding Cake?  As soon as possible in all honesty, it’s not a clever sales ploy it’s just bald reality. I’ll break it down:

Time & Space: Most of us artisan bakers will be self-employed with families to take care of and we are working from home. In my case I am very fortunate to have a second kitchen from which  to work from, but there are only so many orders we can ever take. Yours could be one if we know about it in time and we can create space in a busy kitchen for you.

‘Sorry I’m Full’: Not of cake – yet… I have met beautiful folks with fantastic ideas at some great wedding fairs. When we meet and talk, I can email you, give you a quote and follow-up. If you don’t come back to me, I don’t know that you would like me to bake for you.

I had a real-life scenario a couple of years back when I met a bride-to-be at a show, we talked, I quoted, we corresponded then lost contact.  I received a call 10 days before the wedding from the B2B asking ‘what time would I be there on the day to set up?’ She’d assumed that because I’d been in contact with her that I’d just take care of it all and had the wedding cake booked in.

Luckily for her I had some availability and with planning and experience was able to work it. Good times.  Had I already been totally crammed with cake that weekend she would have been looking for cake-maker REALLY short notice. Bad times.

Design Meeting: I love a design meeting, I really think this is a massive go-for-it opportunity when choosing your baker. I love getting together with couples (and sometimes meeting the entourage), discovering their personality and essence, then working with the couple to create something really ‘them’.  I find a lot of the smaller details you wouldn’t think to ask by email get sorted out quickly at a meeting, more than if we just corresponded just by email.  Facetime or Messenger videocalls work just as well, especially as some of my clients are out of the UK at time of booking their wedding cake. Saying that we’ve had a couple from Dubai in the kitchen recently – I don’t think I was their primary destination but we’ve nailed their UK wedding cake for next year!

Dietary Stuff: I’m a confident baker with gluten-free and dairy free but these are definitely requirements we like to bake for with time on our side to ensure no cross contamination.  I have ‘ingredient ommiters’ in my family and friend circle and I’m proud to say they don’t get side-lined with a shop bought or *gasp/horror* get left out of the wedding cake fun entirely.

Do you use sugar flowers or fresh? I am a fresh girl every time. Every time. Sugar flowers are beautiful and a truly skilful thing to make. I just prefer the velvet of a fresh rose petal, the newness of rose buds and lisianthus heads, the smell of rosemary and lavender and other botanicals.  For me, you can’t beat the heavenly gloss of a verdant palm, the tiny budding olives on a cut sprig or the little yellow pompom heads of crespidia.

If God made it that good, who am I to think I can make it better?  I can assure you that I carefully clean, wire and tape all of my flowers, I work with your florist to ensure we have synergy with your bouquet and buttonholes and bring it all together beautifully.

Image Big Phat Photos  Florist Flower30

Too Late: also known as ‘Not enough time to tweak’: If we have your design in early enough, we can accommodate changes to your order. We can nip it here and there or add in special touches or personalise things for you. If we get an order to later it all feels a bit generic and rushed, we like to give a little pizzazz and think outside the box for you every now and then.

One I pizzazzed earlier – venue The Bank House Hotel

Adapting your initial design: All the wedding cakes I create are bespoke. Once you have firmed up your booking, you have a written copy of what I am going to provide for your wedding day.  At this stage you will often get back to me with requests to tweak, adapt, add, remove. On booking your wedding cake well ahead of time, you allow yourself plenty of time for the design to evolve until it really is perfect. Sometimes it takes 2 iterations, sometimes a few more….

Adapting design on site The Fire Pit Camp  image Ali Dover   Florist Jo Flowers

Flavours: You can have a different flavour for each tier for sure. We don’t have a list per se as our wedding cake combinations are individual.  Some of our most popular flavours are lemon meringue and lemon curd, salted caramel, chocolate orange, gingerbread and cream-cheese buttercream, chocolate and raspberry, orange and almond, Victoria always does a turn too. You can recommend a bake you love and we can create just for you. Buns of Fun Bakery has been in business for 9 years, there’s not many things we haven’t put in our cake-hole!

Tasting: Yes, it’s all tasting great here, would you like some?  I hold consultation days or design meetings, which ever you like the sound of throughout the year. Look out for these on FB and IG as the slots go quickly. These are one-hour slots here in our kitchen in North Norfolk, we provide tea, coffee and a cake samples box, magazines and goodies to take away. In that valuable hour we can design and dress your cake, fine tuning as we go.  I only bake freshly (no defrosted slices here!) for these events so if you miss these wonderous dates then I can do other days which aren’t as elaborate but we still get the cake design nailed!  I bake only for the design meetings as you would only get fresh cake from Buns of Fun Bakery for your wedding cake and not something from the freezer. Brr. No cold shoulder here.

Do you deliver? Yes, I have a mileage calculator for delivery so once we have your cakes destination for the Big Day, we can quote for you. I also bill for time to set up for which allow an hour on site to  locate your cake table, transport cakes from car to table, set up the tiers and stand, ‘frame the piece’ (more on that below) and handing over to chef or wedding coordinator. I’ve been known to help set up tables and iron table runners on my last delivery if I have time too.

Real wedding – Image Rob Dodsworth – Venue Hautbois Hall

Do you have stand rental? I have stand rental and I have stands that I sell, loads of options for you and we can help you think thorough a few fresh and original ideas too. I can help source stands or toppers through a number of fabulous makers I’ve had the pleasure of working with if you want something ‘you’.

Getting ahead of price hikes: Now that just sound plain scary like we’ve going to add masses to orders and penalise you if you’re not booking with us. No, no, no nothing like it. We order and schedule waaay ahead of your date and if we know there are bargains and discounts to be had we can make that work in your favour. I work with some specialist suppliers for some the smaller things and they are tricky to price but with a heads up I can make it work in your favour.

And saving the best until last:

What makes your cake maker unique?  Ooh-ooh! I can answer this one!!

1. I hand draw your cake and label it with flavours and fillings for your guests to salivate over, you get to keep this as a little keepsake. I know of brides wanting the dimensions so they can buy a frame. Cute.
2. The other unique-y thing I do is to create a ‘space’ for your wedding cake to inhabit.  Using elements of the cake decoration, confectionery and floristry we carefully trail out either side of the base of your cake to keep the eye moving around the cake area. After all, if you’ve paid a decent dollar for your cake you want to have folks really pay it attention.

What to do now: As soon as you have a date and venue confirmed we should talk cake.  We’ll arrange a date and time to meet and design for you.  Firming up your booking well in advance doesn’t mean that you have to pay for your cake in full at the time of booking.  Cake makers each have their own terms and conditions around this. I ask for a deposit only, with the balance payable 6 weeks before the Big Day. I offer a “save the date” option as a deposit of £100. This allows you to book your date, giving you plenty of time to sort out the minutiae of the cake flavours and design.

I am currently (at time of writing in Jan ‘19) booking into July 2020 – I love my work and I hope to see your ideas and get talking to you soon.

Enjoy it all xx

Emma

The post THE Wedding Cake – When Do I Book One? appeared first on EDIBLE ART BY BUNS OF FUN BAKERY.

Nestled in the Norfolk broads Hautbois Hall is a stunning Tudor Manor house dating from 1555. This was my first visit here and I return in 2019 and beyond (yes, already booking into SS2019/20)

While Emily & Tom were getting spliced and I was dressing the cake for the after party. Our 3 tier wedding cake comprised a Chocolate Guinness Cake with cream cheese frosting, caramel cake,  salted caramel frosting and home made Cornish salted dulce du leche, along with our all time favourite lemon meringue and scratch cooked lemon-curd. Finally, decorated and completed with chocolate sails, Aunties blooms and our hand drawn, bespoke personalised sketch as a standard.  Once E &T were spliced it was time for the wedding cake to get sliced.

I love it when a family member gets involved in something for our couples wedding day. If Aunt Fanny is a dab hand at flowers and knows her daffs from her dandelions I’m all up for it, I’ll work with whatever I’m given.  Luckily Emilys Aunt was the bee’s knees at scooping some fantastic colours and textures for Emily & Toms wedding cake blooms.

(N.B: We have a raft of contacts for very talented florists to hand if it’s all going to get too much for Aunt Fan’ and her kitchen scissors.)

Venue: Hautbois Hall

Photographer: Rob Dodsworth

Flowers: Emilys aunt (Disclosure: Aunt Fanny is not her real name..)

The post Wedding Season S1: Ep2 Wedding Cake for E&T appeared first on EDIBLE ART BY BUNS OF FUN BAKERY.

2018 is already shaping up to be a playful year for wedding cakes. We’ve got inspiration for you if your wedding is this year or next.  Dates are filling up for 2019 too so get ‘cracking’ (couldn’t resist a baking related pun there).

Who doesn’t love nude?

We adore a naked, nudes or demi nudes as much as the next person.  Versatile and ever changeable the Nudes et al are still here and ever clothed in riches of dripped chocolate, salted caramel or dotted iwth confectionary and edible flowers. A blank canvas of wedding cake for the baker / artist to create a palette of colour, flavour and texture.

image Big Phat Photos

give me some texture

Texture is one of the component decorative parts of wedding cakes on the rise. We love vanilla bean buttercream tinted and smeared; palette knifed or brushed on, it’s is my kinda cake heaven.  Perfect for adding the taosted coconut slivers, olive leaves and apricots pictured here at a recent Voewood wedding.

bang!  colour’s here

Colour is evolving, some blush and vibrant colours appearing much to my delight. Miidnight cakes and the contrast of what’s ‘the norm’ i.e. the white or nude cakes pales and recedes at the sight of an inky design.  Creative pops of colour are just the ticket, as are coloured drips. Now drip cakes have been my passion for the longest while and a shiny chocolate drip is lush. I get my thrills are when the colour spills. Be it pastel, neon or even gold, I’m there ready to melt and tip.

image big phat photos

Gorgeous gold

Gold is still very much a party piece and we colour block it, brushed and burnish, we add it to long silky drips, spotted onto peaks of butter-cream. How about gold leaf dashed onto luscious scented fruits like cherries, figs, passion-fruit, blackberries and strawberries. Wherever you add a gold it adds a touch of  luxe and drama.

Fresh ‘n’ Fruity

Fruits & Green holds a very special place in my heart. I love the melding of something hand-made and carefully crafted sitting side by side with natures own fair hand. Sugar flowers are ok and they have their use for longevity but leave me cold when compared to the real scent of a heady bloom. We use the real deal. To to catch the clarity of a rosemary sprig in your senses or a whiff of mint, the perfume of ripe split fruits oozing their juices is divine. It’s positively rude not to dive in and enjoy a hedonistic slice.

Have a look at our Instagram page for more inspo @bunsoffunemma and drop us a line to talk about your wedding or celebration cake.

bunsoffun@hotmail.co.uk

07932 874576

FB: Buns of Fun Bakery

IG: @bunsoffunemma

Tw:  @bunsoffunemma

The post 2018 Wedding Cake Inspiration appeared first on EDIBLE ART BY BUNS OF FUN BAKERY.

When you think of cake for weddings, birthdays or other celebrations a dark cake maybe isn’t neccesarily a first thought. Maybe nice old chocolate cake might hit the spot, but move over Mr Hum Drum Chocolate cake, reveal centre stage a rich dark fudgey chocolate cake made with a hint of coffee, or a delectable Guinness cake resplendent with a dreamy cream cheese topping. More often than not my special celebration orders are requests for my gingerbread cake and cinnamon frosting which has been a favourite for the past couple of years, along with new pal Salted Caramel and its glorious cascade of molten caramel with crunches of sea salt.  They’re partnering up on some occasions too – nothing says we’re having a party like calorific abandonment and pure cakery hedonism!!

To whet the appetite we have firstly have a couple of cupcakes and big cakes after my own heart, we’ve added caramel popcorn, halved Maltesers, crunchie bars, fudge and other sweet treats with a good glug of caramel on a caramel cake and matching buttercream.

Smartened up these topped cakes can be simply stunning with some precise dribbling and piping, crowned with buttery crumble on a sticky toffee inspired cake.

A meeting in the middle from the naked cake fascination that still holds true and cake tables is a pudding cake.  Think of your favourite comfort puds and pile ’em up with Chantilly cream and beautifully shiny toffee sauce.  something for everyone, it’s a sure-fire winner!

If there are no allergy sufferers amongst your number (of which we could cater for undoubtedly) there’s a rather smashing peanut thing going on out there. Peanutty hot drinks have been hitting the shops and Reese’s Peanut Cups are over here and have no fear. We love ’em.  Perfect for your fellow nut lovers out there.

More dark and brooding naked cakes, there’s plenty for everyone to whet all appetites.

If cultured and swish is favoured how about this immaculate black fondant covered cake with our favourite gold leaf technique on the base cake, simply stunning.  Evergreens compliment the black and gold to perfection. Adorable.

Still comfortably in its groove is the faithful naked cake of 2014/15.  It’s a look that’s still going strong as a tall, dark silhouette adorned with seasonal fruits and blooms.

y

If these or any of the other cakes on our site or blog have captured you imagination contact us on 07932 874576 or email us on bunsoffun@hotmail.co.uk.

 Winner of Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas 2015 ‘Gingerbread Lighthouse’

The post Dark Cake Trends 2016 appeared first on EDIBLE ART BY BUNS OF FUN BAKERY.

 Wedding Season has started in earnest; we’ve already been baking for nuptials across the county.  Skimming through Pintrest there are some beautiful and inspiring collections, simple, stunning and timeless.

Buns of Fun have a number of weekend dates for 2015 which are rapidly disappearing, if you wait too long you might not get your date. Contact details at the bottom. Have you had a scoot around our Pintrest boards? @bunsoffunEmma on Pintrest ‘Weddingism’.

Kicking off our short but uber sweet post we have a beaut. Simple and elegant, green and chilled, perfect for a relaxed, informal wedding at home or rustic setting. Pinned from 100layer.com

We are creating cake tables for Festival and Picnic Weddings…Pick a bunch of your favourite cakes and bake goodies, we have cake plates and stands to borrow for small change.  We can quote for you at the time of placing your order. We have some rather fab pals at The Little Lending Co who have all sorts of unique staging items to make your celebrations truly individual.

Pinned on The Wedding Scoop.

We love this whimsical, romantic cake – already re-Pinned 38 times!  It’s a stylish number and perfectly proportioned with sequined, gold pearled tiers and boho ruffles.

Found on ruffledblog.com

Aqua as a colour and washed out colours are still taking favour for celebration cakes.  Actually a First Birthday cake from Hostess With The Mostest blog, still stunning enough in it’s simplictity to take part in our Pin party

And as our business name suggests, we’re game for a giggle why not add a bit of Fun and personalise it – how about this for something for the boys (or girls)?

 Mobile: 07932 874576

facebook: Buns of Fun (For All Occasions)

Twitter: @BunsoffunEmma

Instagram: @BunsoffunEmma & #bunsoffun

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