Lilac lilies and purple roses

It has been kind of a dull April in terms of going out, etc, but I suppose it was a good thing for me to be home in the evenings and weekends. I had committed to make a wedding cake for Kate, whose wedding was on 5 May 2007. Kate is a friend of Karl and Jo, whose cake I made in October 2005. So I don't personally know her but luckily the wedding is held at Parkstead House near Richmond Park which is very near and convenient for me to deliver to.

The cake was 3 tiers of fruit cake so I started baking the cakes one by one since February (recommended to be done about 3 months before the wedding), but worked on the decorations in April.

She didn't give me much specifics for the decoration, only the request "something like Jo's cake" and a swatch of material from the bridesmaid dresses so that I can do something which matched. The material was chiffon in a kind of dark purple. I suggested I can do roses and lilies and she said that's great as these were two of her favourite flowers. I didn't even know what she had on her bouquet but I didn't want to make something exactly like Jo's cake. I don't think I am able to reproduce exact copies of my cakes, and it would have then been boring.

At first I thought I'd do white lilies and lilac roses, but in the end I made lilac lilies (I did a search and there are lilies in sort of this colour) and purple roses, so there's more that matches dark purple. I also managed to find some gauzy purple ribbon which kind of matches her colour scheme. I added small delicate piping all over and of course there's always the rose leaves and ivy leaves to add more colour and bulk. You can see more pictures of the cake at Foo Cakes or view the official wedding photos where the cake is in the "Wedding Breakfast" section.

She provided a glass cake stand with one foot in the middle, which at first I worried would be too delicate and wobbly to hold such a heavy cake, but it did (probably because the cake was so heavy!) and gave a really nice effect, like a glass skirt under the cake (if you don't see the foot). I did have to leave a message for them to be carefully not to topple the cake when cutting it as quite a lot of pressure need to be applied to one side of the cake when the knife goes in.

It has been a good little project. I think I have managed to refine my lilies to make them look more realistic with variations in colour. Now to wait for the next order and hope for different flowers so I have a new challenge!! I even got some business cards for Foo Cakes printed and left them at the venue with the wedding organiser to hand out, and Kate said she would definitely recommend me!!