Flowers and cake

Flowers are a very important part of any wedding day, adorning everything from the church to suit buttonholes and often the cake.  While cake makers can make sugar flowers so realistic that you have to do a double take to tell if they’re real or not, there’s something special about fresh flowers on a cake.   

The premise of this shoot was simple: take one simply iced 3 tier cake in a neutral colour and show how it can be transformed into a multitude of different looks through the use of flowers alone.  We were very lucky to work with the wonderful Simon from Euphoric Flowers on this shoot in their spacious Fulham HQ.  They recently celebrated their 6^th birthday and over the course of the years have created stunning floral masterpieces for couples and corporate clients alike.  We learned a lot during the shoot, both from watching Simon at work and from hearing him talk about the looks he was creating. 

As Simon’s work shows, there are so many ways to get creative with flowers, using the colours and textures to change the focus and height of the cake. We’ve illustrated a selection of looks for you below, shot by the very talented Liesl Cheney who  never fails to be an entertaining joy to work with.

The Blocked

Probably the most traditional way of using flowers on tiered wedding cakes.  They are pushed into a thick block of oasis anchored between the tiers, giving it extra height whilst maintaining structure.  The oasis is soaked in water and then wrapped securely in foil to ensure it doesn’t come into contact with the cake itself. Here peonies in pink and cream are used to great effect.

Cake blocked with flowers

Image courtesy of Liesl Cheney

The Cascade

On the diagonal, a soft wave of Black Beauty Vanda Orchids intertwined with Clematis tumbles across the cake, giving a more relaxed look.  When used with bold colours and an exotic flower like this leopard-print orchid, the effect is very striking.

The Cascade

Image courtesy of Liesl Cheney

Statement Flowers

Less can most certainly be more as these clusters of Ammi majus, Viburnum opulus and Periwinkle laid at the foot of the cake show.  A variation of this would be to place 4 identical large blooms down one side of the cake, or just the one nestled in between 2 tiers. In this look, the flowers pick out the strip of lace wrapped around the second tier.

The statement flowers

Image courtesy of Liesl Cheney

Ring of roses

A look we were particularly excited to debut, it looks just as eye catching from above (an unusual and under-used angle to photograph cakes from in our opinion) as from the side.  This would look spectacular on a 6 or 7 tiered cake, although the photographer would need a step ladder to get the top down shot.

Top view of ring of roses cake

Image courtesy of Liesl Cheney

Rows of gloriously named Candy Bianca roses dance in a chorus line around the cake.

Roses line up in this side view of Ring of Roses

Images courtesy of Liesl Cheney

The Lei

Inspired by the exotic Hawaiian lei, cream Singapore Orchids are wired together and draped down the cake like ribbons on a maypole for plenty of volume and texture.

The Lei

Image courtesy of Liesl Cheney

Here our are do’s and don’ts with flowers on cakes:

Do put your cake maker and florist in touch with each other so that they can discuss set up on the day, the cake size and dimensions and the volume of flowers required.  That way there’s no chance of any nasty surprises for anyone on the wedding day!

Do use a posy pick if you are dressing your cake with flowers yourself so that wires or stems are never put directly into the cake itself.  A posy pick is a plastic tube which covers the wires and/or stems and keeps them away from direct contact with your cake.

Don’t use any flowers, foliage or berries which may be poisonous on or near your cake.  

Do coordinate the flowers on your cake with those used in the rest of your wedding, from the button holes to the bouquets and the corsages to the table decorations for a seamless theme.