Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I get to make my most favourite food for the loveliest of people in the most beautiful of settings. Last year I had the joy of making Phoebe and Max’s cake – a buttercream cake nonetheless but in a celestial inspired design. Pheebs was very particular about the shape of star that she had appearing in her wedding theme – the 8-pointed star featured in her bridal jewellery and hair accessories, on their stationery and signage and of course on the cake. Pheebs had a vision of a scattering of gold stars cascading from top to bottom on her wedding cake and for it to be finished with a black velvet ribbon. And as I do my best to make my couple’s cake dreams come true – that is exactly what they had for their wedding cake – a cake decorated with handcrafted edible gold stars.
Under that outer layer of buttercream icing were 3 different flavour ways. Their largest tier was made of chocolate sponge cake with salted caramel and smooth chocolate ganache. In their middle tier, they had a particularly delicious combination of coconut sponge cake, raspberry compote and buttercream flavoured with subtly with vanilla and rose. And their smallest tier was made of vanilla sponge cake with fresh strawberries, prosecco syrup and vanilla buttercream. Because the bride has a severe nut allergy, I took every precaution to ensure their cake was nut-free so that Pheebs could enjoy her wedding day without any worries.
I don’t often to get to see the couple’s reaction to seeing their wedding cake for the first time, but I got to see Pheebs and Max during their room reveal and seeing their reaction was incredible. As well as being able to give them the biggest hugs too!
Pheebs and Max really owned their style for their wedding day – in addition to the Hollywood glamour gold and black theme, they also had delightful and colourful Spring florals provided by Flavia – that pop of colour just kept everything feeling more fun. And knowing their personalities, it was exactly spot on (you’ll have to check out Pheebs’ post too). On the day, everything worked together so well in the stunning Kimpton Fitzroy, it’s a wedding venue that never fails to make everything look incredible. And I’m delighted to say that I’m also now a preferred supplier at the Kimpton Fitzroy and I’m excitedly looking forward to doing more weddings there!
These were Pheebs’ kind words that she shared following her wedding:
“Vaani is not only the nicest, most accommodating woman in the world, her cakes are out of this world! I did a lot of research for our wedding cake, as I have a severe nut allergy and have to be very careful about who I order from to be sure the allergy is taken seriously. Vaani set my mind at ease as soon as I reached out to her! She made sure to note down that she had taken care to have no nuts in the kitchen when making our samples and cake in evert email, which was so reassuring! Also the day you have your cake sample box arrive is one of the best in the wedding lead up! It’s so hard to choose what flavours you want because they’re all delicious! Vaani even made a custom flavour for us, which was incredible! She also designed the cake to perfection- our wedding had a celestial theme, and she styled the cake beautifully! We had so many compliments about how it looked and tasted. We also got to meet Vaani on the day to thank her ourselves, which I was so happy about! The amount of effort and love Vaani puts into her work is amazing. Thank you so much, Vaani, for being part of the best day of our lives!”
On a side note, I’ve since learnt that the 8-pointed star is a celestial symbol that holds immense cultural and religious significance and doesn’t seem to be limited to a singular culture but in fact has influence over many diverse and global cultures. The eight-pointed star frequently symbolises unity, harmony, and stability which together represent the concept of balance and togetherness. So what a poignant symbol for Pheebs and Max to have on their wedding day at the beginning of their married life together.
If you’re wanting to see more inspiration about this beautiful venue, I provided a wedding cake for a wedding at the Kimpton in June last year which has been featured on Rock My Wedding – the Kimpton can be dressed and decorated differently to be personalised and befitting to your taste. For more ideas, here’s a Reel from a New Year’s Eve wedding at the Kimpton.
Phoebe & Max’s team of suppliers:
Venue: Kimpton Fitzroy London
Photography: Henry Lowther
Florals: Flavia Studio
Coordinators: @occasion.queens
Cake: Sugar Plum Bakes
MUHA: @lucenthairandmakeup
Dress: Maggie Sottero
Stationery: Ten Story Stationery