Wedding Cakes

I love making wedding cakes, being entrusted to be a part of someones special day and to make one of its centre pieces really does mean the world to me. Working with couples to design their perfect cake, to bring their ideas to life and turning them into a dream wedding cake that will be remembered long after their special day. But your wedding cake should not just look like the flawless centrepiece that every wedding cake should be, it should taste even better. What's the point in a wedding cake that just tastes ok, your guests and you should be able to have the best cake their ever tasted at your wedding, so they not only talk about how beautiful it was, but that the taste was to die for.

I pride myself on being a wedding cake designer, not just a cake maker, this means that even if you have no real idea what you want in your cake, I can take inspiration from anywhere, be it your colour scheme, your invitations, a general idea of your aesthetic for the day, to design you the cake of your dreams. I adore designing and sketching wedding cakes and we can create numerous sketches until we come up with 'the' cake, this is all part of the service that I provide in creating your cake. A cake to showcase your personality and your story as a couple.

I only take on 1 wedding cake per week, so your cake always has my sole focus, making sure every element is perfectly perfect in every way. I will not be working on multiple cakes at the same time, so you can be sure that your cake will never be rushed and be given my undivided love and attention it deserves. I put my all into every cake I make, giving you a more exclusive level of service to make your wedding cake journey as stress free and enjoyable as possible for you. This does mean though that I can get booked up quickly, so please get in touch as soon as you can for your 2023 and 2024 wedding.

Am I the right cake designer for you? If you are searching for a highly experienced cake artist to create you a beautiful centrepiece to your wedding in Essex and the surrounding areas then look no further. If you are passionate about flawless finishes, realistic hand made sugar flowers and attention to detail with amazing flavours using the highest quality ingredients, then get in touch to talk about creating your perfect wedding cake.

If you decide to book your date with me I ask for a £50 non-refundable booking fee to secure your date in my dairy. Please note I have a £500 minimum order value on all wedding cakes, this is calculated before set up and delivery, please have a look at my pricing page to get an idea of my start prices for various sizes of cakes.

I strive to work within most budgets and to create you the perfect cake for you and to fit your budget. My average wedding cake spend is between £1,000,- 1,200. I aim to be as transparent as possible with you on my pricing and pricing structure, I will always give you a breakdown of the costs that go into your cake on your quote, to ensure that this works for your wedding cake budget.

The Process

Planning your wedding is very exciting but can also be quite overwhelming, with so much to do and so many choices to make.

So, here at Kate does Cake we try to make the experience of creating your wedding cake as stress free and relaxed as possible.

Throughout the whole process from initial contact to delivering the cake on your big day my attention to detail and enthusiasm for your cake will ensure you journey is a smooth one.

First of all get in touch to see if I have your date available, you can do this via my contact form on my home page, or email me at kate@katedoescake.com, my 2023 and 2024 diary is open, so please get in touch as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Once availability is confirmed for your date we can discuss your initial wedding cake ideas and an estimated price. Don't worry if you are undecided on your design details, many people secure their date with me before they have a clear idea for their wedding cake.

All cakes require a booking fee of £50: this is non-refundable and non-transferable, this ensures your date is booked in my dairy. I work in a first come, first served basis and dates cannot be held without a deposit.

The Consultation

I offer in person consultations for all my booked in couples, these are £25. These take place in my home, outside of Sandon, nr Chelmsford. Held in our sumptuous living room, with comfy sofas and a calming view of our duck pond, its the perfect place to relax and to discuss your dream wedding cake. On sunny days, if you'd prefer we can hold consultations on outdoor sofas, in our landscaped garden.

As I do these on a request only basis, I can accommodate the date and time to best suit you, though on the weekend I tend to only offer Sunday time slots, especially during peak wedding season, but I do offer evening consultations to fit around your schedule.

Choose up to 4 flavours of cake from my flavour menu, with your choice of drink, be that tea, coffee, or a cheeky glass of Prosecco. My consultations usually last about an hour or so, but I am always happy to talk longer to ensure that you are completely happy with our shared vision of your cake.

Consultations are, I think, my favourite part of a wedding cake journey, not just seeing people try my cake for the first time, which I love! But, every couple has a story to tell, I love nothing more than sitting with my couples and hearing about the journeys you have been on together, seeing the love shine between 2 people. Getting to know you as a couple means that I can create elegant designs that are completely unique and personalised to you. Talking about your ideas for your cake, and taking inspiration form all elements of your wedding, be it your colour scheme, invitations, dresses, or just a general design aesthetic or a mood board.

I will almost always come to a consultation with a least 1 drawing, but we can either adjust this design during our talks to perfect it, or start from scratch and come up with something completely new. I will always carry on designing and sketching until we have created you your dream cake.

During your consultation you get to try my cake, as it's so important to me that you love the taste of my cake. As to me there's no point in having wedding cake that you don't love the taste of. We can also discuss any flavours you haven't tried and their flavour profiles. Each tier can have a different flavour, though I do usually recommend that any small tiers (4-5") have the same flavour as one of your other tiers to ensure that there is enough of each flavour to make your guests happy. We can discuss how many portions each tier serves to determine which tier you'd like in each flavour. Most wedding cake makers usually only cater for about 75% of your guests, I have found that for me its best to cater for 85-100% of your guests as people tend to go back for 2nd's and 3rd's! If you have any leftovers, all my cakes are made freshly for you, so any extra can be frozen for you to have cake whenever you want.

I recommend a design consultation around 6 months before your wedding date to finalise all your design.

The Design

After your consultation, I will take everything we have discussed all our preliminary sketches and condense it down to draw out a your wedding cake design. I aim to send designs to my couples within 4 weeks, though it is usualy sooner than this as I am usually so excited I can't wait to get started.

Once I have sent over your draft design/designs, we will typically have one or 2 more chats via email to perfect your final design if needed.

I draw all my designs with pen, coloured pencils and paper, as I love having a physical design to see and touch, once you are happy with your design, I will email you a copy of this design with all the details of the cake and the flavours you have chosen, along with a detailed quote. If you would like to have a physical copy of your drawing, please let me know, and I can leave this with your cake at your venue, as another memento of your big day and your cake. This would be a plain pen and coloured pencil drawing.

The Magic Then Begins....

The only thing that's left now is to turn your gorgeous drawing in a real piece of edible art. Gathering supplies, buying only the best ingredients and making all those sugar flowers.

If you have any last thoughts of would like to make any changes this can be done up to 6 weeks before your weeding, but please note these might have cost implications. Flavours can be changed up to 2 weeks before your wedding date.

Your cake is always made fresh the week of your wedding and noting is ever frozen, this means that if you have any leftovers these can be frozen, please ask for advice on the best way to do this, or eaten for 2-3 days after your wedding if kept at room temperature. Life is always better with cake in it!

Delivery and Set UP

All my wedding cakes are delivered and set up to your venue on the day of your wedding, so you don't have anything to worry about on your big day regarding the cake. This ensures that your cake is the perfect showpiece for your special day.

All your tiers are transported to your venue separately, this makes sure everything gets there in perfect condition, even down bumpy country roads. Then assembled at your venue, taking my time to add any features such as flowers or toppers.

I will liaise with your venue and any other suppliers in the weeks leading up to your wedding to confirm times and any other logistics, so you don't have to worry about a thing.

There is much more involved in delivering and setting up your wedding cake than you might think, from the transporting itself, making sure everything is safely and securely positioned to the temperature of the vehicle, to setting up at the venue, making sure everything is perfectly level and the structure is correct and perfectly placed and that any elements that are added are done in a food safe way. Plus cake is much heavier than you would expect!

For this reason, I do not allow the use of silk flowers on my cakes, as I can not guarantee their food safety, and all fresh flowers must be non-toxic or edible varieties, I will liaise with your florist to ensure this. I also do not allow florists to add any flowers to my cakes after I have set up.

The price of delivery and set up will be indicated as 2 separate lines on your quote, delivery will be based on the distance to your venue from my studio near Sandon, Chelmsford

Bride and Groom Toppers

I also offer bespoke couple toppers for your wedding cake, these can be fully customised to match you as a couple, so I can recreate your dress, hair, makeup and bouquet as closely as possible and the grooms suit to give these cartoon style toppers a personal touch. Like my flowers these can be kept for years if kept away from heat and direct sunlight. I can also make models of any pets you'd like included.