If you’ve seen any of our social media or our wedding cakes gallery, you’ll know that making handmade sugar flowers for wedding cakes is our absolute passion. From the sweeping cascade of all white sugar roses for a statement wedding at The Ritz to Zahra and Philip’s intimate wedding at Carlton House Terrace, of all the skills and techniques we use to make your wedding cake, its our realistic sugar flowers that always cause a stir and we’re not just blowing our own trumpet!!
Even Laura from Festival Brides said so, as part of the citrus inspired wedding shoot shown below that we were featured in:
“An awe-inspiring wedding cake with the most incredible sugar petal design – Bluebell Kitchen, you’re a genius!”
As sugar flower specialists, we’ve spent hours perfecting our craft and learning to make a whole host of different types of sugar flowers that will make your wedding cake out of this world. As you begin your search for your wedding cake maker whether you’re getting married in Kent, where we’re based, or further afield, we wanted to answer as many of your questions as possible. Here’s why having handmade sugar flowers will ensure that your wedding cake design is talked about for years to come.
Where do you get your sugar flower inspiration from?
We soak up inspiration for your wedding cake flower decorations from nature and art, and most importantly from you. Bring your invitations with you when we chat, swatches of your bridesmaids’ dress fabric, images of flowers you’re considering. Everything, but everything will help inspire your sugar flowers and help us sketch your design. Whilst we might not use any fresh flowers on your wedding cake it doesn’t mean that we won’t use your real flowers as inspiration.
Every visual element brought together will create your beautiful centrepiece such as the colours, shapes, textures and even your venue. The gorgeous, lush gardens at Eastwell Manor in Kent inspired the bright, bold handmade sugar flowers as a colourful contrast to a modern marble design as shown above.
This enables us to create the look and feel you’ve imagined for your wedding day. How amazing to walk into your venue and take in your showpiece wedding cake full of stunning hyper-realistic sugar flowers.
Do I have to have ‘in season’ sugar flowers?
Who says your sugar flowers must be botanically correct and in season? If you want gold roses, you can have gold roses! An all white sugar roses wedding cake with no greenery, no problem! In fact no matter what time of year, you can have any flower you choose. From bold, fluffy peonies in December to gorgeous, subtle hellebores for a vibrant summer wedding. The only design limit with sugar flowers for cakes is your imagination.
How much do sugar flowers cost?
So many couples assume that fresh flowers mean cheaper. Remember, we design your wedding cake for you so it’s not simply the sugar flowers that you need to consider. A multi-tier design finished with sugar ruffles, edible gold painted tiers and of course an abundance of sugar flowers for your cake would be a higher investment, but it’s definitely not going to be a wedding cake that will blend into the background and be forgettable.
Sugar flowers will always make your wedding cake a centrepiece and depending on your design, sugar flowers on cakes aren’t necessarily budget bursting. A single, handmade centrepiece sugar rose surrounded by gorgeous greenery will provide a statement luxury finish to almost every style of wedding cake.
“The cake you made for us was a work of art! It was the most beautiful cake I’ve ever seen! Thank you so much for all of your hard work and dedication to make it perfect. The sugar flowers looked more beautiful than our real flowers…”
Katie and Rhys, The Old Kent Barn, Kent
Every sugar flower is a labour of love, bringing your wedding cake to life in a burst of colour and we believe worth the investment for a once in a lifetime occasion.
Aren’t these flowers real? Did you really make them from sugar?
Yes, all the sugar flowers featured on our bespoke cake gallery are made from sugar. And more importantly made by hand…no machine made sugar flowers are feature here. Every single sugar flower is made sugar petal by petal to preserve their natural delicacy. In fact we’ve even created a sugar flower gallery so that you can see all of the detail up close.
Take a look at our sugar flower gallery here for some instant inspiration.
We adore the fact that we always start with a simple piece of flower (gum) paste and with some intricate manipulation, a few hours later we’ve got the beginnings of a finely textured sugar rose, peony or even an ivy garland.
Flowers and foliage come to life right before our eyes. One by one, each petal or leaf is cut, dusted, shaped and sealed before adding these beauties individually to your wedding cake. Skills that come with years of practice!
Can we keep our sugar flowers after we cut the cake?
As well as being the centre of attention on your wedding cake, sugar flowers can last a lifetime. There’s no need to worry about sugar flowers wilting – some real flowers won’t even last for your full wedding day – or worrying about contradictory advice as to whether certain flowers e.g. gypsophila are poisonous. They are by the way!! If in doubt, we always suggest that you choose sugar flowers.
Whilst incredibly delicate, due to their wafer thin finish, they will last for years when you look after them. We always give you a cake box to carefully store them in after your wedding. You might choose to display them in a vase or use them as decoration on your first wedding anniversary cake.
“I really wanted someone who could make beautiful sugar roses and them look real and you would never have known that our roses were not real. They were absolutely stunning! “
Jess and Thomas, Knowle Country House, Kent
Can I make my own sugar flowers?
Yes, of course you can. We’re delighted to offer one to one and small, intimate sugar flower classes at our studio in Maidstone, Kent. By keeping our cake decorating classes small, you’ll receive personal attention with almost one to one teaching all the time. We’ll support you in adding your own artistic style to every design you make, whether you’re making your own wedding cake (very brave) or for someone else.
Whether you’re a novice or an expert we believe that you’ll take your skills to the next level. We’re planning more epic sugar flower classes for Spring 2023. You’ll not only learn how to make sugar flowers but how to display them on a fully iced tiered cake too.
Join The Cake List to be the first to know more.
Nature inspired cake artistry for a buttercream wedding cake
Sugar flowers on cakes are the handmade eye-catching show offs inspired by nature and art for your bold, centrepiece wedding cake. They are perfect for both contemporary or classic styles of cake. Yes they really do work beautifully as part of your buttercream wedding cake.
Sugar flowers, whatever your wedding cake finish can give you full creative reign over your wedding cake design. Above all we want you to walk into your wedding reception, see your wedding cake and believe that the sugar flowers are real…then we know we’ve done our job!
Not sure where to start, take a look at our bespoke wedding cake gallery for inspiration or book a consultation at our studio and see the sugar flowers on cakes up close.
Photo Credits: Fiona Kelly Photography, Rebecca Douglas Photography, The Bostons Photography
Blog: Festival Brides
Bluebell Kitchen are mother and daughter team, Erica and Charlie Bell. We’re Kent based cake makers and sugar flower specialists, creating bespoke wedding cakes and macarons in Kent, London and the South East. Get in touch to see if we can help you bring your cake design dreams to life! Join The Cake List to be the first to know more.
