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The very talented, Sarah Jones from The Chocolate Strawberry, has kindly let us in on her top tips for making the perfect cake that her customers have always dreamed of!…..You can find out more about Sarah and her brilliant tips below…Details matter after all!
The wedding cake is unlikely to be the most expensive part of any wedding, but it’s probably going to be the most expensive cake that any couple will buy in their lifetime.
Details matter.
Before joining the world of cake design, all of my previous roles had a customer service base. Putting the customer first is what I do. I always feel privileged when someone trusts me to deliver their wedding cake and I try to ensure that get the care and attention that purchasing a luxury product deserves.
They could go to the supermarket and pick one from a catalogue of increasing sophisticated designs, but they don’t. They come to me for a consultation and we drink wine and laugh at funny stories. We move precious magazine cut outs around the table and look at fabric samples. We Google venues and swap ideas on what we would choose given an unlimited budget and we spend an enjoyable hour (sometimes more) together and get to know each other.
Once cakes have been tasted and deposits are paid, I like to offer an extra bit of service. I make up a ‘mood board’ of our ideas in fondant so that they really have a feel for the final product and they can actually pin down exact colours and size of decorations. I mix colours to match details of the day.
The vagaries disappear and the couple’s confidence grows. They proudly show the board to friends and it becomes a fabulous low cost advert for your company. I let them take the board and I work from photos and notes, recording exactly what colours I used to produce the final choices.
The board pictured above was airbrushed in blues and greens with an iridescent finish. We wanted to produce a cake that changed colour in the light, just as the brides dress did. Once we made up the board, it demonstrated that in some lights the fondant just became ‘pond’ green.The bride chose to drop the green element all together and instead we got this cake!
In the photographs above you can see ideas coming together for a hand-painted cake along the lines of Cath Kidston. The board included tiny roses and a striped tier. Eventually the customer decided to drop a whole tier and remove the small roses due to budget.
Using a mood board to help customers select what shade of colour they would like can also be useful. This board cleverly demonstrates the different shades of golds available and how they can compliment one another.
This mood board also demonstrates the different shades of colours, as well as having lots of spots or a few spots. This can let the customer decide easily what look they may prefer and therefore guarantees that the brief is met.
As Sarah has demonstrated, mood boards are a perfect and simple way to fully understand what your customer needs and wants, and also secretly promotes your brand too! Give it a go, and post your photographs of your mood boards to our facebook page or online community! Links are below…
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