Photo credit: McAvoy Photography. Cakes by Beth

Good morning! Who likes cake? And have you chosen your wedding cake yet? I’ve picked some of my favourite wedding cakes from all the real weddings on English Wedding blog over the last few months, and thought it would be a great way to get a little wedding cake gallery going!

Click on the images to see the full wedding and please — if you’re the wedding cake designer and would like a credit, get in touch. (All of these pictures are taken from my real weddings, submitted by wedding photographers)

My top 14 contemporary wedding cake ideas

Tiered wedding cake ideas

These tiered wedding cakes are a contemporary take on the classic shape (and I’m a poet and I don’t even know it

Butterfly and white chocolate tiered wedding cake. Photo credit: Norsworthy Photography

London tiered wedding cake idea Photo credit: Vickerstaff Photography

Choccywoccydoodah tiered wedding cake Photo credit: Tino & Pip

Bright lego and buttons wedding cake Photo credit: Lucy West Images

Cheese wedding cakes

Not in the least bit cheesy (geddit?!) cheese wedding cakes always look artistic, creative… little sculptures almost! The textured rinds and wrappers with bright flowers get me every time. Look at these beauties!

tiered cheese wedding cake idea Photo credit: Neil Redfern

Cheese wedding cake from Kew Gardens Photo credit Martin Beddall

Cheese wedding cake idea Photo credit James P Lester

Wedding cupcake ideas

Wedding cupcakes can look stunning: there’s an art to creating each individual dinky cake, and also to arranging them beautifully! Here are a few of my favourite wedding cupcake ideas:

Striking tiers of purple encased wedding cupcakes Photo credit: Chris Hanley Photography

Flamingo themed wedding cupcakes for Wendy Bell’s Kensington Roof Gardens wedding Photo credit: Green Olive

Assorted wedding cupcake ideas Photo credit Pippa Mackenzie

Wedding cupcakes for a country garden theme Photo credit Pippa Mackenzie

Oh so glamorous wedding cupcakes Photo credit: ARJ Photography Cheshire

Purple wedding cupcake idea — Photo credit Eliza Claire

Pure white wedding cupcakes Photo credit Pete Barnes

Spots and stripes wedding cupcakes Photo credit McAvoy Photography

I can see why choosing a wedding cake is such a big decision! I love all of these… I’d be torn, I think, between the pure white cupcakes, the cheese wedding cakes and of course that fabulous Choccywoccydoodah tiered wedding cake.

Which is your favourite? Are you a wedding cake designer? You can continue the blog post by adding your own wedding cake images using the comments form below. Just upload a picture, 600 pixels wide please (bigger pics can break my blog a little bit!) to showcase your wares!

Claire xx

Hello! I have another video blog for wedding suppliers today: how (and why) to get featured on a wedding blog. Once again, ‘scuse the face — but I hope you find the advice really useful. Enjoy the movie — there’s a quick recap in words below the clip for you to cut out and keep as well.

getting your designs featured on wedding blogs from Claire Gould on Vimeo.

As a wedding stationer, jewellery or cake designer you might not have considered submitting your designs to be featured on wedding blogs. This short video explains the benefits of sponsored blog features, and looks at the differences between wedding blog advertising and the printed wedding magazines.

Getting featured on wedding blogs: why and how you can do it!

1. Readership. Wedding blogs are big these days — far bigger than the magazines. Spend twenty minutes collecting as many media packs for blogs and wedding magazines as you can, and then compare the stats!
2. Visibility. If you’re a wedding stationery, jewellery or cake designer you won’t get near the front of a traditional print wedding magazine. With a sponsored blog post, you get our front page all for yourself and your products.
3. Images. What do you get in a wedding magazine? An eighth of an editorial page with a small photo of one of your designs? Featuring on a blog gives you an opportunity to share large images, and lots of them, with potential customers.
4. Long term search potential. A well-written blog feature will bring visitors to your website for months — there’ll be an initial spike in your website traffic on the day your feature is published, and then Google will pick it up, continuing with a smaller but steady flow of visitors to your site. It’s really important to choose your keywords carefully so this works.
5. Instant calls to action. It’s all in a click: a bride or groom reading a wedding magazine might decide to look at your website later. They could forget, or find an alternative instead. With a blog, you can offer a one-day discount or free samples for the first 10 enquiries — it’s a great way to get a conversation going with potential customers.

—–

My new book How to Blog your Wed­ding Busi­ness is now avail­able to buy!

• Proper book book (in print) How to Blog your Wed­ding Busi­ness on Amazon.com (paperiest)
• Kin­dle edi­tion on Amazon.co.uk How to Blog your Wed­ding Busi­ness (cheapest)
• eBook pdf right here on Eng­lish Wed­ding Blog How to Blog your Wed­ding Busi­ness (nearest)

I’ve writ­ten the book for wed­ding busi­ness own­ers who are new to blog­ging, to give plenty of help­ful advice on get­ting set up and cre­at­ing a really suc­cess­ful blog. There are pages of ideas for blog posts, tips on how to opti­mise every aspect of your blog and ideas for mar­ket­ing and pro­mot­ing your wed­ding busi­ness blog.

More Wed­ding Busi­ness Ideas

If you’re start­ing out in the wed­ding indus­try you might also like to take a peek at Wed­ding Busi­ness Ideas — plenty of free ideas and resources cov­er­ing wed­ding busi­ness plans, adver­tis­ing, every­thing from pric­ing to Pin­ter­est and more!

http://wedding-business-ideas.com/

Morning everyone! Wedding dresses and some behind-the-scenes pictures today… I wanted to tell you a little more about couture dress designer Erica Stacey. Erica has made a real splash in the Manchester and Cheshire wedding scene (if that’s the right word: is there a ‘scene’? Answers on a postcard please…) with the launch of her couture bridal wear brand at the luxurious Tatton Wedding Show in January. I’ve come across her name on Brides Up North wedding blog and seen her dresses featured in fabulous creative shoots by some of my favourite wedding photographers. This lady is making waves — with gorgeous designs and a fantastic commercial launch, allow me to introduce Erica Stacey Bridal Wear.

Erica Stacey Bridal Wear — Promotional Video Shoot with Love Gets Sweeter Films

Erica Stacey Bridalwear from Love Gets Sweeter on Vimeo.

Erica Stacey is a new bridal wear label which launched at the Tatton Wedding Show in January. All our dresses are unique and individual for the bride who wants something different for her big day. Our dresses are handmade in Manchester, England.

We originally met Charlene and Lee from Love Gets Sweeter films at The Tatton Wedding Show. We fell in love with their work and commissioned them to prepare a creative promotional video for us.

Behind the scenes at Erica Stacey bridal wear

We met with Charlene and worked together on the brief for a storyboard. Charlene was full of brilliant ideas and she immediately understood the look we wanted to achieve. Our idea was to create something which showed the uniqueness of our dresses, our design process and our attention to detail. Finally we wanted to showcase how our brides feel in one of our dresses on their special day.

We contacted the team at The Alexandra Court Hotel in Congleton and they kindly agreed to let us use their hotel as our location. The Alexandra Court is a beautiful boutique hotel full of character and charm. The management and staff were fantastic and couldn’t do enough for us. They ensured we had everything we needed and were on hand with much needed tea and biscuits throughout the day!

Finally, Laura Simpson from Laurel Weddings created some beautifully, elegant arrangements and bouquets to dress the ‘set’ and the whole day was captured by Hannah Dornford-May.



Initially Erica and our model Cath were a little nervous but Charlene made them feel at ease and the day went really smoothly. Everyone involved really enjoyed the day and towards the end the sun even shone which enabled us to make use of the beautiful gardens at The Alexandra Court.

Wedding suppliers involved

Erica Stacey Bridal Wear – www.ericastacey.co.uk

Love gets Sweeter films – www.lovegetssweeter.co.uk

Laurel Weddings — www.laurelweddings.com

Hair & Makeup by the wonderful Jeni Morris

Hannah Dornford May www.hdmphotography.co.uk

Model Cath Eccleston

Erica Stacey is making a bit of a splash… her bridal designs are exquisite; her launch campaign an inspiration to wedding businesses everywhere. See more:

• Erica Stacey bridal wear in a lavish Cherish The Dress™ shoot by Chris Hanley Photography on English Wedding Blog
• Art deco bridal inspiration shoot on Brides Up North wedding blog with Erica Stacey wedding dresses and photography by McAvoy Photography
• Erica Stacey bridal wear on facebook

Fairytale French wedding blog photo credit www.janisratnieks.com

This week’s Wedding Planning or Work is dedicated to my new friend Scarlet Blue. Last Friday I skived off WPOW entirely, as I was up to my neck in calligraphy… only to find an email on Saturday from Scarlet (which she’d sent on Friday) saying how much she enjoyed my weekly blog roundups… Oops!

Today I’m not skiving off — I’ve made you a bumper edition of Wedding Planning or Work to enjoy. Happy Friday everyone!

Spanish inspired wedding Photo credit: www.joielala.com

Real weddings

• I adore Kimberley’s wedding dress — take a look!North Yorkshire marquee wedding
• An Old Hollywood classic theater same-sex wedding | Offbeat Bride
• Romantic Spanish Inspired Wedding — a backless lace wedding dress which made my jaw drop — beautiful!
• Books and buttons — I adore this Backyard Brisbane Wedding
• I’ve fallen in love with two French wedding blogs this week: here’s one…French Wedding Style
• Beverley and Paul’s Scottish Wedding has all the grandeur you could dream of in a historic venue
• A stunning venue — and a gorgeous wedding: Claire and Simon get married — and scroll down to be impressed by an exquisite wedding cake
• Swish… Bingham Hotel Wedding
• I adore this Retro Music-Inspired Wedding

Think creative

Calligraphy heart by Scarlet Blue www.scarlet-blue.co.uk

• I Heart Calligraphy!! Me too, Scarlet
• Get inspired by this little beauty! Rose Cascade Wedding Cake
• Wolf Whistle: Wedding Stationery Fab, paperytasticness
• (I’ll apologise in advance but it has to be said:) Oooooh la la! YolanCris Wedding Dress — Lumière Collection
• Monty Manatee with some wedding theme ideasWedding Theme
• and last but not least: A Wedding for All Seasons Designer Wedding Show… the first of its kind in the North of England!

Have an opinion

• Not for the faint-hearted, or if you’re in the wedding nightmares stage of planningThe 7 Most Disastrous Weddings Ever
• The debate goes on… Same sex marriage in France
• Wedding suppliers (of the lady variety) — read this: it feels good! Women in business – what do we have in common?
• A serious wedding discussion: cold feet?Should I Cancel My Wedding and Elope? | my honest answer
• More on stress — an insightful blog post Destress Your Wedding-Planning
• And one for the road. Would you? Wedding Fashions for Cats and Dogs

wedding fashions for cats and dogs. www.intimateweddings.com

Wedding business blogs

• I’d say yes — an interesting blog post Wedding Blog Sponsorship — is it a good idea?
• Finding Your Blogging Voice
• Geeky stuff: a good update from Google Google Algorithm Updates
• Even techier: Google Penguin Update Is Live
• Are your wedding business images optimised? Do they show up in image search? Do you want them to? Some tips — really useful tips. 1000 Words About Images
• Learning to Trust Yourself

I’ve always thought I’d love a handfasting for my own wedding — and when I saw Cat and Jocelyn’s handfasting celebration I loved everything they’d done to create a truly beautiful day. Their civil partnership was at Leighton Moss nature reserve in Lancashire, and images are by Cat and Suz at C. T. Images Photography in Bolton.

The atmosphere on the day must have been wonderful: an outdoor ceremony, the air filled with live music from friends and a traditional handfasting before friends and family. Cat and Jocelyn have written all about their day to share on English Wedding blog — so I’ll hand over the reins to them to tell you all about it.

If you have a wedding or civil partnership to share on English Wedding blog I’d love to hear from you. All the info you need is here: English Wedding submissions

Who proposed, and how?

Jocelyn proposed over a pint of stout in my favourite pub ‘Callnans’ in Cork, Ireland on a very wet night in September 2008

Wedding venue:

Leighton Moss Nature Reserve, Silverdale and the Longlands Hotel, Carnforth.

Wedding photographer:

CT Images, Cope Taylor Photography. We were overwhelmed by the photos we got from Cat and Suz. They captured the day so accurately and beautifully. We hardly noticed they were there yet they managed to portray every moment and in exactly the way we wanted.

How would you describe your wedding style?

Natural, colourful, fun, informal, music filled!

The ceremony:

Civil Partnership & Handfasting ceremony

Which readings did you choose?

2 Sonnets by Naruda read by Cat’s brother Denis O’Hora, a surprise reading written and read by Amelia Jones with Bjork song quotations & an Apache Blessing read by Jossy’s Mum, Maggy Lightfoot

What did you both wear?

We both wore beautiful, white, organic & vegan, bespoke wedding dresses handmade by TAMMAM in London. As we had celebrations over two days we decided to go all out and get two party dresses made by TAMMAM also so we could dance the night away in style! All of the dresses were so beautifully made. Lucy summed up our personalities and subtly linked our dresses in the most stunning way. Thank you Lucy!!

Memorable moments:

So many!!!! I (Cat) adored the procession through the woods led by our gorgeous nephew Freddie (21months) wheeling our rings in a wheelbarrow and our adorable flower princess Ella Gaynor (2 and a half years) throwing ivy leaves from a basket along the pathway, the ceremony was so special and the handfasting divine. I also treasured seeing my friends perform songs they had prepared for us in the open mic. Incredible days!

I (Jossy) second all of those things! A very special moment for me was during the handfasting, whilst tied to my new wife my dad spread some of my Grandad’s ashes, who unfortunately died in November into the lake we were standing on. It was wonderful he could still be a part of welcoming Cat to our family.

We also organised a guided walk up Warton Crag over the places I (Jossy) lived and loved growing up. Beautiful! It was great seeing all our friends and family in walking gear before they glammed up for the evening festivities!!

The reception:

What were your highlights?

The story teller, the open mic, the morris dancing, the chaotic ceilidh, the surge of energy and excitement when our final 9 piece band hit the first note of their set!

The incredible wedding cake made by Jossy’s sister Bridget and her partner John Hutchinson: Fruit cake with homemade marzipan and icing surrounded by shed loads of amazing tasty fresh fruit. Yum!! And of course Lancashire cheese to top it off!

For our favours we commissioned felt flowers for all the guests made by wonderful local artist Maggy Lightfoot (Jossy’s Mum)! They doubled as our place names with silver handwritten names on leaves from the garden (thanks to Cat’s sis Nell for her beautiful Librarian handwriting!)

Venue styling and details:

Informal seating, party/festival feel, colourful flowers, potted hyacinths (that we grew from seed), lots of candles and hearts on the tables

Music and entertainment:

As we’re both musicians it was really important to have a big festival type celebration!

Fergal O’Connor sang ‘Sea of Love’ & ‘All I Want is You’ from the soundtrack of the film ‘Juno’ with guitar during our ceremony in the bird hide, Marja Gaynor played Bach on baroque violin during our handfasting out on the pond, Tony Finn told two wonderful stories before desert in the Nature Reserve, a string quartet of our friends Ilse de Ziah, Una Palliser, Amelia Jones, Marja Gaynor and the bride Cat joined in too during the reception, Horns Aloud Horn Quartet staring the other bride Jossy played during the reception, An open mic with performances by many of our friends and family, a ceilidh band led by fab fiddle player Emma Sweeney, a Morris dance performance by Crook Morris & last but not least the brilliant ‘Bad Ass Brass’ (shortlisted for the London Jazz Award www.badassbrass.co.uk) raised the roof!

Wedding day advice:

We made colourful schedules for our wedding party. This worked brilliantly as everyone knew what they needed to do and so could enjoy the rest of the time celebrating and kept away any potential ‘bridezilla’ moments!!!!

A steam iron was very handy for the dresses.

Cat is from Ireland and a lot of her family had not met Jossy’s yet so we decided to have an informal gathering the night before the wedding so all could meet. This made us much more relaxed for the ceremony day.

Jossy’s sister Rowena made baby and kiddie favours that consisted of a lovely little bag of age related treats. The babies and kiddies were a big part of our celebrations and their enjoyment was essential too. They loved the treats and their parents agreed that this was a great idea. No tears!

It’s also a good idea to brush up on your parents’ middle names to avoid any last minute panics!

Recommended wedding suppliers:

www.ctimages.co.uk — wonderful photography

www.tammam.co.uk — divine bespoke wedding dresses

www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/l/leightonmoss/ — dreamland wedding venue

www.justind.co.uk/ — bespoke wedding rings, recycled & beautifully made

www.weddingtonboots.com/ — brilliant wedding wellies

www.toms.co.uk/- perfect as wedding slippers & a good cause too

www.amoremusic.co.uk — our own string quartet, available for weddings and civil partnerships! Comes highly recommended!


Real wedding blog features and submissions

If you have a wedding you’d like to share on my blog I’d love to hear from you. Email me with a couple of your favourite images from the day first of all. As a wedding blogger I’m looking for great quality photography and a story: something a little different, heartwarming, creative or beautiful. info@english-wedding.com

A guest blog post this morning to make you smile. Fancy stepping in the hallowed footsteps of the floppy-haired secret-crush inducing naughtier-than-he-looks Hugh Grant? Here’s how…

Even if you don’t live in the same parish as the famous UK wedding venues mentioned in this list you could pull a few strings to try and stage your wedding at one of them. It might be a bit tricky to arrange a wedding at number five in the list though!

Luton Hoo Hotel wedding venue by Calotype46 on Flickr

Luton Hoo Hotel as seen in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Photo by Calotype46 on flickr

1. Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire

This beautiful place, located just 30 miles from London, was a stately home when it featured as the hotel staging the second wedding reception in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral. Do you fancy yourself as the next Hugh Grant? You do? Then this is the wedding venue for you!

In a case of life imitating art, Luton Hoo was later converted into a spa hotel. It was a wise move as the verdant grounds to be found there make it a very popular wedding reception venue. Film buffs should be especially keen to say their vows at Luton Hoo as the home was also used in the films Eyes Wide Shut, Wilde and Never Say Never Again. So if Hugh Grant doesn’t do it for you there’s a great cast list including Nicole Kidman and Sean Connery to aspire to there instead!

2. Marylebone Register Office

Marylebone Register Office has a humbler and more functional appearance than Luton Hoo but still deserves inclusion in a list of famous wedding venues. This is the place where Paul McCartney broke millions of Beatles fans’ hearts when he married American photographer Linda Eastman there in 1969.

After the death of Linda, Sir Paul married Heather Mills in a decidedly grander affair held at Castle Leslie in County Monaghan, Ireland. Following the break-up of this marriage, the world’s most famous bass player married Nancy Shevell at… Marylebone Register Office, of course.

Other famous marriages here include Ringo Starr, Liam Gallagher (twice!) Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour, Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas. There should be a red carpet outside!

3. Gretna Green, Scotland

Did you know that one in six Scottish weddings take place in a little village in the south of the country?

The place is Gretna Green; a spot which has also proved popular as a wedding venue for English couples thanks to a law passed in 1753. Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act really put Gretna on the map by saying that if a prospective bride or groom was under the age of 21 then parental consent was needed to make the marriage legal.

This English law did not apply to Scotland and resulted in thousands of love-struck runaway couples eloping to Gretna, one of the first villages beyond the border, to get married. The law has been done away with but Gretna – which has several wedding venues – is still seen as a wildly romantic place to say: “I do”.

As for celebrity weddings in Gretna Green… does Kerry Katona count?! Speaking of which…

4. Stormont Castle, Northern Ireland

You’ve heard of a stormy marriage but have you heard of a Stormont marriage? Stormont is the beautiful castle in Northern Ireland where the country’s assembly meets to discuss and vote on vital matters of state.

Over the years, legendary politicians like Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy have swept down Stormont’s imposing drive and you can follow in their footsteps by holding a wedding reception at the Stormont Hotel next door.

5. Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey is without doubt the most famous wedding venue in Great Britain, and the good news is that there is no waiting list to get married there.

However, the bad news is that you can only formalise your marriage there if you are a member of the Royal Family, an order of the Bath Members or a resident of one of the Abbey’s Precincts.

No wonder members of these exclusive categories are considered such good wedding prospects!

James Christie writes for Thomson Local business directory. Use Thomson to find wedding suppliers near you.

England in May… where is our sunshine?!! But fear not my hearties because I can show you pictures of some instead! Whether you’re now scowling or sporting a wry smile I can guarantee this beautiful wedding blog will take your mind off the rain and wind for a minute or five (if you click through to see more!)

Lize and Adriaan’s gorgeous South African wedding

You thought I’d say this wedding would make you feel warm inside, didn’t you?! Well it might… have a peek at Lize and Adriaan’s gorgeous wedding in South Africa, with photos by Anneli Marinovich. This wedding first featured on the English Wedding Showcase and I’ve been saving it up for a rainy day to share with you here!

I’m teasing you with snippets of this beautiful wedding day: a dash of lens flare here, some romance and a stunning black and white shot to finish. There are more — lots more — on the English Wedding Showcase: A Feast For The Eyes — wedding under the African sun

and more and more and more on Anneli Marinovich’s wedding photography blog: Lize and Adriaan’s romantic wedding (including a huge heart shape made of petals on the floor of the reception venue — which is beautiful in its own right… you have to see!)

Since early December I’ve been putting the finishing touches to my book: How to Blog your Wedding Business. It’s meant English Wedding Blog has been a little short on wedding supplier advice (most of my ideas went in the book!) — so today the launch of my book means you get a bumper edition of all the wedding business blogging advice you can handle, and then some!

How to Blog your Wedding Business

How to blog your wedding business — by me!

I’m on my third wedding business blog. I’m utterly convinced that my blogs have been a huge benefit to my wedding calligraphy business. And I love blogging: it’s quick and easy (when you get used to it), Google adores it and readers enjoy it. Safe to say I love blogging so much I consider myself a bit of an expert. I’m no Darren Rowse, but I know blogging in the wedding industry like the back of my hand. Or the front of my laptop, if I may update an outdated phrase!

My new book How to Blog your Wedding Business is now available to buy!

• Proper book book (in print) How to Blog your Wedding Business on Amazon.com (paperiest)
• Kindle edition on Amazon.co.uk How to Blog your Wedding Business (cheapest)
• eBook pdf right here on English Wedding Blog How to Blog your Wedding Business (nearest)

I’ve written the book for wedding business owners who are new to blogging, to give plenty of helpful advice on getting set up and creating a really successful blog. There are pages of ideas for blog posts, tips on how to optimise every aspect of your blog and ideas for marketing and promoting your wedding business blog.

I’d love for every wedding business owner to see the benefits of blogging first hand, and to learn it’s easy, and quick, and can be loads of fun to do. My book can be there for you, holding your hand as you venture into the world of wedding business blogging — and helping you achieve great things with your blog.

Get your copy: How to Blog your Wedding Business

Choose which format suits you best:

the printed book is on Amazon.com, or you can buy the Kindle version on Amazon.co.uk or buy the eBook right here on English Wedding Blog.

More Wedding Business Ideas

If you’re starting out in the wedding industry you might also like to take a peek at Wedding Business Ideas — plenty of free ideas and resources covering wedding business plans, advertising, everything from pricing to Pinterest and more!

http://wedding-business-ideas.com/