Your Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wedding - February /March 2021 (Issue 87)

STYLE ME PRETTY We need some venue styling and design ideas for our micro wedding this summer - can you help? Meet the expert: Elizabeth Wong is a wedding and event stylist and owner of Elizabeth Weddings offering bespoke venue styling, design and décor hire for celebrations across the South West. Elizabeth says: “If you’ve decided on a micro-wedding, you should still think about hiring a venue stylist who can help make the event extra-special, helping you perfect those all-important finishing touches and giving you peace of mind – you don’t have to sacrifice the styling or decoration and it’ll still be your dream day! For example, a statement backdrop for your aisle will provide an Insta-worthy opportunity for photographs. We offer bespoke styling and décor packages and I would be happy to accommodate these for smaller weddings to a budget if required. Elizabeth Weddings | https://elizabethweddings.co.uk www.instagram.com/elizabethweddings_ ICING ON THE CAKE We’re having a micro wedding in the summer but still want a fabulous cake! It will only need to feed 15 guests so what do you suggest? Meet the expert: Lorna Sansom is the cake designer, baker and sugar florist at Sweet Marguerite Cakes based in Aylesbury covering Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and beyond. Lorna says: I have always preferred two-tier cakes like these pictured, and it’s the smaller cakes that I love to make. It’s simple to reduce the tiers down a size and a two-tier design comprised of a 15cm (6-inch) and a 10cm (4-inch) layer would feed 15 guests perfectly. If you have set your heart on a three-tier cake then I would suggest adding a dummy bottom tier which is just for show. I prefer to use sugar flowers rather than fresh ones on a wedding cake because they can be made in the ideal shade and size, and will keep long past the wedding day. If you decide to have a party later on when restrictions have lifted, you can reuse the flowers. At a larger wedding, many guests won’t even notice the cake so the good news is that, with only 15 guests, they’ll all get to see it. Rather than positioning it in a corner somewhere, think about incorporating the cake into your tablescape and make it a real feature. Choose your stand carefully, one with a tall, slender stem decorated with climbing flowers or chiffon ribbon would look wonderful topped with a small cake. Above all, make sure that everything is colour-coordinated. Sweet Marguerite Cakes | www.sweetmargueritecakes.co.uk www.instagram.com/sweetmargueritecakes Photography of Sweet Marguerite Cakes courtesy of https://bernipalumbo.com 66