Flowers have always been a real inspiration of mine, I have always found a walk outside in nature to be wonderful encouragement to get creative. In this blog I am going to discuss 5 floral design ideas that can be used to create your dream wedding cake.
Each of the 5 floral design ideas are essentially a different technique or medium that wedding cake designers such myself can use to introduce flowers & blooms into your cake design. Within each 5 floral techniques there are endless artistic possibilities so whichever style you prefer can then be tailored to you and your overall wedding theme and colour scheme so that you have a completely one-of-a-kind wedding cake made just for you.
For more on information about matching your wedding cake to your colour scheme and theme check out my blog “7 Top Tips for Ordering Your Perfect Wedding Cake”.
1. Fresh Flowers for Wedding Cakes
Fresh flowers are such a beautiful way to decorate your wedding cake. Whether your wedding style is modern, minimalist and contemporary, traditional, boho or alternative the use of fresh flowers can be really versatile and they lend themselves amazingly to lots of different wedding cake designs.
They can also be used to decorate and style your cake table by placing vases of flowers around your cake or creating a meadow of flowers beneath your cake stand.
Characteristics of Fresh Flowers
An Eco-Friendly Choice:
Fresh flowers are naturally biodegradable and if organically grown and sourced locally pesticide-free flowers are the most sustainable choice of all.
Colour & Variety:
There are so many beautiful edible and food safe flowers that you can use on your wedding cake. Although some flower types may be seasonal (especially if you are choosing to use eco-friendly locally grown flowers) there are still so many colours and types to choose from. See my list of food safe & edible flowers for wedding cakes below.
Design & Style Options:
Even using the same exact flower you can create hugely different designs. You can assemble a single stem or two onto your wedding cake for a modern and contemporary feel, or you can adorn your wedding cake with multitudes of blooms creating a lavish and opulent finish.
Adds Fragrance:
Many fresh flowers have a beautiful scent which will radiate through a room and can enhance the experience of the guests attending your wedding. Smells are a wonderful connection between emotion and memory and with a subtle whiff you can be transported back to your wedding day for years to come.
Take a look at my wedding cake gallery page for more design inspiration.
Food Safe Flowers For Decorating Wedding Cakes See the drop down lists below for a selection of food safe and edible flowers perfect for decorating wedding cakes.
Edible Flowers
Contact Safe Flowers
2. Piped Royal Icing Flowers
Royal icing flowers are a real favourite of mine for wedding cake decorating. Royal icing is made using icing sugar and egg whites and after being left to dry will set firm at room temperate. These intricate decorations are created by filling a piping bag with royal icing and then using a variety of piping nozzles you can carefully craft stunning flowers or individual petals and leaves. I used to make similar pipped flowers using buttercream but as buttercream is soft at room temperate it can be very difficult to decorate a large tiered cake with them especially during the summer months. So, I purely make these with royal icing now as they are really durable and will last for up to 6 months in an airtight container. If you prefer to use buttercream to decorate your wedding cake I would suggest using it to paint flowers directly onto the cake rather than using the piped style flowers.
See below for more information about painted buttercream flowers.
“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”– Frances Hodgson Burnett
Characteristics of Royal Icing Flowers
Durability:
Once royal icing flowers have dried out; either at room temperate or sped up in the oven on a low heat, they are incredibly hardy and can be handled and positioned on the cake without fear of breaking them. This makes them perfect for large cakes or cakes where you want to experiment a little bit with the style and placement of the decorations.
Bespoke Colours:
Royal icing is naturally white which means it is the perfect base for you to mix up any colour you choose. Although it can be quite difficult to get very dark colours such as black without changing the texture slightly making it a little crumblier, it is still possible to create a really broad spectrum of colours. Bear in mind that the colours do change a little once they dry, but the more you work with royal icing the more you can account for this when mixing colours. You can easily match your royal icing colour pallet to match your bridesmaid dress, groomsmen suits, invitations, bouquets and table setting.
Detail and Creativity:
As these are made by hand you can experiment with a range of different flower styles, petals and leaves. Using just the technique of royal icing flowers you can really let your creativity out and play around the placement and design of the overall cake.
How to add Royal icing flowers to a cake?
You shouldn’t put royal icing in the fridge as it will absorb the fridges moisture and make them go soft. So it is best to make sure your wedding cake has a strong foundation at room temperate, the best way to do this is to either have a cake with a top coat of white chocolate ganache or a top coat of fondant that has a white chocolate ganache base. White chocolate ganache is a super firm frosting that many cake makers use these days to make those hot spring / summer wedding cake deliveries a little less stressful. Using some fresh royal icing in a piping bag you can use this to attach your dried florals to the cake.
Downloaded my recipe for firm white chocolate ganache that is perfect for coating wedding cakes.
3. Edible Flowers for Wedding Cakes
You can use some edible flowers such as roses like you would use fresh flowers to decorate your wedding cake by leaving the blooms on their stems and attaching them to the cake for a 3D bouquet finish. But another popular way to use edible flowers for modern wedding cakes is to attach the petals or flower heads directly in to the cake. You may press the flowers first or simply push them or glue them into the cakes frosting. Perhaps if your wedding theme is enchanted garden, flower meadow or boho blooms then this would be a great design technique that could be used for your wedding cake.
To discuss your wedding cake design with me click the contact button below.
Did you know?
Edible flowers are not only a beautiful way to add colour and style to your wedding cake they have health benefits too.
An article by Dr. Sanchari Sinha Dutta, Ph.D. on the www.news-medical.net states that:
About 97% of known edible flowers are associated with therapeutic properties. Specifically, about 32%, 26%, and 14% of flowers have been identified to have immunomodulatory, anti-microbial, and gastro-protective properties, respectively.
5 Edible Flowers & Their Potential Health Benefits
1. Hibiscus:
Some research suggests that hibiscus may have a positive impact on cholesterol and blood pressure.
2. Borage:
In herbal medicine, borage is used to treat minor ailments, such as sore throat or cough.
3. Chamomile:
Medicinally, chamomile is often consumed to reduce anxiety and improve sleep quality.
4. Rose:
Research has shown that certain compounds in roses may play a role in reducing anxiety and promoting relaxation.
5. Pansies:
Pansies are a rich source of several potent plant compounds known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. See my full list of food safe and edible flowers perfect for decorating wedding cakes above.
4. Painted Buttercream Flowers
Painted buttercream flower wedding cakes have a really abstract and artistic feel to them. They are created by painting buttercream straight onto a cake with a pallet knife. Usually I will paint them on to a base of white chocolate ganache, like the buttercream flowers themselves the white chocolate ganache base can be any colour you choose. Much like real flowers they have very organic shapes and no two are the same.
Characteristics of Painted Buttercream Flowers
Unique Customization:
As these are a handmade you have complete control over the flower colours and style making this a really versatile technique that can be experimented with creating a variety of different designs. Unlike with royal icing flowers you are not bound by the size and shape of the nozzles you have, you can use a variety of different pallet knifes to get an even wider range of painted florals and textures on to your wedding cake.
Stylised:
If Bohemian, Whimsical or Fairytale best describe your wedding theme then a painted buttercream wedding cake might be the perfect design option for you as this modern technique lends itself beautifully to these styles.
Array of Colour:
You can create a whole rainbow of buttercream colours using just a few primary and secondary food dyes. Buttercream is naturally a slightly off-white colour which can then be turned into a more true white by adding titanium dioxide or coloured with food dyes to create any number of colours. As with royal icing it can be a little trickier to get very dark colours such as black as adding large quantities of food colouring can change the taste and texture of the buttercream. But really the possibilities are endless.
You can paint these flowers with any buttercream really but the most popular choices are either American buttercream which is made from butter and icing sugar, or Swiss meringue buttercream which is made using sugar syrup, egg whites and butter.
Click the button below and head to my gallery page and see more wedding cake design images.
"The flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days.”– Robert Leighton
5. Dried Flowers for Wedding Cakes
Dried flowers tend to stay quite ridged which when adding them to a cake gives a very different finish to using fresh flowers that are much softer. A mix of fresh and dried flowers together can be the perfect combination this way you can still have the vibrancy in colour and scent that you get from fresh blooms but with the rustic earthy touch of dried stems.
Characteristics of Dried Flowers
Eco Friendly:
Like with fresh flowers, flowers that are dried naturally without using harmful chemicals or dyes can be used to safely decorate your wedding cake. Dried flowers and are not only biodegradable but they have a long shelf life so can be recycled and repurposed after your wedding. You can reuse dried flowers by adding them to a vase in your home, making pot pouri, adding the petals to bath salts or using them for crating.
Earthy & Rustic:
If your wedding style is somewhat rustic, perhaps you have booked a stunning barn as the venue for your reception then dried flowers can really add to this vibe. Flowers lose their colour when they have been dried out naturally so although limited the colour options can be a beautiful mix of neutral browns, beiges and whites.
Design & Style Options:
Even using the same exact dried flowers you can arrange them in a variety of different ways on to your wedding cake giving you so many beautiful options to work with. You could use a couple of stems that stand tall up the side of your tiered cake or you could create a bouquet that sprays out from the centre of the cake like a firework.
Conclusion
These 5 different flower styles can be used in so many ways to compliment your wedding style perfectly. If you are unsure of which technique you prefer, you don’t have to choose just one, they can be used in unison with one another to beautifully adorn your bespoke wedding cake. Perhaps you have a really clear idea of how your wedding cake might look or you may have no idea where to start and want a wedding cake designer to take the reins. Either way you can drop me a message and we can discuss the options together. Just click on the contact button below.
Best,
Comments