There are always a few things that signal that Spring is on the horizon. Cherry blossoms in the garden, magnolia blooming on the trees, and that wedding invitation date has finally rolled around.
The couples who get married in March are hopefuls. They dare to believe that Spring will have sprung – and for Stephanie & Robert, their hope was rewarded.
Spring time filled the air for their March wedding, and the whole of Tudor Barns looked absolutely splendid.
Tudor Barn Eltham
I am fortunate enough to live fairly locally to Tudor Barn. Tudor Barn is a charming 16th century wedding venue in South East London. It is also the last remaining Tudor Barn in London.
Encased by 13 acres of beautiful parkland and gardens, the barn is available for exclusive wedding hire throughout the year. If rustic charm is your vibe, you’ll find all you need here. A stunning moat surrounds the barn, which makes it feel truly medieval. Along with dark wooden beams and two outdoor terraces, it is the perfect backdrop for a rustic London city wedding.
When Robert & Stephanie first got in touch to discuss their wedding cake, they knew they wanted something decidedly floral. Floral wedding cakes come in many shapes and forms, but in the end, the choice was between a buttercream painted design and a pressed flower wedding cake.
Pressed Flower Wedding Cakes vs Buttercream Painted Flower Cakes
As far as floral wedding cakes go, pressed flowers and buttercream painted flowers are actually pretty similar in nature. Both of them make use of delicate petals and blooms that lightly sit on the surface of a cake, rather than emerge from it. Typically fresh flowers and sugar flowers give a 3D element to a cake. The beauty of pressed and painted flowers is their textural quality.
Knowing that it was the textural quality Robert & Stephanie were looking for, several aspects had to be weighed up to solidify the direction they were going to go in.
Buttercream painted flowers are very arty, and are open to the artist’s interpretation. Colours can be completely custom, and due to the handmade element of them, no two blooms will be the painted the same. This is great for colour matching and for having a completely unique cake. However if you were hoping for something bolder, more uniform and yet still unique, pressed flowers may be the better choice.
Pressed flowers are bold in colour, and instantly recognisable. They add depth and character to a cake, and their random placement only seems to serve to add to their charm. They come in a number of varieties, and your only dilemma is choice of flowers to use!
Once Robert & Stephanie confirmed their design direction, the next step was choosing a colour palette. They sent me this mood board as a loose guide, but let me know that they didn’t have particularly strong feelings about the wedding cake matching their floral centrepieces. Whilst I love a matchy-matchy wedding, I think subtle contrast is sometimes a great win!
This floral recipe was giving me ultimate spring, and the addition of the anemones are so grounding and the perfect way to mature a colour palette.
I always get my pressed flowers from the same two farms. For this particular wedding cake, I made the selection from Floracle. Floracle are a sustainable flower growing company in South Devon. What I love about their website is they group their flowers into colours, making it super easy to match a colour story.
With yellows, peaches, pinks and whites on the mood board, I opted for flowers that were closely aligned. Working with organic flowers means you will always be limited by seasonal availability. I used a mixture of rose petals, marigolds, fennel flowers, primrose, calendula and foliage. The result was a three tier spring like beauty!
Wedding Details
During their wedding cake consultation, Robert shared that Stephanie was of mixed heritage, with her mother being from Zambia. In the Zambian culture, it is tradition to feed both the mother of the bride and groom a slice of cake after the cake cutting. What a beautiful way to honour parents.
This was one of the rare occasions that all three tiers of the wedding cake were the same flavour throughout – carrot cake!
It was clear looking at the wedding details that Robert & Stephanie had weaved her culture into many elements of their day.
The tables were all named after African wildlife. On the back of each table name, there was text explaining the link between the people sat at the table and the animal. It was such a meaningful way to honour Stephanie’s culture, and also to let people know how loved they are, and how they’ve impacted your life. I love such sentimental touches at weddings, it honestly makes all the difference.
So that’s that – the first wedding cake of 2026 delivered. I can’t wait to share more creations with you!
Until next time,
Jasmine