WEDDING INSPIRATION: Cakes from the Cake & Bake Show 2016

I went to the London Cake & Bake show this last weekend, and thought it was a treasure-trove of inspiration for brides to be, as well as those looking for cake displays for special events like baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays and even just girly tea parties.

I won't post all of the photos of the things I saw (there were just too many!), but wanted to show the variety of themes, styles and cakes out there for those who are looking for more inspiration.

I'll start with my favourite tables, the professionally-made dessert tables - these were beautifully made floral cakes grouped together, made by professional cake companies to showcase their skills. I love that each dessert table had cakes and biscuits to match the whole theme, which looked gorgeous together.

I loved that each dessert table had more than one cake (maybe that's just me being greedy) so that it made the table seem more luxurious and extravagant. I thought this was an interesting alternative to a lot of tables I have seen where the cake is the main showpiece and everything else is centred around the main cake.

I also really liked the colours and textures used for the cakes - lace, floral pieces, ribbons - not to mention some very cool looking mini cakes which looked a bit like bath bombs!

There were cakes on display all around the exhibition, which showed a variety of techniques, themes and colours so that brides aren't just stuck with the traditional plain white cake. I particularly liked the wooden-themed nature cakes below, and the beautiful pearl cakes!

I also loved this beautifully detailed cushion cake - probably took ages to make but doesn't it look beautiful?

The Cake show had a huge number of vendors selling tools to decorate and embellish cakes - there were lots of styles I hadn't seen before such as glittery lace, edible gem stones, detailed beading and beautifully worked icing in a variety of ways.

Macarons are the latest, fashionable edibles for wedding cakes, so naturally we also saw some of these - I loved the giant gold macaron cake below, although not sure how it'd taste!

Another thing that also gets neglected a lot in wedding tables are biscuits - and there were some amazing ones at the Cake and Bake shows. My favourite were these wedding-themed biscuits, such as the wedding dresses, proposal biscuits, floral bouquets and even biscuits for the bridesmaids! I thought this would be great for bridal showers as well as henna night and wedding dessert tables.

There were also some gorgeous cake stands available for those looking to display their own cakes, or even for weddings. I love that these weren't restricted by size or styles (we even saw a huge stand shaped like a horse-and-carriage!)

Another things which has become fairly fashionable recently are cupcake bouquets - they look cute and are fairly easy to make! I thought these looked so pretty, and would made a great centre-piece for a dessert table, or even as a hand-held bouquet!

I also saw some great cake ideas for mehndi events - such as these peacock cakes below. I liked these straightaway because it made me think of the peacock theme I had for my own mehndi - I would have loved to have these on display! I also liked the embellished biscuits below, which reminded me of  a lot of biscuits I've seen for mehndi parties which have a henna design on them.

Cake-pops and meringues are another pretty alternatives to cupcakes or cakes - they look colourful and cute, and would look amazing for a dessert table! My sister has made us cake-pops before and they have looked really pretty on dessert tables (or in our hands!) and I liked the variety of flavours and colours below. I'm less a fan of meringues but I LOVED the rainbows ones available at the cake show - you could have just these on the table and they'd look beautiful!

There were a huge amount of cakes at the show, and we spent a good few hours browsing, buying goodies and also looking at new techniques for cake and cupcake making. It's given me a lot of ideas for future tea-parties, as well as different treats to try out, so watch this space!

You can see more of  my pictures here, and also on my sister's blog here.

Bridal Shower fun - Flowers & Peach Tones

I don't always post about the parties and bridal showers I've been to the in past, but every now and then I attend a special occasion which is memorable. Most of my close friends are married (and got married before me!) so for the few who are still bachelorettes, it's a special event when they get married!

So a close friend of mine got married in the last few weeks (this is what I wore to her nikah and engagement), so I thought I'd post a few pictures of the event as it was a lovely series of occasions.

For her bridal shower, she had a pretty low-key event at her best friend's place, which was decorated beautifully and which gave us friends all a chance to chill out, eat good food and play games.

I though the decor was pretty amazing, and was very different to a lot of the bridal showers I've been to in the past because it felt so elegant and sophisticated - beautiful fresh flowers everywhere, candles on the table, hand-made decor on the wall and on the balcony outside there were beautiful cushions with lanterns and Morroccan-inspired tools. I thought this made for a really lovely, relaxed atmosphere and it was really well-put together, different from the usual pink, fluffy feathers bridal showers I've been to!

The food was all made by the bride-to-be's best friend, and she did an amazing job with the nibbles which were laid out beautifully. There was also hot food which came later, but my favourite thing was a fresh juices with fruit chunks and the lime juice drink which was perfect for the warm day!

And of course, a quick peek at what I wore. I paired a pastel pink skirt with a lace top on top of a pink one, which I thought worked well together and looked girly and flattering. It was also a really lovely, warm day so the skirt was ideal, it looked floaty and felt very cool on! There wasn't really a dress code other than being 'dressed-up' but since it was a summer's day, everyone ended up wearing a lot of floral dresses and soft colours which looked amazing together.

I forgot to take a full-length picture of what the bride wore, but she wore a lacy royal blue maxi dress with sparkly heels that looked fab - especially as she said she ended up picking it last minute! Here's a shot of the yummy cake as well, because who doesn't love cake?

I loved how fun this bridal shower was, it was a really lovely start to the wedding festivities and a nice way to relax with friends. Even though it was fairly low-key, the bride's best friend put a huge amount of effort into the food and decor, and I though this was a really lovely way to hold a bridal shower which was more like an elegant afternoon out!

Things I've been doing: May Edition

May is always a busy month, and this year it was busier than usual! My weekends have been pretty packed this month, and I've been pre-ocuppied with either preps for events or attending them! Having said that, May is one of my favourite months (not just because it's my birthday month!) and I love that summer is arriving and giving us a chance to shed the coats and wear our floral dresses.

Holiday to Norway
Hubster and I went to beautiful Norway a couple of weeks ago, and it was unlike any other holiday we've been to before - plenty of beautiful natural scenery, pretty towns and breathtaking views of mountains, seas, forests and snow. I'm still blogging about my adventures here, so keep an eye out for more posts!

Attended a bridal shower for a close friend
Most of my close friends are married now (and got married before me!) but there's a couple who aren't, so when one of them got married this month we made the most of it to make it special for her. I'll post about this soon, but here's a peek at the gorgeous decor!

Went to a mehndi & wedding event
This was for the same friend as the bridal shower, and it was amazing to see how beautiful the bride and all the guests looked, as well, as the decor details. I'll be posting about these too, soon!

Muslim Lifestyle Show
My sister and I attended the Muslim Lifestyle Show at the beginning of May, which was really fun because of the variety of goods for sale, and since it gave us a chance to find a lot of new brands and meet vendors - more about this soon!

A day out to the farm with family
My sister invited everyone to her end for a day out to the farm, with all of the nieces and nephews along with family, which ended up being a really fun day. There were plenty of animals to see and an entertainment section at the end for the kids (we played crazy golf!) as well as a restaurant for the kids to eat and the adults to relax. It was a really nice way to spend the bank holiday weekend, and the family ended the day with a barbequeue and cake at my sister's house!

My birthday
Like I said, May babies are the best! One of the reasons we went to Norway was partly for my birthday, but on the day I was lucky enough to get wined (the non-alcoholic variety!) and dined by the hubster!

Afternoon tea with friends
I've posted about this here, a really fun afternoon tea with some friends this week (for a long lunch!) which involved yummy sandwiches, scones, cakes and brownies. I loved the atmosphere of this tea room, and the beautiful fresh flowers and vintage floral print crockery which made a lovely, girly afternoon for us.

I'm looking forward to June, as it will be the start of a quieter month and also a time to reflect during Ramadan, which always goes by too quickly. I'll be sure to keep posting through the month, and perhaps some food ideas, so watch this space!