So far I had been getting everything just how I wanted. None of my plans had strayed from my original vision, so there I went to look at cakes hand in hand with all my boards and visions. I had looked at so many cake designs, shapes, colours, styles and companies. The cake had to be just right! I went in wanting a 4 tier fondant cake for the wedding and a 2 tier cushion cake for the mehndi and here’s what I came out with;

Firstly, I was recommended by my venue to go and look at cakes at a company called @Juscakes. I had seen them around on Instagram and they have exceptional work, very beautiful and intricate designs. We made an appointment for a Saturday at 3pm but unfortunately we were running late due to my impromptu Mehndi dress shopping! We called up Kamal bhai from Juscakes and he kindly moved our appointment to 5pm. My eldest brother and bhabi kindly went along with me to the appointment.

We got to the shop and the overwhelming smell of fresh cakes hit us like a tonne of bricks! It smelt simply divine. We sat with Kamal bhai and he was ready to write down all my ideas. I started off by telling him how I wanted a fondant cake to which he said that they’re not so popular for Bengali weddings. They can get quite sweet and the pricing could get high too. He then went on to suggest I go for a cream cake. I was quite apprehensive to go along with this only because my cousin brother had his wedding a year ago in the end of July and he too had a cream cake. His cake started to melt before the night was over and I did NOT want this to happen to my cake. Once I explained this to Kamal bhai he went on to guarantee me that he had created cream cakes of this calibre for many a weddings and even had one go out for the hottest day of the year. He would be at the venue to take personal responsibility of this. I was still umming and arring but my brother and bhabi were feeling the idea too. I then went on to looking at photos they had of previous work and fell in love with a particular 4 tiered, cream cake with slight engraving. I knew I wanted something like this. 

Once that was decided Kamal bhai started to design my cake, everything from the flowers I would have as décor and to the bespoke cake stand, he drew it all out before my very eyes. During the design process we also got the chance to have a cheeky complimentary cake tasting! Eeek I was so excited. We got to try three flavours, chocolate, Victoria sponge and red velvet. The cakes were divine; from the mouth-watering fluffy texture to the array of flavours, it was really good and it confirmed to me that I was going for the right cake. We chose to have two sets of flavours, two tiers would be the Victoria sponge and two tiers would be red velvet. We decided to go for 2 different ones only so both families can have the best of both worlds at the end of the wedding when they take the cake home. So Alhamdulillah that was the wedding cake sorted. We would also be receiving a personalised cake knife and server too- how nice?!

Now I know some of you might be thinking, how is this girl doing everything on her own and not consulting or going with her in laws or fiancé? Well to be quite honest my in laws told me from the start to go and do everything the way I want because they trust my vision. My fiancé has also said that he likes my style of work and I have a keen eye for good things so he was able to put all trust in me due to this. I also think he is a typical guy who is not bothered to sit and look at 101 things and rather just go in and pick the first thing available to him lol. Once I had found the cake I was going for and prior to paying a deposit and finalising things I did consult with my in laws and they loved the design and flavours I went for. Only then did I go and make the deposit and finalise the order.

Moving on it was now time to talk about my Mehndi cake. I originally wanted to go for a two tiered fondant cushion cake. Once again I was told not to go for fondant for the same reasons as above. The cushion cakes would be fondant and ALSO highly coloured so it only made sense. Instead Kamal Bhai once again designed a cake for me from scratch. Instead of having the whole thing as cushions he suggested I go for a cream cake base but he would still create some cushions for me to go on the top of the cake so I get the best of both worlds, how could I be upset with this decision? I haven’t yet seen this on their page so in’sha’Allah it comes out great. I just need to get back to him with my theme and colour of my outfit so he can co-ordinate it with the cake.

And that was that Alhamdulillah another thing ticked off the list. All this cake talk is making me want to have some cake now...!

*Disclaimer- these posts were written at the start of 2020 or during times when restrictions were relaxed. Some of the things mentioned such as family gatherings, indoor shopping etc. were acceptable at the time