Are you getting married and planning a Sussex wedding? I’m so glad you’re here! I’m Manon, I create intimate, natural wedding photos for couples who follow their hearts. Today, I want to talk about the yummiest part of your wedding day: the cake!

Ellie is the creator of Bunston Bakes. We met through The London Wedding Breakfast Club which is an amazing community of wedding suppliers trying to connect and support each other to make the industry a better place for us and by extension, our couples.

From her home in Brighton – which I totally fell in love with – Ellie makes the most tasty and beautiful wedding cakes. I photographed her in her kitchen which is where all the magic happens and we talked all things wedding, cake and life. 

I’d love for you to get to know Ellie a bit so I asked her about her journey as a cake maker and also what the process is like for a couple booking her to make their wedding cake. If you’re a lover a buttercream cakes, read on! 

How was Bunston Bakes born?

“Bunston Bakes began as a hobby during my time working in advertising in London. With my background in Art and Design and the knowledge gained during my time in advertising it quickly turned into a small side business in 2015. When I wanted to continue the growth, I knew Brighton would be the perfect place to expand it to the business it is today. I fell in love with the growing buttercream cake trend coming across from Australia, I felt like this was a fresh wave of cake design and I really wanted to be apart of it.”

How does a couple book you?

“If a couple is keen to book, then its best to email to check their date is free and then to book a consultation (available to do on my website) to discuss further and of course try some yummy cake. Consultations are held in my home in Brighton.”

“Cakes are priced per portion in 2 brackets: Naked/ semi naked and full buttercream. Any additional embellishments such as gold leaf, of gold drips will cost a little extra. Delivery within Sussex is included in the price!”

If you’d like some inspiration for your wedding cake, Ellie says that although the most popular flavour changes from year to year, chocolate and homemade salted caramel was a firm favourite at first but Raspberry and white chocolate is getting all the love at the moment. Two equally yummy choices if you ask me!

Ellie’s favorite though is Lemon and almond sponge with mascarpone frosting and lemon curd. “The sponge is pillowy soft with the subtle creaming mascarpone and zingy lemon curd, I could eat this one forever!”

Adding the finishing touches at the venue, once the cake is safely in position is one of Ellie’s most enjoyable parts of the job. She likes seeing it come to life with the flowers and added embellishments. Although she also loves meeting couples at the consultations because in her own words “it’s a fun job feeding people cake and discussing their big day. I always feel very honoured I get to be apart of it.” Who can argue with that?

I was also interested to know how Ellie finds new inspiration and ideas.

“I’m lucky to have a beautiful garden and live near next door to the countryside, nature is very inspirational to me and I love seeing this reflected on the cake somehow. I love how recent trends of weddings being more outdoors and being in touch with nature, more and more are now being done in woodlands and fields in the countryside and I love to reflect this in the cake design.”

“Of course instagram and pinterest are massively important, there are so many amazing talented cake makers out there who continue to inspire me and make me a better baker. My absolute favourite has to be Laura @cakesby_yolk She really helped me when I first started this business and continues to inspire me.”

Ellie’s top tips for couples planning a wedding:

• “If you thinking of having a wedding cake, think about the overall look, the cake table, cake stand and weather you would like a topper, if you are wanting flowers for you cake, don’t cut short, make sure you budget for them accordingly. All these elements can make your cake into an amazing showstopper at your wedding. “
• “Book the big things early on so you have time to think about the smaller details. Make a Pinterest board for inspiration and above all try to enjoy the process!”

Check out everything Ellie is up to on Instagram or get in touch through her website. I promise you won’t regret it, she’s a lovely human being as well as an awesome baker. What more could you want?

You can also take a look at the rest of the photos from this session here.

So what type of wedding cake are you dreaming of?

Have we inspired you?

Let me know in the comments!