chronicles Wedding Tips
Wedding Cake
The Most Talented Designers in the World
Sweet creations for the ultimate dream cake
by Giorgia Torsello
The wedding cake is the undisputed guest of honor of every wedding – much sought after and photographed: whether white, colored or featuring pastel palettes, painted or decorated with flowers, simple or intricate, sleek and contemporary or elegant and decadent, small and discrete or highly impactful with several tiers. It’s a decadently sweet way to end any wedding reception.
A work of art from the talented hands of a pastry chef can enhance the theme of your wedding, incorporating colors and motifs and taking inspiration from your surroundings. Your cake should surprise, seduce and tantalize the tastebuds of your guests.
We have rounded up some of the most talented wedding cake designers in the world who give life to sublime, intricate creations that are veritable works of art. Plus, there’s plenty to inspire you with sweet ideas for your wedding cake.
Maggie Austin
Maggie Austin is a young American cake designer renowned internationally, with clients ranging from Obama to the royals. She turned to cake design following an injury that ended her career as a ballerina. Her elegant compositions are light, sophisticated and instantly recognizable. Ethereal frills, dreamy watercolors and rice-paper accents are just some of her design hallmarks.
Melanie Boers
Flour, butter and sugar become ‘haute couture’ with cake designer Melanie Boers. In her studio in Switzerland, not far from Zurich, Melanie creates cakes that are rich in sophisticated details – and they’re everything but banal. As well as whites and pastel palettes, her creations feature shimmering golds, blacks, browns and shades of burgundy.
Sylvia Weinstock
With her signature oversized glasses, Sylvia Weinstock was an exceptional American cake designer renowned for her floral creations. She has supplied cakes for numerous celebrities, including Robert De Niro and Jennifer Lopez. With partners around the world, from Kuwait to Japan, the brand is still able after her death to work closely with cake artists to create masterpieces reflecting high quality and exceptional craftsmanship in cities as far as Manhattan and Dubai.
Jasmine Rae
Jasmine Rae’s creations are far removed from a traditional wedding cake. Hailing from San Francisco, Jasmine is much more than a pastry chef. She’s a visionary artist who constantly challenges tradition and convention. Fascinated by organic materials, the four basic elements and the passing of time, Jasmine composes and recreates these elements on her cakes, giving life to veritable works of art worthy of being displayed in a museum.
Fiona Cairns
Much loved by Britain’s royals, Fiona Cairns created the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s elegant, classically styled wedding cake. Fiona takes a traditionally ‘English’ approach, choosing British ingredients for her creations and adorning her cakes with intricate details. Her decadent, sweet delights are made by hand with much dedication and love.
Sona Karapetyan
With a background in graphic design, Sona Karapetyan is a Canadian cake designer who strives to create wedding cakes that tell a story. LiMa Cakes is named after Sona’s daughters Lily (Li) and Maya (Ma). Sona approaches each project with pure love and passion, giving life to a variety of sweet delights, from sober creations with silky smooth textures and opulent, richly decorated cakes to gravity-defying edible geometric sculptures.
Dewi Kurniadi
Born in Indonesia and brought up in Australia, Dewi Kurniadi is at the helm of the all-female team of Sydney’s Sweet Bloom Cakes. A self-taught pastry chef, Dewi crafts bespoke, artisanal sweet creations that exude ethereal beauty. Using a riot of shapes and colors, her cakes stand out for their texture, ‘Impressionist’ strokes, use of natural elements and beautiful fondant drapes.
Alex Narramore
Alex Narramore is the creative director of Kentucky’s The Mischief Maker. A self-taught pastry chef with a background in art and a passion for gardening, Alex gives life to spectacular creations that stand out for their meticulous details, including rose petals reflecting light, painted leaf midribs and natural imperfections. Each flower that adorns her lively and colorful works of art is a unique and hyper realistic reproduction of a flower from her garden.
Kimberly Bailey
Hollywood’s queen of cakes, Kimberly Bailey founded The Butter End in 2010, with the sole purpose of creating happiness. Her personalized creations feature unique designs and styles, and are made with top quality organic ingredients. Kimberly works closely with clients to create sweet delights that satisfy their every whim.
Ladurée
Last but not least is Ladurée, an iconic French luxury bakery and sweets maker house created in France in the 19th century. Renowned the world over, Ladurée crafts alternative wedding cakes that feature a riot of pastel colors, macaron pyramids, and explosions of caramel croquembouche. You will have seen Ladurée’s famous macarons in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette.