In today's world, how your wedding will impact on the environment is of huge concern, with waste food, decorations that won't biodegrade or recycle and the carbon footprint of distant loved ones being just the tip of the iceberg. But your wedding cake doesn’t have to be one of these, we discuss seven ways in which you can make your dream wedding cake fit with your dream for the perfect sustainable wedding!
1. Keep it Local
In today's world, how your wedding will impact on the environment is of huge concern, with waste food, decorations that won't biodegrade or recycle and the carbon footprint of distant loved ones being just the tip of the iceberg. But your wedding cake doesn’t have to be one of these, we discuss seven ways in which you can make your dream wedding cake fit with your dream for the perfect sustainable wedding!or your wedding. You are sure to find one who fits your ethos, price range and aesthetic. Delivery can add a lot to the cost of your cake too, so keeping it local can help keep the cost down, or allow you to spend more on having your dream cake.
2. Local, Organic, Ethical & Sustainable Produce
Your wedding cake doesn’t need to be vegan to be sustainable, though we can do that too. Choosing a designer who sources organic, local, ethical & sustainable ingredients is a great starting point. From local organic butter & eggs to fair-trade sugar and rain forest alliance palm oil. Palm oil is a big issue for dairy-free baking, in particular, sustainable palm oil is so much better for the environment then boycotting it altogether. Palm oil crops yield 3x as much as alternative crops, meaning if you boycott it completely they’ll just grow another crop that takes much more space to produce the same yield.
3. Seasonality
Think about seasonality when it comes to your wedding. Our wedding cake flavours are even arranged by season on our website, following our classics we go from spring straight through to winter. Not only will your cake be perfect for the season but you can relax knowing that the seasonal produce used to make it were locally sourced rather than shipped in from other parts of the world.
4. Organic Edible Flowers
Those that know me, know that I'm on a bit of a mission to educate the world about edible flowers and wedding cakes. Seasonal edible flowers are a great way to decorate your cake. There’s no waste unlike some other floral decorations which require florist wire, OASIS or are if they are artificial may be made of plastics. They smell amazing & look stunning on your cake and as part of your floral arrangements. You don’t have to worry about anyone accidentally eating one or anything seeping into your cake that could make your guests ill. As they are grown in the UK there’s no harsh chemicals, they are seasonal so you get the best of the season and we even grow some of them ourselves and source the rest form organic edible flower farms in the Southwest, you can’t get more sustainable than that!
5. Think Eco Packaing for Wedding Favours
If you are thinking of having wedding favours, our handmade chocolates and marshmallows make great treats for all your guests, kids included. All of our packaging is eco friendly. We only use recyclable, biodegradable or compostable materials in our packaging for all of our chocolates. No Plastic here and renewable energy only for us!
6. Foraging
Foraging for your wedding cake is a great way to create a sustainable wedding cake. I often forage for wild edible flowers, normally while taking Colin the cocker spaniel for his walkies. You can do this yourselves too and even dry flowers for floral displays (if you plan to have these on your cake I recomend letting your cake designer do this as they need to be prepared propely if they are to touch food). If you plan to forage for flowers to eat make sure you know what you are looking for, an edible wildflower guide is a must, and there are great apps that can I.D plant species for you now. All you need to do is photograph the plant and the app does all the work for you. I studied ecology at university and even I use these to help me. 'Picture This' is a great app, I'd make use of that 7-day free trial if I were you! If you are having an ocean-themed wedding, this is Cornwall after all, one of my favourite decorations to forage are shells straight off the beach. Once cleaned up they look fantastic on a cake, and nothing has to die to make your cake look stunning. I personally love mussel shells with a little gold to make them really stand out!
7. How much cake do I really need?
This is a tricky one. Often the rule is 10% won't eat the cake. I find for smaller more intimate weddings more of the cake gets eaten than at larger weddings, but that being said you don't want to run out either. Waste food at weddings is a big issue so really thinking about how much food you'll serve at your wedding is important. But if you love cake, I'm sure it will find a good home, besides you can always slice it and freeze it, as cake freezes fantastically well. You can then enjoy your wedding cake long after the big day.
Choosing organic, sustainable, seasonal & biodegradable really will make so much difference to the impact that not only your cake will make on the environment, but your entire wedding. Choosing a local cake designer who really cares about their carbon footprint and environmental impact really is the best starting place.