Photographer Eoghan Brennan

We got married in September 2013 and, as crazy as it sounds, I wanted to do everything myself. The obvious reason could be to save money, as florists, catering and everything else is adding zeros as soon as you mention the W word. I wanted to have it all home made so I set off for the challenge of doing the flowers and the cakes (Yes, more than one) with my own ideas, my own hands (and my own sweat and stress).

We wanted a very small wedding but couldn’t quite settle on not inviting some of the family or friends so we decided to have …erm…2 wedding parties! …So don’t be too shocked if you many of my cakes called “my wedding” cake, because in fact I did bake one for each party. More than that, I baked 2 different cakes, each one to fit the style and season of our wedding parties. You can find more photos and details of the official wedding cake here, and some more pictures of our New Year’s Eve slash Wedding part II cake here. Ah yes! Let’s not forget my Strawberry Tower! That was a bonus “cake” for after the ceremony, let’s call it a little nibble instead.

Strawberry Tower

Of course having to build a Strawberry Tower at the last minute couldn’t possibly represent enough stress for me when I was naively planning my “to do right before saying yes list”, because I also decided to prepare my flowers. At this point, we had buckets of flowers sitting in the bathroom, and I had to come up with some kind of unknown talent to put it all together. So to prepare yourself to the mighty task of organising your own flowers, let me first tell you all about my experience in buying and arranging the darned flowers. Only then you are allowed to change your mind.

These posts provide the recipes, tips, techniques and everything else you need if one day you decide to loose your mind and organise your wedding yourself.

FLOWERS : A Buying and arranging guide

CAKES : Recipes and tips to create a beautiful Wedding cake and Celebration cake

LUNCH BUFFET: Strawberry tower