Design and Layout

Sheffield.edu is a nicely laid out site with a clean useable interface. The home page has an attention-grabbing array of colors, readable text and picturesque foreground which allows the focus on what the institution provides.
Take for instance the wedding planning course page uses colors wisely by sticking to traditional loud colors that are repeated consistently throughout the site, giving an overall impression of a wedding ceremony. However, the types of fonts used are very common and do not emphasize on the essence of the design school.
The bridal consultanti page however, does not come very clearly as part of the design school. The link itself redirects to the wedding planning course.

Navigation

There are just enough links on the page necessary for the audience to find their intended information. The event planning for example, gives an overview of the course, outline and virtual internships which are very essential to the students. It would however be a good idea to add a blog for students to analyse several events and their plans.

Pages of Interest

The page would do well with a blog to make it interesting and useful to an audience, and perhaps there should be quick links somewhere in the home page that points to the latest design news category.

Conclusion

Sheffield.edu offers a wealth of information and it is clear why it has so many active students and graduates. The loading time was quite fast, but with a few lagging instances, though it still operates faster than most educational sites.

Tired of reading my posts on how to choose your wedding cake? Then listen to Carley Roney, editor of TheKnot.com and author of The Knot Wedding Lists book, as she discusses what you should look for and decide on choosing your wedding cake. Hope you learn something!

Before reading the finale of this 3-part mini-series in choosing your wedding cake, I suggest you read part 1 and part 2 HERE and HERE. It is absolutely necessary so don’t cheat and read on!

Now that you’ve found your wedding cake design and has allotted a budget for it, it’s time to find the RIGHT cake baker to execute your dream. However, you can skip this step if your reception site has an exclusive baker and won’t allow outside bakers. Now that will leave you more time to work on other wedding stuff, nice! Anyway, if the reception site does allow outside bakers, it is advised that you choose LOCAL wedding cake bakers. You might have a favorite baker but if she’s back in New York while you’re having the wedding in California, the logistics itself is a nightmare! So forget about it and go local — just find the best!

Before choosing your cake baker, shop around! Book appointments to view their portfolios, and ask to taste some cake samples to determine the talents of your baker. Consider look, taste and price of their previous wedding cakes. The baker you choose should be able to create your dream wedding cake at a price you can afford, and it should taste delicious as well! Also very important is that you are able to COMMUNICATE well with your baker. She should be able to get your cake vision so she can execute it well. You can ask the local people on who’s the popular and affordable baker in their area. Remember, locals know best! And last, sign a CONTRACT. Make sure it’s detailed, with insurance and covers everything you want. Good luck! ^_^

And by far, it’s the oldest wedding cake ever found that still looks good! I don’t know if it’s still edible though. According to reports, while cataloguing the Ararat’s Langi Morgala Museum’s thousands of historical items, volunteers uncovered a piece of wedding cake posted to the region in 1911. The cake, still wrapped in wax paper and housed in a metal tin, was posted in a cupid wedding cake box to a J Hamilton at Tatyoon via Ararat in 1911.

Inside the tin, a card announced the marriage of Mr and Mrs Tim McInerney on May 24, 1911. While the postmark is not clear enough to determine where the cake was posted from, the five pence stamp indicates it was posted from somewhere in Australia. The piece of cake remains intact, with the artefact as a whole showing little signs of deterioration.

Hi girls! If you haven’t read part 1 of this series, I suggest you do. This post is a continuation of that post. Read ‘choosing your wedding cake: part 1′ HERE and then proceed with this post ^_^

Oh, you’re back! Okay then.. Now that you have your wedding cake design, it’s time to think of its cost. Sometimes we have a design we really want but we just couldn’t afford it — and so we compromise. And when I say compromise, it doesn’t mean you’re gonna get an ugly but affordable cake. We just have to be very creative on what adornments, icings, and ingredients to use. If you have no qualms about spending lots of money for your wedding cake, you can proceed to part 3 of this series. But, with the economic crisis going on, I’m sure all brides want their dream wedding cake with the cheapest price possible

Number 1, to cut down cost, try to adorn your cake with fresh fruit and flowers — the cheapest alternatives since handmade gumpaste or sugarpaste decorations are expensive coz its more labor intensive. Number 2, fondant icing is more expensive than the usual buttercream icing. But the truth is, intricate wedding designs can also be done using buttercream. Number 3, if you really want fondant, sacrifice the size of your wedding cake. Have the pretty and intricate fondant cake you want on display while serve a buttercream version to your guests. Remember, FRESH adornments + BUTTERCREAM icing + SMALLER size = CHEAPER wedding cake — in the design you want!

Heya brides and brides wanna-be! Today we are starting a 3-part series that will help you choose your dream wedding cake. While most girls dream of their wedding day (with detailed plans on everything), there are still women out there who have no clue about weddings. And if you stumbled on this site looking for guidance in choosing your wedding cake, you’re in luck! =)

The most important step in choosing a wedding cake is determining your wedding cake DESIGN. If you have a theme / motif, go along with it. For example, if you’re having a pink fairytale theme, the best wedding cake design would be royalty-based or maybe design it like a castle with the prince and princess on top. If you’re a minimalist kind of person, you can choose a simple white cake and just add colored blings to adorn it.

If you have absolutely NO idea on the design you want, view photos of wedding cakes online or in cake books. See as much designs and colors as possible then save the ones you like. Also, it would be helpful if you make a list of what you like or don’t like in a wedding cake. Bring the cake photos you like and your list to your wedding cake baker — she’ll suggest on how to merge all your likes into one vision. And voila! You now have your wedding cake! ^_^

A SHIT CAKE! Yup, you read it right! And I’m not joking! In the video below, a man is looking for a wedding cake, comes across a bakery, and had a cake tasting. He asks the bakery employee if they can make a wedding cake that will feed a thousand people. And stunningly, she replies, “You have good cake on display, and they will eat shit cake.” WHOA!!! Hehe! Go watch!

Wedding cakes are a must in weddings — and that’s the reason why cake designers can command a high price — a wedding is not “really” a wedding without the bridal cake! But the truth is, you don’t have to spend much on your wedding cake — if you follow these simple tips. Read on and be amazed on how much you can save!

Since wedding cakes are usually served to the guests after the cake and wine ceremony, it goes without saying that if you have less guests, you need a smaller cake, and you can save on that already! So our first tip is, try to trim down your guestlist and buy an appropriately sized wedding cake. Or buy a different (cheaper) cake to be served to your guests.

Now, while we want our wedding cakes to be fully decorated and fabulous, hand-constructed gum paste or sugar paste flowers can get expensive if you need lots of it! The cheaper alternative? Substitute these costly decors with fresh fruits and flowers – even more stunning than the usual “fake” flowers! =) Also, keep your design simple and classy.

Last, you can try to have a dummy wedding cake. That way you can have your multi-layer, towering cake without spending much. How does it work? Instead of paying for extra true cake layers, ask your baker to create faux layers consisting of iced Styrofoam. The guests wouldn’t know the difference — unless you’ll serve the wedding cake! Hehe!

The good guys of the Hairy Bakers recently shared a recipe of one of their bestseller wedding cakes. Yup, this post is a follow-up of the previous DIY wedding cake posts =) If you finally decided to bake your own wedding cake (you’ll save tons of money!!), then read on for the Hairy Bakers carrot and fruit wedding cake recipe! Happy baking!

Makes: A 10kg cake
Prep time: Less than 30 mins
Cooking time: 3-4 hrs

100g dried pineapple (rehydrated in 150ml water)
1.5kg raisins
3.2kg sultanas
1.4kg plain flour
10g cardamom
10g mixed spice
20g bicarb
10g salt
100g dates
250g grated carrot
Zest of 3 lemons
Zest of 2 oranges
750ml sunflower oil
600ml barley malt syrup
900g brown rice syrup - or normal syrup
20 eggs (1 ltr)

1. Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/Gas 1. Brush three cake tins with sunflower oil.
2. Sift the flour into a very large bowl, add the sultanas, raisins, chopped dates, bicarbonate of soda, salt and mixed spice and stir well to combine.
3. Add the barley malt syrup and brown rice syrup and stir well to combine.
4. Stir the beaten eggs into the mixture, then add the sunflower oil and stir well to combine.
5. Add the grated carrot, orange zest and lemon zest and stir well to combine.
6. Add the chopped pineapple and cardomon seeds and mix well.
7. Spoon the mixture into the three baking tins, until the mixture reaches no more than three-quarters of the way up the tins.
8. Wrap each tin in greaseproof paper and secure each with string. Cut one 20cm/8in, one 25cm/10in and one 30cm/12in disc of greaseproof paper and cover each tin with the corresponding-sized disc.
9. Transfer the cakes to the oven and bake for 3-4 hours, checking occasionally, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of each cake.
10. Set the cakes aside to rest for two days.

Still feeling anxious in making your own wedding cake? Here are more videos to help make your own dream wedding cake. The first video features tips on icing decoration and the second one features wedding cake designer Ellen Bartlett. Enjoy and learn! ^_^