The Daphne Tree: Unusual Wedding Cake Toppers

This post is inspired by all of the people getting married this year! And I'd love to say to them all, it is YOUR day, you don't have to do what anyone else wants or whatever anyone else does. You may have dreamed about a big white wedding since you were small, and if that's really what you want you should go for it.

BUT, in this day and age, you can make it whatever you want. You can get married underwater, in a windmill, on a remote island or up a tree.

You can wear black, blue, animal print? Hell, you can probably be naked.

You can write your own vows, play your favourite music, eat your comfort food and tailor everything to truly represent YOU.

If you want to be a bit different, I BEG you to look at Offbeat Bride , the ideas and real weddings on there will get your brain ticking! They call it wedding porn you know...

Here's a couple of snaps from our wedding two years ago:

Yep, we were on a farm, I was 36wks pregnant, we camped that night, we had a pinata, fish and chips, and between us and our amazing families and friends we decorated the whole place ourselves. I won't bore you with all of the details, but the fact that so many people had helped to put the day together in exactly the way we wanted still makes my husband and I smile now, it was fab.

Anyway, I thought I'd do a post every now and then about how to make your own wedding or party decorations, starting with the cake topper! I looked everywhere for a wedding cake topper which I thought was our style. There are some beauties about.

The first cake I loved was from Choccywoccydoodah, it was a bit like this one below but I'm sure it had two birds on the top...

Anyway, those cakes are amazing! But WAY out of our price range when we had a baby on the way... (by the way they are now selling those little birds for under a tenner so you could easily buy two to top your cake...). When we have our 5 year renewal of vows I may insist on one though...

IMG_1564-01

There are some talented people out there who will make a bespoke topper representing you and your family, which can make it really personal. This one is from JustToppers

How cute are these? From GenefyPlayground on Etsy

So pretty! From OneViewFinder on Etsy

If you want to go the DIY route (I always want that route!) then here are some ideas:

Printable paper flags (marthastewart.com)
Clay or Salt dough
Ready to roll icing models
Printed rice paper
Biscuits, e.g. gingerbread people or faces.
Sweets, e.g. jelly babies, character sweets.
Salt and pepper pots (you laugh, but there are some great his/her ones! And just ones that go together well)
Fluffy chicks for a Spring wedding? Or a big egg on top with a photo of you inside?
Feathery birds, I've seen them with top hats/ veils!
Wooden peg dolls

Here is our wedding cake:

We had a wonderful friend (Thanks Suzanne!) make the cake and she decorated it to look like a camping scene, with a log fire and everything! For the bride and groom I really wanted cute little people, and these are a toy bride and groom which I found on my ever-favourite eBay for a couple of pounds. They had blonde hair so I had to paint that the appropriate colours!
With our cake in mind, and thinking about how expensive it can be to have a personalised cake topper, I really think you can do well with DIY or toys!

You could use lego or hero figurines if you're a bit geeky, some kind of small dolls, Sylvanian families have so many animals you could dress up/ add things to! There are so many individual ideas on Offbeat Bride, I've seen Super Mario Bros couples, goth toppers, ones which have the couple's pets involved...
Very random but when you're a bride it's all down to the detail... (Anyone unmarried may be thinking "What the hell?", but I loved planning the sh** out of my wedding!)

I will leave you with some of my favourite ideas, have fun with it!