Weddings, Butterflies & the Sweetest Dreams

It’s about tradition – the most intricate Chantilly or Venetian lace, or lace from Bruges. The colour is a gentle off-white – you can almost see the history within it.

O butterfly, butterfly

Teach us to fly

We want to reach the sky

Touch the milky moon

And play with stars

O butterfly, butterfly

Teach us how and why

You are so beautiful

We want to beautify

Ourselves like you

And attract attention of all

O butterfly, butterfly

Tell us the way

In which we may

Make ourselves colourful

And we may be playful

We want to be cheerful

O butterfly, butterfly

Tell us the secrets

Of your beauty

Unveil the mystery

How do you fly

We want to fly

Like you beautiful butterfly

O butterfly, butterfly

by Shashikant Nishant Sharma

My staff say my eyes are sharper than a Pantone colour book. Designing cakes for me has a lot to do with how I see colour as well as the way I arrange flowers.

HOW COULD NATURE NOT BE AN INSPIRATION?

Fondant icing the colour of sage, sugar pearls and a scattering of imagined flowers, just right for an outdoor setting.

Ribbon is something I’ve always loved, and I seek out the best double-faced silk satin ribbon.

Sumptuous

I’ve grown up with an understanding of textiles, and was taught by my mother to differentiate between what is good and what is great.

When I designed the chequerboard cake, I had no idea it would become our signature. We can hardly keep up the demand. For me, a cake has to look marvellous, but also has to taste good and have the right texture, as this pistachio and dark chocolate combination does. There’s a lovely balance to it, and an element of surprise as the cake is cut, that makes it perfectly appropriate for a wedding.