Wedding Guide Asia

Say hello to Debbra Lee, owner of Bisou

When it comes to celebrating, it seems that history would dictate that a cake should always be in the midst. And although modern weddings may have evolved to become destination do’s or garden soirées, one thing’s for sure – we still love to cut our cake (it’s your first task together as man & wife!). While there might be many wedding cake vendors around, Bisou Bake shop founder Debbra Lee decided to make life a little easier for the bride by offering a fab collection of ‘ready to wear’ wedding cakes that are easily customised to suit a wedding theme, and most importantly tastes good.

Today, we speak to her on wedding cakes and how she makes life as a mum, wife & entrepreneur -
a piece of cake *wink*.

You’re an overall supermum. The million dollar question would be… how do you do it?

Organisation! I have a diary and am very strict with myself.  I only work when my daughter Jordan is at school or in bed.  Otherwise my job is “mum”.

Having graduated with a degree in statistics – did you ever foresee that your love for cooking would become a career?

Nope, I never ever dreamed I would be doing what I am doing now!  But I’m glad that I am, as my first proper job was in stockbroking.  Imagine, if I had not lost my job due to the 1997 Financial Crisis… I would be a corporate. I’m very happy doing what I do as I have the best of both worlds, I get to be a mum and stay healthy while designing and coming up with recipes for new cakes! Such fun!

Tell us about your “ready to wear” cakes.

We started the wedding line as we were getting requests from our customers for their favourite Bisou cake to be made into a wedding cake for them.   So it really has been a customer-led addition to our usual line of cakes.

Our wedding cakes are very affordable, and we are able to do this through a sort of “ready to wear” line of cakes that can be customised to match the colour theme.  There are 5 designs, which we feel offers something to suit everyone, from pretty daisies to the tiniest forget-me-not.

Starting at RM900 for a 6kg 3-tier cake, the ordering process is so… simple!  Choose your cake design, then the colour and finally the cake flavour.  We also do pretty iced cookies, cupcakes and mini-cupcakes that match the cake and are perfect as favours.

Did you have a nice wedding cake when you married?

We had a very pretty wedding cake (it was an extremely simple 2-tier cake with a pink hibiscus on the top).  Unfortunately, the hotel lost it after we cut it… so I never got to eat it! So perhaps not such a good story to tell, haha.

What kind of trends are you seeing in wedding cakes nowadays? (more…)

This week, we get up close and personal with Subang Jaya local Megan Yeoh on planning her wedding. Megan’s story is one of those rare ones that you often hear about but rarely get to see. After a whole 16 years of courtship, she tied the knot last year with her high school sweetheart (*awww*).
In this interview, Megan, who runs her own design business, reveals what it took to make her wedding perfect…

Did you ever fantasize about your dream wedding as a little girl?

No, I never dreamed of any wedding. No fairytale kind of thing. I’m not that kind of person! I just wanted the wedding to be well-planned. I can’t take things that aren’t well-organized. So I actually planned my wedding pretty early and that is why I had time to go into detailed preparation of my wedding cupcakes.

Why did you choose cupcakes instead of a cake for your wedding?

Cupcakes are smaller, more cost-efficient in a way, and I think it’s easier to eat. It’s convenient for my guests, instead of just messily cutting a cake. Plus, there’s no wastage.

So did your guests enjoy the cupcakes?

They loved it. My guests and relatives were really happy, and said the cupcakes were really nice even though it wasn’t so traditional with the Chinese culture! It was more a modern alternative.

Why did you want to take a modern alternative, rather than go traditional?

I find cupcakes more lovely to look at than the traditional Chinese Ang Koo. Also, with cupcakes, I can choose the colour that I like, and I had chosen blue to be the theme of my wedding. So cupcakes were the best choice. (more…)

Do you have a mad adoration for cupcakes? Sweet! No clue on how to order them, though? Here are some tips from Cupcake Chic’s Occasions Architect, Qian Chen:

Cupcake tier - Midsummer Night's Dream

1. Pick your cupcake vendor.

This is the easy bit since there are SO many vendors to choose from. You’ll be amazed to find that bakers these days are quite tech-savvy. Nearly all of them have blogs or websites plastered with photos of their wonderful designs. But we at WGA like to recommend nothing but the best, so we say, go for Cupcake Chic ;-)

2. Start an inspiration board.

Inspiration wha? An inspiration board is where you paste visuals from magazines, cutouts, blogs, or other websites to create the perfect wedding cupcake of your choice. You can even opt to incorporate your wedding theme, design or colours. One of Cupcake Chic’s clients even took the initiative of creating her own illustrations. The Midsummer Night’s Dream cupcake tier above was the end product. Too pretty!

Illustration reference by Fairuz

Here’s the link to her blog just in case you’re craving for a little more. Feel free to Google images of ‘inspiration boards’ for some (you know it) INSPIRATION! (more…)

When you walk into a wedding reception, the first thing you are going to look out for is that towering wedding cake and who can blame you? It’s what everyone remembers, besides the bride of course.

Start by searching online and magazines for ideas. If you have a wedding scrapbook stashed away somewhere, this is definitely the time to put it to good use.  Don’t know where to start? Here are three things that you need to do:

1. Plan

A wedding cake is a piece of art. And all pieces of art require ample time and dedication. So if you’re looking for something special and out of the ordinary, you need to plan at least 3 to 6 months ahead. Another important point is to make sure that there is enough cake for all of your guests.

2. Look for a Cake Designer

Your cake designer should be professionally trained and experienced. A good designer should be : (more…)

It’s a Western custom commonly practiced by couples planning their upcoming wedding to send out ‘Save the date’ cards. These cards should be typically sent out about 3-4 months before the wedding in order to enable your guests to keep that special day free. However, this custom can be carried out as creatively as you wish, meaning you don’t necessarily have to send out a card. Even in Chinese culture, it is also tradition to send out a ‘little sweet’ with your invitation card, such as Lo Po Peng (wife biscuit). However in these modern times, what better sweet could there be, besides the classic cupcake!

Cupcake Chic, a well-known chain of cupcake stores in Malaysia, is offering their services in the form of ‘Save-the-date’ cupcakes. What better way is there to let your guests know your wedding date? They get to join in on your happiness and of course dine on scrumptious cupcakes (always a plus!) I personally get really excited when I see couples get creative and try something different… because that means the actual wedding day will be even more imaginative! (more…)