Interview by Rachel Richardson

Gone are the days of dry, crumbly fruit cake and inch-thick marzipan.

When it comes to wedding cakes, It's all in the details... vibrant colours, intricate decoration, mouth-watering flavours... This is something that Natasha Foster-Wilson, of Nottingham-based cake designers, The Sweet Stuff, has down to a fine art.

What was the motivation behind The Sweet Stuff and how long have you been involved in the cake making business?

I started making cupcakes and taking them to work about 8 years ago, I'd also take them to parties too.

Friends and family started asking for birthday cakes which actually terrified me at the time as I'd only ever made cupcakes and could just about do a decent job of icing them!

I became hooked on learning more cake decorating techniques and would watch videos on YouTube for hours, challenging myself to make bigger and better cakes.

I decided I wanted to do more cakes and try making other sweet treats and so, The Sweet Stuff was born!

Any words of wisdom for all those budding cake designers out there?

I think the most important thing is not to be so hard on yourself!

It has taken me a long time to build my skill set and realise the areas that I'm good at, the bits I really struggle with, the parts of cake making that I enjoy and the direction I want to go in. We improve with every cake.

Describe your dream cake...

I've seen a cake recently, I think it would be my dream cake although I'm yet to try and make it! It's basically a Snickers cake - chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream and chocolate buttercream, crushed pretzels, salted peanuts and a thick caramel sauce. I love how gold leaf looks too so I'd go for that in terms of decoration.

What's the best bit about your job?

I love meeting engaged couples and being part of their wedding journey... Sitting with them, having a laugh, learning about them and designing their cake during the consultation process is one of the best bits.

I also really love tinkering with my website and photography too!

5 Top Tips for Brit Brides-2-Be?

- Don't go into wedding planning blind - create colour palettes and mood boards, use Pinterest and whittle down your ideas. This will give you a good starting point and you can still create original ideas.

- Get an idea of how much things cost so you aren't completely surprised. This will help you to create a realistic budget and manage your expectations.

- Have your wedding, your way! Everyone will have ideas to impart on you but it is important to do what makes you happy and not everyone else.

- Order cake flavours that make you salivate. You don't have to have fruitcake or vanilla cake. Surprise your guests and give them a cake they can really get into.

- When choosing your wedding suppliers build a rapport with them and most importantly - trust them!

I'm a big fan of everything about The Sweet Stuff... the branding, the details, the babes behind it... Cakes for the cool brides... Y'know when you can just tell that something has been made with love... See more here

You can also find The Sweet Stuff in my EXCLUSIVE directory for the UK's coolest wedding suppliers #BookOfLove here where you will also find a special discount code for TUW readers. GO!