ASK THE EXPERTS Those in-the-know solve your wedding dilemmas ALL THAT JAZZ I want to surprise my husband with a jazz singer at our wedding, but I’m a bit clueless myself! What should I be looking out for to make sure I’m booking the right person for the job? With there being so many styles and variations of jazz music, I would probably broaden the search criteria by looking for a singer that does swing as well as jazz. Why? These two styles go hand in hand perfectly, and open up many more options when it comes to choosing a singer. You also need to decide if you want to go with a solo singer with backing tracks – this is the more budget friendly option – or stretch to having an accompanist, such as a piano player, to add extra ambience. I’d then start with a good old Google search, gathering a shortlist of three or four singers who you like the sound of. Watch their showreels and listen to any recorded music they have. Don’t forget, professional singers will travel, so don’t be afraid to enquire about a singer who lives elsewhere in the UK! Their fee may be a bit more, but if you like the sound of them, it’ll be 100% worth it. Paul Skerritt, Paul Skerritt Music www.paulskerrittmusic.co.uk BLOOMING BAKING We love flowers and want to incorporate them into our cake. What should we look for? There are several options that can be taken into consideration. If you would like your cake to match with the flowers your florist is dressing the venue with, we would ask to speak to them and have them supply some extra flowers on the day. This way, when we set up the cake, we can dress it with the same flowers and colours that you have already chosen, and the cake will fit in with everything else. However, with real flowers we would also have to dip them in a food grade wax, or coat the cut stems, so sap doesn’t affect your wedding bake. You can also use sugar flowers on your cake. This option can be useful when specific colours, designs and positions are required, that are difficult to obtain with real flowers. This option, however, is more expensive, as these are made by hand. Plus, if there are a lot of flowers required, it can add a lot more cost to the cake. Finally, why not consider silk flowers? There are some fantastic ones out there with no restrictions when adding them onto your cake. However, it can be difficult at times to match specific types of flowers and colours. Graeme Venus, Sticky Sponge www.stickysponge.co.uk 77 INSIDER ADVICE
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