Meet Rachel Cheshire of Yorkshire's Celebration Cheeses

Tell us about Yorkshire-based Celebraton Cheeses...
Celebration Cheeses design and build celebration cakes from cheese and pork pie. Still a new concept, the only availability for these products seemed to be for the cake only, without the base and decorations. There was often extra charges for delivery and rarely would they build it. I spoke to a lot of wedding planners at the start who said they were often shipped a box of cheese with no guidance on how to put it together or any decorations.

With Celebration Cheeses you get everything under one price: the cheese, the decorations (flowers or fruit to suit the theme of the event), a base option and what we call a deliver-and-build service to Yorkshire clients (we can travel nationwide for an additional cost). If clients require a condiments package of crackers, chutney and fresh fruit platters, that is also included within the quote. 

We have a selection of pre-designed cakes on the website but we also receive a lot of requests for bespoke cakes.

What's your background and why did you launch your business?
My background is as a commercial model, fashion show producer, celebrity liaison and presenter covering live show, TV and radio. I launched this business when my daughter was 3 months old. I had built my sister a cheese cake for her 30th birthday a year earlier and saw transferable skills: designing, organising photoshoots, attending events etc and I didn't need to acquire a qualification.

What's your favourite product you offer?
All of my creations have female names; they are either names that I like myself or names of friends' children. One is called Violet after my own daughter and that's my favourite.

For clients who work with me to design something bespoke, we invite them to name the cake. This is a great way to personalise the final product and even do "name frames" so the name of the cake and a message can be on display as well. We've had couples choose names for family members that may have passed away or even their favourite pet.

What's your top tip for couples planning a wedding?
Go to suppliers like myself that take the hard work out of everything. Weddings are stressful enough without having suppliers that only cover 90% of the job. Also, make sure you like your supplier – as odd as it sounds that person is a part of your wedding day so you have to want them to be around it.

What's the most common question couples ask you?
"Can I choose the cheeses?"–– the answer is yes!-

How has your business thrived during the coronavirus crisis?
Luckily all of my brides have moved their weddings to next year and I've been able to move them without much disruption. During lockdown we started to offer hampers, gift boxes and even cheese-board-in-a-box. There were a lot of people reaching out to friends and family and another popular order was wedding guests sending gifts to the happy couple on what would have been their wedding day. It was great to see how these gifts uplifted the couple. 

Rachel Cheshire | www.celebrationcheeses.com