TRADITION was given a twist at the royal wedding, when Harry and Meghan opted for a sponge cake flavoured with elderflower and filled with lemon curd and elderflower buttercream. Instead of it being tiered, it was served as three separate cakes, presented on a trio of golden platters.

Increasingly, couples are looking for something different for their big day when it comes to cakes. It is not unusual to see un-iced or "naked cakes", towers or macarons or pyramids of individual cupcakes being served to guests.

Another alternative becoming increasingly popular is the "cheese cake" – literally a stack of cheeses, often decorated with fresh fruit and flowers – and as eye-catching as the most beautiful iced wedding cake.

Local businesswoman Rachel Cheshire is capitalising on this trend. Rachel, 34, began making cheese towers for friends and family just over a year ago – and received such great feedback she decided to launch her own business, Celebrations Cheeses (celebrationcheeses.com).

Based at Monk Fryston, south of York, Rachel not only delivers the cheeses on the big day, but builds and decorates the tower so it looks picture perfect.

She said: "I spotted a gap in the market. Most of the other companies show you a lovely photograph but in the small print it says they will not build it on your wedding day – who wants to mess about sticking flowers on a cheese cake on their wedding day?"

What you see is what you get: that's the message Rachel wants to deliver.

And her creations certainly have a dramatic flair. Her background is in producing fashion shows, styling and event management and she has thrown her creative energies into her new business.

There are a range of cheese towers to choose from – each with different cheeses as well as colour themes and decorations. All have been assigned girls names as if they were designer handbags. Prices range from £470 for the whopping Catriona to £155 for April.

Catriona weighs in at 15.7kg of cheese and would serve a large wedding party of up to 160 people, says Rachel. It includes seven cheeses in total, from a mature Wookey Hole Cheddar to a fresh, lemony and creamy unpasteurised Gorwydd from Weston Super Mare. Its colour scheme features white, pinks, yellows and black.

At the other end of the scale is April, suitable for around 50 people, amounting to six cheeses including the award-winning Red Storm and a Wensleydale Cranberry, decorated with a cascade of fresh berries and pecan nuts.

Rachel understands the appeal of a cheese tower for modern couples. She said: "People are veering away from the norm. They see people spending £500 on a sponge cake, but having to throw half of it away because people don't eat it.

"People are also on a budget these days and this is a great way to serve some food other than a meal later in the evening."