How to Choose Your Wedding Cake

Wedding Cakes

Most brides have dreamt of their wedding day, imagining the gorgeously decorated and decadent cake they will have displayed on a table at their reception site. Most likely they have seen hundreds of wedding cakes at other weddings, in photos in magazines and on television and in the movies. Most of the cakes advertised are glorious concoctions that have numerous tiers, are dripping with pearls, flowers and other small details.

The wedding cake is often the center of attention and something everybody is likely to remember. However, when it comes down to it, and you actually are at the place when you are picking your wedding cake out, besides perhaps an idea in your head or a picture from a magazine you have clipped out, you may really have no clue on how to actually choose your wedding cake.

There are a number of important factors to consider when choosing your wedding cake:

Date and location of your wedding:

The first item to consider is the date of your wedding and where it will be. Some factors to consider are the time of year-if the weather is hot such as in summer time and your wedding reception is going to be outdoors, this can limit you in the types of frostings you decide to select. Butter cream frostings are more likely to drip, ruining your otherwise gorgeous cake.



If your wedding reception is at a hotel or restaurant you may also be limited in whether or not you can even bring a cake in from outside their establishment. Some hotels and restaurants or the caterers you are using may also make

wedding cakes, or even dictate where you get your wedding cake from. They may even charge you a fee to bring in a cake from an outside vendor. If you are having your reception at a restaurant, they may not allow you to bring in a cake from anyone but a licensed baker. If you wanted to make your own cake or have a relative bake it for you, this is a question you need to consider when selecting a restaurant, or who will be baking your cake. You can talk to your wedding coordinator at the reception site to see if they have recommendations about nearby bakers. But do remember that you should also talk to friends and relatives who have used bakers they recommend since the reception site may just refer people they know from the business and who exchange perks and referrals. This may not be a reference for the best baker out there.

Also consider how far away the reception site is from the bakers. There is usually a delivery fee. If your wedding reception site is far, your wedding cake costs can be increased considerably. If your baker does not deliver, this could cause a potential problem. You do not want to have to deliver your own cake or rley on someone else to deliver a cake with more than one tier. You have enough stress on your plate than to worry about the cake being destroyed on its way to your reception site. At least if the baker ruins it, they have to replace it with another one!

Another factor to consider with regards to the date of your wedding when choosing your wedding cake is whether or not the baker you desire to make your wedding cake is booked out. Some of the best bakeries can book out 6-8 months or even a year in advance.

Most hotels, restaurants and other wedding reception sites will charge you a fee for each slice of cake cut. You will want to check with them to see how much. You will also want to ask if they have someone on staff who will cut the cake for you and who is trained in cutting wedding cakes as there is a very special way to cut a wedding cake, especially if you have a large reception and just enough cake to go around. Wedding cake slices are typically much smaller than slices of cake you would cut at home or get in a café. The wrong person cutting your cake could mean a disaster made of your cake and not all the guests getting enough.

How many people will be in attendance at your wedding:

Knowing approximately how many people will be at your wedding is an important factor to consider when choosing your wedding cake. A wedding reception with 25 people will require a smaller cake with less tiers (less money) as compared to a wedding reception with 150-200 guests in which you are most likely going to need at least 3 tiers. Remember, the more guests you have, the larger your cake is going to be.

You should give your baker an idea of how many people will be at the reception, if there will be other desserts such as a Venetian hour and if you want to send cake home with the guests. You will need as many slices as you serve if you decide to do this.


Article provided by K.B.M.