How to choose your wedding cake

The Wedding Cake Design

Firstly, have a think about what type of wedding you are having or how you want it to feel – is it a formal affair in a grand venue, or is it a relaxed intimate venue, maybe you have chosen to go a bit more rustic? This can influence your choice of the type of cake design you go for.

Then, think about the time of year you are getting married and perhaps the practicalities of that – a buttercream covered cake in a marquee in mid August could lead to disaster – always ask your cake designer for advice, they are the experts! Also think about how many guests you will be having and how you will be serving the cake (will it be the dessert after your meal or will it be served with coffee/evening buffet?) .

Have a look at designs on Google/Pinterest and see what you are drawn to – what styles do you like and what don’t you like?

Is cake very important to you? Do you want it to be a centrepiece and talking point of the day and beyond!?

Think about where it will be displayed within the venue too and for photographs – its really sad when a beautiful cake is placed in an odd corner of the room next to a fire extinguisher/ugly curtain or radiator! (Yes, this does happen – even in 5* venues, so make sure to discuss it with your planner/venue co-ordinator).

The Cost of Wedding Cakes

Think about how much you want to spend on your cake and how this might affect the type of design you choose to go for – for example, a cake that has lots of sugar flowers will cost considerably more than a semi naked cake with fresh flowers. Be realistic – remember that wedding cakes take many hours of work, often 3/4/5 days, so do take this into consideration and don’t believe the “average” price for a wedding cake that you may see written in many places – unfortunately, wedding cakes are anything but average!

Tasting – The fun part!!

A question we get asked a lot is if you can have different flavours in each tier – yes, you can! You could choose a “crowd pleasing” flavour for one of the tiers and then something more exciting/unusual for other tiers if you wish.

Most cake designers do cake taster boxes or have tasters available during your consultation, there is often a charge for this and its usually stated on the designers website. Once you’ve had the chance to try, you know that you’re happy with the taste and then you’ve got the difficult task of deciding which one to go for!

Choosing a wedding cake designer

There are many cake designers out there – where to begin!

Do a little online research – look for someone either local to you or to the venue (who will also usually have a recommended supplier list) look at their reviews and the work displayed on their website/social media – do they make the types of cakes that you are drawn to?

Visit a wedding fair and have a chat to the cake designers there – did you ‘click’ with any of them? Did they give you confidence? Did they come up with some good suggestions?

Sending an email to a cake designer – in the first instance, its important to include your wedding date and venue, so that they can check their availability. Then offer as much detail as you can – number of guests, styles of cakes that you like, how you are going to serve the cake etc – it will speed up the process and make it much easier for you with less emails back and forth! I believe that you can get a ‘feel’ for a person from emails, so make sure you are happy with their responses, you want to feel confident!

Every designer runs their business differently, but most offer consultations with tasters either online or in person – be sure to attend one and check you are happy with everything – then book your designer with a booking fee and you are sorted!

Happy cake search!