Ahh our favorite part of wedding planning, the cake tasting!
The wedding cake may be the sweetest symbol of a wedding celebration, but in ancient times the custom was slightly different. Wheat, symbolizing fertility, was baked into cakes, which were given to all of the guests to throw at the bride. This tradition continues today only in the form of throwing rice, birdseed or confetti at the newly married couple. Who knew! (Note: Most venues do not like cake thrown at people)
Whether you like the tradition of serving wedding cake or just love good cake, here are a few tips to help you find your ideal wedding cake!
In the recent past, traditional wedding cakes have consisted of plain white cake heavily decorated with white icing and topped with a plastic replica of a bride and groom, nowadays that is very retro. While tradition is nice, nowadays your cake can reflect a unique statement of your individuality. Get creative!
Know Your Site’s Vendor Policies
Before you commit to your baker, check out your wedding venue’s policies! Many locations will only let you use bakers from their list of recommended vendors, or they may charge a steep cake-cutting fee if you use someone off their list. Additionally, many venues will not accept a cake from an unlicensed baker, which means that anything DIY from friends or family will not be accepted. Many venues require the baker, chef, and food preparation specialist to have a minimum of a million dollars of liability insurance. Double check with your venue and triple check with your vendors.
Flavors and Design
Wedding cakes come in a huge variety of different sizes, shapes and colors. It is entirely up to you to decide which flavor to choose. Most popular flavors include fruit cake, chocolate cake, sponge cake and even cream cakes. Many wedding cakes have different filling for each layer. The variety gives you and your guests more variety to choose from. Your cake professional should be able to offer many different flavors and textures for your cake. Fresh flowers and other exciting decorations are not at all unusual anymore.
Unique Designs
Just last year a bride in Pennsylvania had a life size replica cake created of her in her wedding dress; this monster six foot cake was the talk of the party. Likewise many bakers within the area can do almost anything with the cake and they can get very creative. If unique is something you are looking for make sure you talk to your baker EARLY.
Fake Layers:
A concept that is coming back in style is LARGE cakes, but many couples do not have enough guests to eat a seven or nine tier cake; for that reason fake layers can be placed within the cake that are Styrofoam. The fake layers are dressed up beautifully with all the frosting, flowers and colors as all the other layers but are simply not edible. Therefore within a seven layer cake three may be actual cake enough to feed 200 people and the rest of the layers fake to show off the grandeur of a large cake without the bill or leftover cake.
Alternative Options
One thing we learned from our wedding is that not every guest will eat a slice a cake. We must have had over half our cake left over the next day to take home. This being said, consider alternative dessert options. Perhaps cupcakes served on a fancy tray, trays with assorted desserts or even a candy table! Remember to keep it personal and to your taste!
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