Top tips for planning your wedding cake
Your cake should complement its surroundings and be well-lit for phiotographs
Put all the design elements of your day together first. Your cake should bring all these together visually, so choose your flowers and any other decoration before you start thinking about your cake. If your venue is an historic or interesting building there may be mouldings or other architectural details that could be incorporated into the design of your cake.
A buttercream cake will have bags of character
Think about the scale of your venue. If you have very high ceilings or a vaulted roof, your cake will need to be tall to make an impact. This doesn’t mean paying for wasted cake. Your wedding cake maker will be able to incorporate dummy tiers to create height.
Your cake should complement your flowers and the mood of your venue
Where will your cake go? Talk to your photographer about this. Even a busy, colourful cake, may pop more effectively against a blurred backdrop of activity, rather than a plain wall. Your photographer will be able to create this effect with a wide-aperture lens even if the space is small. Think about how to light it naturally but don’t place it too close to a window.
If you plan for your cake to sit in the middle of the reception space, bear in mind that it will have to be fully decorated all the way round, rather than having the detail on one side. This will push the cost up.
When visiting your venue, look out for architectural details that you could echo in the design of your cake
When will you eat it? A tiered cake takes a while to cut up neatly. If it is to be your dessert, you may need to cut it before the meal. If you plan for guests to help themselves to slices of cake later in the evening, choose different colour cakes so that it’s easy to tell the difference between the flavours.
A 50ml lens will blur a background so don’t fret too much about finding a solid backdrop for your cake
Be sensible about flavours. Vanilla Madeira cake is the most popular choice for wedding cakes. It’s moist, with an even texture and slices into elegant portions. Lemon and chocolate are also popular. Don’t choose a wacky flavour for the sake of it; it won’t get eaten. If it’s a flavour your cake designer has no experience with, they’ll need to practice and this will really push up the price.
Chocolate cream is a fairly new medium and can be sculpted into incredible floral designs
Buttercream or fondant? Most wedding cakes are either. Buttercream is more fashionable and more versatile than you would imagine. Meringue buttercream can be piped, painted and sculpted into elaborate floral designs with lots of character. Some buttercream cake designers are now also working with chocolate cream (like a ganache) which can be used to create realistic and voluminous blooms.
If you’re attracted to minimal or geometric styling, the flawless finish of a fondant cake may be more your thing. Fondant is rolled out to cover cakes and available in different strengths to allow the modelling of details that set very hard. While falling out of favour a little, fondant can be used to cover traditional fruit cake and some couples prefer it’s sleek architectural appearance in an urban or very elegant interior.
How much do you want to spend? Don’t book a tasting and a consultation with a wedding cake designer until you have an understanding of their prices. Wedding cake prices vary hugely. In London and the southeast, a three tier wedding cake serving around 100 will cost at least £500 and could cost as much as £1000. No wedding cake designer will mind you asking for a very rough idea of prices, and they should be able to give you an accurate delivery charge.
Ask your cake designer why some finishes are more expensive than others. I, for example, charge a lot less for a painted cake than a sculpted design. This is because I’m working with less material and the buttercream doesn’t need to remain at a precise temperature for stability. It’s possible to achieve a similar character with both though.
Don’t ask a wedding cake designer to copy another cake. A successful wedding cake design may have been inspired by a floral arrangement, textile pattern, piece of embroidery, a painting or even a pair of shoes or a bag. It won’t have been inspired by another cake. Your cake should be truly original and a reflection of you as a couple. If you’re not sure how to start a conversation about this, don’t worry, an experienced wedding cake designer will be able to create a beautiful cake from the skimpiest of briefs!