Why are wedding cakes so expensive?

Sculpted ganache peony wedding cake by Emma Page Cakes London 2023

Recently I read online that wedding cakes have an inflated price tag, because everything ‘wedding’ is overpriced and that basically couples are being ripped off. The author said that wedding cake makers add a huge margin on cakes supplied to weddings just because they can, and to avoid this you should ask for a cake and say it’s for a birthday celebration. OKAY lets unpick this a bit.

Firstly, I don’t know of a single wedding cake supplier that would charge more for a tiered cake simply because it’s for a wedding. A lavishly decorated cake to serve a lot of people will cost the same as a wedding cake from the same supplier if it has been designed via the same process of consultation and sketches and has to be delivered.

Secondly, wedding cakes are generally not over-the-top expensive. In London, a three or four tier cake to serve 100 guests will cost between £750 and £1,800 depending on the level of decoration and reputation of the designer. When you consider that the average dessert served at a wedding will cost around £7 a head, it actually reveals the cost of a wedding cake (not just a dessert, but a focal point in itself) to be very good value.

Thirdly, as well as the time taken to bake (I don’t bake but many cake designers do), torte (slice), stack, dowel, coat and then decorate a tiered cake, there are many other time-based costs that impact the final price of a cake, such as that spent consulting with the customer, sketching one or several designs, liaising with the florist around final flower choices, conversations with the venue management over delivery and site considerations. PLUS the time the cake designer has spent on training courses, insurance, advertising, building a website…………the list goes on.

If you do come across a cake maker that is happy to create a wedding cake for what seems like a very low price, make sure they have a registered business and the required public liability insurance required for your venue. Definitely try some samples, and find as many images as you can of cakes they have supplied before. A disappointing wedding cake is hard to forget and may disrupt your day if it means you can’t enjoy and photograph the wonderful cake-cutting moment that marks the end of ceremonial proceedings and kicks off the party!!!