Wedding Tips - Wedding Cakes

Tip: Baking Your Own Wedding Cake - A Wedding No-No

It's generally not advisable to bake your own wedding cake for a variety of reasons, but here are a few things to consider if it's a must:

Don’t do it because you think you are saving money.
If you aren’t baking the cake because of budget problems and you still want to make the cake yourself, be sure you practice on at least 20 or more cakes before the final product.
Take intense wedding cake decorating classes or some good cake baking classes to get started.
Think about where you will find your decorations and where they will be situated on the top of your cake. Can you make those fancy flowers and the paste needed to create the flowers? If you take a cake decorating class, you can ask lots of questions and decide how you want your cake to turn out.

Tip: Cake Smooshing at the Reception

The most funfilled wedding cake tradition is the bride and the groom smooshing the cake into eachother's faces. With that said, there are also a few other things that center around the wedding cake. The cake-cutting ceremony alone is of utmost importance. It is at this time that the couple will cut the first piece of the wedding cake simultaneously and turn to feed it to one another. Some couples do exactly that without a hitch, but the ones that really want to have a good time smash it into one another’s face with a hearty smile. You will have to decide if your makeup and hair really matter because it will be a little less for the wear after the smoosh, but it’s still a fun tradition. If you really don’t want the wedding cake smashed into your face, tell your groom exactly that as he might think it’s funny and it might not be so funny to you – all dressed up with chocolate frosting everywhere, but in your mouth.

Tip: Choosing a Wedding Cake Flavor and Cake Type

When it comes to wedding cake flavors, fillers and designs, you can bet there are as many wedding cake styles as there are brides.

Cake flavors come in the traditional white or yellow cake, but what about chocolate, orange, spice, carrot, vanilla, cheesecake, banana, black forest, poppyseed, pound cake or even fruit cake? Even better, if you aren’t sure on just one, pick several – remember a wedding cake is tiered so you can have a tier in each flavor. You will also have to choose what type of cake you want. The most popular options are chiffon, genoise and French croquembouche. Chiffon is a light sponge cake with fruit or mousse in the middle. The genoise is a French sponge cake that tends to be on the drier side. Finally, the French croquembouche consists of cream puffs with sugar frosting to top it off. Think about the colors of your cake and remember it does not have to be white. It can match the colors of your wedding. The decorations and trims will also be important for setting the tone of your wedding reception.

Tip: Determining the Price of the Wedding Cake

When you meet with the baker who will create your wedding cake, determine the size of the cake first and narrow down your list of flavors, fillings and icing. Ask your baker if he has a specialty because this could be something unique that you never thought of. If you want different flavors on each layer, find out if the baker is willing to do this.

Be sure to ask the baker what happens if there is a cake tragedy on the day of your wedding. Unforeseen problems can occur so ensure he has a backup plan. Pricing is another talking point. Most cakes are priced per slice and the lowest price is the standard white cake with buttercream frosting and no fancy add-ons. Once you get this price, you can go up from there. Fillings will add a small fee for each slice as will curly-cue flowers and fancy handcrafted fruits, ribbons or bows. If you go a step further and add pillars with a waterfall, there will also be rental charges tacked on to the wedding cake costs. Ask about the delivery charge for your cake, but try to negotiate it into the existing price.

Tip: Feeling Comfortable With the Cake Designer You Have Chosen

The wedding cake designer you choose will be of utmost importance in your wedding plans. Make sure that the reception hall you have chosen does not require you to use an in-house caterer.

Once you have your cake designer, browse through bridal magazines or websites to find ideas to show to your designer. Recall actual weddings you've attended and determine if the cake stood out and why. Another good idea is to taste the various cake flavors and remember you can tier your cake in different flavors. When you meet with the designer, ask her how many cakes she produces a week or a month and get an idea of what the bakery looks like. Most designers can easily show you photos of past work so don’t hesitate to ask.

Tip: How to Save Money on Your Wedding Cake

After you have decided on your wedding cake designer, iron out all the details immediately. Go over the date of your wedding, the flavor, filling, icing and anything extra and have a contract drawn up. As the date of your wedding draws closer, meet with your wedding cake designer again to go over the final details of the cake, how many people will be in attendance and if you are having any additional dessert stations.

When thinking about the number of people who will eat the cake, take into account that about 25 percent of your guests will pass on the dessert. Therefore, don’t think you have to select the size of the cake based on head count. If you find yourself on an extremely tight budget, order a small decorated cake with all the details and have the baker make you a cake of the same flavor, filling and icing but keep it undecorated. The undecorated cake can be cut in the kitchen and served, too.

Tip: Making an Appointment to Find Your Cake Baker

The person who bakes your wedding cake will play an important role in your big day. He or she will also have suggestions and specialties that you will want to consider. When looking for the perfect baker, you will want to get referrals and remember, if the baker has a good reputation, you might need to reserve them up to a year in advance. After you have been referred to several good bakers, make an appointment to see the bakery and meet the baker. You will also get a chance to try different flavors and see the various cake styles during this appointment.

Ask to see photos of the baker's work. This will give you some great ideas for your own wedding cake and help determine size and cost. A small bakery will be more expensive and you'll have to give a deposit in order to have the date held for you. When dealing with a bigger bakery, there might be more flexibility with price and date.

Tip: The Cake at Your Wedding Reception

If you plan to follow the tradition of saving the top layer of your cake to eat on your first wedding anniversary, let the baker know. Normally, you freeze the top of the cake for the entire year. With that in mind, the top layer of the cake is usually made with a freezer-friendly ingredient so you don’t get sick after eating it a year later.

Other things to tell the baker is where the cake should be placed at the reception. Keep in mind that the wedding cake will most certainly be photographed, so be smart about where you place it at the reception. If there are no attractive options, let your photography know so he can bring a backdrop. Also, make sure the baker gets to the site early because you don’t want the guests and the baker rubbing elbows.

Tip: The Groom's Cake

The groom’s cake went out of fashion foro awhile, but it seems to have taken off again all around the country. Originally a Southern tradition, the groom's cake was often chocolate and only one-tier. Although it wasn't large, it was sometimes considered the best part. The cake can represent the groom's hobbies. For instance, it might be a dark and decadent cake shaped like a football or golf club. In the past, the groom’s cake was often a fruitcake and symbolized the “sweet life” that was ahead for the happy couple. Slices of the cake can be given to the wedding guests in a nice monogrammed box – a tasty wedding favor.

Remember, the groom’s cake is meant to be more fun so talk to your groom about his ideas for the cake's flavor, shape and size. There are a few options as to where and when to serve the groom’s cake, but the most popular is at the reception. The rehearsal dinner is another opportunity since this is a night that your groom has put together.

Tip: The Wide Array of Wedding Cake Choices

There are as many wedding cake ideas as there are flavors and decorations. Where do you even begin when determining what that special cake will look like at the wedding reception? Fresh flowers or greenery are an option as are all kinds of frostings, decorations and trim. Take a step back and decide what you want to say with your cake and it's just fine to have that topper of the bride and groom if your heart is set on it. Don’t let anyone talk you out of what you want for your big day. How many tiers do you want for your cake, what about different sections and flavors and filling and the size of the cake?

Nowadays, the sky is the limit and you can even have a fountain in your cake or a number of other movable parts that will wow your guests. However, the cake is for eating, too, so keep that in mind when you think of dessert. The wedding cake is an excellent dessert option and will save you money in your budget instead of serving an additional dessert at dinner.

Tip: Wedding Cake Filling and Icing Choices

You've determined the size and flavor of the cake, but what about the filling? Filling options for your cake can be as diverse as lemon, custard, raspberry, strawberry or pineapple. But the list goes on even longer. There are always mousses and buttercreams or liqueur-flavored creams so the choices are unlimited. You can also add another element to your cake by including ice cream, sorbet or fresh fruit.

You will then need to choose icing. The most popular choices for icing are buttercream, fondant, ganache and whipped cream. Most brides have heard of using buttercream, which can be tinted or mixed to make all kinds of colors and it’s pretty tasty consisting of just sugar, eggs and butter. The fondant goes a bit further with sugar, corn syrup and gelatin and the ganache is a rich-tasting chocolate and cream. The choice is yours, but the icing definitely makes the cake come alive along with the final decorating touches. Think about icing that will best endure the climate you're in. The last thing you want is for your ganache to melt in high humidity.

Tip: Wedding Cakes for the Big Day

It's true that the wedding cake is the centerpiece of a wedding reception. While you don't want the cake to take attention away from the couple, you do want your guests to be amazed.

From the big white cakes with plastic couples on the top to specially shaped cakes, it’s no surprise to see six, seven and even eight-layer masterpieces with perfectly created and placed rose flowers. However, there really is more to creating a wedding cake, especially with all the new flavors and designs to choose from. Cakes can come in an array of flavors from pistachio, blackberry, peanut butter and jelly and cookies and cream to the good old traditional ones. It is important that a wedding cake make a statement at your reception.

Remember to keep that top layer of the cake for your first wedding anniversary. If frozen and stored properly, it should still taste great after a year. With any luck too, your new life together will still be as decadent as the top layer of your wedding cake.

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