TOP TIPS FOR PICKING YOUR WEDDING CAKE

A GUIDE TO CHOOSING YOUR WEDDING CAKE

So, the dates set, the location agreed and the wedding dress selected...now for the all important wedding cake.

For many, it's the centre attraction and one of the main events during your big day. Cutting your wedding cake in front of all your family and friends is a momentous occasion and to make sure it's as perfect as possible requires a flawless wedding cake.

But they come is so many shapes, sizes, not to mention the endless amount of flavours, it's no wonder it can all be a bit daunting.

If you’re struggling for ideas and need some inspiration, we've rounded up our top 5 tips for getting the cake of your dreams...

1. FIND YOUR CAKE MAKER

So first things first, who's going to have the responsibility of creating your dream wedding cake?

It's never too early to get your order pencilled into your chosen cake makers diary (even if your design is still uncertain). Many reputable cake makers are extremely high in demand, especially during 'wedding season' and book out months, if not years in advance. So the earlier you can get your order booked in, the better - don't leave it until the last minute!

Do your research

Where to even begin looking can be quite tricky. Word of mouth is one of the best and most valuable ways to do your research. Speak to friends and family, listen to their first hand experiences with cake makers and see if they have any advice or recommendations.

You'll also find that lots of the other key wedding suppliers and businesses you visit during your wedding planning (such as bridal shops, wedding venues, and caterers) will have a long list of recommendations and key contacts for cake makers, so chances are they'll have some advice for you too.

Use the Internet.

Many cake makers have their own individual websites and host galleries showcasing their works of art for you to easily browse and get a feel for their previous work and style.

Look out for customer feedback too, whether on their company website, Facebook and Twitter pages or even online review sites.

Dwindle them down

Once you've shortlisted your top cake makers, give each of them a call and arrange a face to face consultation with them. Getting to meet them in person in their own working environment is a great way to understand their abilities and help you decide. Plus, there's absolutely no commitments at this point.

For more advice and tips on those all important questions to ask at your wedding cake consultation see here >

Many brides and grooms to-be want to play an active part in designing their wedding cake. So, the more inspiration you can take along to your consultation the better, however also consider your designer’s suggestions at the end of the day it's what they do for a living and they probably know best.

2. PICK YOUR STYLE

There are so many types and styles of wedding cake to choose from and so many questions to ask yourself - Will it be multi tiered, round or square?

Will it have a cake topper, floral arrangement or bling detailing? The list goes on and on.

The best thing to do is decide on your cake style once your venue and dress style have all been agreed. These should help design the look and feel of your wedding cake.

Spend your time trawling through designs online, in wedding magazines, cake showrooms and the all important go to - Pinterest is a great tool for collating all your ideas in the one place.

Choose a cake that compliments your wedding decor theme and colours as well as showing both of your personalities off.

Take photographs, bridesmaid color swatches, centre piece features along to your cake consultation to help bring your wedding theme to life for your cake maker and inspire their design even more.

For more advice and tips on different wedding cake styles and trends see here >

3. DECIDE ON THE SIZE

If you've booked your wedding venue already, chances are you already have all i's dotted and the t's crossed on your guest list. The number of guests at your wedding reception will have a definitive affect to what size cake you choose.

Its key to consider where in your venue your cake will be on display when you're picking the size of your cake.

If your venue is grand, you could consider increasing the height of your cake to bring it in keeping with it's surroundings.

Likewise, a giant seven tiered cake may seem out of place at a smaller, more intimate wedding reception.

Set up

Something which slips many brides/grooms to-be minds when deciding on their cake size, is how it will be transported to the venue safely. The last thing you want to be doing on your big day is setting up a cake!

Multi- tiered or intricate cake designs very often require assembling at the venue. This is something you should definitely discuss with your cake maker during your consultation. Take into account any additional charges for delivery and set up, but also ensure your venue is readily prepared for your cakes arrival on the day with any space needed for assembly sorted and time taken into consideration. We don't want it rushed now.

To help you find a size and style that is suitable for your number of guests check out our handy guide >

4. FLAVOUR & FILING

Now for the best part - the taste. It's important your cake tastes as good as it looks. What's the point in creating an amazing show stopping cake if it tastes like a soggy sponge.

There's so many different types of sponge flavours and fillings to choose from. From traditional fruit cake to wacky and fun combinations like red velvet and cream cheese, you're sure to be spoilt for choice. Make sure you pick a flavour you and your partner will love. Don't go overboard with the flavours though, include a maximum of three different flavours. If you have four or five tiers and each tier a different flavour, it's difficult for any serving staff to keep up to speed.

Try before you buy

The majority of cake makers offer sponge samples to get your taste buds tingling.

Some bakers will charge for these and others deduct the price off the full price of your cake should you choose to go ahead with your order.

Make sure you taste your cake before you order, don't just assume it will taste good.

To help you discover the many different flavours and fillings and find one you're sure to love, check out our flavour guide >

5. BUDGET

It may be a difficult thing to reveal, however telling your cake maker your budget up front

will dramatically increase the quality of your cake design and also save you a lot of time.

If you’re looking for a cake maker you can really trust long-term, revealing your budget is the first step to building a great relationship with them. This will allow your cake maker to work with you to create a bespoke, personalised, wedding cake of your dreams for the budget that you want.

The more and more research you do to help pick your cake design, the more you'll realise just how much time, craftmanship and sheer hard work goes into every individual cake masterpiece.

As that all important saying goes "Good cake isn't cheap and cheap cake isn't good."

Looking for ways to reduce your wedding cake costs >

So that's it, our round up of top tips for choosing your wedding cake. What are you waiting for go and get that dream wedding cake, because let's face it, creating your wedding cake should be an exciting and enjoyable part of your wedding plans.