Planning Your
Wedding Cake
When
to Order Your Wedding Cake
Your wedding
cake should be ordered at least 4 to 6 months
before your wedding, if possible. Wedding
cakes have so many possibilities and are a beautiful
feature of your wedding. Looking at pictures
of wedding cakes can really
give you an idea of the styles of cakes you prefer.
Books and the internet are great sources for this. Long gone are
the days of fruitcake with royal sweet icing. Bakers
have many flavours of wedding cakes
available with numerous types of fillings and icings.
Top Section of the Wedding Cake
Fruitcake wedding
cakes allowed couples traditionally to keep the top section
of their wedding cake in the freezer until their
fist anniversary, where they would pull it out and reminisce about
their wedding day. Today couples are choosing
to keep the top section of their wedding cakes
for a much shorter time. Usually until they return home from their
honeymoon. They may even choose to have a small gathering of close
family and friends so they can share their wedding cake
with those people that are an important part of their lives and
their wedding. This can be a great opportunity to share and reminisce
with a viewing of the video and photos of the wedding
and honeymoon.
Wedding Cake Styles
Many bakers will have samples available
for you to taste and will have pictures of wedding cakes
they have made in the past. Your wedding cake
should reflect the style of your wedding including
the wedding colours, themes and the level of
formality of the wedding. Wedding cakes come in many different
shapes also. Square, heart, hexagon, but round seems to stay the
most popular. Probably because it, like the wedding rings is a
symbol of everlasting love. Also, knowing approximately how many
wedding guests you are expecting to your wedding
and when you will be serving the cake at the
wedding will help you choose the appropriate size of
the wedding cake. Call and make an appointment
to meet with your cake baker to discuss all your
wedding cake options. Another
option is hand painted wedding cakes. These are
unique and quite beautiful. Bakers use editable paint to paint
everything from flowers to scenery on your wedding cake.
Wedding
Planning Tip
Wedding Cake Setup
Some couples prefer to setup the cake
table in a corner away from the activities of the wedding
so it 
doesn't
get bumped or knocked over. In recent years it has became more
popular to set the wedding cake up in front of
the head table. Either way, make sure the cake
table is very sturdy and large enough to accommodate the size
and weight of the cake. Some wedding cakes are
very large and heavy so you need a good table to support it. Make
sure the area around your wedding cake
is photo friendly. Take down any pictures on the walls so they
don't stand out in your wedding cake cutting
photos. Have good lighting available at the table and don't forget
to decorate the table itself to compliment the wedding cake. If
the cake is place close to the head table, have the decorations
go with the decorations on the head table. Keep in mind that the
decorations should just be enough to feature the main attraction,
the wedding cake.
Wedding Cake Toppers
Wedding
cake top options
have really expanded in the past few years. People have moved
away from the traditional Bride and Groom toppers and now put
all sorts of items on the top of their wedding cakes.
Everything from fresh flowers, monograms, lights, ribbons, photos,
jewels, sea shells, silk flowers, to nothing at all. There are
even personalized Bride and Groom figurines, made from a photo
of the Bride and Groom so they look just like the couple. Some
bakers use a substance called gum paste to design flowers that
look very real. These flowers can be put on your wedding
cake and then be kept as a keepsake after they harden.
The top of your wedding cake is a great place
to get inventive and incorporate the theme and/or the colours
of your wedding. Talk to your cake
decorator about the options available to you.
Groom's Cake
A Groom's Cake
is a tradition that is more popular in the United States, but
some couples may want to incorporate it into their wedding.
The groom's cake is a cake that
is served late in the evening, usually at a late night dance buffet.
It is decorate in a fun reflection of one of the Groom's hobbies
or interest. Or if a couple shares a certain hobby or interest
together it's a fun way of integrating it into the wedding
to make it a little more personal and whimsical.
Wedding Cake Cutting
If you’ll be doing a cake cutting
ceremony you’ll need a wedding cake knife or wedding cake
server. A nice idea is to have your cake knife or server engraved
with your names and wedding date. This way you can use it on special
occasions like your wedding anniversaries to serve desserts. The
cake cutting ceremony dates back to the Roman
Empire. In these 
times
the groom broke the cake over the bride's head
as a symbol of breaking the bride's virginal state and his dominance
over her. Although this tradition is far over, some couples have
chosen to take on a similar tradition of cutting the cake together.
This symbolizes their first task performed jointly as a couple.
The feeding of wedding cake to each other represents
their commitment to each other. Some couples even go as far as
smearing the wedding cake into the face of their
new spouse. I highly suggest that you discuss how you will be
cutting the wedding cake and your feelings about
having cake smeared all over your $150 hair and
makeup before it happens.
Wedding
Cake Budget Tip
If your wedding cake
budget is really tight, you may be able to save some money by
having your baker make a smaller wedding cake
and then have extra slab cakes in the kitchen
that can be cut and served to your wedding guests.
If you plan on using your entire cake as your only dessert, you
will have to do the cake cutting early enough
in the evening that there is time for the caterers to cut and
serve the cake to all your wedding guests. If
you really need to save money on your wedding cake,
consider buying a plain wedding cake with little
decorating on it. Then use silk flowers, or other embellishments
to decorate your wedding cake on your own.
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