It’s time for what some may call their favorite part of the wedding planning process: choosing the jaw-dropping wedding cake. Usually around 3-6 months before the big day is the ideal period where most couples start looking for the right bakery and eventually the cake.
Choosing Your Wedding Cake: Getting Started
Your search for the most creative and memorable wedding cake designs should begin online. Visit wedding planner web pages and look for customer reviews from satisfied couples. Next, go to the bakery sites to view images of their wedding cakes. If the images are out of date, so are their nuptial confections. Find a reputable baker with positive feedback from happy brides and grooms, who offers a wide variety of wedding cake decorations.
After you narrow down your list, visit your top choices in person. Meet with a staff member and obtain an image of each cake you like. Most wedding cake design specialists provide a dedicated staff person to discuss wedding cake ideas. If you are uncomfortable with the person, you are working with or if you feel rushed, move on to the next bakery location on your list.
The Cake Tasting
Schedule a date to taste wedding cakes before you make the official order. If the one you like best is available in several flavors, try each one. Depending on how the cake is formulated, even basic flavors such as chocolate, vanilla or strawberry may taste slightly different. Don’t just run on assumption; taste the cake.
Picking Creative Wedding Cake Designs
Traditional white frosted tiered towers with plastic wedding cake toppers have become a thing of the past. Today’s brides like to coordinate their color scheme into the wedding cake design. Many others adorn the cake with decorations that coordinate with bridal jewels.
If you’re still not sure about the right design, try exploring current trends. This season, the big trend in wedding cake decorations is matching the design with the bride’s dress, such as the ruffle or pieces of jewelry. In addition, buttercream frosting has made a quite a comeback. This classic original has a richer flavor than modern sugary frostings. As for wedding cake shapes, the hottest style is oval. Traditional designs are round, and square wedding cake designs are fun. An oval-shaped wedding cake is an attention-getter and allows for much creative expression.
Additional Wedding Cake Tips
Never wait until the last minute to decide on the right wedding cake design and place your order. That is the first mortal sin of custom wedding cake planning. Most successful bakeries book their custom wedding cake orders well in advance: months, even a year. To create such memorable nuptial confections, sometimes ingredients or wedding cake toppers need to be special ordered or mastered in-house. All of these special requirements take time and in some cases, experimentation.
The second big mistake many couples make is to ask too many outsiders for their two cents. Input coming in from family, friends, and the bridal party can get you confused and drive you batty. Maybe take one or two of your closest confidants with you to the bakery. Choosing your wedding cake should be about which design feels right, and makes you happy as the bride (and groom).