• Learn More
  Topping it off
• 9 Steps
  to the perfect cake
• Themes
  Find the Right Style
• History
  Cutting the Cake

9 Steps: To Pick the Perfect Cake

Step 1: Cut Cake Costs

It's necessary that you determine a realistic budget for your wedding cake before you begin to shop around. You don't want to get hung up on a cake masterpiece when it's a thousand dollars more than what your wedding allowance permits. Even though the wedding cake is an important component in the reception, all in all, it's just filling and frosting. It's easy to attain a beautiful wedding cake by following cost-efficient methods, so what do you have to lose?

Establishing the budget is perhaps the most difficult part of cutting the cake costs, especially if you're somewhat oblivious in regard to the elements which constitute the wedding cake. Things like frosting and cake types, size, and design all play an essential role. Making yourself knowledgeable about the cake is incumbent and will only demand a couple hours of your time. That combined with some foolproof cake pointers and you'll be ahead of the game! Check out our other tips on how to trim the overall costs and essentially salvage your finances.

Step 2: Determining Theme / Color

Do yourself a favor - prior to shopping for a wedding cake, first figure out your wedding theme and or colors. It's an essential step that will save you time and make things so much simpler. Don't attempt to pick the cake and then try to match the rest of the wedding to it; this could be disastrous! When looking at cake samples, keep in mind that the better bakeries can take your color scheme and employ it in any of their wedding cake concoctions.

Buying a cake is more than just selecting an example from a portfolio. It's about working with the baker to create something that is individualized to your special wedding affair. Under these circumstances, it's always best to be over-prepared. Bring everything you have to the table so that the bakery is equipped with all of the substantive tools necessary to make the wedding cake of your dreams. This means fetching bridesmaid dress swatches, flowers from your floral bouquets, and perhaps even a picture of your bridal gown.

Step 3: Finding the Right Bakery

After getting the theme and color details straightened out, next comes locating the ideal bakery. This is always a tedious undertaking, nevertheless, the more time and patience you put into it, the better off you'll be. Set aside a weekend with your sweetheart to romp around town in order to find the perfect little shop that can construct an aesthetically-pleasing concoction. Don't settle on any one place until you visit a vast array of bakeries. If you don't feel one-hundred percent excited about the choice, chances are there is something else out there sure to strike your fancy.

For a more exquisite wedding cake you may want to peruse local bakeries online. They best ones will most likely have a website publicizing their many cake creations. The Internet can be extremely beneficial during this time period, as can word-of-mouth referrals from friends and family. Give each and every recommendation some thoughtful consideration. If you have a friend who is raving about a certain bakery, go check them out. It's a worth a shot. It's easier to find a great bakery this way then it is driving around for cake samplers.

Step 4: Cake Sampling

As hard as it may be to believe, the look of your cake is not half as important as the taste. After the party has ended and the years pass by, it will be your taste-buds and not your eyes that will be able to recall the sweet confection. Invest your time in a thorough cake sampling with the bakery so that you get a feel for the various cake combinations. It's important that you try everything once, even those fruit fillings and frosting types that you think you'll dislike. You may be surprised to find something in there that strikes your fancy. For a more fun experience, bring along your partner and parents to help you make the selection.

Step 5: Figuring out Cake Size

It's impossible to determine a estimable cake size without first establishing a concrete guest list. If you don't know how many guests are coming to your wedding, stay out of the bakery! Many bakeries charge on a per slice basis, which means every extra cake serving will entail an additional fee. It's a courteous gesture to allow guests to have seconds or thirds when it comes to the wedding cake, but it's not necessary. Two slices per guest could be the difference of a few hundred dollars, and for the bride on a budget, this is a dollar too much!

Cake shape plays a dramatic role in the number of guests it can accommodate. A square shape yields more slices than a round cake with the same proportions. This is a helpful tip for those brides who are trying to deviate from an excessive monstrosity. For those other couples who desire a tower of frosted perfection, it's quite possible to attain a good height without having to pay for cake slices. Ask your bakery about adding on “faux” tiers to your wedding cake. These fake layers are typically constructed out of styrofoam and then covered in frosting, blending in wonderfully with the rest of the cake design. Your guests will never be able to tell the difference, and you'll save yourself money and still acquire the dream wedding cake.

Step 6: Choosing the Cake Flavor

It can be hard to choose a cake flavor that everyone will like. Most brides like to play it safe and select something classic; you can't go wrong with chocolate or vanilla! Both of these choices are always delicious and pair nicely with all frostings and fillings, however, they're nothing out of the ordinary. For those who are willing to take a risk, check out the following list:

Of course, with some of these cakes only certain mousse and fillings will suffice, so make sure that you don't pick something too extreme! It's entirely possible to find a cake and filling combination that will amaze your wedding guests, all it necessitates is an exhaustive cake-sampling with your local bakery!

Step 7: Picking the Cake Filling

With the exception of the frosting, the filling type plays the most significant role when it comes to the palatable outcome of your wedding cake. There are so many fillings to choose from that making a decision could be difficult, even after an extensive taste sampling.

First you have to decide which kind of filling you want: mousse or fruit? Mousse is a popular choice simply for it's creamy and silky consistency. In addition, it's available in a broad assortment of flavors, allowing for a higher number of cake/filling sequences.

Fruit fillings are also highly favorable and are a delight for spring and summer weddings. Amalgamated with some chiffon cake, custard and buttercream frosting, and your guests will be spellbound.

Make sure that you sample all of these filling types with various cake flavors. Sometimes the more exotic pairings are the best tasting!

Step 8: Frosting

Frosting plays a major function in the overall taste of the wedding cake. Many brides may be surprised to know that there are over six different frosting types, each with their own positive and negative contributing factors. The location of your wedding, the season as well as the cake design you have your heart set on, all play a critical role in determining the optimum choice of frosting that would be best suited.

For example, if you're having an outdoor summer reception, you may want to stay away from whipped cream and buttercream frostings, as these have a tendency to melt in warm weather conditions. This is only a good option if you have the cake kept inside for the majority of the party, only to be brought out for the cake-cutting ceremony and then whisked back into the kitchen. Otherwise, you may have a runny cake calamity on your hands.

Marzipan frosting is highly delectable and made primarily out of sugar and ground almonds. However, due to the questionable ingredients, it may be in you best interest to investigate possible food allergies amongst your wedding guests. Hypersensitivity to nuts is fairly common, and you don't want anyone to have an attack during the festivities.

Fondant is one of the most popularly employed frostings when it comes to wedding cake as it's the easiest to work with. All of the extravagant and intricate cakes that you've ever seen was most likely constructed with the help of fondant icing. Comprised primarily from sugar and water, which is then beaten into an elastic consistency, it is an extremely pliant icing that can be molded into any shape or design. Despite these award-winning attributes, it's taste leaves something to be desired. While some people enjoy the slightly chewy sensation, others find it bland and unpalatable.

Step 9: The Cake Topper

Although many bakeries sell various cake toppers, it's not incumbent that you purchase the topper directly from their shop. There are plenty of wedding stores that sell cake accessories which can accommodate to your needs, a few places are even able to personalize and customize a topper to fit your theme. As you shop around for the ideal cake topper, don't feel as though you're restricted to conventional bride and groom figurines. Currently there are thousands of novel cake toppers on the market, and longstanding miniature statuettes are slowly becoming yesterday's news.

A popular and simple cake topper choice are monogrammed initials. They always look elegant atop an exquisite tower of frosted florals surrounded by tiny candy pearls. You could utilize these in every single cake design with little to no difficulty. In addition, they can be cost-effective or expensive, depending on what monogram you like. You can find everything from plastic monograms to monogrammed initials bedecked with Swarovski crystals.

There's one shop that makes their own customized clay figurines for their customers. They simply take a photograph of the happy couple and a picture of the wedding dress, and use this in order to construct an intricate clay simulation. Everything from the facial expression to the shoes are carved and hand-painted with care. Of course, something such as this is going to be quite costly, but if you can afford it, why not? After all is said and done, it will be a wedding keepsake with which you can remember and lovingly cherish the fading festivities.

Don't be overly extravagant when selecting a cake topper. It should be noticeable, but anything that detracts from the rest of the wedding cake will only look cheap and obnoxious. When it comes to decorating the wedding cake, simple is always a safe bet.

Celebrate!

Finding the perfect wedding cake is one of the most enjoyable parts of the wedding planning, and one of the only portions in which most grooms are willing to partake. Cunning brides can utilize a cake sampling session as a way to lure an otherwise apathetic groom into the festivities. Invite the parents and make it a day of taste-testing and bonding. There's nothing like rich buttercake and handmade frosting to bring families together.

In the long run, the decision-making will lean heavily on the bride, but at least the groom will have the opportunity to “yea” or “nay” certain flavors. It's important that you keep the groom happy during this period; you never know if a slice of that cake you so adamantly had to have will wind up splashed across your unexpecting face. Listen to one another, compromise, and remember to follow the nine steps!