Top 4 Tips for Choosing Your Wedding Cake-The Mom Maven

Choosing your wedding cake is a big deal. My wedding cake was made by a family friend who made wedding cakes as a side business. I remember going to her house and discussing cakes, remember this was 1991, she sent me home with a few books to look through. I quickly found my cake design and headed back to her house to order the cake. We were expecting 400+ guests at our wedding, so the cake had to be large. I wanted my cake to be Duncan Hines Spice Cake with butter cream frosting. Unfortunately it was difficult to find that cake mix in Florida at that time so when my in-laws were on vacation in Pennsylvania, they bought a case of the cake mix from a grocery store and brought it back for me! My cake included 6 perimeter heart shape cakes, columns surrounding a fountain, and 3 layer cakes! Check out the photo below.

That cake would be so out of place at a 2014 wedding but it was typical 23 years ago.

Top 4 Tips for Choosing Your Wedding Cake

1. Budget

Cake price is based “per slice”.
Wedding cake prices range from $2.00-$12.00 a slice, locally our average seems to be $3.73 a slice.
You can save a lot of money by having a small display cake which you cut and then having a sheet cake in the same flavor and frosting in the kitchen, pre-sliced and pre-plated to serve to your guests.
Know your budget ahead of time, do some research online to find the average per slice price in your area and stick to your budget.
Here is a great resource for how much cake you need depending on the size of your guest list.

2. Choose a Reputable Baker/Bakery

Get recommendations from friends and family.
Visit their website to make sure it is up-to-date.
Visit in person to see if you like the designs they make.
Attend a tasting. This is a fun event for the bride and groom to attend together.

3. Order Early

Wedding cakes should be ordered 3-6 months before the wedding.
Select the venue, wedding colors and style and then the cake.

4. Meet with the Baker

Set a meeting time, in person so that you can discuss what you want.
Bring pictures of designs you like.
Bring anything you want matched in your cake-color swatch, piece of lace, flowers etc
Choose cake flavor(s) Remember…not all guests like exotic flavors so keep some choices more basic.
Choose filling(s) if you are having them.
Decide between butter cream or fondant. Personally I am a butter cream girl 🙂
Discuss the size of your top layer so you know what size cake topper will work best.
Decide on the delivery time.
Get everything you decide on in writing and make sure you leave with a sketch or printout of your cake

The cake is one of the few things Summer has taken complete control over for her wedding. She saw a cake at a friend’s baby shower and she knew she wanted a similar cake for her wedding and in her colors, of course. The cake is a bit unusual, and I love that! The bulk of the cake is made of cake balls! She has found a family friend to make the cake. unlike the picture below, she will have a top and bottom layer of cake so that they can cut the bottom layer at the reception and save the top layer for their first anniversary.