Have your cake and eat it too

Most brides place more importance on some aspects of a wedding than others. Granted, most brides might say they care about everything :) However, you'll find that brides will definitely prioritize some things over others based on the amount of money involved or simply the amount of time & energy they spend on it. For me, cake was definitely high on the priority list in terms of wanting it to be perfect.

I absolutely heart dessert - cake, pies, tiramisu, ice cream, pearl milk tea, you name it. So of course I wanted a cake that people would actually remember and perhaps even rave about. Based on my experience, here are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for a cake vendor:

1. Cake budget: This is probably the first thing you should decide on, as it will determine everything else. How much are you willing to spend on your cake? In general, cakes can start anywhere from as cheap as $1/serving to as high as $10+/serving. Extras like fondant, flowers, or anything that requires extra structural support will increase the price. On average, I'd estimate most brides spend $3-4/serving. If you're lucky, you'll find a good vendor who charges by tier or even a reception place/caterer who includes wedding cake in their services.


2. What's included?: What will your cake vendor do for you? What extra fees do they tack on to the cake price? (Delivery, tax, mandatory rentals, flower decorations, etc) I once met with a bakery that had a mandatory rental fee of $10 per cake column, which I thought was stupid. Some places may charge delivery fees ranging from $50-100, depending on how far your venue is. All in all, make sure you're aware of exactly what your cake vendor
is charging you for. Dreaming of a fancy fondant design for your cake? Most cake vendors will charge extra because it requires more labor.

3. Flavors: Of course an important choice to make! You'll need to decide everything about how your cake tastes, including...
   
   
   
   • Texture of the cake (chiffon, sponge, etc)
   
   
   • Flavor of the cake
   
   
   • Filling between layers (yes, layers within a slice of cake - not tiers)
   
   
   • Extra filling (extra fruit, chocolate chips even)
   
   
   • Icing for the cake exterior. I'll go into this more a couple bullets down.
   
   If you're torn between 2 different flavors, most places are flexible and will let you designate each tier of your cake a different flavor. In our case, we had the bottom and top tiers feature strawberry filling, while the middle tier was pineapple filling.


4. Presentation: This bullet could also be called "structure of the cake". Think about how many tiers you want your cake to be, how you want the tiers to look (do you want the columns exposed in between tiers, have the cakes stacked atop each other, or a cascading waterfall look), if you want the cake to be round or square, or something totally unconventional. There are lots of great examples of cakes on The Knot.


5. Icing: Icing, flowers, colors, ribbons. This part is like choosing what your cake's going to wear. If you're looking to save money, go with standard whipped or cream frosting as opposed to fondant (which enables you to do fancier designs and make the cake look ultra-smooth). Think about colors, flavors, and texture. For example, do you want the cake to have some texture or decorations or do you want it to look smooth? In my case (as you can see on the lefthand blog logo), I had a different design for each tier - the top tier had single dots, the second tier had swirls, and the 3rd tier had triple dots. At the bottom of each cake tier, the vendor used "pearls" of icing as a finishing accent. You can get creative and ask your vendor to add icing decorations that (for example) mimic the beading of your dress.


6. Flowers & other cake accessories: Some cake vendors will include floral cake decorations in their services and either provide flowers of your choice or request you to purchase the flowers for them. In general, you should have the cake flowers match your flower scheme for the wedding. Other popular accessories for cakes include a ribbon wrapped around the bottom of each cake tier, sugar flowers, figurines for the top tier, or even Star Wars Storm Trooper action figures positioned on each tier (see the first cake picture in this post ;-)


7. How it looks on the cake table: You don't want an absolutely gorgeous wedding cake ruined by ugly presentation on the cake table! Talk with your reception venue coordinator and your cake vendor about how the cake will be presented. Cakes always look great when slightly elevated, so that's something you can talk w/ your vendors about. Also, you may wish to scatter flower petals or have floral arrangements on the cake table. And of course, don't forget the cake knife & server set and toasting flutes, should you choose to have these.

Phew! That's a lot to think about just for choosing a cake. However, if your cake is on your priority list, then it's worth spending the time to design the cake of your dreams and making sure you're comfortable with the vendor you choose. In my opinion, anything that has to do with food is usually fun to work with. :-)