Wedding Cakes, Cake Decorations and Toppers - Tips and Ideas

Symbolising happiness, prosperity and fertility, the cutting of the wedding cake has become one of the highlights of the wedding. In the words of Julia Child ‘A party without cake is just a meeting.’

A good way to begin wedding cake hunting is to look through cake books such as Modern Wedding Cakes magazine. You’ll also find visual inspiration in our Wedding Cakes gallery and Wedding Cakes & Desserts Pinterest board. You may be lucky enough to find your complete dream wedding cake or at least different ideas that take your fancy - an icing texture or colour from here, a particular decoration from there. You can visit wedding cake decorators’ showrooms for endless inspiration too!

It’s important that your wedding cake ties in with the over all tone of your wedding. The flowers in your bouquet could be the inspiration for the exquisite sugar-dough flowers on your wedding cake. The motif on your invitations could be painted onto your cake or the cake itself could be shaped a certain way. The icing colour could be inspired by the bridesmaids’ dresses. The lace or beading on your bridal gown could be reinterpreted in intricate royal icing patterns. The sky’s the limit!

It’s also a good idea to think about yourselves and your personalities. Are you extroverts? Do you enjoy a good laugh? Are you sport or music mad? Why not choose a cake that reflects this aspect of you. There are so many novelty cakes available, from Cinderella’s pumpkin-come-coach to guitars to footballs to pigs in bathtubs! Or simply choose a more traditional wedding cake design but top it with tongue-in-cheek caricatures of yourselves.

If you have been fortunate enough to see your dream wedding cake in a magazine or at a cake designer’s showroom, choosing a cake designer may be as simple as ringing that person up and arranging to meet with him or her to make the arrangements.
If you have yet to decide on a cake design, call up three or four cake designers whose work you like and arrange to meet with them to discuss your needs. Wedding Cake designers suggest you order your cake at least 12 to 16 weeks before the wedding.

The size of your cake will depend upon the number of guests at your reception and whether you will be serving dessert or coffee slices. If you are keeping the top tier, your decorator will need to take this into consideration, too. See our list of Questions to Ask Your Wedding Cake Designer.

If cake in general just isn’t to your liking then there are plenty of wedding cake alternatives from cheese towers and gelato to croquembouche or a pie. Read through our Wedding Cake Alternatives for ideas!