Confection Perfection: Tips to Have a Dreamy Cake for Your Wedding

A delicious and visually pleasing wedding cake is the sweetest and most romantic ending to a successful wedding celebration. Hence, aside from the gown and other details that will go into your wedding, it is vital that you pick a cake that tastes as good as it looks.

Part of having a one-of-a-kind and delicious confection is, of course, working with a cake designer. So if you want to make sure that you will have the perfect confection for your big day, be sure to follow these steps to get a satisfying result.

Do your homework

Just like how you would search for your wedding gown, search for a cake designer well in advance. Give yourself at least six months before the wedding or even sooner if you are looking at hiring an in-demand baker.

Start your search with your network. Word of mouth has always been the most effective way to find highly-skilled people, including cake designers. So turn to recently married friends and colleagues or family members and see if they can refer someone they know. You may also ask your other wedding vendors for recommendations.

Take your pick

In order for you to take your pick from the number of cake designers you’ve found and were recommended by your network, you need to do some comparisons. Most cake designers maintain their own websites where they showcase their confections so be sure to check them out. This is one way to know if their cakes look good in photos. You may also get to know them better if you have a phone conversation with the designers. Ask them about the wedding cake styles they specialize in as well as their estimated price range. After the phone interview, narrow down your choices to at least two or three bakers.

Once you’ve decided which designers to include in your list, meet up with each of them. Look through their portfolios and assess how flexible they are when it comes to design. Keep in mind that cake designers have different skill sets. Some are good at replicating intricate lace patterns, while others are good at creating exquisite floral designs. What you want is someone flexible so that you can be assured that he or she can make the design you have in mind.

Don’t forget to taste their cake samples. As mentioned earlier, your cake should have the perfect balance of visual appeal and great taste so do not sacrifice one for the other. Cake tasting is the perfect opportunity for you to know if the cake designer really knows how to bake.

Also, be sure to gauge how the designers connect with you. At the most, you want someone whom you feel comfortable talking to and someone who can communicate his or her ideas pretty well.

Book and brainstorm

Among the three cake designers on your list, pick the one who is able to complement the requirements mentioned above. Once you’ve booked him or her, both of you should start the discussion about the cake. As much as possible, disclose all the details that you can about the wedding that will help the designer to come up with a masterpiece that is especially for you. These details may include the venue, theme, level of formality, color scheme, flowers and menu. You may even provide images of cakes from magazines that you like from which the designer can draw his or her inspiration from.

During the process, you and your cake designer should also work on the cake-and-filling combinations in order for you to pick a flavor that will suit your taste as well as your guests’.

Put everything in writing

Don’t forget that this is still a business transaction, so if you want to ensure that everything you and your cake designer have agreed on will be followed, there should be a contract in place. The contract should contain all the details relevant to the transaction, such as the date, venue and time of the wedding, style and flavors of the cake, time of delivery and cost just to name a few.

This article was contributed by Ericka who enjoys writing about wedding subjects and often writes content for Frox of Falkirk a company based in central Scotland who specialise in mother of the bride and groom outfits.

Wedding Cake Wake-Up Call

The perfect wedding cake should reflect the overall theme of the festivities, and so there are a few questions that need to be answered prior to ordering this most important centerpiece.

Questions such as:

• Are you planning for a formal or informal wedding reception?
• Is it going to be an indoor or outdoor event?
• Warm weather or cool?

Believe it or not, each of these factors should be taken into consideration when choosing a wedding cake; as ignoring them could be turn out to create unnecessary drama, as well as, unpleasant memories…in pictures and on video.

That being said…just because your Aunt Edna has a sterling reputation for making a fierce carrot cake, does that mean you should entrust her with your reception’s  crowning masterpiece?  “But she’s so sweet”, you may say. “Cakes are so expensive and she offered to make it for free….as a wedding gift!“  While the sentiment may be nice, just think: Could you honestly entrust this woman with making your wedding cake?  Has she ever made one before?    While her cakes may be a hit at the family reunion, you’d better think twice before commissioning her to bake  your “cake of a lifetime”.  A lopsided cake on a picnic table, sliding under the weight of its own icing, in the hot July sun may be acceptable at a barbecue, but is this what you really want to happen to your cake at your wedding reception?  And do you really want a blue cake trimmed in red icing?  Hold that thought and marinate in it for a while…

Now that we’ve gotten you frightened to death…you can call Aunt Edna, and decline her offer.  Go ahead…call her now.  Thank her profusely, while nicely telling  her that its “already been taken care of”.  End the conversation by kindly letting her know where you are registered and tell her that you “haven‘t been given a kitchen spatula yet” … then move on….To the REAL baker.

During your consultation with your chosen baker, be sure that all questions are answered to your satisfaction.  Make sure that you are both clear as to what you do, or do not want.   Do not assume anything!  Be sure to provide your baker with details, keeping in mind that he has no idea as to what is most important to you.   Take a look at the baker’s cake portfolio to see examples of work previously done, and to get ideas that can be incorporated into your final masterpiece.  Provide your baker with as much advance notice as possible.    Be VERY clear as to the delivery date, time and setup instructions.   Be doubly sure to have everything in writing.

One last thing:  Please don’t forget to give Aunt Edna a seat nearest the bridal table.  You’ll thank me for this later.

photo by tastetheworld

Star Wars Wedding Cakes

Some people dream of a wedding day where everything is virgin white and flowers abound. The wedding cake is 5 tiers tall and beautiful handmade flowers adorn the edible edifice. It is as if the wedding cake was from a sweet dream.

Those people did not make these cakes.

No, that pleasure went to those who love lightsabers and wookies and believe the Force is always with you. The people who made these cakes should consider themselves lucky to have found another Star Wars geek who likes the opposite sex. You’ll find not traditional cakes here, only creations made possible by the imagination of one George Lucas. Here are 20 Star Wars wedding cakes in a galaxy not so far away.

I don’t know if you can read it, but the plane says “Oceanic” on it. “Lost” and “Star Wars;” what a weird combination.

See more unique wedding cake designs.

Related articles

• Monograms Part 1: Let me spell it out for you (weddingsetups.com)
• Busy…busy… busy… (kkaelyn.wordpress.com)
• Wedding Cakes that Take the Cake (weddingsetups.com)

Wedding Cake Prices & Costs

The wedding cake is a big part of the reception, let alone the wedding itself. That said, it’s always a good idea to know where you stand by finding out the average wedding cake prices and what you’ll be expected to pay.

First and foremost, you should realize that most bakeries charge per “slice” rather than per “cake. This system will allow you to easily determine how much the whole cake is going to cost, not to mention how much money you can spare for custom designs and cake icing.

Here is a Rundown of Wedding Cake Prices:

Simple Cake: A simply made cake with just a few decorations, cheap icing, and a basic design will cost about 1 to 2 dollars per slice. If it’s a small wedding with only about 100 or so people, you can spend about $250 to $300 and get a elegant cake that’ll please everyone. Read more