Getting married? There are so many different styles of wedding cake, you'd be forgiven for wondering how on earth you'll choose the one for you. But actually, with a few simple questions, it's easy to narrow it down to a style you'll love (without wondering if you should have chosen something else).
Your venue. Is it a lavish castle or a small, rustic barn? Would a little cake suit the enormous surroundings? Would a woodland theme go with the modern art deco building you're in? The type of venue you've chosen doesn't have to dictate an exact design but it will lend itself to a style or two, which is really helpful if you like every cake you see and need to narrow down your choices.
The number of guests you're having. A 5 tier fruit cake may look stunning but if you're only having an intimate wedding with 30 guests, you'll still be eating cake in 2020. For a rough guide, a 3 tier 6, 8 & 10" round stacked sponge cake will feed around 70 guests.
The type of guests you're having. Are they more likely to be dancing the night away or sitting down to a third slice of cake? If it's the former, there's no need to have a cake to feed everyone. However, if you're hoping to have some cake leftover to enjoy the next day with champagne and close family, it's better to go large.
Fashion. There are some cakes that will stand the test of time. With others it's easy to pinpoint the decade they're from. Royal icing and pillars were all the rage when your grandparents were getting married and garrett frills are very eighties, but will you be bothered if you look back at wedding photos and see a cake that's no longer in vogue? If you're wondering, the previous decade was famous for a cupcake tower with a large cake on top. This decade has seen the rise of the naked wedding cake and, more recently, the semi-naked cake, sometimes with touches of gold leaf.
Pleasing guests. Do you have anyone coming to the wedding who'll expect fruit cake? If so, there needs to be something for them to enjoy, whether it's a fruit cake covered with marzipan or an individual fruit cupcake to make them feel special. If you're pleasing yourselves and you're crazy about sponge cake, you can choose cupcakes to have multiple flavours.
Wondering how it's done? The cake below was chosen by Sian & Jamie, a couple who desired a semi-naked style to fit in with their beautiful wedding in the lovely Flax Bourton. Sian chose to wear a stunning red wedding dress and wanted this replicated in a tiny fondant 3 inch version of herself next to Jamie in a three piece suit.
They opted for a red velvet top and bottom tier along with a vanilla chai tea middle tier and finished with a vanilla bean frosting to keep everything dairy-free. (Note: you can have different coloured cakes in a naked or semi-naked design as long as they colours are balanced. So it's possible to have a different colour middle tier but not a different coloured top or bottom tier or it can look a little odd.)
Finally, and this is one of the most exciting parts of the wedding, there's the cutting of the cake. Here are the real Sian & Jamie next to their 3 inch selves in fondant.
So if you're wondering what we could do for your upcoming wedding, do get in touch!
Huge thanks to Sian & Jamie for allowing permission for their photos to be used. May you have a long and happy life together!