Did someone say cake?

Top tips for planning your dream Wedding Cake from Wildflower Cakery

Planning your wedding cake has got to be one of the most delicious parts of planning your dream day. And although it might seem like quite a simple thing, there is lots to consider and discuss to bring your vision to life.

As a Cake Decorator with over 10 years’ experience creating wedding cakes, I am sharing my top tips below, to help you find the right cake decorator for you who can make your dream cake a reality.

When should we first contact our cake maker?

It is best to begin contacting cake decorators as soon as you have a date and venue booked, and have a rough idea of how many guests you are intending to invite.

It can also be helpful to have a caterer sorted before booking your wedding cake as catering packages can affect the size of cake you will need – more detail on this in the following tip.

Before contacting your cake decorator, it is helpful if you have an idea of the cake style you like and a rough idea of a colour palette – Pinterest and Instagram are great resources for inspiration.

Do some research into local cake decorators/ bakeries – explore their website and social media to get a feel for the style of cakes that they offer, as well as a feel for them and their business. If their cake style aligns with your vision for your cake and you feel a connection to their values and business ethos, then it is a good sign they will be able to make your vision come to life.

There is a lot of planning and preparation that goes into creating a wedding cake, so the more notice you can give the better. I generally open my books for wedding season around 1 year in advance, however often pencil book dates prior to officially opening my books. Some dates do book up quickly so I would suggest getting in touch with your chosen cake maker as early as possible to avoid missing out.

How do we know the best size for our wedding cake?

Your cake decorator will be able to assist you in deciding what the best sized cake will be for your guest numbers.

There are a few things that will help them to determine the correct size:

When do you plan to serve the cake? Will it be the only dessert, part of dessert or served after a full dessert?

  Are you happy to have leftovers for the following day etc?

 It is also worth considering that not every guest will eat cake – especially if it is served after a full dessert. So, you don’t necessarily need to have a cake big enough to cater to all your guests.

How do we decide what flavour we would like and can we have more than one flavour?

Ask your cake decorator if they offer samples to try different cake flavours and what the cost of these might be.

Then order some of your favourite flavour combinations and have fun figuring out which you like best.

In terms of how many flavours – generally each tier can be a different cake flavour – e.g. A 3-tiered cake can be 3 different flavours.

Cakes were originally created as a way to signify luck and fertility.

Pick up vs delivery and cake travelling tips

Check with your cake decorator if they offer delivery to your chosen venue and any costs associated with delivery. Some cake makers will only offer delivery for wedding cakes and not pick-ups.

If your cake decorator allows pickups and you plan to transport the cake yourself here are my top tips for travelling with a cake:

 Ask your cake decorator how they have structured the cake and if the cake will come in a sturdy box – personally I use a central dowel running through all tiers and additional support dowels in each tier which makes my cakes super robust for transportation, and I package my cakes in purpose made cake boxes.

 When arriving for pick up make sure that your car is as cold as possible – if it is a hot and humid day have the air con blasting!! You will need to keep the air con blasting for the duration of the car trip with the cake.

 Place the cake on a flat surface in the car – either in the footwell of the passenger seat or in the boot is ideal.

 Make sure not to pack the cake in tightly so that the cold air can circulate around it and keep it cool.

 Drive as smoothly as possible with no sudden braking or acceleration.

Eat cake, dance, repeat.

Overall planning your wedding cake should be a fun, delicious and stress-free experience – and with a little prior research you should be able to find a cake decorator who can work with you to create a stunning centre piece for your day.

The Wildflower Caker

Aimee

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