Your wedding cake is the focal point of your reception, but that doesn’t meant it has to cost a bomb. There are some clever ways you can reduce the cost of your cake without reducing the quality.
Boutique bakeries
First things first, when selecting your bakery, it doesn’t always have to be a bespoke wedding cake specialist. Boutique and local bakers might be limited in their design ability, but if you’re not looking for anything too ornate, intricate and complicated, your local, small baker will often be able to give you an impressive wedding cake for a fraction of the price. If you are looking for more intricate and specialist design, you can still turn to bespoke wedding cake specialists.
A display cake
Why not opt for a smaller, display cake that’s carefully and intricately decorated for the ceremonial cutting but then have a bigger ‘sheet cake’ hidden in the kitchen to serve to your guests. That way you get the impressively decorated cake without having to pay for the big version that will feed 200 guests. Alternatively, if you’re dreaming of a tiered tower, you can substitute some of the tiers for fake ones. Talk to your baker about getting faux tiers mixed in with the real tiers.
Shape
If you’re not fussy on the shape of your wedding cake, then don’t go for anything too unusual. For example, a topsy-turvy cake just for the sake of it could really hit your budget hard. If you don’t mind what shape your cake is at all, a square cake will be easier to slice up for guests, and therefore you will get more slices out of your cake than if it’s a round cake.
Design
Intricate designs, sugar flowers, hand-piped lace design and other additional design features that fall into the baker’s hands will up the cost very quickly. Think about what you really want and investigate what designs you might like that won’t set you back in your budget. You can also consider decorating the cake yourself. Don’t worry, we don’t expect you to take up the piping bag, but if you use real flowers or berries to decorate your cake instead of adding icing or sugar flowers, you could be saving a significant amount.
Icing
Most of the time, buttercream icing will cost less than fondant (and it tends to be tastier too). However, while it is possible to get that smooth look with buttercream icing, it could bring the cost back up anyway. Another alternative in the icing department is to go naked with your cake. A lack of icing and design will significantly bring down the cost of your cake, and there are some truly beautiful ones to choose from. Cost aside, there are plenty of reasons to opt for a naked cake.
Flavours
Standard flavours are naturally going to be less expensive than ‘premium’ flavours such as red velvet and carrot cake. If you have your heart set on a fancy flavour, then be aware that you have to allow the extra cost in your budget. If you're opting for different flavoured tiers, you might consider choosing a standard flavour for the biggest tier. A smaller premium flavoured cake means a smaller dent in the budget.
Deconstruct your wedding cake
Believe it or not, you will be incurring an additional cost for decorating and stacking a three tier wedding cake against if your baker was to design three separate cakes, so you might consider ‘deconstructing’ the tiers of your cake instead. There are lots of pretty cake stands to accommodate for deconstructed cakes to make them look just as impressive as a three-tier tower.
Slices
This one seems obvious, but it’s a good idea to serve smaller slices of cake than what you might think at first. It may sound a bit stingy, but it’s actually just resourceful. Not everyone at the wedding is going to eat a slice, and after your gorgeous five-course meal, those who want a slice, might only want half a portion. Smaller slices are more manageable for guests, and leave the possibility for seconds if anyone has room left.
Favours
Instead of serving your wedding cake up on the night, you could consider using cake slices as wedding favours in cute little favour boxes. That way, you’re hitting two birds with one stone, and ensuring that you don’t have half a wedding cake left over with no idea what to do with it.
Beware: Hidden cake charge
Be aware, that amongst the many hidden charges you may come across when planning your wedding, a charge for plating up your wedding cake or cutting it is sometimes included in your wedding package. This is a flexible charge that couples are usually able to negotiate out of the final bill, as long as they’re aware of it.
- Jenny Darmody
Image credits: Cake table: Pinterest | White cake: The Berry | Naked cake: Deer Pearl Flowers | Painted cake: Trendy Bride | Pink flowers: Elizabeth Anne Designs | Metallic cake: Pinterest | Blush cake: Cake Geek