The OurWeddingDay Blog

When you think of wedding cake designs, you probably think of white or ivory frosting on the outside. This is the most classic and elegant approach. However, this means that you are limited to frostings that are white, such as butter cream, vanilla, or cream cheese frosting (which can give a bit of a yellow hue). However, if you are a chocolate lover, here are two ideas for whimsical and modern wedding cakes that demand chocolate frosting on the outside:

Chocolate Leaves & Petals: The chocolate leaves and petals wedding cake is covered in dark chocolate curls that resemble petals and leaves, with a moist hazelnut mocha cake beneath. This cake is especially great for autumn weddings, or for spring weddings, cover it with lavender, for a chocolate brown and lavender color combination.

Coffee Wedding Cake: For those who love coffee and chocolate, this cake is done in three layers (each with a different shade of mocha, progressively getting lighter from bottom to top). Underneath is a delicious coffee cake with dark chocolate frosting inside.

Remember, if your caterer or bakery does not offer these designs, it is always possible to bring them a photo of a particular cake. They may not offer to do it, but if they do (and it’s a hit), it could become one of their signature wedding cake designs.

Read more:

• Vegan & Gluten-Free Wedding Cakes
• Wedding Cake Prices: How Much is Too Much?
• Wedding Cake Cutting Songs

Once you’ve chosen your Gothic wedding theme, you’ll find many ways to sprinkle it throughout your big day—your wedding dress, wedding color scheme, décor, and last, but not least, your wedding cake. Deciding between one or more wedding cake designs is easy when you have a specific theme guiding you.

A dress shaped wedding cake is a trend that’s growing, and could work perfectly with your Gothic theme. Gothic gowns, specifically wedding gowns, are typically large ball gowns with a number of embellishments. Imagine your wedding cake as a replica of a Gothic gown, adorned with lace frosting, multi-tiers, and a chocolate corset.

Another cake shape that adheres to the Gothic style is a castle cake. Do some research (or pass this task on to your cake designer) on Gothic architecture and have your wedding cake replicate that style. Make sure your castle cake is adorned with stained glass windows to give it a nice burst of color.

Express your Gothic wedding style by the color palette you choose for your wedding cake. Black, white, and red are popular Gothic colors that would look fantastic on your wedding cake. Another option is to have cupcake wedding cakes instead of a traditional cake, and alternate the three Gothic colors with cupcakes. For example, if you have 100 wedding guests, then one third of the cupcakes could be black, one third red, and the rest white.

Read more:

• Gothic Vintage Wedding Dresses
• Unique, Non-Floral Wedding Cake Designs
• Wedding Cake Designs: 3 Things to Consider

Picking out the perfect wedding cake is an important component to your special day. Which is why it’s just as important to ensure the cake is stored properly and safely transported to your wedding reception. Just as your wedding gown must be properly stowed, cleaned, and altered, there are steps you must take in making sure your wedding cake is well taken care of.

First and foremost, be aware of how to transport your wedding cake. Whether you have one or multiple custom wedding cakes, make sure you follow these steps:

• If your wedding cake has multiple tiers, with pillars in between, make sure the cake is not assembled until it reaches the final destination. Also remove any cake accessories, such as loose flowers or toppers before transporting it to the reception. Place the accessories and fully assemble the cake once it is at your reception venue.
• Most cakes—especially big wedding cakes—are heavy, which is why each base should be extremely sturdy. A ½ inch thick fiberboard or plywood base is sufficient.
• Some cakes might require additional icing after transport, so make sure you have what you need on hand at the reception.
• Have one box or pan per cake tier. This will make transporting it a lot easier than placing the tiers together in one large box. Wedding cake bakeries should be able to provide you with the boxes you need.
• Have a thorough route mapped out to the reception, and make sure to include stairways and ramps so that you and who ever else is transporting the cake is prepared. You may need to bring a dolly, or cart.

As far as what you choose to transport your cake in, you have three options: a pan, a box, or on foam. One isn’t better than the other, but you might want to test out all three before the actual wedding day.

Once you reach the reception location, keep the following tips in mind:

• Bring a leveler to make sure the cake table is level.
• Instead of pulling the cake tiers out of the boxes from the top, have scissors handy to cut the box, and slide the cake. This will minimize your chances of grazing the cake with your fingers.
• Have a cake making kit for safety. If the cake somehow gets smudged along its journey, you might need to perform repairs with extra icing or cake decorations.

If you plan on following the one year anniversary top cake tier tradition, make sure you know how to properly store the cake, to ensure it is as moist and delicious as ever—even one year later! Before storing it, remove all decorations and ornaments, and replace the cardboard base with foil. Freeze the cake for approximately 20 minutes, take it out and cover it with airtight plastic wrap, followed by two or more layers of aluminum foil. Then, one day prior to your anniversary, remove the cake from the freezer, defrost, and enjoy!

Read more:

• Wedding Cake Alternatives
• 3 Wedding Cake Designs to Consider
• 5 Advantages of Wedding Cupcakes

Now is the time to go cake tasting, and you haven’t had much time to think about wedding cake designs. Here are a few things to help prepare you for your first cake tasting visit:

Do you like the look of a square cake or a round cake? Wedding cake designs tend to depend on the overall style of your wedding, as square cakes go well with a more modern style (with the sharper edges), and round cakes tend to be softer, lending themselves well to classic, traditional, or vintage-style weddings. If your wedding is a bit whimsical, you can ask your baker or caterer if it is possible to alternate a round cake and a square cake.

Ask about cake accessories, such as wedding cake stands and wedding cake toppers. Typically, your cake vendor will supply a basic cake stand, but if you want something fancier or more distinct, you should go to a party rental store. An organized caterer can recommend a good rental place.

The more flavors you want, the more expensive it will be. A two-flavor cake is pretty typical, and many wedding experts recommend one basic, traditional flavor (such as vanilla cake with strawberry or buttercream filling), and one less common flavor, such as carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, or lemon-ginger spice cake. You may even want to consider coordinating your cake colors with your wedding colors; for example, if one of your colors is red, serve red velvet cake.

Read more:

• Unique Non-Floral Wedding Cake Designs
• 5 Advantages of Wedding Cupcakes
• Wedding Cake Cutting Songs

Wedding cake designs can be as unique and personal to you as your wedding gown. Fortunately for you and your groom, there are countless head-turning designs to choose from that you don’t have to worry about having options. If you want to explore unique wedding cake designs that are non-floral, then use the following ideas as inspiration.

Photo-Cake: A great wedding cake design idea that’s popping up at more and more weddings these days is the multi-tiered cake with edible black and white photos of the bride and groom. The photos are placed on each tier giving them a perfect display.

Pillows: Have you ever seen a wedding cake that looks like a stack of colorful pillows? I have, and it looks delicious, exotic, and absolutely incredible. Have a wedding cake baker work with you on a design of four pillows stacked on top of each other, and make sure each pillow has intricate designs with edible lace and embroidery.

Starfish: This design is ideal for a beach wedding. Envision a three-tiered white chocolate cake that is adorned with starfish and seashells.

Cherries: A three-tiered white fondant wedding cake, with dozens of cherries on top of each tier is not only unique, but one of the sweetest cakes out there.

Henna: Ever get a henna tattoo at a wedding or party? Why not have your multi-tiered wedding cake decorated with henna-like designs, making your wedding cake stand out from the rest.

Plaid: If you’re a prepster then this cake’s for you! Choose from light colors such as pink or blue and have your cake decorated with a plaid design from top to bottom.

Read more:

• How to Find Vegan & Gluten-Free Wedding Cakes
• 5 Advantages of Wedding Cupcakes
• Cake Tastings with Your Baker

We've all heard of wedding cakes, but one trend that is increasing in popularity is wedding cupcakes. Cupcakes can be more fun and lighthearted than the classic wedding cake, and are a great way to add a personal, memorable touch to your big day.

1. You can have many different flavors. At the normal rate of wedding cake prices, you can usually choose two to three flavors (depending on how many layers your cake is). With wedding cupcakes, you can have a lot more variety, and guests can even choose which flavor they want.
2. Each cupcake is individually decorated. By the time you get a slice of cake at a wedding, the decoration on it has probably been marred. With cupcakes, each one is individually decorated and its artfulness is not spoiled by cutting and serving.
3. It is not as time consuming to cut and serve the cupcakes. It takes quite a bit of time (as well as a few staff members) to cut and serve a wedding cake. If you serve wedding cupcakes, it is much simpler, less time consuming, and more efficient. If you have a cupcake bar, guests can serve themselves.
4. If you have a lot of kids at your wedding, they will be sure to love them! Cupcakes may be the highlight of the wedding for some kids.
5. Guests can take cupcakes home in a box if they are too full after the meal. Often, in the aftermath of a wedding reception, there are up to hundreds of pieces of untouched (or barely touched) pieces of cake lying on the tables. Guests can take cupcakes home in a to-go container to enjoy later in the evening, or the next day.

Read more:

• Cupcake Wedding Cakes
• Wedding Cake Trends & Sweet Ideas
• Wedding Cake Alternatives & Dessert Ideas

If you don’t know how to find the right wedding cake that fits your budget, it could leave you with a bill much larger than expected. Wedding cake prices vary widely, costing anywhere from $165-$2,450. Most of the cost comes from icing, size, and design you choose, so make sure you know what your options are before signing on the dotted line.

All About Icing
The icing you choose is crucial. The most expensive icing is rolled fondant because of the smooth texture and perfect foundation it provides for intricate decorations and levels. Fondant is flawless; however you should expect to pay a little extra for it. Another pricey icing is marzipan. The least expensive icing choices you have include flavored butter cream, chocolate ganache, royal icing, and real white or chocolate icing.

If you choose a less expensive icing, consider using real flowers as decorations because they’ll look cleaner than flowers created with icing. Remember—in-season varieties are cheaper than out of season. In fact, this is a good tip to keep in mind when choosing all of your wedding flowers.

Tiers and Structure Design
Clearly, the more intricate the structure of your wedding cake, the more your cake is going to cost. The more tiers on the cake, the bigger the bill. The bigger the cake, the more ingredients and man power it will call for. Wedding cakes are usually on the large side, meaning they have a good chance of collapsing if they aren’t made correctly. The shapes you have to choose from are usually either round or square and you can choose to have up to five tiers.

Each slice will cost a certain amount. Once you go up a tier the price per slice typically increases by approximately 50 cents. Make sure to go over the exact serving size with the cake designer to ensure you’re on the same page.

Cake Toppers
Don’t forget about the toppers! If you do choose to have a topper you’ll be happy to know that you have a plethora of options. There are initial toppers, crystallized toppers, customized toppers, monogram toppers, and of course the classic bride and groom topper.

You Have Options!
Who says you have to have a cake? More and more couples are opting for adorable and decorative wedding cupcakes instead of traditional wedding cakes. Another option is to make your own. Look online for unique wedding cakes that fit your own style and taste and go for it! A third option is to have an exquisite small cake made for the cake cutting ceremony. Then use a large sheet cake to serve guests during dessert. Chances are they won’t even notice. Another option that is growing in popularity is offering your guests a dessert station. Dessert stations usually consist of ice-cream sundaes, various cookies, pastries, lollipops, and fruit.

Read more:

• Cupcake Wedding Cakes
• Wedding Cake Trends
• Cake Tastings with Your Baker

Add even more winter warmth and holiday cheer to your wedding with the perfect cake. Choosing the right wedding cake can be difficult, but fortunately the theme itself opens a treasure chest full of ideas. Let the winter season guide you in your quest for the cake that suits you and your theme.

Taste
Explore winter wedding cakes that taste like the holiday season. Steer away from white cake and towards rich flavors with spice. Taste test caramel spice, apple spice, and pumpkin spice cakes. If the spice flavors don’t hit the right spot then go for a dark chocolate with cranberry. Keep in mind that there aren’t any rules preventing you from choosing two different flavors, especially if your cake is multi tiered.

Color
The aesthetics of your cake is just as important as the taste. Pick from a winter palette of icy blues, deep browns and reds, various whites, and don’t forget about orange. A classic choice would be an all white cake with red and green frosting décor. Go bold and choose a deep red frosting with green trim.

All About the Add-Ons
What will make your cake extra special are the accessories. Wedding cake ideas and accessories are all around you; you just need to open your eyes. Pull your holiday decorations out of your attic and sort through tree ornaments, table décor, etc and see if you can find anything that might work as your cake topper. Perhaps you have a favorite Santa Claus ornament that you love, or photos of you and/or your fiancé as children sitting on Santa’s lap that you could have minimized and decorated onto your wedding cake. Winter wedding cakes typically have snowflakes, angels, holly, cranberries, or pinecones as part of the design.

Read more:

• Cupcake Wedding Cakes
• Wedding Cake Trends
• Cake Tastings with Your Baker

Tired of the same old dessert plates? It’s your wedding, so if you feel like experimenting a little, go for it. Here, some alternate ideas so good they’ll make your mouth water.

Chocolate Fountains: These are all the rage these days, and that’s no surprise. A huge fountain that drips chocolate will delight kids and adults alike. They’re not cheap, and they take up space, so talk to your caterer about prices and logistics. Another sweet idea is to place chocolate fondue fountains at each table, along with fruit and candy. You won’t need a dessert course, and you might want to try a cake in a different flavor, like carrot or cheese cake.

Candy Shop: This is a dessert idea guaranteed to bring out the inner Willy Wonka in all the guests. Have a tiered candy cake as a replacement for the wedding cake, or a smaller version on each of the tables. Fill it with candy canes (holiday weddings), lollipops, and all those fave sweets from youth—Snickers and Reese’s, anyone? A big plus is that candy is not a huge expense.

Espresso Stations: Long a popular idea at “dry” wedding receptions, espresso stations are great for daytime affairs, especially paired with cookies, carrot cake, and anything else you think we would be a delicious addition. Since so many people are health-conscious nowadays, an espresso station can give your friends a sigh of relief, keeping them from the temptation of extremely heavy desserts. Talk to your caterer about set-up; they don’t take much room, and won’t add a significant increase to your budget.

Bread Pudding: No longer something reserved for the sophisticated sort, bread pudding can be one of the most fabulous, most indulgent desserts made. Whether it’s chocolate-chip decadent or fruit-filled light, guests will love it. Nowadays, caterers are also using croissants and brioches, so the possibilities are limitless.

Fruit and Cheese: Not an outrageous idea, just a sensible one. Many restaurants offer cheese platters for dessert, and you can do the same. Know your guests’ tastes. If you are having lots of children, it might not be the best route. But older guests love cheese and fruit, and you can sprinkle the table with chocolate treats as well. This is an especially smart idea if you’re serving a heavy wedding cake, but still want a dessert course. One note: Cheese is more expensive than you might think, so talk to your caterer about prices to find out if it’s a feasible option.
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Read more: Cupcake Wedding Cakes, Wedding Cake Trends and The Groom’s Cake

Check out these cheese wedding cakes!  No, not wedding cheesecakes, but cakes made of cheese! (via A Cup of Joe)

Visit The Cheese Shed for more images and info on cheese wedding cakes.

To tell you the truth, I don't have much of a sweet tooth.  I have a savory tooth.  So while some might be a little freaked out by cakes like this, I must admit I'm intrigued.

This might be the kind of food wedding guests complain about, but... I think it's neat!