When considering a wedding cake, balancing your budget with the design and size you envision is important. Here are some steps to help ensure your budget aligns with your dream cake:
Set Your Budget: Determine how much you are willing to spend on the wedding cake. On average, wedding cakes range from $300 to $1400, but prices can vary greatly depending on factors like size, design complexity, location, and low-end to high-end bakeries.
Research Costs: Look into local bakeries and cake designers to understand their pricing. Prices can vary based on the number of tiers, flavors, and custom decorations.
Prioritize Your Design Elements: Identify the most important elements of your cake design. Do you want intricate sugar flowers, a specific flavor, or a certain number of tiers? Knowing your priorities can help you allocate your budget more effectively. I recommend researching images of cakes that you like and narrowing down the decor that you are most attracted to.
Get Quotes: Contact several bakers and provide them with your cake design ideas. Ask for quotes based on the number of guests you need to serve and the complexity of the design.
Adjust Accordingly: If the quotes exceed your budget, consider simplifying the design, reducing the number of tiers, or opting for less expensive decoration methods. Alternatively, you could serve a smaller decorative cake alongside sheet cakes to serve more guests.
Consider Alternatives: Some couples opt for alternative desserts like cupcakes, donuts, or a dessert table, which can sometimes be more budget-friendly while still providing a variety of options for guests.
Wedding cakes and celebration cakes are fragile! Regardless of the size, heat and humidity can melt butter and make for an oozy fruit filling. Rain can literally ruin a fondant cake, not to mention turning gumpaste flowers into a sticky mess. Whether buttercream or fondant, a wedding cake or celebration cake is at its happiest in tempatures between 60 - 70 degrees. If your event is to be outdoors think about having the cake and other desserts under a tent, away from direct heat or indoors in a air condition area.
I recommend for weddings to book 6 months to a year in advance.
I strive to create the most beautiful and delicious cake that you have envisioned. Planning ahead will ensure that the cake will be ready for your special date.
There are definitely certain looks that pertain to each type of cake.
Fondant normally has a very smooth, clean finish and can keep the cake moist while waiting to be cut for pictures or served. Fondant is concidered an icing and is made from sugar, water, egg whites and glucose.
Believe it or not we have all eaten fondant without realizing it! I love candy corns, York Peppermint Patties and Cadbury Eggs - they are either made from fondant or filled with fondant!
I use a premium fondant which is 100% vegan and is also gluten, soy, dairy and nut free, and tastes delicious! Much like carmel corn. Fondant can also be peeled off, because there will always be a layer of buttercream underneath which acts as a "glue" to help the fondant stick to the cake. Fondant can also be textured, used to create ribbon, appliques and shapes to create a design.
Buttercream is very traditional and can either be applied as a smooth finish or texture. I use a Swiss Merinque Buttercream. This creates a yummy sweet mousse - like icing with a buttery finish!! Buttercream, however, can have limitations. For example Ribbons and simple flowers can be made using a piping tip, but appliques and shapes would have to be created in fondant and applied to the buttecream cake.
Traditionally, couples save the top tier of the cake to eat on their first anniversary. Today, some choose to break with tradition and consume the top tier at the reception.
We offer a complimentary six-inch top tier to take home and enjoy.
I create hand-crafted sugar flowers, and I also work with fresh flowers.
Sugar paste flowers can be made using any color or any flower, whether in season or not. They can cost the same as fresh flowers. However, they can be kept as a keepsake for up to 30 years if kept away from direct sunlight and humidity. Sugar paste flowers are fragile, take time to make, and need to be ordered in advance.
Fresh flowers can stand up to water and moderate humidity. Easier to work with, but can be just as expensive as sugar paste flowers if not more. Depending on the species, fresh flowers are seasonal and unavailable at certian times of the year. Also keep in mind the that certain flowers are poisonous, such as Calla Lily, Lily of the Valley, Azalea and Daffodil. Ask your florist for flowers that are rated food grade.