Unique Wedding Cake Ideas to Make You Go Wow

While planning your wedding, you’ll get to experience the exciting task of searching for, sampling, and possibly designing (at least in part) decadent cakes for this once-in-a-lifetime celebration. Some couples obsess over choosing the perfect cake while others place it lower on their list of priorities or concerns. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, you’ll likely need to consider a cake at some point. After all, wedding cakes have become more than a simple dessert, they’re a tradition! Many couples make cutting the cake a featured event during receptions. Maybe you’ll do this, maybe you won’t. Whatever the case, we’ve put together a list of wedding cake ideas to inspire your interest in cakes and make choosing a wedding cake for your reception easier.

An Overview of the Wedding Cake Tradition

As we mentioned above, cutting a wedding cake has become one of the major highlights of wedding receptions. This baked goodness serves as a symbol of the sweet and blissful beginning of the couple’s married life, calling for prosperity and good luck for the union.

This notion goes back to the Roman Times when people would shower newlyweds with wheat grains. These grains represent fertility and are thrown on the couple to wish them fertility and prosperity. As time passed by and the tradition evolved, the wheat was eventually used for baking wedding cakes.

A Note Before You Begin This Journey

While wedding cakes are edible, they’re also part of the decor. You’ll need to consider the overall look of your wedding “theme,” including colors, decor, and so on before settling on a cake. For this reason, we recommend putting it lower on your list of to-do’s, not because it’s unimportant, but because it’s dependent on other factors that must be decided on earlier.

Wedding Cake Ideas That Will Make You Go Wow!

New baking techniques have made even the grandest idea possible. From edible life-like roses to life-size replicas of memorable places, the possibilities are limitless! The variety of options makes it possible for couples to be creative and to let their imagination fly. Of course, while options abound, you’ll need to consider your budget. The grander the cake, the more you can expect to dish out financially.

That said, here are some wedding cake ideas for you to consider.

Floral Cakes

One of the most timeless wedding cake decorations you can use is flowers. Whether the flowers are made of intricately-designed sugar or just plain flowers, you can’t go wrong with the classics. You can go one further by incorporating a floral theme based on the flowers you use for the cake as well as in bouquets, centerpieces, and elsewhere in the reception space. In fact, we recommend staying consistent across all of your decor if you decide to go this route.

Multi-Tiered Wedding Cake Ideas

Wedding cakes come in all sizes. Whether you go big or keep it small, your wedding cake can look amazing. For couples who are celebrating a smaller wedding with only a few close friends and/or loved ones, purchasing a three-tiered cake (a common go-to that generally serves 50-100 people) may be unnecessary, but if you want to stack your cake to the ceiling in a multi-tiered masterpiece, regardless of the size of your guest list, then by all means, let there be more cake.

Sculptured Cakes

This wedding cake idea combines the baker’s artistic techniques with the couple’s vision. During the consultation, present design elements you want to highlight in your wedding cake, including any particular shapes you might want to explore, such as a square staircase cake!

Bold and Colorful Cakes

Commonly, couples choose neutral colors such as blush, beige and white as a cake base to complement colorful flowers or bright decorative elements. On the other hand, however, f you want to be loud and bold with your cake, so be it! Bakers are amazing artists! The cake is their artistic medium. In fact, painted cakes have grown in popularity, and it may be a great option for you.

Naked Wedding Cakes

On the other end of the spectrum from bold cakes, we find the more subtle naked cakes. Naked wedding cakes leave off most of the frosting on the outside of the cake. Instead, the layers in these cakes are stuffed with filling to keep them moist and flavorful. You can decorate them with other elements used in your decor, just as you would a more traditional wedding cake. These naked cakes echo the “less-is-more” sentiment for sure, and they’ve grown in popularity over the years.

Other Wedding Cake Ideas to Consider

In addition to the style of wedding cake you choose, you’ll need to consider a few other factors.

Wedding Cake Flavors

Don’t forget to choose a flavor you like. Sampling several cakes may require more work in the gym to fit into those wedding outfits, but it’ll be worth it. Some couples go for “neutral” flavors, but you should really choose a flavor that you’re happy to eat. And don’t forget to ask the planner to save you a piece! Many couples end up missing out on eating their own wedding cake because they get caught up in other activities with guests.

Here are some more popular flavors to choose from, although you can work with the baker to come up with something unique.

• Vanilla
• Red Velvet
• Lemon
• Chocolate
• White Chocolate with Raspberry
• Coconut or Carrot

Wedding Cake Toppers

Wedding toppers play an integral role in the overall design of the cake. Some couples opt for little statuettes while others go with custom toppers that include their names and the wedding date.

When it comes to choosing or designing your wedding cake, let your imagination (and eventually, the cake) fly!