Planning and organising a wedding can be an expensive affair, and your wedding cake is probably the most expensive cake you’ll ever buy. That’s why you need to get the most from your budget. The following 5 wedding cake tips will help you do just that.
1. Choose an appropriate design: The cost of a bespoke wedding cake consists of the amount of cake needed and the complexity of the design. Make sure that your chosen cake design provides enough cake for your guests without resulting in wastage. If you don’t know how many portions your design will give, consult with a cake designer, who will be able to suggest some designs that will give the required number of portions.
Look for ways to replicate complex designs with more cost effective alternatives. Swap sugar flowers for artificial flowers or handmade sugar models for off the shelf equivalents. Many minor changes here and there could have a significant impact to the overall price of your cake.
2. Use dummies: If you have your heart set on an extravagant show stopper cake, then ask your cake designer to replace some of the cake tiers with polystyrene dummies. The polystyrene dummies are incorporated into the overall design, which reduces the amount of cake required, therefore reducing the cost. However, if your design is complex, then the use of dummies may not reduce the price significantly, as any savings would be swallowed up by the cost of producing the design. Work with your designer to find a good compromise between the number of cake portions and the required design.
3. Cutting cakes: A cutting cake is usually a square or rectangular cake, as these shapes give more portions. Cutting cakes are not decorated but they are typically filled and coated in your chosen covering, fondant, buttercream or ganache. The cutting cake(s) remain in the kitchen at the venue, they are then cut and either distributed during the reception or given to guests as favours. Making use of cutting cakes, means that you can have a smaller decorated wedding cake on display as the additional portions are made up from the cutting cakes. Reduced decorating time for your cake designer is reduced cost for you.
4. Cupcakes: Cupcakes are still a very popular alternative to a traditional wedding cake and they’re perfect for smaller weddings. To maximise your budget, choose a simple design, as highly decorated cupcakes can cost anywhere from £3.50-£5 per cupcake. Choose designs that work well with frosted cupcakes, as fondant topped cupcakes cost more their buttercream counterparts.
5. Flavours: Sticking with simple, classic flavours can also have a positive impact on your budget. Fruit cakes tend to cost significantly more than sponge cakes of the same size due to the use of many more ingredients and the high alcohol content! Although they do cost more, it may be money well spent, if you like fruit cake of course. Due to the richness of a fruit cake, the portion sizes are smaller, typically half the size of a sponge cake portion. The smaller portions mean you’ll get twice as much cake when compared to a sponge cake of the same size.
When it comes to sponge cakes, chocolate is usually more expensive than say a vanilla sponge cake, purely because chocolate is a more expensive ingredient. To make the most of your budget, incorporate more vanilla tiers and have the smallest tier as a chocolate cake.
So whatever your budget for your wedding cake, if you’re hoping to have a bespoke cake, then using one or more of these tips will ensure you get the most out of it.
