Wedding Cakes

The cutting of the cake is one of the photo opportunities of your wedding day, so make sure your cake is spectacular! Use the cake as a focal point in your reception design and the cutting of it as a punctuation point to take you from one part of the proceedings to the next (perhaps just before you sit down to eat if it is to be served as dessert, or to move from the speeches to the first dance if serving later).

Things to keep in mind include the style of your celebration, the scale of your reception venue, how many people the cake has to serve and the wedding breakfast menu. Think about whether you want tiers of several flavours and whether you might want to preserve one layer for a later occasion (traditionally the christening of your first child or first wedding anniversary). But the most important consideration of all is that a great cake should taste as good as it looks.

Ask your venue if they have can recommend cake designers and look at websites to see who is baking cakes you like. Either you or your cake designer being influenced by a well known cake company's cakes is not a crime: but copying their designs is. Never ask anyone to do this. Once you have identified a couple of companies or individuals offering what you like, go for a tasting.  Be open and sample a selection of what they have to offer: in my experience what a couple think they want and what they eventually decide upon is frequently not the same!

CAKETASTIC TIPS:

• Will you serve the cake as dessert? If not, choose an alternative flavour to the pudding.
• For summer weddings, avoid ingredients that will spoil in warm weather.
• Check your venue has a cake table, stand and knife.
• Prior to a tasting ask if you can see and sample a variety of cakes and if they can guide you as you as to their pricing structure (so as not to waste your time or theirs if the budget will not stretch): usually you'll be charged a combination of the design and a price per portion.
• Give details of the date and time of the wedding and the venue.
• Take as much additional information as you can to the tasting: relevant samples and swatches, ideas of the colour scheme and floral designs.
• Ascertain delivery and set-up costs.
• Agree the position of the cake table in advance with your venue and tell your cake designer (as you'll unlikely not be there when the cake is delivered and set up).
• Ensure the cake is placed where it will be well lit, in a good position for photographs, level (I carry a spirit level) and with a clean cloth.
• Agree timings for access on the day with your venue and put them and the cake supplier in touch.
• Have a homemade cake at your own risk!

For the cutting of the cake the bride stands to the left of the groom. The groom places his right hand over the bride's and together you slice through the base tier of the cake.  For great photos, gaze longingly and lovingly into the eyes of your new spouse as you feed one another small mouthfuls. Add a blast of confetti for a romantic, showbiz, glamorous effect!
The video below is also posted on our Wedding Planning YouTube Channel and made together with the 'Queen of Cakes' (the above cake is one of hers): the talented and inspirational Peggy Porschen (that really is her name!). Many thanks to Peggy for allowing us access to her kitchens and being such a fabulous and fun person to work with (if you are in London's Belgravia a visit to the Pegggy Porschen Parlour is an absolute must)!

Image credits: Image 1 © Barker Evans.  Image 2 © Peggy Porschen (The Parlour Collection). Image 3 © Edoardo Agresti

© Sarah Haywood