For many couples the wedding cake is an extremely important element to the wedding and is one of the main centrepieces in the reception. The cake is usually on display for everyone to see and is then cut in front of all the guests as part of the wedding breakfast.

Wedding cakes, just like everything else, can be pretty expensive. However, there are a few ways to make your wedding cake more cost-effective without losing the wow factor.

Dummy Cake Tiers

Dummy or fake tiers can replace real cake tiers. If you would like a really big wedding cake but don’t have hundreds of guests, iced fake tiers can increase the size. It is also usually less expensive to have an almost entirely fake cake, perhaps with one real tier to cut in front of the guests, fairly near the bottom.

Tiered Wedding Cake with Flowers

You could keep one or more large cutting cakes which are not part of the display in the kitchen to hand out after you’ve cut the cake. You can even ask family members or friends to make your cutting cakes.

Decorate with Fresh Flowers

Decorating your cake with fresh flowers rather than sugar flowers will save money on your wedding cake. Sugar flowers are very labour intensive and can significantly add to the cost of a cake.

Wedding Cake with Fresh Flowers on Top

Make sure you check with your florist which flowers are in season and would work well. Also, make sure the flowers are non-toxic.

Make Your Own Wedding Cake

By making your own wedding cake you can obviously save a huge amount of money. This isn’t for everyone, especially if baking and art is completely alien to you, but for many people is it easily achievable with the right design and a bit of help.

Homemade Wedding Cake

Keen brides can even take courses in advance on how to make a proper wedding cake. For a stress free run-up to the wedding, opt for a fruit cake which you can make and decorate well in advance.

A homemade cupcake tower can also work really well. Make the decorations i.e. sugar flowers in advance, so all you have to do is bake the cupcakes and ice them. Ideally you should only bake cupcakes the day before the wedding, so it’s a good idea to get help from friends and family (which can be really fun) if you have a lot to do yourself.

Use Cake Stands

Cake stands and pedestals add height to the cake and can make it look a real centrepiece. You can hire all kinds of stands from various places if your wedding venue does not provide one.

Bride Holding Cake on Cake Stand

Supermarket Wedding Cakes

Finally, as much as I hate to say it, you can buy wedding cakes from leading supermarkets! They are mass produced and therefore much less expensive than going to a professional cake designer.

Marks and Spencer Wedding Cake

While the quality and finish isn’t up to the standard of a cake made by a reputable cake maker, you can jazz it up quite well with the addition of fresh flowers and by placing it on a beautiful stand.

Guest post by Zoe Clark of The Cake Parlour

Images from…

Tiered Wedding Cake with Flowers: Pixies in the Cellar

Pink Wedding Cake with Fresh Flowers on Top: The Cake Parlour

Homemade Wedding Cake: Rachel Joyce Photography

Bride Holding Cake on Cake Stand: We Are Origami Photography

Marks and Spencer Wedding Cake: Michelle Lindsell

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