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Emma's Wedding Diary: The Wedding Cake

Went to see one of the local wedding cake makers today (found in my Wedding Organizer Book) and I feel so much better about it now! She reassured me that many people don't like traditional fruit cake and that there are different options. I thought I'd list my favourites so I don't forget.

Wedding cakes with three tiers

If we decide to go for the traditional three tiered wedding cake we can still have a different flavour per tier (the cake maker advised that the lightest sponge be the top tier with heavier ones below). There are different options regarding how they can be stacked. Either one directly on top of the other, a stand make specially for wedding cakes that is designed to hold each tier separately or (and I love this one!) you can even have little vases that sit between the tiers that can be filled with flowers, petals, glittery things or whatever we like!

A wedding cake made of lots of little cakes - brilliant!

Instead of one big wedding cake, we could have lots of cup cakes instead, and each one can be iced in our theme colour, our initials or a tiny sugar-craft design. It could be profiteroles or cream pastries - even egg custard tarts! She assured me that they would look just as striking as a traditional tiered wedding cake when arranged all together.

A shaped wedding cake with a particular theme

She showed me lots of pictures of past wedding cake commissions that included a fairytale castle and even a wedding cake that looked like a sofa with a sugar crafted model of the couple sitting on it! I bet Joe wants one shaped like a football...

Wedding cake toppers

It seems that having a tiny plastic or china bride and groom on top of the wedding cake is pass? now rather than traditional, but there are all kinds of other things we can decorate the top pf the wedding cake with. She said that fresh flowers are popular (care needs to be taken if it's a flower that spills lots of pollen, like lilies), or sugar crafted versions of the flowers used in the bouquet. The decorations can go all around the wedding cake too of course, not just on the top!

Whatever we go for, she can tie it in with our theme, I just have to take along some samples of the colours from the bouquet and the dress - the table decorations will be good to take too. Being a good wedding cake maker she needs at least 3 months notice, and will happily do us a little sample of the cake we choose. Like most wedding cake makers, she can deliver to the venue and set it up. She suggested that it goes on its own table which can be decorated specially. What a great idea - everyone will be able to admire it and take pictures whenever they like. It will be a handy place to display the bouquet too so people can have a good look at it at their leisure. She did warn us that if we go for a marquee, we need to double check that the table will be study and on level ground to avoid disaster. With my track record I thought I should make a special note...

The Groom's Cake

Apparently quite a few brides are ordering surprise wedding cakes for the groom which can be in a different flavour - just the thing for fussy grooms like mine! It's even called "The Groom's Cake" (Joe would love that!). It comes from America, where it's traditionally served at the rehearsal dinner that is held shortly before the wedding.

Wedding cake today, family heirloom tomorrow...

If we decide to go for the tiers she advised me on how to store the top tier for either our first anniversary or the christening (eek!). Some flavours can be frozen, whilst fruit cake can be stored for quite a long time if kept in the right conditions (air tight, dry and cool). She'll even seal up any sugar craft for us in a special container so we can put it back when needed.

Even if we change our mind and get married abroad she can design a cake that's robust enough to carry onto the plane. She was amazing!

Cutting the cake

I also found out how the cutting is done: the caterers pre-cut the icing to avoid disaster and I hold the knife in my right hand, with Joe's over it. Apparently we hold the knife upside down for luck and make the cut whilst lots of pictures are taken. At some military weddings they cut the cake with a sword! Either the toastmaster or the Best Man will announce it, but we need to decide if we're having a separate dessert or not. If the cake is the dessert, we may need to cut it before the meal instead of after the speeches so the caterers can slice it up in time. I must make sure they keep any leftovers so we can send them to people who can't make it - ooh, little cake boxes to do that must go on my list!

P.S. There's a tradition that I like the sound of; the bride and groom feed each other a piece of cake to symbolise how they will nourish each other in their married life. Awwww...