How to Order a Wedding Cake While on a Budget
All the right questions to ask your baker & what you do and do not need in a wedding cake.
So you’re engaged! Congratulations!
There are so many things to think about and do, but let’s be honest. The most important thing is the cake, right?
Your guests will remember if the cake is dry, falls over, or if the icing is greasy. Yuck! What they won’t remember is what you paid for it or how “fancy” the details were on the cake. I promise!
I have been making wedding cakes for 10 plus years, and I have made the super fancy cakes and the smaller simpler ones. Both styles were a success but I promise you no one at either type of wedding will remember much about the cakes.
To be honest that’s what you want. Most guests only remember the bad things from a wedding reception. Whether it was too hot or too cold. Whether there were enough food and drinks or if the music was terrible. They won’t remember all those little details about the cake unless it looked terrible or tasted terrible.
I have had one bad review about a wedding cake I delivered and the bride sent me a message telling me it wasn’t the cake she envisioned or thought she ordered but in the end, it was beautiful and tasted great. I’ll take it!
I wasn’t thrilled but I was glad she had a successful wedding in the end and the guests had no idea what she had envisioned so they were none the wiser.
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After all of the consultations I’ve had with couples and the endless emails and phone calls planning for their wedding cakes, here are a few things to keep in mind when ordering your wedding cake on a budget.
- Meet with two to three different bakers/decorators before making a final decision.
- If you have been to a wedding and liked the cake ask the bride for that info. You know it was a success & that’s half the battle.
- Taste a few different cake flavors with the bakers and see how you like their icing flavor & texture.
- Ask about their price per serving and then ask about any additional fees. A lot of cake shops charge for fillings, different cake flavors, certain styles of icing, and most certainly different designs and delivery.
- Go into each consultation knowing the style of cake you like. You don’t necessarily need to have an exact picture of what you want but give the decorator an overall idea of what feel you want for your reception, colors, rustic vs. formal, etc.
- Once you’ve met with the different cake bakers, sit down and rank them based on flavor, design options, & of course price.
- Don’t choose a cake based off of which baker is the most well known or you feel would impress people the most. Choose the person you feel will give you the cake you want at a price you can afford.
Here are some different cake styles that would be great for a semi-formal wedding reception, have the same cake flavor, & are going to be a great addition to your wedding reception.
Can you guess which is the lesser-priced option?
It’s the one with the texture and smooth alternating tiers with fresh flowers. It is the perfect design with pops of color in the flowers and didn’t break the bank!
The flowers are usually provided by the florist and the cake decorator can add them to the cake before they leave the venue that day. No one’s going to miss the small details on your cake and you’ll be glad you saved a couple of hundred dollars in the long run.
Another thought is a cupcake wedding reception. There are so many ways to display them and it really opens up your options on flavor.
The price per cupcake is generally 50% — 65% the cost of a slice of wedding cake.
At the end of the day, you will be happily married and your guests will be happy for you. No one will judge you for ordering a less expensive wedding cake, nor will they even know the difference.
Happy wedding planning!
#MyCakeLife
