Put your own signature on your wedding cake, making it rich in flavor and meaning. Your wedding cake serves four main purposes: 1) a symbol of bounty and unity, 2) a visually stunning centerpiece, 3) the climax of formal celebration and cue in wedding etiquette that signals guests are free to leave or loosen up on the dance floor and 4) of course, dessert!
There are acceptable substitutes capable of capturing the same sentimentality and functions if the traditional tiered wedding cake is not your pleasure. Keep or modify this classic, ceremonial slice of your wedding to better serve your taste. Let these alternatives spark your imagination.
A Fashionable Flavor-Forward Wedding Cake
The wedding cake—once a simple baked good—is now a designer piece. While your wedding cake may dazzle the eye, trimmed in a rainbow of color or an explosion of floral decor, your wedding cake design, round or square, tall or squat, should accentuate your wedding theme without sacrificing edible enjoyment. Now available in many delicious flavors beyond white cake, from mango mousse to mocha madness, wedding cakes satisfy sophisticated taste-buds. Consider saying no to stiff and sugary fondant and slather on the butter cream frosting or chocolate shavings for a more delectable delight inside and out.
A Vintage Homage in Wedding Cake
Ring cakes, popular during the early half of 20th century, make a fabulously sentimental choice. More casual than a tiered cake in form, this sheet cake shaped like a diamond ring or two wedding bands intertwined gets marked with your monogram and decorated with your wedding flowers. In addition, fortune-telling favors are baked inside, creating a fun game of chance for guests.
Wedding Cake Centerpieces Working Wonders
Imagine a petite cake on a pedestal as part of the beautiful centerpiece for each guest table. Offer a variety of cake flavors around the reception hall and your wedding cake instantly doubles as the table label for seating guests, a great conversation starter, and the core of your decorations. When it comes time to serve, a casual, social round-robin encourages guests to get up, mingle and barter for the slice they want.
A “Dessert First” Couple's Wedding Cake
You are at liberty to re-order the festivities if it fits your agenda better. Serve your cake and champagne as your “appetizer” while making welcoming toasts. Streamlining your alcohol budget, this also adds personalized charm to your ceremony. Surely, it would be a stand-out cake for guests to remember.
A Teaming Tower of Mini Cakes
Pronounce the blessing of bounty and fertility for the couple through the multitude of wedding cupcakes. In bite-sized form, your wedding cake allows for more variety in flavor and it speaks of your playful, carefree spirit as a couple. Style the display with decorations and wedding flowers to enhance your wedding theme ideas. Crown the tower with an embellished mini cake for the cutting ceremony, so you can still savor the picture-perfect moment with your groom.
A Salute to Your Love
Bake a tribute to your love with a groom’s cake. Originally a traditional take-home souvenir of fruit cake for guests, now the groom’s cake can serve as a light-hearted alternative, cut and served on your wedding day, along side or in lieu of the more formal tiered wedding cake. Nothing wrong with a big decorated ice cream cake to say, “I love you, Honey, because you’re still young at heart.”
A Green Wedding Cake
Get a cake with a small carbon footprint. Not only does this mean a wedding cake with organic, seasonal ingredients, but one that is locally sourced. Think twice before ordering a cake from a fancy designer across the country. Your local bakery will appreciate the business and you might make a friendly connection in your neighborhood. Order a small cake to avoid waste, especially if it won't be the only dessert. Decorate it with nature—flowers, nuts, berries and fruit.
An Honorable Homemade Wedding Cake
Ask a special friend or family member to bake his/her blessing right into your cake. A trusted family recipe couldn’t be more delicious and sentimental. A friend with some experience surely would see it as a flattering honor. You’ll save so much on the price per slice, but more importantly your cake will be baked with the powerful ingredient of TLC. Another option to personalize your wedding cake (while saving too) is to finish off your favorite bakery-bought cake with your own decorations.
Wedding Cake Substitutes in Artful Presentation
Invite your favorite dessert to your reception and place it at a table with honor. Almost any decadent treat becomes wedding appropriate when displayed in a plentiful array. With an eye for design, fill tiered trays of tarts or pies, crème brulée or puddings, cinnamon rolls or cookies and decorate the table in theme. A chocolate fountain with dipping treats can provide just the right pleasure to seal the nuptial meal. Atypical desserts like a gourmet cheese platter, a colorful candy buffet, fresh fruit a la mode with decadent homemade granola will make it memorable. Do it with personality and treat your guests to what’s true to your heart.
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