Cutting the (cost of the) Cake

The cutting of the cake is a traditional part of the wedding reception that also provides your guests with a great photo opportunity. Traditionally the wedding cake is a rich fruit cake, the top tier of which is saved for the Christening of the couple’s first child. These days however, anything goes and the sky’s the limit as far as your wedding cake is concerned with some couples choosing to have a plain or flavoured sponge, rich chocolate fudge cake, carrot cake or a mixture of all three with a different flavour for each tier. It’s very fashionable now to have individual iced cup cakes, one for each guest that you display in the centre of each table.

If your budget is tight then there are several options to help you cut corners on cost, from ordering a simple cake from a specialist cake maker to making a cake yourself. There are halfway house measures too where you buy a pre-iced cake and decorate it yourself, either using bought decorations or by making them yourself. Serving your wedding cake as dessert will also save you on wedding breakfast costs. There are so many good things about making your own wedding cake or having a close friend of family member make one for you. Not only will it save you money but you’ll be able to quite literally do it your way; you can personalise it any way you choose – you could even make it organic!

Making your own wedding cake

It may seem a bold step to take but with a good recipe and a practice run (or two) you can make an impressive looking wedding cake all by yourself, or with the help of your mother, fiancé or best friend. Making your own cake can save you hundreds of pounds and imagine the sense of pride and achievement you’ll have when you tell your guests that you made the wedding cake yourself! The first step to making your own cake is to decide what kind of a cake you would like – whether you’d prefer a traditional fruit cake, a simple sponge, a tasty carrot cake, chocolate cake or individual cupcakes. If you’re not a seasoned cake maker then it may be best to choose an easy recipe for your first attempt so check out wedding cake recipes online at sites such as BBCGoodFood.com. Make sure you find a recipe for a cake big enough to feed all your guests - each guest should have at least one slice, either to eat at the wedding or to take away with them. Leave yourself enough time to make and decorate it without rushing – getting up early on the morning of your wedding to make a cake is a definite no-no!

Displaying your cake

A wedding cake should be shown off to full effect on an elegant cake stand and pretty cup cakes will look impressive and attractive piled onto a tiered cupcake stand on the centre of each table, removing the need to buy a separate centerpiece for each of your reception tables.

If you’re planning to make one big cake then you’ll also need a cake board to sit it on - the mirrored ones look lovely and come in round or square shapes. If you’re making individual cupcakes then you’ll need enough cases to bake them in and some ribbon or cupcake toppers to decorate each one. Sparkly butterfly trims look beautiful on top of little cup cakes.

Decorating your cake

This is where you can get seriously creative! If making your own sugar flowers doesn’t sound quite up your street then there are other options when it comes to decorating your masterpiece. Add a cute bride and groom cake topper. These are seriously retro cool and you can get amusing mini-me style toppers like the ‘Oh no you don’t!’ topper depicting the groom trying to get away or mix and match to find a blonde haired bride to go with a dark haired groom or vice versa as needed.

If a cake topper is not your style then fresh, silk or paper flowers, pearl beaded hearts or sparkling diamante butterfly trims are a simple decoration which will also match your colour scheme. Jewels and beads or more unusual little white dove trims can be used to great effect. They can also be added to invitations, napkins and favours to continue your theme.
Ribbons can really make a wedding cake look special so look out for a ribbon in your colour scheme to tie around the base or around each tier.

Cake boxes and bags

You should send a slice of cake in a cake box to any guests who couldn’t make it and have cake bags or boxes for any extra cake that guests may want to take away with them. There are special post it cake boxes for sending cakes to friends and family!

Cost-cutting three in one idea!

Make your own cupcakes which you decorate with each guest’s name, either in icing or by placing a pre-written or printed piece of card on top. Display them on a pretty cupcake stand in the centre of each table and serve them as dessert during the wedding breakfast. This will save you on the cost on a table centerpiece, place cards and dessert!

And last but not least… cutting your cake

When your cake has been displayed to your guests and the time comes for you and your groom to take a silver cake knife together in your hands and cut the first slice there’ll be a cheer from your guests and the sparkles of camera flashes as all your nearest and dearest snap a photo of your very special wedding cake on your very special day.