Wedding cakes: top tips

Your easy guide to choosing perfect wedding cakes

Order early

Whatever you choose, do order your cake in good time. A multi-tiered cake can take months as it will need to be made and iced in different stages. Ideally you should order your cake at least four to five months before the wedding.

Cake timing

Ideally, a cake should be delivered to the reception venue unassembled and then the tiers put together in situ. This, however, will not work with a stacked cake which the cake designer will have to put together beforehand. Ask your cake designer how your cake should be transported -- they will have done it plenty of times before! If your cake is arriving the day before the wedding, make sure your venue has somewhere safe to store it. Also, make sure they have a suitable cake stand and knife. Alternatively, your cake designer may be able to provide these items or hire them out to you.

Cutting cake prices

Ready made cakes are an increasingly popular option and are ideal for couples on a tight budget, giving you the opportunity to decorate it yourself. Marks & Spencer produce ready-made cakes in sponge or fruit cake, available in different sizes so you can present them in tiers. Cake toppers or fresh flowers can be added to the cake as you wish. To save on wedding breakfast costs, serve your wedding cake as dessert with ice cream, a fruit coulis or a hot chocolate sauce.

Making the cut

You don’t have to have a wedding cake at all, but it is traditional for the couple to formally ‘cut the cake’ while everyone looks on and cheers. The wedding cake is in fact meant to be good luck as it’s an age-old symbol of fertility. Tradition also says you should keep the top layer for your first child’s christening cake, but only if it’s a fruit cake tier.

The cake is traditionally cut after the speeches, or you might even like to wait a little longer into the evening. If you are planning to serve your cake as dessert, the cake will need to be cut before the wedding breakfast is served, to enable it to be divided into portions in time for pudding. Ask your caterer about providing cream, ice cream or a sauce to accompany it.

Find the cake, catering, food and drink for your wedding in the Wedding Directory.