Wedding cakes are fast becoming a major focal and talking point at weddings with 'superstar' wedding cake designers booked up for years with orders for a cake by the must have name. In a few short years wedding cakes have gone from the traditional white cake with a traditional (read dull) spray of sugar flowers on top to all sorts of alternative and creative designs, cupcake towers and even cakes created from cheese and pork pies.
When picking a cake you need to think about how you want to theme it, if indeed you do. Would you rather match your wedding cake to the venue, the dress or go for a design that's a set piece by a designer you admire? Numbers are very important, wedding portions are typically 1" by 2" though you can opt for larger dessert portions if you are feeling generous, with fruit cakes yielding more than sponges. You need to make sure that any design you have in mind will work with the size of cake - if it's only small you may be better just keeping it simple.
Choosing a designer can be tricky - always see if you can see any feedback from other clients and see a good portfolio of work. A consultation face to face is generally better as you can get over any ideas without them being lost in translation, but email and phone consultations are becoming more widespread as brides to be look UK wide for suppliers. Samples of the cake are, of course, an absolute must The plethora of flavours available these days can be mind boggling so make sure you try as many as you can.
Try to be realistic with your expectations, you may like the look of the Peggy Porschen cake in the magazine but it probably cost well over a thousand pounds and if you don't want to spend that amount don't expect to show it to someone and get an exact copy for 300 A good wedding cake designer will be able to take your ideas and turn in them into your dream cake both in looks and taste and within your budget. Expect to pay from 500 up to 1500 for your average wedding cake dependent on designer and numbers. These creations take a lot of time and skill to perfect, a large cake with a very intricate or complicated design can take weeks to make - oh, and about half an hour to disappear
