There’s nothing quite as special as a show-stopping wedding cake—but custom wedding cakes tend to break the bank, especially if you’re ordering for a huge crowd. If the cost of your wedding cake is giving you budget anxiety, here are a few tips that can help you save.
The wedding cake that you and your bride or groom cut doesn’t have to be big enough to feed everyone. One option is to order a small cake for the bride and groom only, and add a sheet cake or two to serve the rest of the party. You could also have a one-tier wedding cake and supplement it with macarons, doughnuts, or cupcakes.
Most wedding cake bakeries price their work by “touch time,” or the amount of hours spent building the cake. Intricate details like sugar flowers, piping, fondant sculptures, and tiers can significantly increase the hours and price. Sugar flowers are especially labor intensive—it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours to mold and dust one pretty sugar replica. So when it comes to choosing your cake style, keep it simple and look for ways to add color without adding time. For instance, adding a ribbon around each tier, or plastic flowers on the top, is a nice way to pretty it up that doesn’t take your baker a lot of time.
We’re willing to bet that someone in your family—mother, grandmother, aunt, uncle, cousin—has a cake display that you can use. You might even have a recently-married friend who can loan you one. If you fail to find an actual cake stand, you can always use a pretty heirloom plate or platter. Don’t be afraid to ask your network for help; most people have items left over from other events and are happy to contribute, since they’ve been in your shoes!
There are two big hitters in the world of frosting: buttercream and fondant. Fondant is usually more expensive, as it is difficult to make and work with. Buttercream is usually less expensive, as long as you don’t want it to be applied to the cake in a time-consuming way, like a ruffle or rose pattern.
Another way to save money on your cake is to skip the outer layer of frosting. Naked cakes are a popular trend because it’s neat to see all the layers, and they’re less expensive and time-consuming to make. To make up for the lack of frosting on the outside, you can up the wow factor with flowers, ribbons, or unique flavoring.
If you’re looking for affordable wedding cakes in Raleigh NC, Sweet Cherry Bakery can help. Our gorgeous professional cakes are delicious and budget-friendly. To order a wedding cake, contact us here.
