How to Choose Your Wedding Cake

The tradition for a wedding cake is to have three tiers of fruit cake, covered in marzipan. This tradition comes from history and there is a reason behind it. However, wedding cakes now come in a variety of designs, flavours and styles.

The History of the Wedding Cake

The fruit cake was chosen due to there being no electricity or fridges in the past. People made the cakes in advance and would need to store them somewhere; this would be in the pantry. Fruit cake would keep for months, if not years, at a time and it was much cheaper to make.

The three tiers also have a reason. The lower tier – the largest – was used for the friends of the couple. The middle tier was used to give to the family members, since there would be fewer family members than friends. The top tier was then kept and used for the christening of the first baby – remember that fruit cake could be kept for years at a time.

Choosing Your Wedding Cake

However, with the introduction of electricity, fridges and freezers and the ability to make cakes at a shorter notice, there are more choices available for the wedding cake. It is possible to choose different wedding cake flavours, such as sponge cakes, and there is more availability on styles.

The wedding cake style is something to think about carefully. This will not only show off your style as a couple but it is also possible to incorporate a theme or colour scheme to your cake. You could opt for a very modern looking cake, with different coloured icing to match your colour scheme. While this may look strange, it will definitely create a cake to remember.

The Size of Your Cake

It is extremely important to think about the size of your cake. The size will depend on the number of guests and if you are going to follow the tradition of keeping the top tier for your baby’s christening. You will also need to think about the number of tiers that you will have. Three tiers was traditionally used due to the sizes of the events being small; however, some couples find that they need to have more tiers as weddings have become much more extravagant events.

To help with the numbers, you may decide against tiers all together. Some couples opt for one based tier that is used for the photos of cutting the cake and is then kept for the christening of their first child but then having cupcakes for their guests. This is a great way to make sure there is enough “cake” for all guests involved but does mean a problem of possibly not enough if you have extra guests who turn up on the day.

Choosing the Wedding Cake Flavour

You want the flavour to be something that all your guests will enjoy. The problem is that fruit cake is often quite bitter. Sponge cakes are commonly popular among guests but can be seen as boring. Trying to appease everyone at the same time is extremely difficult when choosing the wedding cake flavour.

One option is to look at the use of different flavours for different tiers. You will be able to offer different flavours for your guests to choose from, which helps to appease many different people at the same time. There are plenty of cake flavours to choose from, such as chocolate, cream and even different types of fruits.

In the end, this is your day and you need to be happy with the wedding cake that you choose. The last thing you want to do is to look back and wish that you had opted for something instead of trying to make your guests happy. If you want your cake to match your theme, even if it means looking strange, go for it! If you want tradition, even if it comes across as boring, do it!