Finding the Perfect Wedding Cake – Easier than Finding the Perfect Groom!

After finding that perfect guy to marry, deciding on the perfect wedding cake is just one more exciting part of planning for your special day. As the crown jewel in a reception, the cake is almost as central as the bride and groom!

Consider the traditional cake cutting ceremony. Cutting the first slice is the new couple’s first task done together as husband and wife. As they feed each other the first bite, their commitment to each other is symbolized. Whether or not they smear the cake into each other’s face is optional and probably depends on how good their sense of humor is!

Also known as the bride's cake, the wedding cake often shares the spotlight with the bride herself at the reception and is remembered by every guest who attends.

Even on a day when every detail is planned with the precision of a queen’s coronation, there are many reasons for choosing this particular cake with care. Here are a few ideas to guide you:

Wedding Cakes Come in Many Types

In your Grandmother Lizzie’s day, finding the perfect wedding cake probably meant traditional white icing with buttercream roses for embellishment. Today, even this conventional cake has many possibilities in the way it is assembled and decorated. For example:

· Will the cake have dividing columns between the tiers or will it be stacked?

· If the cake is tiered, will these be traditional with one cake directly over the one below it, or will they be satellite, floating tiers?

· What about decorations? Live or silk flowers? Cake charms or jewelry? Fresh fruit or a fountain?

Wedding cakes can be coordinated with the wedding colors or the bride’s dress, which was traditionally white, but now can be almost any color from plum to chartreuse. Choosing a wedding cake to match your theme is also popular. Are you getting married in a hot air balloon? Maybe you’re going for a Western or Hawaiian theme. The list of possibilities is endless.

Selecting just the right cake comes down most importantly to the bride’s own style, personal taste and personality.

Bakery, Caterer or Make it Yourself?

The traditional way of deciding on the right wedding cake is to hire a professional - an expert in baking, assembling and decorating wedding cakes.

If you decide to hire a professional designer, he or she will probably have a portfolio of their work which offers photographs of wedding cakes they’ve created for others. They should also present samples to taste. Although taste doesn’t show up in photos, it is important too!

If someone else provides your wedding cake, whether wedding cake designer, caterer or talented friend, get to know that person’s sense of style and make sure it matches your own.

Although there are an unlimited number of talented professionals available, more and more couples are deciding to make their own wedding cake. Yes, brides aren’t the only ones who want to create something spectacular and original for their wedding reception.

Baking your own wedding cake can be much easier on the budget and it’s fun besides! Just plan ahead - creating the perfect wedding cake takes practice and some assistance.

Whatever your level of experience, a good class or step-by-step video guide on baking/decorating cakes helps to offset the cost of hiring a professional.

Baking, decorating and putting together your wedding cake can be a delightful before-the-wedding activity, so you don’t even have to do it alone unless you want. Those who love you will be honored to help create such a special part of this important day.

Just make sure to hold lots of practice and taste-testing sessions! As you might now gather, cake designers require so much advance notice for a reason!

Remember when making your own wedding cake: Instead of artificial ingredients, opt for fresh, real ingredients whenever possible. For instance, use butter instead of margarine and vanilla extract rather than imitation vanilla flavor. Trust me, fresh, real ingredients produce a better quality cake.

These tips are from "Cake Decorating Made Easy!" Video Books. Here's what one reader had to say about our Video Books:

"Well worth the investment. A fabulous

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Murrells Inlet, SC

One final tip: If you are making a wedding cake for yourself or for someone else and have a hard time finding ingredients, or if you’d just like to browse the incredible variety of cake decorations available, search for trusted names in decorating sites online or Google Images for photos to inspire you.