Cakes
Flavors. Wedding cakes used to be white. That was it. But this is your wedding. Have the cake of your dreams. If you love spice cake. then have spice cake. Did you know that chocolate is the most popular flavor at weddings?
Looks. Cakes can be square, rectangles, rounds, hearts, just about whatever you can think of. Granted the more creative, the more expensive. But it isn't just shape that creates a great looking cake. Using ribbons, flowers, colored icing, and other decorations can make your cake unique. If you want both a traditional cake and yet something funky think about letting your imagination go by having an interesting groom's cake. I've seen cakes that look like fish, hot rods, a surfer's shack on the beach, and a tree stump with a couple of squirrels sitting on top. Marci from Colorado Rose Cake Company also does a really nice job with white on white icing depicting a mountain scene with trees.
Costs. As mentioned earlier the more lavish, the more expensive. However, your cake can also be used as a focal point in your decorating so you can use part of your decorating budget for the cake if money is an issue. There are many ways to save money on cakes. One: simple design and only enough to feed the number of people you have. Two: If you want a big cake but only have a small number of people to feed you can use styrofoam for the bottom layers and only have the top layer be real. Have sheet cakes in the kitchen for serving to the guests. Sheet cakes are less expensive but you are still paying for decorating the foam. Three: A small decorative cake and a large sheet cake (ala a groom's cake). Four: Using a grocery store instead of a professional wedding cake bakery.
What did I not recommend? Doing it yourself or having a friend or family member make your cake. Several reasons for this. What if the first one doesn't turn out quite right? Do they have time to make another? Do they really have time to bake, decorate and set up your cake at the reception while they are supposed to be at the ceremony?
Cutting and Serving. Many venues will have someone on staff to cut and serve your wedding cake. If not, then you need to make arrangements for that to happen. Have the baker provide you with written instructions on how to cut and serve the type of cake your are having. For example, at one wedding the cakes were round and the smallest size was 10 inches in diameter. The ladies cutting the cake were trying to cut and serve it like you would a pie. The pieces were unwieldy and much to big. Cake was falling off the plates and they would have run out of cake had someone not intervened and shown them the proper way to cut a round wedding cake.