Wedding Cake Myths, Busted!

 

Planning a wedding can be complicated and stressful so when it comes to choosing your wedding cake, I like to keep things as stress free and enjoyable as possible, after all, everyone loves cake!

So to help you, here are my top wedding cake myths, busted!

Myth #1: Wedding cakes are expensive!

If meeting brides and grooms has taught me anything it’s that nobody seems to have a clue how much a good quality cake costs!

Yes of course, if you want something to feed 200 people, decorated with hundreds of handmade flowers and detailed piping, it’s going to be expensive. At Marie Antoinette Cakes we understand that your wedding choices are a balance between getting the cake of your dreams and having the reality of a budget to work to.

As well as our Couture range, we’ve also developed the Simply Antoinette range, simple yet chic designs which require less time to decorate and are therefore lower in cost.

Take the Simply Sparkles cake (pictured right) for example. This beautiful 3-tier cake covered in sugar sparkles and decorated with luxurious satin ribbon and a pearl brooch provides approx. 110 portions and costs £295 (chocolate or vanilla sponge). Of course, it can be personalised with ribbon choices to fit in with your colour scheme. You can also add more tiers if required and choose different cake flavours, all of which will result in a more personalised quote.

We love the Simply Antoinette range and so far it’s been a real hit with Brides and Grooms, not only for the fantastic value but also because the designs are really beautiful! We always work with you to get you the cake you want within your budget and will offer advice on how this can be best achieved.

Myth #2: Wedding cakes should be round

Cakes can be in any shape or form you want. Be creative and don't be afraid to think outside the box, search on the internet for inspiration! Square cakes provide you with more portions per tier so if you’re having a lot of guests, a square cake or even a bottom square tier may help to get you the portions you need.

Myth #3: What if I don't like the taste of sugarpaste icing?

The big elaborate cakes we usually see in magazines are typically made using a layer of buttercream covered in sugarpaste. Consider your wedding day weather. If it is an outdoor reception and your cake has to withstand the elements, avoid using buttercream. Sugasrpaste is much more resistant and provides a whole host of options for decoration. Here at Marie Antoinette Cakes, we’ve experimented with several sugarpaste brands and have found that Renshaw Regalice not only tastes good but provides the most polished finish on your wedding cake.

However, if you really do dislike sugarpaste, the Simply Naked cake (pictured left) may be the kind of thing for you. This cake is stunning and the simplicity really is key to it’s beauty. Three tiers of Victoria Sponge cake sandwiched with Raspberry Jam and Madagascan Vanilla buttercream, this cake will provide you with approx. 90 portions, comes decorated with fresh flowers and fresh fruit with satin ribbon round the base of each tier and costs only £295!

Although we think this cake is perfect in vanilla, it is also available in chocolate sponge as well as other flavours such as lemon.

Alternatively, if you love chocolate, why not make this the basis for your cake. Chocolate covered cakes can be a bit more expensive but really add a luxurious wow-factor to your day.

Myth #4: We've no idea what we want, there's no way we're ready to order a cake yet!

We meet some clients who know exactly what they want, it may be they’ve seen it on the internet or in a magazine that catches their eye. We also meet some clients who don’t know where to start! This really isn’t a problem, during your cake consultation, we take you through a design process where we ask you questions about the rest of your wedding. During your wedding planning, you’re constantly making choices about things that shape the look of your big day and we bring all of these together to make sure your cake suits your big day and your personalities perfectly!

Myth #5: We just need a cake for the photos

We’ve met some clients who are just looking for a cake because it’s on the list of things they need so they can have a lovely photo stood next to it! Nothing makes my heart sink more! We believe that every aspect of your wedding is important and should be personal to you and your day. Whether it’s from the Couture range or the Simply range, no two Marie Antoinette cakes have EVER been identical. The consultation process is about us listening to you, getting to understand the feel of your wedding and what you want for your cake and making sure we provide you with that!

We love nothing more than doing a complete one-off bespoke design that’s really quirky but these are really few and far between. For those of us that are a bit more conventional, your cake can be personalised in colour choices, flowers, ribbons, cake toppers, piping detail and all other manner of things. We can incorporate details from your wedding stationery, dress, table decorations, even hobbies and interests that you both share – if you happen to have a gorgeous little scotty dog for example, why not get him represented on the wedding cake?

It’s the little things throughout your big day that all add up to make it special!

Myth #6: Wedding cakes are fruitcake and I hate fruitcake!

The number of couples who are surprised when I tell them their wedding cake can be any flavour they desire, shocks me. It wasn’t long ago that we were all reluctantly eating fruitcake at weddings and it pains me to say, not always good fruitcake either, we’ve all endured dry crumbly and tasteless fruitcake and unfortunately it has developed quite a bad reputation! Our fruitcake is a Rich Brandy Fruitcake and it is delicious and very moreish! Because we use brandy and lots of rich fruit, it is the most expensive cake we make but we do believe more people would actually like fruitcake if they all tasted like ours!

That said, our most popular four wedding cake flavours are as follows;

Victoria Sponge with Raspberry Jam and Vanilla Buttercream

Chocolate Truffle with Chocolate Ganache Buttercream

Luscious Lemon with Lemon Syrup and Lemon Curd Buttercream

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Buttercream

Spiced Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream

Butterscotch with Toffee Buttercream

However, we can make any cake flavour and always ask clients which flavours they would like to try at their consultation so if you have a particular love for carrot cake for example, let us know and we’ll bring it along! Recently we were asked if we could do a butterscotch cake (for the groom, the bride was not keen). We said of course and were delighted when both the bride and groom loved it and have now chosen it for their cake!

Myth #7: The whole cake has to be the same flavour

The simple answer is “no way”!! We haven’t done a wedding cake yet which has all been the same flavour and always encourage clients to choose more than one flavour. Not everyone likes the same thing and it’s great to be able to serve several different flavours for your guests to enjoy!

As cake flavours can differ in price, having a mix of flavours can also help to balance the cost of your cake. A more expensive cake flavour for a smaller tier balanced with a large tier in a sponge can bring the cake into budget.

Myth #8: The cake is served after the speeches

The traditional approach is for the cake to be cut after speeches, and then handed out to guests with their coffee at the end of the meal. Though this is traditional, we advise against it. You’ve just served your guests canapés followed by a three course meal and no one will have room for cake. As much as I love cake, I dread to think of the amount of times I’ve declined cake at a wedding when it was served this way and can remember seeing lots of cake going in the bin (gasp)!

A more sensible approach is to kick start your evening reception my cutting the cake, this way ALL of your guests get to see this and take photos! Your caterer then cuts the cake to be served in the evening. With all that drinking and dancing, guests often get hungry again in the evening and a quick sugar hit can keep that dance floor full right to the end of the night!

Myth #9: We're having a small wedding so only need a small cake

While you will need to consider the number of guests when coming up with your cake design, you also need to think about the height of the finished product. If your cake will be displayed in a grand setting with high ceilings, three-tiers will be lost very quickly in the space. Simple options such as separator tiers or polystyrene dummy tiers covered in sugarpaste and decorated as per the rest of your cake can add height and grandeur to your cake for very little extra.

Myth #10: We'd like chocolate but surely this is going to be expensive?

Yes chocolate itself is expensive but there are options that can be fairly quick to decorate which therefore reduces the cost in comparison to the time taken to decorate an iced cake. Options include chocolate cups filled with layers of cake and buttercream and topped with fresh fruit (pictured right), cake covered in buttercream and chocolate cigarillos (pictured below) or cake completely covered in chocolate and decorated with chocolate roses and other decorations.

 

As with iced cakes, the prices can vary depending what cake flavours you choose and how detailed the decoration is so it’s always worth asking for quotes, it’s you big day so if your heart is set on chocolate don’t assume you can’t afford it!

If I could give you just one piece of advice when it comes to choosing your wedding cake, it would be not to neglect this wonderful and integral part of your celebration. It just isn’t a party unless there is a cake and this is your one chance to completely indulge in the cake of your dreams!

Let Them Eat Cake!