What to do about the cake...

thesummersky

Hey knotties!

We're getting down to the wire now - less than a month to go! The only thing we're still trying to figure out is what to do about cake. I know, super late in the game. Thank goodness we're friends with a baker!

We're trying to decide which to do. We'd love to spend as little as possible, but we want to be proper hosts, so please tell us your feedback on the following options:

1) Get a small wedding cake for the two of us for cutting, then cupcakes for all guests. (Least expensive)
2) Get a medium cake for us and wedding party, then cupcakes for all other guests. 

Thanks!

CMGragain

Many people order a small traditional cake for the cutting ceremony, and then have plain sheet cake, pre-cut, and ready to be served waiting in the kitchen.  It saves time and money.  Eventually the show cake is also cut and served.  As long as they get cake, people will be happy.

bethsmiles

Could you just do all cupcakes? Why have a special cake just for you?

JCbride2015

Yum, cake.

#1, definitely.  It's okay to have a special cake for cutting and for the two of you, but differentiating your WP seems a little weird.  Just give all guests the cupcakes and do a mini cake for you and H to cut.

pearlsofsteel

I'm going to vote for #1 because it seems like you're giving preferential treatment, in the most bizarre of cake ways. I know a lot of folks do the small cake, prepped sheet, and that could very well work out to the same price as cupcakes. 

Or, you could be weird like us - we're having a "cake" made of stacked wheels of cheese. This just suits us better. So, our guests will have the option to have a cheese plate (nuts, honey, fruit, cheese, etc.) for dessert or have cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc. we'll have put out. Significantly lower in price than your average wedding cake.

JCbride2015

pearlsofsteel said:

I'm going to vote for #1 because it seems like you're giving preferential treatment, in the most bizarre of cake ways. I know a lot of folks do the small cake, prepped sheet, and that could very well work out to the same price as cupcakes. 

Or, you could be weird like us - we're having a "cake" made of stacked wheels of cheese. This just suits us better. So, our guests will have the option to have a cheese plate (nuts, honey, fruit, cheese, etc.) for dessert or have cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc. we'll have put out. Significantly lower in price than your average wedding cake.

I hate cheesecake but CHEESE cake sounds like a revelation.  

pearlsofsteel

JCbride2015 said:

pearlsofsteel said:

I'm going to vote for #1 because it seems like you're giving preferential treatment, in the most bizarre of cake ways. I know a lot of folks do the small cake, prepped sheet, and that could very well work out to the same price as cupcakes. 

Or, you could be weird like us - we're having a "cake" made of stacked wheels of cheese. This just suits us better. So, our guests will have the option to have a cheese plate (nuts, honey, fruit, cheese, etc.) for dessert or have cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc. we'll have put out. Significantly lower in price than your average wedding cake.

I hate cheesecake but CHEESE cake sounds like a revelation.  

It IS. I became a certified fromager/cheese master for shits and giggles because I love cheese that much and my FH is also a huge cheese fan, so it was kind of this jaw-dropping moment when we realized we could totally have a ton of cheese as our cake and we never looked back. 

...but we're also completely prepared for someone to be that guy and shout that we're "cutting the cheese" at our wedding. 

perdonami

I like the sheet cake idea or have a small cake for you and your husband to cut for the cake ceremony with cupcakes for everyone. 

If you don't care about a cake cutting ceremony, just do cupcakes or say screw it and have a dessert table instead. 

Although, just a personal preference, I can't imagine a wedding without some kind of cake. As a guest, I would be sad to not have any cake. 

Wegl13

Small cake and sheet cake. I went to a wedding where this was done so well most of us didn't even notice we weren't getting the real deal. I think the sheet cake will be cheaper.

l9i

We will have a small cake to cut and them preparred sheet cakes ready to be served in the back.

On I side note - Am I the only one that thinks cupcakes are more messy??

RebeccaFlower

Definitely #1. Not that I think anyone would really notice who has slices. 

southernbelle0915

Definitely Option 1. I think it'd be weird to give the WP special cake and all the other guests something else. 

If you do Option 1, you could do as PPs have suggested and have sheet cake ready to go in the kitchen. Costco has really good sheet cake - and I'm picky about cake. Or you could do cupcakes.  Where I'm from cupcakes are really expensive. If it's similar where you're from, you may find sheet cake is a money saver.

cupcait927

Option #1. It's essentially what FI and I are doing. Cupcake tower with a small 6" cake on top for cutting purposes. It's weird to include the WP in that. Just give them cupcakes like everyone else.

melbenso

I've been to several weddings where the bride and groom had a small cake to cut and then did cupcakes for their guests.  I think it's pretty fantastic.  Among other things, you can get a lot of different flavors of cupcakes for your guests to choose from, rather than just one flavor per tier of cake.  Plus, there is usually more frosting on cupcakes, which is always a plus in my family.  Go with the cupcakes.

Jen4948

As long as everyone is served cake of the same quality, it can be in round, sheet, or cupcake form.

beethery

pearlsofsteel said:

I'm going to vote for #1 because it seems like you're giving preferential treatment, in the most bizarre of cake ways. I know a lot of folks do the small cake, prepped sheet, and that could very well work out to the same price as cupcakes. 

Or, you could be weird like us - we're having a "cake" made of stacked wheels of cheese. This just suits us better. So, our guests will have the option to have a cheese plate (nuts, honey, fruit, cheese, etc.) for dessert or have cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc. we'll have put out. Significantly lower in price than your average wedding cake.

omfg I saw a cheese cake thing in Southern Living and have been obsessed ever since. SO MUCH BRIE. SO MUCH WONDERFUL BRIE. Life goals.

Ndelible

Where I'm from, cupcakes are more expensive than cake, so it is almost never a money saver. Option #1, as PPs have noted is probably the best. However, I love @pearlsofsteel‌'s cheese tower. I know there is a lot of hate for Pinterest, but I saw that a couple of months ago and thought it was super cool. And while not something I would do (count me in the love cake category), I sent it to one of my BFs, who absolutely LOVES fromage, and she will be doing it for her next big shindig. I will be there, plate in hand. Oh, and probably with a cake... Cheese + cake = yum!

ashleyep

l9i said:

We will have a small cake to cut and them preparred sheet cakes ready to be served in the back.

On I side note - Am I the only one that thinks cupcakes are more messy??

It's fine if you eat them on a plate with a fork, but cupcakes are rarely served that way.

Alikat9614

Ndelible said:

Where I'm from, cupcakes are more expensive than cake, so it is almost never a money saver. Option #1, as PPs have noted is probably the best. However, I love @pearlsofsteel‌'s cheese tower. I know there is a lot of hate for Pinterest, but I saw that a couple of months ago and thought it was super cool. And while not something I would do (count me in the love cake category), I sent it to one of my BFs, who absolutely LOVES fromage, and she will be doing it for her next big shindig. I will be there, plate in hand. Oh, and probably with a cake... Cheese + cake = yum!

If we had gone with a cupcake tower, it would have been significantly more expensive since each cupcake has to be decorated/filled individually. We had planned on doing a 2 tier decorated cake and sheet cakes in the back until we found a baker who is just starting out (within the past year) and is making a 4 tier cake for hella cheap! And it's amazingly delicious . ________________________________________________ Anyhoo---I'd go with option 1!

melbenso

beethery said:

omfg I saw a cheese cake thing in Southern Living and have been obsessed ever since. SO MUCH BRIE. SO MUCH WONDERFUL BRIE. Life goals.

I was recently at a wedding where one of the main appetizers was a GIANT (like foot in diameter) wheel of baked brie.  When that one ran out, they brought out a second one! 

I had to go to the complete opposite side of the venue to stop my self from standing at the appetizer table and shoveling brie directly into my mouth.

AddieCake

We had a small cake for cutting and cupcakes. The cake was the same as one of the cupcake favors.

jenijoyk

We are hiring a churro guy. He shows up around 9, and starts frying fresh churros for everyone. Before tip, it will be $2 pp for as many churros as everyone wants to eat, which is a lot cheaper than our cake, which was $4 pp. (And everyone loves churros.) (And they smell delicious.)

luckysnorkel

l9i said:

We will have a small cake to cut and them preparred sheet cakes ready to be served in the back.

On I side note - Am I the only one that thinks cupcakes are more messy??

Not if you eat it this way:

wrigleyville

jenijoyk said:

We are hiring a churro guy. He shows up around 9, and starts frying fresh churros for everyone. Before tip, it will be $2 pp for as many churros as everyone wants to eat, which is a lot cheaper than our cake, which was $4 pp. (And everyone loves churros.) (And they smell delicious.)

*SITB*

Oh my god. I wish I'd thought of that for our wedding. H and I LOVE churros.

southernbelle0915

jenijoyk said:

We are hiring a churro guy. He shows up around 9, and starts frying fresh churros for everyone. Before tip, it will be $2 pp for as many churros as everyone wants to eat, which is a lot cheaper than our cake, which was $4 pp. (And everyone loves churros.) (And they smell delicious.)

Sweet baby Jesus. This sounds amazing!!! Are you have chocolate/hot cocoa?

delujm0

I agree with the PPs who said that cupcakes might not be a money-saver. We initially were going to do a full dessert buffet, so the cake would be smaller and we were going to have a bunch of cupcakes, cookies, etc. In the end we wound up with more acceptances than we thought we would, so we switched over to just a big cake. The small cake + cupcakes was actually more expensive (even at the lower estimated guest count) than the big cake was. The least expensive option is probably a cutting cake with a sheet cake in the back. If this is budget-related, I'd do that. If you just love cupcakes, do cupcakes. But don't assume it will be cheaper. It's actually more work to decorate 100 separate cupcakes than it is to decorate a small cake for 2 and then a sheet cake for 98.

[Deleted User]

pearlsofsteel said:

I'm going to vote for #1 because it seems like you're giving preferential treatment, in the most bizarre of cake ways. I know a lot of folks do the small cake, prepped sheet, and that could very well work out to the same price as cupcakes. 

Or, you could be weird like us - we're having a "cake" made of stacked wheels of cheese. This just suits us better. So, our guests will have the option to have a cheese plate (nuts, honey, fruit, cheese, etc.) for dessert or have cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc. we'll have put out. Significantly lower in price than your average wedding cake.

Dear god, yes.  I'm so glad someone else saw this amazing pinteresting idea and is running with it.  I have that cheese cake pinned all over my wedding board.  YUM!

l9i

luckysnorkel said:

l9i said:

We will have a small cake to cut and them preparred sheet cakes ready to be served in the back.

On I side note - Am I the only one that thinks cupcakes are more messy??

Not if you eat it this way:

That is possibly life changing. 

slothiegal

pearlsofsteel said:

I'm going to vote for #1 because it seems like you're giving preferential treatment, in the most bizarre of cake ways. I know a lot of folks do the small cake, prepped sheet, and that could very well work out to the same price as cupcakes. 

Or, you could be weird like us - we're having a "cake" made of stacked wheels of cheese. This just suits us better. So, our guests will have the option to have a cheese plate (nuts, honey, fruit, cheese, etc.) for dessert or have cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc. we'll have put out. Significantly lower in price than your average wedding cake.

Seriously, that sounds AWESOME.

luckysnorkel

l9i said:

luckysnorkel said:

l9i said:

We will have a small cake to cut and them preparred sheet cakes ready to be served in the back.

On I side note - Am I the only one that thinks cupcakes are more messy??

Not if you eat it this way:

That is possibly life changing. 

It truly is.  I'll never go back.

jenijoyk

I can't take credit for the churro man idea. Someone else did it at a wedding our coordinator was working and she immediately told us about it and gave us the guys' number. I'm not sure having a random dude heating a giant vat of hot frying oil in the alley next to our venue will be totally kosher, but whatever! Ask for forgiveness, not permission. (And then bribe any naysayers with a fresh, cinnamonny churro.)