Wedding Cakes

Knottie1251661

Wedding cakes are so expensive. I've never actually ate cake at any wedding I've been to. My fiance and I think it is a waste to spend a lot of money on a huge cake that more than likely won't get ate. We were thinking a dessert bar with a small cake to cut instead, but I'm scared it will end up costing the same.

What are you doing for a cake? What are some cost-effective alternatives?

justsie

Knottie1251661 said:

Wedding cakes are so expensive. I've never actually ate cake at any wedding I've been to. My fiance and I think it is a waste to spend a lot of money on a huge cake that more than likely won't get ate. We were thinking a dessert bar with a small cake to cut instead, but I'm scared it will end up costing the same.

What are you doing for a cake? What are some cost-effective alternatives?

Some of the knotties on here have done cheescake and others have done pies, and some people are die hard cake fans. I think a more cost effective way to do wedding cake is to just order a flat sheet cake from somewhere and serve that. You could still do a small cutting cake and then serve the sheet cake- as long as its similar/the same. (ex: If the couple cuts into red velvet, I'm going to want red velvet and I'll be devastated sad to be served vanilla. )

TheCheeseWench

The number one rule is to be sure not to serve your guests anything different (less) than you are serving yourself. A fancy cake is not required. Any type of cake is not required (though there are some women on here that would charge at you with pitchforks in order to steal a cake from your hands). My only advice would be to definitely compare prices between an actual "wedding cake" and those sheet cakes from wedding cake bakers. A lot of places charge the exact same amount per slice for the plain "serving" sheet cakes as the "cutting" cakes. I just don't think a lot of brides catch on because they assume that they will be cheaper.

Yes, I do understand that they are expensive. I also hate the notion of waste, but when we're talking about cake I like to think of leftovers instead as "delicious breakfast opportunities".

DarthV8r

I would research bakeries in your area for prices. Cost effective choices would be sheet cake, cookies, pie, or cupcakes.

pinupbride6189

Eaten. You don't want to waste money on a cake that won't be eaten.

Anyway, PPs covered it pretty well. Some grocery stores make wedding cakes at better prices than independent bakers or cake designers, so that's an option. Or, as PPs mentioned, you don't have to have any cake at all if you're not a huge cake fan. But if you and your FI have cake, it needs to be available for others as well.

As a side note, where are all these weddings where no one eats cake? I've seen multiple posts from people saying similar stuff to the OP and I don't get it. At all the weddings I've been to, the cake is like the main event of the reception. Help me understand!

artbyallie

If you have cake, you have to have enough for everybody. Get grocery store sheet cake if price is a concern.

luckya23

I got my cake from Sam's Club - about $75 for 66 servings, 3 tier.  I also bought 60 cupcakes, 54 of which were uneaten, and most of the cake was left - only 1 tier was cut at all.

cupcait927

scribe95 said:

I have never been to a wedding where I DIDN'T eat cake. Cake is scarfed up quick at every wedding I have been. Never heard of a bunch uneaten.

We had almost two dozen cupcakes leftover at our wedding. We ordered 60 for a 54 person guest list (they were the big cupcakes, not the normal sized ones) and went home with 22. I was sad that people missed out on eating cupcakes because they were SO good.

julieanne912

I too thought that the cost of cake was too much.  My FI doesn't even like cake and I know from experience with his side that none of them are big dessert eaters (they like to drink more).  So, I'm doing a small 2 tier cutting cake and a sheet cake for those people who really want cake.  I'm also doing mini desserts like mini cupcakes, cookies, brownies, mini pecan pies (FI's favorite), macaroons, and..... chocolate covered bacon on a stick.

The total cost is around $425.  The bakery I'm using is a pretty fancy one, and their cake per person cost is $5.50.  The mini desserts were $2 or less.  So even if someone has 2 or 3 of them (again, unlikely with this crowd) it still works out to the same cost as cake.

I also saved money by choosing a bakery close to the wedding location, to avoid paying a delivery charge (this one didn't charge for delivery within a certain radius).  

ETA: The $425 is for 150.

[Deleted User]

The small cake for cutting and the sheet cake can actuallly be a great cost saving option. You don't have to get the sheet cake decorated, just frosted and that is a big savings. You can even get the sheet cake through your local grocery store.

wandajune6

We love cake and know that our family loves cake.

We got a smaller 2-tier cake from a local bakery. It was a pretty, simple decoration and cost about $250. It should have fed about 80. We then bought 4 sheet cakes from Costco. They served 1.5 sheet cakes and the bottom of our pretty cake. Everyone who wanted cake got it and people got to eat multiple flavors if they want. It was awesome.

The partial cakes got served at brunch the next morning (informal at my parents' house) and the 2 uncut cakes were brought over to the fire department down the street. They were thrilled.

MesmrEwe

Ask yourself this - if you go to a nice restaurant (at the level to which your meal is going to be served) and want to order a piece of dessert - how much do you expect to pay and for what size portion?  Now, multiply that by however many guests you have.  If the quote is lower than that, it's not outrageously expensive. 

Lousy tasting cake/pie/cookies doesn't get eaten, do not waste your money/budget on cake or any dessert that isn't yummy!!!  That's likely the first mistake you've experienced when it comes to cake at weddings.  There's a balance between to died and gone to Heaven dessert and just getting something because it's cheap to satisfy the "dessert" factor and not caring for a second how it tastes. 

First figure out a real world budget, then ask your baker what you can get for the money (most of the cost of cake is in the decoration, the simpler you go for the baker, i.e. rough iced, the cheaper the finished cake will be!).  Remember, geometry counts - figure out your portion size to the price!  Taste their cake/dessert you're planning to order, if it isn't wonderful tasting, move on, doesn't matter how cheap it is.  Never cheap out on portion sizes for your guests, the savings end up being minimal but the experience factor noticeable.  DH's cousin boasted about the cost savings of using the baker's "sheet cakes" (which, you NEED to ask what the individual baker considers a sheet cake because some think they're the aluminum pan style cakes!), while the person next to me got a 4-layer with three filling and frosting slice of cake, I had a 1.5x1.5x1.5" serving of "sheet cake", for $25 difference, ALL guests could have been served the yummy four-layer cake with lemon and raspberry filling, which the person sitting next to me proceeded to eat one bite of and say "I don't like cake" much to my YGTBFKM eye as this mini bite wasn't enough to get the garlic taste from dinner out of my mouth!  Always ensure all guests are going to get the same portion of whatever dessert you choose whether that be cake, bars, pie, brownies, ice cream, etc.  You don't serve some guests steak and others burgers, the same goes for dessert. 

julieanne912

I also forgot to mention that if you don't have a lot of decoration on your cake, it'll save a lot of money.  Mine is going to be just a buttercream frosting on the outside, in a pattern, and then we'll add some fresh flowers on the top.  Fondant designs are way more expensive (and not good to eat IMO)

FrenchHouseCat

TheCheeseWench said:

The number one rule is to be sure not to serve your guests anything different (less) than you are serving yourself. A fancy cake is not required. Any type of cake is not required (though there are some women on here that would charge at you with pitchforks in order to steal a cake from your hands). My only advice would be to definitely compare prices between an actual "wedding cake" and those sheet cakes from wedding cake bakers. A lot of places charge the exact same amount per slice for the plain "serving" sheet cakes as the "cutting" cakes. I just don't think a lot of brides catch on because they assume that they will be cheaper. Yes, I do understand that they are expensive. I also hate the notion of waste, but when we're talking about cake I like to think of leftovers instead as "delicious breakfast opportunities".

yes. 

missa011

julieanne912 said:

I also forgot to mention that if you don't have a lot of decoration on your cake, it'll save a lot of money.  Mine is going to be just a buttercream frosting on the outside, in a pattern, and then we'll add some fresh flowers on the top.  Fondant designs are way more expensive (and not good to eat IMO)

This. Going simple on the decorations (ie fresh flowers and no fondant) will cut costs dramatically.

Also might be worth posting this on your local board, people might have suggestions for bakeries nearby. The bakery we went with was $450 for a 3 tier cake (140 people) which for my area is incredible well priced (the other bakeries we went to were >$1000), so you never know what's around you if you do a little research.

CMGragain

My sister went to Sam's Club and ordered a custom decorated sheet cake.  $25 serves 50.  Beautiful designs with custom colors and pretty flowers and butterflies.  Larger sizes are available.  Delicious cake, too.

Esther Morales

I don't really like wedding cake so much.  Unless you are prepared to pay a bundle, I think it's a total waste of money.  I do appreciate the sentiment and i want a cake to cut into, so this is what i did:

I bought a 7-tier cake stand from efavormart.com  Me and hubs will buy our favorite cake from our favorite bakeries and have a variety:  coconut layer, cheese cake, chocolate fudge, carrot cake, red velvet cake, cheese cake with colored fruit, strawberry shortcake and put them on the tiers.  we will cut the white coconut since it it all white.  Then the staff will pass around trays and people can select the slice they want.  I think each cake will run about $35 (35 x 7 = $245) - each cake feeds 8 people (8x7=54) as I have 50 guests. 

 If you have a bigger crowd, just buy the amount you will need, but still set up the cake stand.  (they can serve the rest from the kitchen).    you can display these stands any way you wish.  They are reasonably priced and efavormart is having a great sale now.  stay away from supermarket cakes - they are rarely good and your day should call for a delicious cake!  

julieanne912

CMGragain said:

My sister went to Sam's Club and ordered a custom decorated sheet cake.  $25 serves 50.  Beautiful designs with custom colors and pretty flowers and butterflies.  Larger sizes are available.  Delicious cake, too.

I'm a Costco girl but I hosted a baby shower last weekend for a friend, and her sister got this cake at Sam's.  It had both vanilla and chocolate layers and it was all very good (and I'm super picky about cake!) and didn't cost a crazy amount.  I bet they could do a nice layered wedding cake as well.

CMGragain

DH just sent me this to share with you ladies.  It is a compromise wedding cake.

 

spockforprez

CMGragain said:

DH just sent me this to share with you ladies.  It is a compromise wedding cake.

 

That is so awesome!

[Deleted User]

I'm not a fan of traditional fruitcake, so we had a carrot cake for our wedding.  We did things a little differently and cut the cake straight after the ceremony and asked the venue to serve cake with tea and coffee to guests while we went off to have our photos taken.  It gave the guests something to snack on while they milled around and chatted and it meant that the cake was eaten instead of being forgotten about.  Left over cake was then put out again later (after dessert) for peckish guests to snack on throughout the night.

[Deleted User]

I forgot to mention that we had a beach wedding, so I asked the lady who made my cake to decorate it simply ... it had royal blue ribbon around the base of each tier with Belgian chocolate seashells cascading down one side, from top to base.

DarthV8r

CMGragain said:

DH just sent me this to share with you ladies.  It is a compromise wedding cake.

 

lol! If my F.I. sees this it will be on his "must have" list.

Esther Morales

this is cute!