Food and Cakes
Knottie58db04277ec3fdbf
member
Can Sheet Cake Help Cut Time and Costs of Traditional Cake?
Hello!
I'm looking for some suggestions on how to trim the cost of cake at our wedding as well as time to cut it and serve it.
I'm having several kinds of sweets at my wedding reception, but we will also have a cake. We didn't initially budget a ton on cake because we wanted to spend more on some of the other sweets we're offering that are more important to us... We had actually only planned on a small cake that would only serve a few, but have decided to have enough cake for all in addition to other desserts. That being said, we now think we need to get a bigger cake than we planned on, but trying to think of ways to make it fit into the budget a little better. Additionally, the catering team is small, so I don't want them spending a ton of time during the reception cutting cake when they need to be manning food, etc. (We are planning to cut the cake shortly after the meal is served rather than waiting until the end of the reception to do that.)
My mom suggested that we have a small, beautiful cake made to put on display with our other desserts and for cutting (and would serve several), but then order large sheet cakes for serving the masses that can be cut before the reception even starts and are plated and ready to serve right after we do the cake cutting. We had planned on a rather simple, traditional wedding cake flavor anyway, so ordering a sheet cake wouldn't be an issue in that regard.
Has anyone done something similar to this, been to a wedding where they did something similar, or have some other suggestions for us to consider? Not sure that I want to do cupcakes because our dessert table will already be pretty full, but I'm open to suggestions!
I'm looking for some suggestions on how to trim the cost of cake at our wedding as well as time to cut it and serve it.
I'm having several kinds of sweets at my wedding reception, but we will also have a cake. We didn't initially budget a ton on cake because we wanted to spend more on some of the other sweets we're offering that are more important to us... We had actually only planned on a small cake that would only serve a few, but have decided to have enough cake for all in addition to other desserts. That being said, we now think we need to get a bigger cake than we planned on, but trying to think of ways to make it fit into the budget a little better. Additionally, the catering team is small, so I don't want them spending a ton of time during the reception cutting cake when they need to be manning food, etc. (We are planning to cut the cake shortly after the meal is served rather than waiting until the end of the reception to do that.)
My mom suggested that we have a small, beautiful cake made to put on display with our other desserts and for cutting (and would serve several), but then order large sheet cakes for serving the masses that can be cut before the reception even starts and are plated and ready to serve right after we do the cake cutting. We had planned on a rather simple, traditional wedding cake flavor anyway, so ordering a sheet cake wouldn't be an issue in that regard.
Has anyone done something similar to this, been to a wedding where they did something similar, or have some other suggestions for us to consider? Not sure that I want to do cupcakes because our dessert table will already be pretty full, but I'm open to suggestions!
Re: Can Sheet Cake Help Cut Time and Costs of Traditional Cake?
In terms of when the catering team cuts the cake, I would leave that up to them. Just give them a timeline of when you want to serve dinner and when you want to cut the cake - their profession is managing and staffing that, so let them do their job.
I'd just tell the caterers when you would like to have dinner served and do the cake cutting, and let them work around that.
I don't know if cutting the cake before dinner starts is a good idea, it might dry out. What kind of meal are you having? (Buffet, plated, etc) They should be able to work around your time frame as long as you tell them while you're in the planning stages.
Also, some guests see cake cutting as the sign that it's okay to leave. Just something to keep in mind if you were wanting everyone to dance & hang out for a while after dinner.
In theory it saves time because if you forget or as you're doing your cutting/pictures, they're hauling sliced cakes out of the kitchen and placing in front of your guests. Even if the slices were placed immediately out before your guests sit down to eat dinner, there wouldn't be enough time for the cake to really dry out. It takes the same amount of time to cut that number of portions of cake this just lets them get started sooner than they otherwise would.
Whatever you do, ALL portions of cake MUST be of the same portion/quality level. It's rude to serve some guests filled multi-layer cake and others less than a half-portion piece of cake. "All guests treated equal, no better no worse"...
You can find pictures if you google "cinnamon roll wedding cake."