Wedding Cake Ideas

Knottie17950897

Hi everyone, We are trying to run on a limited budget. Has anyone seen a wedding with a sheet cake? I am tempted to order cakes from Costco for the wedding and have a pretty topper on it. Open to other suggestions for the Dallas / Fort Worth area as well. We will probably have about 120 people. 

manateehugger

Sheet cakes are perfectly fine!

What you can also do is grab a small decorative cake with a topper (if you put it on a stand, it will look more weddingish I think) and then use sheetcakes as well. Just make sure the decorative cake and sheet cake are the same cake (quality, etc.). 

This idea popped up as well.

 

southernbelle0915

Ditto PDKH. 

If Costco could do it, you could get two rounds, a 12" and an 8" in the same style and stack them if you want it to be a little more wedding-y and then have additional sheet cakes in the back.

FWIW, we didn't have a topper. I made my own cake and used satin ribbon with "pearls" at the base of each layer and then flowers on top (and also strategically placed in places where I messed up the fondant).

tammym1001

I haven't seen sheet cakes, but I did do a wedding cake for someone once that was just a few different size round cakes on stands. You can buy round cakes for about the same price (serving size wise) as a sheet cake. I just put a ribbon around the bottom of these and someone there placed rose petals on and around them. It was very cost effective and still looked wedding-y.

wandajune6

We have 200 people coming to our wedding. We are at complete opposites in terms of preferred cake flavors. We have a pretty cake that serves 60 (marble) and 4 Costco cakes (2 chocolate, 2 vanilla). The venue will cut the sheet cakes and the pretty cake in the back so everyone has options. Plus, it's cheaper and everyone loves Costco cake.

We were going to order our sheetcakes through the cake shop but even they recommended Costco!

ETA: we know this is wayyy too much cake. We're both have big cake-eating families and thought that more is better, particularly for the price.

emmyg65

Yes, A Practical Wedding did a post a few months ago about how to make a grocery store cake look fancy. (LINK, and another LINK)

I made my own wedding cake, too. It's actually pretty easy if you bake often and are comfortable with cakes. If you're interested, I really recommend the book "Wedding Cakes You Can Make" by Dede Wilson. It has tons of info, recipes, and step-by-step instructions. You do have to buy or borrow some equipment (cake pans, offset spatula, cake strips, a turn table for frosting, etc.) and the ingredients. Depending on the number of guests, it may not be cheaper than a grocery store.

southernbelle0915

butterscotchjbeans said:

@southernbelle0915‌ did you make your own cake?? Can you share pics and how did you do it? I'm intrigued and amazed!!!

***********SITB***************

I like to cook and bake, so it wasn't at all a chore. I really enjoyed it! I went to a cake store and bought special pans and plastic storage containers in a couple of sizes (it was two tier). Then I asked DH what flavor he wanted. Then I looked online for recipes for that flavor. I have a good recipe for vanilla buttercream frosting so I used that. Then I guess I just baked them. To keep it moist, I made a simple syrup and brushed that on before frosting it. Then layered on the fondant, slapped a ribbon and "pearls" on at the bottom of each layer and put it in the plastic storage container. Then assembled it at the venue.

It really wasn't that hard. I think the key is having the right tools and picking a dense cake if you plan to stack them - the layers weigh more than you'd think.

southernbelle0915

butterscotchjbeans said:

I can sure try !!!! @southernbelle0915‌
I mess up boxed cupcakes so, I will do a small cake trial with my friend! Haha! I'm sure it will be fun!
Thanks for sharing!!

Def do a trial... Worst case, you have a whole cake to eat!!!

CMGragain

Sheet cake is fine for a wedding cake.  People care more about what it tastes like than how it looks.  My sister used a sheet cake from the grocery store, and it was delicious!

silver0319

My shower cake was from a local supermarket, and it was by far on of the best cakes I've ever had (even compared to Costco!). Some supermarkets also offer tiered wedding cakes.

Another wedding we went to recently had a variety of cakes and pies from Costco; red velvet, carrot cake, apple pie, sheet cakes, etc. 

Cayjungrll

I know someone that used the wedding cakes made by Walmart... Me, I love love cake...lol and I have a local girl that did a bridal shower cake that I was involved with. It was super good. Since then, I have used her for my sons bday.. She is making me a 4 tiered cake, will really only have 3 to cut up, with the top layer being frozen. The bottom tierces will be a square cake and the others are round.. She is doing mine for $250 ... I didn't think it was a bad price at all.. It will be similar to this cake

00kim00

I didn't want to spend an outrageous amount on a cake, but I wanted a tiered cake to freeze the top layer. I love Costco cake, but they only make the large 1/2 sheet rectangles. I ended up getting 2 Costco cakes, cut one into graduated sizes, re-iced the raw edges, stacked them, put a ribbon along the bottom of each layer, and put a topper on top. I ended up with a small 3 tier cake and another sheet in the back (but could easily have done 4 tiers). If you're interested, I can post details of how I did it and a picture. It wasn't pristine looking, but it looked like a wedding cake, was delicious, and under $50 for all the materials and enough cake for 80+ people

Karens62

And don't forget that cake freezes really well so if you're not comfortable making cakes but want to give it a try, you can start a month ahead of time. When you get one that looks good, cut the top domed part off, so it's flat. Wrap it twice in plastic wrap and then put it in the freezer. I put it in a shallow cardboard box so it doesn't get mushed. A day ahead of time, take it out of the freezer and either thaw still wrapped or put a "crumb coat' (a very thin layer of frosting) on the cake while it's frozen, then defrost before you tackle the rest of the frosting. It's much easier to frost a cold cake.

lotsosandwiches

We were considering table cakes for a while. Depending on how many tables you have, this can be a lot cheaper (if you just get tiny cakes from the grocery store of wherever), and put one on each table as part of the centerpiece set up.

Cayjungrll

00kim00 .. That is a great idea!!!! I hadn't thought about that.

loveislouder

My mom and dad rented a super fantastic cake, "cut" into it for pictures, fed each other chunks of a cupcake they bought and gave everyone sheet cake.

janeywoo1978

Great ideas. Im going to steal a few of these! Thanks

rsapita

I'm on a tiny tiny budget, so the future husband and I weighed our priorities; Cake was not on top.  Plus, he greatly dislikes cake anyway.  I went to the grocery and custom ordered a full sheetcake and some pies for under $80.  Boom, done. 

theartistformerlyknownas

Most people actually have sheet cakes - the wedding cakes that are displayed are often fake, and sheet cakes are held and cut in the back. We're having a relatively small layered cake (all real) to cut plus sheet cakes in the back. My dad had just sheet cakes. 

Whatever you do, as long as there's cake, I don't care what shape it is.

ohannabelle

Daughter's doing 5 or 6 different 8 inch layered round cakes displayed on assorted cake stands. 

(Hey, who was laughing at me for owning six cake stands? Hah! Who's smug now? Oh, that would be me.)

This is fun, because we get assorted flavors, and from our favorite bakery. There are "fancier" bakeries in Seattle, but Borracchini's makes the best cakes in the universe. Looooove them. I will eat every kind. That's the plan.

chicky1988

LOVE LOVE LOVE all the ideas We are doing sheet cakes from our local grocery (seriously the best EVER) and they can still do fillings! We are undecided about the actual cake but will probably end up doing something small, maybe a 2 tier? I am also having a surprise grooms cake done for my FI out of a sheet cake and having it decorated to look like a disc golf course! Its amazing that by going through a local grocery we are getting so much more cake for our budget! Everyone loves wedding desserts and I feel they get less and less traditional as time goes on so it doesn't have to be the big tiered cakes (we even went to a wedding where they served glazed wedding cake donuts!). Do what works for you and your FI and it will be great!!

pineapplesmoothie

I also decided to do a sheet cake.  The local bakery wanted 2.5 times the cost of a sheet cake for a tiered wedding cake that would only feed 35 people. I was like, no way.  I couldn't justify spending well over $200 on cake for 35.  I went with carrot cake sheet cake and it will be delicious.  My wedding is going to be pretty simple, so it fits right in. 

[Deleted User]

lolo883 said:

Most people actually have sheet cakes - the wedding cakes that are displayed are often fake, and sheet cakes are held and cut in the back. We're having a relatively small layered cake (all real) to cut plus sheet cakes in the back. My dad had just sheet cakes. 

Whatever you do, as long as there's cake, I don't care what shape it is.

This.  Exactly this.  Feed me cake, and I'm happy.

OP--since you're DFW, maybe check with HEB and see what they might be able to do for you?  I love that darn grocery store...every time I visit my MOH in TX, I make a trip.

Alikat9614

We found someone through a friend who just started a cake business. We are getting a steal and FI and I almost feel guilty! The cake is homemade and all tastes amazing and she makes her own fondant out of marshmallows that actually tastes good! We are having a 4 tier round cake (plus a grooms cake) for about $200 including delivery. We ordered it thinking we were having 150 guests (and are only actually having 110). It might not look perfect, but who cares? You cut it and eat it anyway! I think there is nothing wrong with costco cakes as long as it's yummy!

wandajune6

We ordered a smaller fancy cake from a local bakery then have sheet cakes from Costco. FI's sister and mom are padrinos (Mexican tradition, basically sponsorship) for the cake but both are on fixed incomes so we decided to go cheap.

It works well for us though-- his family is a strict vanilla and buttercream group while we love anything chocolate!

00kim00

Just to follow up on my previous post, here's a picture of the cake I put together for my wedding (a Costco cake, cut and stacked then re-frosted and lightly decorated):

badbnagdway

Conventional wisdom is do a smaller "fancier" cake and have a bunch of sheet cake in the back that probably no one even sees, it just gets cut and put out. I also really like the look of doing several regular sized round cakes on varying height pedestals. Some fresh flowers or ribbon on them would dress it up even more and then you also have the option of having a variety of cake flavors.

Alikat9614

Here is how our budget cakes turned out-- we were sooo pleased!