Outdoor Reception: Worried About the Cake

beccabuckle

I'm planning my wedding reception to be outdoors at a local park and I'm concerned about the cake...  I'm worried bugs will fly into it or bees will show up uninvited.  I was thinking about making a mini cake canopy for it, but I'm not sure.  Does anyone have any tips or suggestions?

Thanks!

bunni727

Rules in all parks are different, as is weather in all locations, so the best I can do is tell you about ours.

We went to the park early that morning and let off a bug spray thing. We also had a giant citronella candle burning in the space all day. We didn't have any trouble at all, and I can't think of too many places with more bugs that KY in the early summer. You may attract more if you use lots of real flowers, though. We used artificial.

We had a buttercream cake, and were worried about heat. The baker delivered our cake immediately prior to the ceremony, and we chose a well shaded spot for it under the shelter. It look great the whole time, with no melting or anything like that.  Hope this helps!

Oh, and the cake canopy sounds like it could be cute. I just think you might not need to worry about it. Maybe you could have a picnic in your park when it warms up to see how many pests are around?

beccabuckle

Thanks Bunni!  We aren't using real flowers for the wedding so we're safe there.  I was thinking about citronella candles on each table.  The biggest problem is that my parents are making my cake (at the moment) and they are staying in a hotel room.  I think it wouldn't be problem for them to run to the hotel and grab the cake then come back, but I should probably ask them first.  This helps and makes me feel better. 

bunni727

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_outdoor-weddings_outdoor-reception-worried-about-the-cake?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:666Discussion:f95a9284-dc3f-418a-bde6-efd18e0c411bPost:3ae4dbe8-c57c-463b-8503-8a8aeadb5b57">Re: Outdoor Reception: Worried About the Cake</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks Bunni!  We aren't using real flowers for the wedding so we're safe there.  I was thinking about citronella candles on each table.  T<strong>he biggest problem is that my parents are making my cake (at the moment) and they are staying in a hotel room.  </strong>I think it wouldn't be problem for them to run to the hotel and grab the cake then come back, but I should probably ask them first.  This helps and makes me feel better.  =)
Posted by beccabuckle[/QUOTE]

Hmm, that does complicate things. Where will they be storing the cake? How will they transport it? For that matter, how big is it? Truthfully, that's the main reason we hired a "real" baker: A family friend offered to do it, and would have done an amazing job, but we just couldn't sort out the logistics of having her bring it to a park 3 hours from her home.

As for the citronellas, you might want to have them pulled before the guests arrive to the reception space. The smell can be kind of off-putting to people, esp around food. Or maybe you could set up some kind of citronella perimeter, with the lantern-type ones around the edges of the reception area to keep the bugs away but not be right up on anyone's food.