Wedding Reception Forum

Normal-sized cakes as centerpieces

Has anyone tried this or thought about it? We're thinking about having a small wedding cake for the WP and immediate family, and then regular cakes on nice stands at each table. Does this end up looking nice or is it just strange? And does it actually save money?

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Re: Normal-sized cakes as centerpieces

  • My sister did this for her wedding.  It looked really nice, and everyone liked trying the wide variety of flavors that this offered.  But I don't think it actually ended up saving money; most of the cost of a wedding cake is in the labor, and ten small cakes require a lot more time to decorate than one large cake.
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    Sometimes I feel like people think that brides are delicate little flower princesses who get all dressed up and pretty for one special moment of their dreams, when really they're just normal people who just happen to be getting married. Things shouldn't have to be sugar-coated for grown-ass women. -mstar284
  • Just get some pricing. The baker I'm using does mini wedding cakes and full-sized cakes. The minis are between 3 and 15 inches tall. I'm considering either doing the tiny ones, individually boxed, and using those for favors. (We'd have other dessert options and a 6 inch round cake for the cutting ceremony.) Or I might do 1 larger mini cake per table. The thing I like about the individual cakes is that it doubles as the favor and save a cake cutting fee.FYI, I don't think it will necessarily save me money. The minis will be between $350 and $500, depending on what I do, for 60-70 people.
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  • We are planning on doing 6" cakes as centerpieces. One way that I look at the cost factor is that, by doing cakes, you are saving money on something else, like flowers.
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  • We're doing 10 8" centerpiece cakes with irish creme mousse and white buttercream icing with ribbon around the bottom.For our cake it's the same but with a 4-5" layer on top.The individual cakes are $30 each and $50 for ours. So $350 for all. We are feeding 80-100 people.I think it depends on the baker and what you want. We got a quote as high as $600 and we didn't add fondant, roses, flowers, or anything extra. My fiancee doesn't like fruit filling and our theme is irish so he irish creme is the only "extra" or custom item.I'd get a quote on both and then see. I've also seen having a variety of desserts like cheesecakes, boston creme pie, chocolate, and strawberry shortcakes....If you decided to do the variety idea then I know Walmart or most grocers have their variety cakes for $10 ea.  You could have a small cake that you want for your wedding cake and you could really save on the centerpiece cakes....
  • there used to be a pro-pastry chef on the cakes board named brides-mother.  Haven't seen her over there in quite some time. She did this for her daughter's wedding (20 cakes!) and stressed many many times that a 6" cake is PLENTY and if you go bigger you will have a ton of leftovers.  She rented martini glasses, turned 4 of them upside down and used that as the cake stand. I think it looks great and covers the expense of a centerpiece too.
  • love the idea and seems like a lot of fun! who doesn't like cake! If I was one of your guests, I'd go over to all the people I knew and try some of theirs! YUM! Also, I like the idea of doing different cakes on each table... creates depth to the reception!
  • I'm doing the same and my aunt who has done several weddings but isn't a professional is doing it.  They are going to be 6" cakes for $20 each.  "The" wedding cake will be a small two tiered cake.  One layer will actually be fake because only we will be eating it.  Overall though it's all about decoration.  I have very simple decoration.  It's all about the labor. 
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