Answers to all of your wedding cake questions
Are you looking for a wedding cake maker? Don’t know where to start with thinking about a wedding cake? Do you have lots of questions about wedding cakes that you don’t know the answer to? This is the blog post for you!
How much does a wedding cake cost?
This is a question that I’m sure every engaged couple ponders. However, there is not a simple answer to the question. It is a bit like asking, ‘How long is a piece of string? Every cake maker will charge different prices depending on their experience, skill level, geographical area, quality of ingredients used, etc. The price of a cake will also hugely vary depending on the size and complexity of the overall design. A simple, semi-naked cake will be much cheaper than a 6-tier sugar flower-adorned wedding cake, for example.
As a guide from Blueberry Moon Cakes, my wedding cakes start from £415.00–£450.00, for two-tiered cakes. But most people tend to budget between £700-850+, sometimes as much as £1500-2000. I think the wedding cake budget very much depends on how important your wedding cake is to you. Do you just want a wedding cake because you feel you should have one? Or is a cake hugely important to you in how it looks and tastes, and you want a show-stopping masterpiece?
Assess the importance of your cake and set aside an appropriate percentage of your overall wedding budget to make your cake dream a reality. Most wedding cake makers will be happy to provide a no-obligation quotation free of charge and will be able to design a cake that will fit within your budget.
How big will each wedding cake slice be?
Wedding cakes, as a general rule of thumb, are served in 1’“ x 1” size portions (often called ‘finger’ or ‘coffee’ sized portions). This is usually for fruit cakes, which not all cake makers (myself included) offer. Sponge cakes are most often served in 1” x 2” sized (‘dessert’ sized) portions.
Most modern wedding cake makers now make tall wedding cake tiers. Wedding cakes used to be around 3” tall, but now they are mostly at least 5” tall, so you could get away with having smaller cake slices.
How big should my wedding cake be?
If you are serving your wedding cake as the main dessert, you will want to go for a larger dessert-sized portion. If you are serving it in the evening when it won’t be as likely to all be consumed, then ‘finger’ sized portions would be best. Your cake maker can advise on the portion size for your wedding venue to serve based on the size of your cake.
For 100 guests, I would usually recommend a 3 or 4-tier sponge cake depending on the size of the portion required.
I usually advise working on around 70% of guest numbers for a wedding cake if you don’t want lots of leftovers as not everyone eats the cake. But some people like to have extra cake to give out to friends and family who couldn’t attend afterwards.
Can I freeze my wedding cake?
My answer to this question would be ‘yes’ and I can advise on how to store it best and for how long. I have had couples eat frozen wedding cake a year later to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, although I would advise eating it before this to be at its best.
However, you should discuss this with your cake maker. Not all cakes and fillings will be made fresh to order and may already have been frozen. At Blueberry Moon Cakes, we make everything fresh just for you.
Will my wedding cake be OK on a hot day?
In the UK, we don’t always get scorching hot days, but we do get a few. In this case, your cake maker should know how to handle the situation best and ensure your wedding cake stands up until the cake cutting.
A few tips:
- Get your cake maker to deliver the cake as close to the wedding time as possible
- Do not position the cake in front of a window
- If the wedding is in a marquee, keep the cake somewhere cooler and get the venue to bring it out when needed
- Ensure your cake maker puts extra supports into each tier to make it extra stable
- If it is an extremely hot day forecast, you may need to discuss possibly having a dummy cake and separate cutting cake for the kitchen. Be prepared though; this would be more costly as you are having two cakes
If you are worried, discuss your concerns with your wedding cake maker, and they should be able to put your mind at rest.
Can I still have a semi-naked cake in the summer?
I have provided many semi-naked cakes in the summer months and have never had an issue. Just make sure your cake maker follows the guidelines in the question above, and there should not be an issue.
If you are worried about this, then consider an iced cake instead, as they offer much more stability than a semi-naked cake.
Will my wedding cake be delivered to the venue?
This is something you would have to discuss with your wedding cake maker. At Blueberry Moon Cakes, I deliver and set up all of our wedding cakes. Most of my wedding cakes are at least four tiers tall, and I assemble them in situ at the venue. I would not generally try and deliver a four-tier cake stacked, so I would not expect anyone else to do so.
I like to ensure that the cake has been set up how I envisaged it, that everything is perfect on the cake, that the flowers are arranged how I wanted, and that I leave the cake knowing I am 100% happy with how it looks.
I also like to personally hand over cutting and allergen information to the venue and discuss any elements that may not be edible (e.g., dummy tiers) and anything that needs to be removed before cutting.
Delivery and set-up are part of the wedding cake quote from me, and you will be aware of the cost of this before agreeing to the quote.
Can I have different flavours within my wedding cake?
Yes, at Blueberry Moon Cakes, there is no problem having more than one flavour within your wedding cake. With a four-tier cake, most couples have at least three different flavours. Sometimes keeping the top tier just for themselves!
Again, this would be at your cake maker’s discretion and is something that would need to be discussed with them.
How Far In Advance Will My Wedding Cake Be Made?
At Blueberry Moon Cakes, wedding cakes are all made the week of your wedding. Everything is freshly made and nothing is frozen. Usually, it is a 4-day process to make a wedding cake.
- Day 1: Bake the cake and make fillings
- Day 2: Fill and ganache the cake
- Day 3: Ice the cake
- Day 4: decorate the cake, add details and stack some tiers ready for delivery
So if your wedding is on a Saturday, I would begin the making on Tuesday. Sponge cake is tastier after a few days, and once it is sealed in ganache and fondant, it keeps it from drying out. I also brush all of my sponge cakes with sugar syrup to keep them extra moist!
Can I see my wedding cake before my wedding day?
Again, this will be down to your own cake maker’s discretion. At Blueberry Moon Cakes, I’m happy to send a few sneaky peeks’ while the cake is being made if requested, but I like to keep the ‘big reveal’ until the wedding day if at all possible. The surprise of walking into your wedding reception as a newlywed couple and seeing your wedding cake in all its glory can’t be beaten, in my opinion. Sometimes things are much better seen in the flesh rather than in a photograph.
When will I have to pay for my wedding cake?
Every cake maker will have their own terms and conditions regarding payments, so this can vary from person to person. At Blueberry Moon Cakes, I take a £150 non-refundable booking fee to secure the wedding date, and then the balance of the cake is due 28 days before the wedding.
I don’t work on a payment-on-delivery basis as all of the outlay and making of the cake is done in advance, and so I ask to be paid before the cake-making commences so I can ensure I can buy all of the relevant ingredients and resources needed to make your wedding cake.
The exact payment terms should be discussed with your chosen wedding cake maker.
Will there be a charge for delivering my wedding cake?
This will vary from cake maker to cake maker, but as a rule, ‘yes’ there will be a charge for delivering your wedding cake. Most delivery charges include set-up time and will be calculated based on the mileage and driving time to your wedding venue.
Delivery and set-up at Blueberry Moon Cakes start at £25 but can often be more than £150 if the set-up involves a long drive, as I work all over the UK. This will be discussed with you when giving a wedding cake quote.
Will I be given a cake stand and cake-cutting knife?
Most wedding venues have cake stands and cutting knives available to use; however, the style may not fit with the design of your wedding cake as they are often quite traditional.
Some cake makers include cake stand hire in the cost of your wedding cake, and some will make a charge for the hire.
At Blueberry Moon Cakes, I have over 20 cake stands available to hire for your wedding day, the hire cost of which is between £20-90 depending on the stand you choose. I also ask for a refundable damage deposit in case my stands get broken, but thankfully this has yet to ever happen.
Some cake makers will collect the cake stand after the wedding, and some will require you to return the stand to them instead. I mostly do the latter as I am so busy; I just don’t always have time to go and collect cake stands after weddings. Again, discuss this with your chosen cake maker, and they can advise on cake stand hire and return.
Do I have to pay for a cake tasting?
Your chosen cake maker may offer free cake tastings, they may take a deposit to book one, or they may charge to have one; it does depend on their way of working.
At Blueberry Moon Cakes, if you have already secured your wedding date with me, then this includes a free ‘Design & Tasting Consultation’. If you have yet to book your date with me, then I charge £45 for a consultation, but this then comes off the cost of your wedding cake if you choose to go ahead with the booking.
It takes a long time to prepare for cake tastings—baking, planning, finding out information about you as a couple, etc.—which is why I charge for my time, but again, everyone is different, so just check first how your cake maker does things.
Can I have fresh or dried flowers on my wedding cake?
Flowers are absolutely beautiful on a wedding cake, so, yes, absolutely, you can have them. Dried flowers are becoming increasingly popular at the moment and add a more Boho vibe to your wedding cake.
Fresh flowers can be perfectly matched to the rest of your wedding flowers, so all of the details match exactly.
Your cake maker may be confident in working with dried/fresh flowers and might be happy to arrange them on the wedding cake themselves. If not, they can advise your florist about what is needed and how to arrange them safely on the cake.
The most important things to remember here are:
- Do not use any toxic flowers on your wedding cake
- Do not use any overly scented flowers on your wedding cake
- Do not use any flowers with pollen stamens that might drop onto the cake
- Make sure the flowers are added to the cake in the correct, food-safe manner. This is why it is usually better for your cake maker to arrange the flowers on the cake as they have the food safety knowledge and training
If you are thinking about dried or fresh flowers on your wedding cake, discuss the options with your cake maker and their own experience of working with flowers to find the best person to arrange the flowers for you.
Dried and fresh flowers offer a much more cost-effective way of decorating your wedding cake than sugar flowers.
Can I have sugar flowers on my wedding cake?
Yes, of course you can! Sugar flowers are beautiful, and when stored properly, they can last for many years after your wedding day, so can be a great keepsake.
Sugar flowers can be made in colours that fresh flowers don’t exist in; they can also be used to replace seasonal blooms in seasons where the fresh flower alternative is not available, e.g., peonies in winter.
Not all cake makers are skilled in making sugar flowers, so if this is important to you, it is worth looking around for an experienced cake designer.
It is worth noting that sugar flowers can make a wedding cake much more expensive. Even a small arrangement of two to three flowers can cost more than £100, so this is just something to think about if you are on a tighter budget.
How far in advance should I order my wedding cake?
Some cake makers have their diaries open a year in advance, and some, two or even three years in advance or longer.
As a rule, I would say, book your cake designer as soon as you have found the right one for you. If, like me, they only take on a limited number of wedding cake orders per week, then they may get booked up very quickly. There is nothing worse than finding your dream wedding cake designer, only to find they are not available for your wedding day as they are already fully booked.
Can I have polystyrene/dummy tiers within my wedding cake?
Absolutely! You may want a ten-tier show-stopping wedding cake, but you only have 100 guests, so you certainly don’t need 10 tiers of real cake.
Polystyrene/dummy tiers are a great way to add extra height to your cake, without lots of extra cake. And the best bit… absolutely no one will be able to tell from the outside that it is not real cake!
Dummy tiers do tend to be marginally cheaper than real cake (about 20%), but they are not going to save you a huge amount of money. So you may prefer to have the extra cake and freeze it, or give it out to friends and family after the wedding.
Another option for polystyrene tiers to add height is the use of clear acrylic tiers or metal separator tiers, which are becoming increasingly popular.
I now also do a range of faux cakes—dummy cakes that look exactly like the real thing, except… it’s significantly more cost-efficient than the real thing, and best of all, there’s no food waste. No compromise on design, at a fraction of the cost.
Do I have to have a fondant iced wedding cake?
If fondant is not your thing, then absolutely, you don’t need to have it on your wedding cake.
Instead of fondant, you could go for a semi-naked cake, a buttercream-covered cake, or a chocolate ganache-covered cake. There are plenty of options available instead of fondant icing.
However, even if you think you do not like fondant, it is still worth discussing with your cake designer, as a pro cake decorator can roll fondant icing super thin, so you will hardly be able to taste it!
Do I have to have a white wedding cake?
Not at all! Gone are the days of the traditional ‘white’ wedding cake. Modern wedding cakes embrace colour and texture. If you want a pink wedding cake, a blue wedding cake, a black wedding cake, or a rainbow-coloured wedding cake, go for it! With modern wedding cake design, there are no set rules. Be daring and brave, and go for some colour!
If you have any other questions you would like answers to, please send me an email at blueberrymooncakes@gmail.com I would be more than happy to help!
Lots of cakey love
