When to Start with Wedding Cake Design

Planning a wedding is not easy. There are so many elements to consider. Often, as a result wedding cake design is put off until the end.

Foolish.

True, the actual baking of the cake should not happen until the last few days prior to your wedding (watch out, I've heard reports of bakeries that bake wedding cakes months in advance and keep them in the freezer until they need them - yuck), but baking and the actual building of the cake is only one of the last steps of the wedding cake design process.

The real question is what kind of wedding cake do you want? Do you want it to be a visual centerpiece of your wedding reception design? If so you need to start early to incorporate your overall design.

Think through the details of the kind of design you would like:

• Is your reception a formal, elelgant event? Consider a tall, hexagonal, regal cake matching the design of your wedding dress, accented with your favorite flowers and crystal wedding cake jewelry.

• Is your reception more whimsical? Consider a square or rectangular cake stacked in an offset fashion and decorated with fondant to look like a stack of gifts with a large bow on top.


• For a Cinderella themed wedding consider a round or oval tiered cake with a crystal pumpkin cake top making it's way up toward the castle somewhat in the style of the cake pictured to the right.


• For an Asian themed wedding consider an ivory colored cake with delicate lotus flowers or cherry blossoms - or go more bold with reds and yellows.

The options are nearly infinite. The trick, however, is to find a pastry chef who can make the wedding cake that you envision. Some can. Some can't. Some won't. Take time early in your wedding planning process to decide on a design concept at least - then you can start the process of finding a bakery that can provide that centerpiece wedding cake that you want.