Is the Pillared Wedding Cake Construction For You?

Pillared wedding cakes are among the most popular of wedding cake construction style. Indeed, this style can be used to create a stunning centerpiece for a wedding reception. The question, though, is whether or not pillared wedding cake construction styles are appropriate for any particular wedding.

To answer this question, it is useful to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the pillared wedding cake style.

Pros

• Added height provides drama - the wedding cake is normally the centerpiece of the design scheme for the wedding reception. A pillared wedding cake construction adds anywhere from a few inches to more than a foot of height to a wedding cake helping it to become the focal point of the wedding reception it is designed to be.


• Particularly useful to make a small wedding cake look bigger – a wedding cake that serves a hundred people or less might not look all that impressive without the added height of a pillared construction.


• Allows more decorations on each tier of the cake – For a bride that wants more surface space for decorations (regardless of whether it is elegant crystal wedding cake jewelry, a series of themed cake toppers, fresh flowers, fruit, or some creation she wants to commission the pastry chef to sculpt) the pillared wedding cake construction is worth considering because it allows space to add decorations on each pillared tier of the cake.

Cons

• Extra surface area means added decorating cost to the wedding cake – Extra decorations means extra labor. Extra flowers or fruit can be expensive and a bride will still have to pay the pastry chef to arrange the flowers or fruit on the cake. Note: Since a pastry chef’s reputation is dependant on the appearance of the wedding cake, do not count on them allowing the florist or the bride’s aunt Jane to add to the cake later – of course, once the pastry chef has gone the cake is yours to do with as you choose… as is the risk.


• Less stable – If there are going to be young children or animals at the wedding, or if the cake will need to be placed in a high traffic area, or if there is a relative famous for drinking way too much, way to early, then a pillared wedding cake construction might not be the right choice. The added height of the pillars makes the cake more liable to collapse and while that might win some money on America’s Funniest Home Videos, most would prefer to avoid it at their wedding.


• Not Normally for Do-It-Yourselfers - Stacking a pillared wedding cake is not terribly difficult, if you know what you are doing. But the placement of each pillar is critical and, depending on the size of the cake, can be unforgiving. If a pillar is placed in the cake that later needs to be changed a hole is punched that will have to be patched and may create instability in the cake. It will, at least, make the decorating process more difficult because a patch is never as smooth as the original icing.

Is a pillared wedding cake construction for your wedding? That is for you to decide. The upside in drama is huge but the risk is large as well. It all depends on the couple’s comfort level with the risk and style choices.

Stacked Wedding Cakes

If you’re like most brides to be you’ve thought a lot about your wedding cake. But have you thought about your wedding cake construction options? In short, besides for appearance, why choose a stacked wedding cake over one with separator plates and pillars, or a cake stand?

When we talk about a stacked wedding cake we mean the traditional tiered wedding cake with each tier placed directly atop the next largest one with the smallest tier resting on the top. This style is popular for many reasons:

• A stacked wedding cake can be beautiful. It offers an opportunity for continuity from on tier to the next that is unmatched by any other options for constructing your wedding cake. Imagine a trailing floral pattern snaking up the side of the wedding cake from one tier around to the next. Or perhaps a forest glen themed cake with the image of a water fall cascading from one level to the next. If the cake wasn’t stacked this opportunity would not normally exist.


• If your pastry chef knows their business it is one of the most stable styles of wedding cake display.


• A stacked wedding cake offers perhaps more room for creativity than most other construction styles. Imagine a stack of cakes that resemble a pile of gifts. Imagine an octagonal tier atop a paisley shaped tier. The direct connection between tiers allows the structural stability for your pastry chef to go wild with your design ideas.


• A stacked wedding cake is better suited for the use of crystal wedding cake jewelry decorations that are designed to accent the entire cake than other styles of wedding cake display.
  

Cons

• A stacked wedding cake is only as tall as the combined height of the cake itself. Thus, if the guest count (number of servings) is small the wedding cake might be limited in its dramatic effect.


• It is difficult to assemble – really! Just setting one cake on top of the next largest will usually result in disaster. There are techniques involved in both the creating of the stability and in the actual act of stacking the cakes without destroying the beauty of the icing. And yes, believe it or not some bakeries do not provide set up. If a bride chooses to use a bakery that does not a provide set up and the person in charge of the cake does not have experience doing so then the stacked wedding cake option is probably not a good choice.
  

A stacked wedding cake is a wonderful choice if the selection fits the brides’ specific situation. If it does not… no worries. There are other forms of wedding cake construction that will serve just fine.

Country Club Weddings

Is a country club a good choice for your wedding? The answer to this question is not as simple as whether country clubs are good or bad. It is a matter of the couple's priorities. As a result a country club wedding might be a horrible choice for one couple and a great choice for another.

Advantages:

• Manicured landscape
• Well maintained facilities
• Specially designed facilities – gazebos, banquet rooms
• Adequate parking and restroom facilities
• Convenience / Lower stress levels - This is because, often country clubs offer packages that include catering and cake at least and often many or all of the traditional wedding elements. This saves you time and stress arranging everything yourself.
  

Disadvantages:

• The chance of hearing someone nearby yell, “Fore!” just as the pastor asks, “Do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?” during the ceremony. I've seen it happen.
• Elevated prices / low quality elements. The country club that offers package deals including catering, wedding cake, photography, DJ services, or any other element of your wedding either has to serve as a middle man, which means you are paying them to put everything together. It could work a number of ways; they might pay their suppliers a retainer to be available when they need their services. Or they have suppliers who give them a volume discount, but often these types of arrangements result in less than exemplary workmanship. In any case, the standards are that of the coordinator, not yours.
• It is never wise to let someone else choose your wedding photographer. He or she not only has to be able to work a camera, they also have to be able to set you and your party at ease and that is a personality thing that only you can decide.
• Due to the institutional nature of using a big venue that hosts special events for a lot of groups, if something like your crystal wedding cake jewelry is not claimed at the right place and time, it could easily get lost in the shuffle - and the bride is out an important keepsake.
• The problem is that unless you have recently attended a wedding at that country club set up in the exact same way as yours is, then you have no idea how good or bad any of the elements are. The cake might look nice but taste like sawdust plastered with sweetened lard. The DJ might not do anything more than play his or her standard wedding music – even if it’s thirty years old!
• Furthermore, the country club is going to employ a waitstaff that does not necessarily specialize in wedding events. For example, I once attended a wedding that, when the wedding cake was brought out to be served it was obvious that the staff had received zero instruction in how to cut a wedding cake.
• There are often hidden charges like janitorial, bar tending, parking, etc.
• There may well be other wedding parties bouncing around and with potentially competing sound levels or space issues.
• Doesn't maintain a particularly strong religious or ethnic theme if that is important.

These are just a few of the issues that any bride needs to consider before choosing a country club as their wedding venue. All in all getting married at a country club can be a beautiful event, if the couple has considered the challenges before hand and decided what is important to them.