Let them eat Cake!
If you are a regular reader of the wedding guide, you might have noticed a theme that crops up almost as much as photography! Cake is definitely a big part of the wedding celebrations and a topic very close to my heart.
My lovely Gran made wedding cakes and as a child I never tired of going to her house to see her latest creation proudly displayed on her dining room table. She was particularly talented at sugar paste decorations and there were always stunning flowers and leaves to compliment the brides bouquet.
The majority of my Gran’s cakes were traditional fruit cake but as time and taste has changed so have the cakes themselves so what are your options and what are some alternatives if you don’t actually like it?
While the cake itself isn’t often photographed, the exterior and the decorations will appear in a lot of pictures. The image of the happy couple cutting the cake is an image that most people are familiar with and it will be on display for most of the wedding reception.
A few years ago I photographed a wedding where the bride had chosen a plain, traditional cake but had asked the florist to make the decorations, they were small extracts of the flowers from her bouquet and the effect was really elegant and beautiful.
Another popular option is to have a a cake topper, they are often made from paper or card but can also be wooden or even metal. They are inserted into the top of the cake and can be kept as a keepsake. They look lovely and can be a very economical decoration.
A lovely spin on the traditional iced cake is to have one that’s naked! The first time I heard about this style of cake I assumed that they would only work for birthdays and family gatherings but when I finally saw one at a wedding I was actually really impressed, it looked beautiful and it tasted amazing too!
But what if you don’t like cake at all? It’s definitely not an essential part of the day and if neither of you like it then there are plenty of interesting alternative. The best known is probably the Croquembouche, a fabulous french creation that is just as beautiful (and delicious!) as any cake. Another popular alternative is a cheese wheel! It can still be decorated, displayed in tiers and even cut in the same way as you might a cake.
A simpler version of the tiered wedding cake is to offer cupcakes. At a lot of small weddings (especially those taking place with the stricter Covid restrictions) cupcakes work really well as you can simply order as many cakes as you need. I’ve also been to weddings where this has been used to accommodate dietary requirements such as gluten, nut or dairy free.
On a final note, a lot of people are unsure about what time they should cut the cake, in all honesty it doesn’t really matter but the most popular options are: at the start of the meal, immediately after the meal or at the start of the evening reception. If you are only having photographs for a few hours then I usually suggest that you cut the cake earlier, another option is to do a ‘pseudo-cake-cutting’ with just the photographer and the couple.
