The sweet spot also known as the cake is a delicious part of planning your wedding. Choosing your wedding cake is fun but it also involves making some difficult decisions based on flavors, the size to order according to your guest count, if you should have other treats and much more. Let’s break down some important facts to help when it’s time to choose your cake.
When Should You Order Your Cake?
Cake designers’ schedule can book up fast especially during busy season such as fall and spring. Each designer has their own preferred schedule but Katyna Sampson of Diva Kakes, LLC, a cake designer who serves the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) along with the Houston, TX markets suggests to “order as soon as you have secured a venue.” Katyna continues “you should wait until you have a venue because many times the venue has a stipulation in their contract that you have to use their baker. You could possibly lose a deposit with another baker if you secure the cake before the venue.”
Layers vs Tiers
At times, layers and tiers are used interchangeably but in actuality they have two different meanings. Katelin Hayes of Katelin Hayes Desserts a professionally trained certified pastry chef who serves the Middle TN area explains the difference between layers and tiers. According to Katelin, “tiers are visible on the outside of a completed cake while layers are how the inside of the cake is assembled.” Katelin gives the following example “if you order a three tier wedding cake from us, each tier will be assembled with four layers of cake and three layers of buttercream. Tiers are usually mentioned when discussing size and design, while layers are usually discussed when choosing flavors and fillings.”
Design of Your Cake
Your cake design should flow with your overall wedding design style. It will help your cake designer if you have photos or sketches of your ideas. Katelin Hayes is great at sketching designs at her consultation meetings.
Couples tend to choose their flavors based on their taste along with thinking of their guest preferences. Each couple is different while some couples choose more than one flavor to satisfy the majority of their guests. Other couples prefer to choose only one flavor. In line with Katyna Sampson’s business, she says “I would not suggest more than one flavor for a wedding cake. It tends to cause chaos with the guests and servers. However, if you would like multiple flavors I would suggest two at the most.”
Buttercream or Fondant Icing
Choosing buttercream or fondant comes down to the cake design according to Rita Streator of City Girl Treats, a custom dessert studio located in Nashville, TN. Rita continues “If a couple wants an intricately designed cake, then the details will likely be done in fondant. However, if they are set on buttercream, there are a plethora of designs to choose from. I take time getting to know and understand the couple’s vision for their big day. I focus on every detail such as colors, florals and wedding aesthetic and advance from there. My clients trust my ability to deliver as well as my design style.”
Wedding Cake Trends 2021
If you are a classic and timeless couple, trends may not be important to you. For those who would like to stay above the curve and offer guests a more trendy experience, Katelin Hayes notes “this year’s trends are looking a little different due to the year we all just survived. I am seeing smaller, more intricate cakes, incorporating wedding colors. Another trend that is still surviving the test of time is textured buttercream cakes accompanied by bite size desserts.”
Rita Streator states dessert tables are still a big trend. Couples love the idea of giving their guests options to choose from, and guests absolutely love the array of choices. I do not see this trend disappearing any time soon.” Some of Rita’s most requested dessert table treats are gourmet cupcakes, cake pops, chocolate covered strawberries, customized cookies, and mini dessert shooters. “You can never go wrong with any of them and they can be designed to match the wedding colors and aesthetic”, continues Rita.
The bottom line is there is more to the art of choosing a wedding cake than meets the eye. I advise you to sit down with your chosen cake designer and your wedding planner to talk out the details.
In case you missed last week’s article, I gave three steps to choosing your venue. Check out the article here.
A big thank you to the three talented cake designers who contributed to this article.
Katelin Hayes of Katelin Hayes Desserts, a custom bakery that makes custom cakes, wedding cakes, decorated cookies, pies and a little bit of everything in between. All of her desserts are handmade from scratch using high quality ingredients. Katelin graduated from Sullivan University with a pastry arts degree in 2012 and have been baking in the Nashville wedding industry ever since. She opened her own business, Katelin Hayes Desserts in 2016. Katelin can be reached via email at katelin@katelinhayes.com or her website.
Katyna Sampson of Diva Kakes, LLC was birthed in El Paso, TX from being a bored military spouse. After purchasing a birthday cake for her son’s first birthday, she said “I can do this”. Fifteen years later, she has made numerous custom cakes for birthdays, weddings, private and corporate events. She has also ventured into various custom treats: cookies, chocolate covered fruits and treats, candy apples and popcorn to name a few. Diva Kakes, LLC started out as a hobby but has grown exponentially. It gives her satisfaction to make an event sweeter and seeing those smiles when they see and taste their cakes and/or treats. Katyna can be reached via email at sampsk@yahoo.com or via Facebook at Diva Kakes, LLC.
Rita Streator of City Girl Treats specializes in small treats, wedding & celebration cakes, dessert table design and setup. Her specialty items include custom themed cookies, cake pops, candied apples, dessert shooters and much more. Her wedding and celebration cakes are created to match her clients’ special occasion and give attention to detail such as theme, color and aesthetic. Rita’s business was born in 2015 after her son went off to college. She is a Nashville native, which is represented by the Nashville skyline inside of the rolling pin in her logo. She has a love for baking and creating art with small, intricate details. The smaller the details, the better. You can reach Rita via her website or email at citygirltreats@gmail.com.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide advice to your clientele for their celebrations big and small!
~Katyna
Diva Kakes, LLC
Thank you so much Katyna for your advice. It is greatly appreciated!