6 things your cake maker, and you, will want to know
Are you starting to look at venues and narrowing down your favourites?
Have you already booked your dream location and going for a second, third, fourth viewing?
Here’s some things you might want to ask about when it comes to planning how your wedding cake will look on the day.
1) Where will it be positioned?
Everyone loves to have a nosey at the cake, what design you went for and how it incorporates into the day. It will probably be the most expensive cake you ever buy, so you don’t want it to be hidden in a corner with bad lighting!
Consider the backdrop your cake will have.
What’s behind the table?
What’s the view?
Will it be placed with a plain wall or background that fits the aesthetic of the rest of your day?
Are you able to add backdrops or additional styling, should it need a bit of ooomph?
The cake will be captured by your photographer and if you’re having a cake cutting moment everyone will be looking at that scene and so think about what they and the camera will see.
2) Can they style the cake table, or are you able to?
As I said before, if you want to really show off your cake (and why wouldn’t you!) then you may want to think about different ways you can style the table.
Cake hoops, floral arrangements, tealights and other decorations can all elevate what might otherwise be a plain white tablecloth. Why not use similar decoration to your tables to create a feeling of unity and cohesiveness.
If you’re also having a dessert table, then consider whether this can be displayed around the cake or elsewhere. What crockery, platters etc. will be needed to style it – can the venue provide these or will these need to be sourced in addition?
I offer a styling service alongside any cake and dessert table order, get in touch to find out more about what we can do for your cake display!
3) Do they have a cake stand? And more importantly, what does it look like?
Often venues have a cake stand or two as this is obviously such a common need. If they do – great, that’s one less thing for you to think about!
Usually they’re inoffensive, but it’s always worth checking what it actually looks like as well. If you want a cake with a gold theme and their cake stand is silver, that’s going to look really weird.
Or if you want height to your cake, and their ‘cake stand’ is a Jacobs cracker box upside down under a tablecloth (I have seen this happen to another cake maker !) It might be worth considering hiring or buying your own cake stand. I offer a cake stand hire service, with a variety of cake stands, if the venue doesn’t have what you’re looking for.
If you like what they’ve got, it’s worth also finding out what it’s made of and what the diameter of it is. If you are having multiple tiers you want to make sure that
a) the cake isn’t so heavy it’s going to squish their Jacob’s Cracker tub
b) the bottom tier isn’t so much wider than their cake stand that when you come to cut into the base tier, you end up tipping the whole thing!!
4) Do they have a cake knife?
If you’re having the traditional cake cutting moment (fyi you do NOT have to), do you want to purchase a personalised cake knife as a momento (this is really fun to bring out for every future cake cutting event. Even if it’s just to split a Belgian bun). Alternatively, does the venue provide a cake knife and again, what does it look like?
5) Will the cake be moved during the day?
Sometimes rooms are used for multiple parts of the day and so need to be ‘turned around’. The most common reason is turning the dining area into a dance floor. If your cake is beautifully displayed in the centre of the room for everyone to get a full 360 appreciative view of it, but then needs to be moved, it’s worth knowing this in advance.
I will usually deliver your cake in separate tiers and stack at the venue. I leave the cake setup, confident that it will remain upright for the remainder of the day. However, if I don’t know that Uncle Barry and Cousin Lou are going to be lifting the whole cake table to clear the soon to be dance floor, then it is out of my hands.
If you or the venue know that the cake will have to be moved before cutting, then let your cake maker know. There are some additional things we can plan for to enable a cake to be moved once stacked.
6) How, when and where will the cake be served?
Now this might be a question the venue asks you, as in the end they should be able to serve your cake however you wish it to be. But it might be worth asking if they have a standard or recommended way of doing things. For example, have you got tea and coffee included in your wedding package? They might recommend that the cake is served, laid out with this a while after the Wedding Breakfast. Or maybe you want to package each guest up a slice, in which case it is worth checking the venue is happy to box these up individually. If you want the wedding cake to be the dessert for the wedding breakfast, again it’s worth speaking to your venue about the logistics of this.
This is also a really important thing for you to decide as it dictates how many portions your wedding cake maker will cater for. For example, if you are wanting to serve it alongside a ‘help yourself’ tea and coffee station, then I would recommend only catering for about 80% of your guest numbers. If everyone is getting served a slice with their meal, then everyone needs a portion.
So when’s your next venue visit? DId you find this useful?
With every wedding and venue, there may be other specific questions to ask, but these are key and your cake maker should definitely be asking these questions during your design consultation.
Don’t worry if you haven’t got all the answers! As a cake designer, it is my job to not just design and make you a beautiful and delicious wedding cake, but also to ensure we maximise the potential of how it will be displayed to really show it off and make it seamless with the rest of your day.
As part of my service, around a month before the wedding, I will contact the venue directly to organise set up and ensure nothing has been missed with the cake display (I even bring a white table cloth with me on the day, just in case!) However, there is no harm in you getting ahead of the game and being able to plan ahead!
Want to know what else separates a cake designer from a cake maker, read all about that here.
If you would like to find out more about any of these questions, or my recommendations based on your guest numbers, theme and venue please get in touch here.
All the cakey love
