Let your cake be a beauty to behold!

Tolulope Bamidele, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zion Treats located in Sango Ota, Ogun State and coordinator of Be Proud of Your Cakes and Tutorials, Sango Ota chapter, shares tips on what to consider when picking a wedding cake.

At last a date has been fixed; plans and preparations are in top gear as the wedding bell chimes. Adequate preparation is key to a successful wedding and one of the things that need to be planned for early is the wedding cake which comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, costs, flavours and styles. Below are tips to consider when picking a wedding cake.

A stitch in time: Find your baker early. In choosing the right person to make your cake, make sure you’ve seen their style and know what to expect. Good cake designers have their signature styles and might refuse to copy another baker’s design. He or she will work closely with you to create the cake of your dreams, but will never reproduce someone else’s work because originality is key. So, choose the right cake designer for your wedding day. If you know which bakery you want to work with and are super in love with their cake magic powers, book as early as you can, to avoid disappointment.

Also, you can conveniently find your baker online through social media, online testimonials, and reviews. Wedding cakes can be ordered online from a reputable cake directory. It makes things much easier. If this is your preferred option.

Choose who you want to make your cake and see if they are available and then start an online dialogue. This takes stress off your list. Remember, having a dialogue in writing is much easier to refer back to; it is therefore advisable to have your dialogue documented.

During your first interaction with your baker, discuss date, venue, cost determined by estimated headcount/ number of servings and complexity of the design.

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Your style: Sugar flowers can dramatically spike the cost since they are handcrafted, time consuming and thus expensive, fresh flowers. Sugar flowers? No flowers? A couple might want a spiraling floral cascade similar to the one they’d seen online but can’t afford the extra cost, the baker can then come up with several workarounds, for example, using inexpensive artificial flower accents/ real flowers or going with one or two bold sugar flower accents.

Your budget: If you have a specific cake budget, let your designer know in advance, if the cake you want is more expensive than the cake budget, don’t hesitate to ask your designer for suggestions on how to get the most of what you want within your budget, your designer should be most willing to do this and not cut corners. Couples should however be aware that choosing a simple wedding cake design will not necessarily make it a less expensive wedding cake.

Also, wedding cakes are typically priced based on servings and designs. Some people try to cut corners and use false Styrofoam tiers/dummies, but these are expensive too if they are to be paid for, so why would you pay more for less?

Additional servings: Your cake doesn’t have to be big enough to feed every of your wedding guest especially if your parents invited an additional 501 people to witness your nuptials, surely, you want to make an impact, so before ordering your wedding cake, make sure you have an approximate idea of the number of guests so you choose the right size. This will also give you an indication of price so you know what to budget for.

Go for  a professional: A reality is the fact that well – meaning friends and relatives may offer to bake your wedding cake, either for free or for a token (money for the ingredients as it is often referred to!) It may be hard to decline this offer, but it is left for the couple to decide who makes or mars their wedding cake. Cake baking/decorating is both science and art, so don’t be carried away by sentiments and feelings of the ‘I can bake’ that surrounds you. Choose a professional. Everyone wants to see the ceremonial cutting of the cake, at that point, it becomes the cynosure of all eyes, so, let your cake be another beauty to behold, something unique that your guests will talk about for years as the memory lingers on.Remember, it’s once in a lifetime!

Every penny counts: No matter what professional baker you choose, you will probably be paying more for this cake than any other sweet treat in your life; you will be paying for the time, love, creativity and artistry that you’re professional pours into each of their creations. So, be wise and choose wisely!

Consider your venue: Do ensure that your cake size and style fit the space. Also keep temperature in mind. Buttercream frosting will hold its shape for a while, a little longer if the cake starts out cold and it is displayed indoors. Fondant will hold up better under any weather conditions depending on the formation. Fondant icing is undoubtedly pretty and can be moulded into pretty much whatever you want – not the tastiest but the most recommended.