When I married my husband (just over 2 years ago) I had no
idea what I wanted in a cake. I knew I
wanted something tasty… and frankly I just didn’t want an ugly cake.
Oh boy. Thinking back
on the experience, knowing what I know now, I would have done so many things
differently! And geez, it seems like brides
have it so easy these days with Pinterest and so so so many wedding blogs!
So without further ado here’s my top 7 tips to
consider when ordering your wedding cake.
1. Know your style.
This goes without saying but, do your homework and know your
style. Before you can envision what you
want your cake to look like, you need to have a grasp of what your wedding is
going to look like. Are you having a
traditional wedding with red roses and black ties or a more country
wedding with lace and peonies wrapped in burlap? The feel of the cake is important because
frankly, for the majority of the evening it will be another decoration in the
corner of the room until that fateful moment when you and your significant
other will cut pieces and gently and lovingly feed cram it in each
other’s faces.
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| Aren't we cute? Copyright 2010 Travis Williams Photography |
Moral of the story, you want the cake to look like it
belongs and not like it was delivered to the wrong venue or was meant for the
Bar Mitzvah next door.
2. Do your homework.
Don’t be afraid to go to your cake appointment with
pictures. If I learned anything in Art
School it was you get ideas from looking at other people’s work.
It is crazy to think when I got married that Pinterest
didn’t exist.
There are so many great resources out there to become
inspired by. Do what feels good to you
whether that be going to your local bookstore and grabbing every bridal magazine
in sight and pitching camp, or sitting on the couch with your laptop browsing wedding
blogs until your heart’s content while watching Bridezillas or Say Yes to the
Dress… I digress.
The point is, get out there and see what is going on in the
wedding world and what inspires you. I
am a personal fan of Pinterest, mostly because it doesn’t require one to
become a hoarder. When I planned my
wedding I went with the bridal magazine route and had a million pages from
random magazines ripped out in a pile on my desk and had a hard time making
sense of it all. Pinterest (for those of
your not familiar) will not only change your life but will also give you one
easy place to find your treasures. More
simply it is an online inspiration board.
The best thing about Pinterest is that it links your beauties to their
original source. I can’t even count how
many times I saved an image to my desktop and then cursed myself later for not
remembering where I found it.
Pinterest is the answer, and I am a believer.
Check out my Pinterest page -> http://pinterest.com/ksprulescakes/
Whatever you decide, be sure to bring pictures (or your ipad
with your Pinterest boards) to your cake appointment. Show your baker/cake decorator cakes you
like, your invitation, samples of the tablecloths or pictures of your wedding
dress. Bring examples so your cake
decorator can see the whole picture and get an idea of what kind of wedding you
want and what kind of taste you have.
They are not mind readers. Don’t
assume they are.
3. Don’t assume anything.
This was one of the problems I had. I assumed too much.
I don’t know about you, but when I get a good feeling about
someone, I trust them… almost too much.
When planning my wedding I assumed my florist got my vibe. I thought we were on the same page. And turns out, we were not. Don’t trust that people can read your
mind. Bring pictures, ask for sketches,
make sure you know what you are getting and what you are paying for.
4. The Devil’s in the
Details.
When planning a wedding everything feels like a detail. Details, though small, are important
(especially to a bride and don’t even think about telling her
differently)! When all of these teeny
tiny little details are what your life revolves around as a bride, it all can
get a tad bit super duper overwhelming!
Take a deep breath.
It is going to be okay.
Some details are really crucial in figuring out BEFORE you
go to your first cake appointment.
This is hard, I know. You probably don’t know for sure how many people
are coming to your wedding at this point in the planning process. But you should be able to tell your cake
decorator a ballpark estimate… whether it is a small wedding of 50, a medium
size of 150-200 guests or a full on invasion of 1,000+ of your closest friends.
Knowing how many guests you are thinking of
inviting will help your cake decorator design your cake, so you have an
appropriate amount of servings. You
definitely don’t want to run out of cake or have way too much. And there is such a thing as having too much
cake. Trust me.
DETAIL #2 WHEN is your
wedding taking place?
Typically,
everyone wants to get married in the same wonderful months of the year. Therefore bakeries and cake decorators get
booked EARLY. Not to go back to my own
wedding again (but I am), when I was planning and deciding on a cake, I
remember asking one of the bakeries on my short list how many cake orders they
take for a given weekend. Their answer
surprised and disgusted me. This bakery
said they will take as many orders as they can get! Really dude?
You really think I’m going to trust you to make my precious wedding cake
when you are telling me that you are basically just out to make as much money
as you can!? Yeah right! No thank you sir.
Find a baker/cake decorator that you jive with. Make sure you feel comfortable with them and
they are telling you all of the things you want to hear. Your cake should be their priority. End of story.
DETAIL #3 WHERE is the
wedding?
Where is your venue and is it far from your baker? Is your baker/cake decorator familiar with
your venue? No biggie if not, just make sure you give
your baker the name and number of a contact person at the venue. You can figure out details later.
DETAIL #4 Can the cake be DELIVERED?
Is delivery
of your wedding cake an option? If so,
do it. The last thing you want to worry
about is if Uncle Joe remembered to pick up the wedding cake in his
minivan. Delivery is well worth the
money in my opinion. Let an expert drive
the bumpy rode to the wedding venue.
Plus most professionals have it down to a science (rolling cart and all)
and have TONS of experience delivering fragile and delicate cakes.
You don’t want to have an aneurism because
someone dropped the cake while taking it out of Uncle Joe’s minivan.
DETAIL #5 What is your BUDGET?
Cakes are
expensive. But, you get what you pay
for. If you don’t believe me, take a moment
and visit: http://www.cakewrecks.com/
Like all things in life, you totally get what you pay
for. If a price seems too good to be
true, it probably is. Lots of bakers out
there use inferior ingredients to cut costs.
For example making buttercream using Crisco or using box cake mixes
instead of baking the cakes from scratch using good ole flour, eggs, butter,
etc. If your budget is an issue cut back
on decorations or provide your own fresh flowers to use as decoration. I mean it makes sense: the more decorations,
the higher the price. Most bakers charge
by the slice and increase the price depending on amount of detail in the
design.
Take a moment before your appointment to discuss your budget
with the important people in your life and go into your appointment with a
realistic number you are willing to spend.
There may be some room for negotiation.
Keep in mind a human being is baking and decorating your cake so the
more intricate the design the longer it is going to take to make and in turn
the higher the price. Hand piping and
sugar flowers will be your number one price increaser.
5. Taste your cake.
Once you chose your baker/cake decorator make sure you do a
tasting. Not all cake taste the
same. Make sure you taste what you will
be getting on your wedding day. As I
stated above not all businesses use the best ingredients (hey I’m keeping it
real) although I wish everyone did. Before going to Culinary School I didn’t
realize the difference. I mean I did,
but I didn’t. I knew there were certain
cakes I could eat three helpings of and other cakes that I could have 2 bites
of and be done. We could talk all day
about the difference in mouth-feels between this ingredient and that but really,
who cares? The question is, could you eat it all day long and then have dreams
about it or have two bites and never think of that cake again… that my friends
is the difference quality ingredients make.
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6. Sign on the dotted
line.
Just like doing any business deal you want to have a
contract that clearly states everything.
Review all of the paperwork and make sure EVERYTHING is correct. All addresses, phone numbers, contact
information, delivery times and procedures… make sure you baker knows EVERYTHING
they need to. You are paying them for a
service to make your day (and cake) stress free. Speaking of “paying them’… make sure you are
on top of due dates for deposits and know when your final balance is due. It would be a shame to lose you baker because
you got the dates wrong.
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7. Stay in touch.
The closer your wedding date gets, the more people you are
going to have on speed dial. I’m not
saying you need to be BFF’s with your baker but for sure be on a first name
basis. Be in touch. Ask questions if you have them. Touch base.
A week before my wedding I called to confirm my cake
order. My baker said, “Oh yes, I see
your order… a chocolate cake, covered in chocolate buttercream for 160
people”. NOOOOOOOOOOO! I freaked.
I had not ordered a brown wedding cake.
My cake was supposed to be cream with cream flowers. Luckily, I called. That would have been melt-down-city if I
walked in and saw a brown wedding cake chillin’ in the corner of my wedding
reception.
My wedding cake ended up being perfection... and not brown. See below.
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In conclusion, know your style, do you homework, and don’t
assume ANYTHING. The Devil’s in the Details so try not to freak out. Be sure to
taste your cake (duh! that’s the fun part). Don’t forget to sign on the dotted line and stay
in touch.
When all is said and done, your wedding day will be one of
the happiest, most memorable and exciting days of your life. The only thing better than that, is having a
happy, memorable and exciting wedding day with an amazingly beautiful and delicious
cake!
Happy Planning!
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| Copyright 2010 TravisWilliams Photography And have a very happy wedding :) |
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| Copyright 2010 Travis Williams Photography |
