Make the sweet end to your wedding meal a piece of cake with some wedding cake inspiration. The sweet treat adds the perfect decadence to a celebratory day and gives your guests the sugar buzz they need to hit that dance floor all night. Feeling overwhelmed with all the cake options on Pinterest? Worry not, we’re here to give you the ultimate guide to wedding cakes. So, what are the choices?


Naked Cake

Brought into vogue by Christina Tossi of Milk Bar fame (p.s. they ship their cakes), naked cakes are cakes without frosting on the top or sides of the cake. Naked cakes let the cake and the filling be the star of the dessert course. You still get frosting in between the cake layers, and the cakes have a cool, unfinished look. You can top with fresh fruit or flowers-- just make sure that the flowers are food safe (the flowers you buy at the grocery store are treated with pesticides that you won’t want touching your food).


Frosted Cakes

Frosted cakes look elegant and polished, bringing the traditional grandeur one would expect with a wedding cake. There’s not just one way to do a frosted cake-- you’ve got the choice between buttercream or fondant. Buttercream has a sweet flavor and a soft texture. Fondant is great for turning your wedding cake into a work of art. There’s a reason they use it on so many baking shows, but it can be slightly less tasty than traditional frosting.


Color Palette

There are a lot of color choices in wedding planning, and choosing your cake is no exception. A neutral color palette feels classic. For something striking, you can make your cake pop with punchy colors. Drip cakes and geometric cakes are also popular options if you’re looking for a cake that feels #ontrend.


One Cake to Rule Them All? Or an Army of Desserts?

The next choice you have to make is whether to do one cake or many. A tiered cake brings that drama. Who doesn’t love a wedding photo of a couple cutting a towering cake? Tiered cakes are also more expensive because of the structural requirements that go into getting multiple cake layers stacked on top of each other.

If you want to save that cash or offer your guests more variety, you can opt for smaller cakes and other desserts to supplement your cutting cake. You can switch up cake flavors and add cupcakes, donuts, macarons, or one of your favorite treats. Mixing it up can add a lovely touch of visual interest to the dessert table.


Cake Toppers

Cake toppers pack a big punch in wedding photography, and there are so many options now. They add that extra polish to a grand, tiered cake, and they make a small cutting cake look special. You can choose a cake topper with words, flowers, or figurines. Even the figurines are full of variety. You have traditional figurines, modern silhouettes, or you can go for something funny and personal-- like legos or Star Wars figurines.


The Final Touch

Consider how you want the space around your cake to look. Do you want the cake on its own table in the middle of the dance floor for cutting, and then moved to the dessert table after the ceremonial cutting by you and your spouse? Would you like the cake set up with a medley of desserts? Feeling overwhelmed? Worry not! Your caterer has done this a million times and will have plenty of ideas. You can also ask your photographer for suggestions of what’s photographed well in the past.