How to choose a Wedding Cake

It’s best to start considering what you would like soon after you’ve chosen your reception site and the style of your wedding. It may help to look at photographs in magazines and books or online for inspiration.

Think about the look and the flavor you desire to help narrow your focus. Have you always wanted a pristine white cake? Or maybe you love strawberry filling. The ideas you find may help you come up with creative ways to incorporate your favorites so they fit your wedding. (Source: Martha Stewart Wedding)

Design

The cake’s design should match the aesthetic of the day.

A formal wedding generally calls for a structured, multitier cake; it can be elaborately or simply decorated, so long as its style implies something ceremonial and grand. These cakes are often round, but square or even hexagonal shapes are more unexpected — and the tiers can be stacked for a solid look or set on pillars for an airy grace.

White is the classic color for a wedding cake, but chocolate and tinted frostings can be just as elegant.

Flavor

As for the flavor of the cake, often the layers are white or yellow cake, but there’s no reason they can’t be chocolate, lemon, carrot, or hazelnut, to name a few.

You can also tailor the cake to the rest of the meal; for example, a Mediterranean-themed dinner might inspire an orange-flavored cake, while an Asian feast could end with a cake featuring ginger.

The fillings are another way to bring in more flavor. In addition to buttercream or other frostings, you can select jam, lemon curd, fruit purees, whipped cream, or chocolate fudge to complement the cake. (Source: Martha Stewart Weddings)