Wedding Cake 101: Dos and Don'ts

The cake is one of the highlights of the reception. It is a key picture point, a memorable souvenir, and it's also the easiest thing to mess up. It might seem impossible to mess up a cake, but since it's a key photo centerpiece, it's easier than you think. Sliding levels, leaning cakes or outright accidents, they have happened before and can happen again. So, let's take a moment to look at some simple do's and don'ts to help you avoid wedding cake related drama.

Do remember that gravity affects your cake

Delicate designs may look pretty, but as cakes need to be moved to the ceremony, it's very easy for those designs to slip. If you want a tall cake and not a Leaning Tower of Pisa, you need to keep your design simple and straightforward.

Don't forget that butter cream melts in heat and fondant sweats in cold

Let's face it, you definitely don't want a cake that is falling apart or sweating more than your crazy uncle. Take into account the season and the weather when picking your icing just the same as you would when picking your dress or flowers.

Do remember that people eat dinner first

It's easy to order WAY too much cake. Remember, cake isn't cheap, and the last thing you want is to be taking home ten or twenty pounds of leftover cake. The cake comes after the dinner, so take that into your calculations.

Don't forget to arrange for your cake early

The people you go to for your wedding cake can likely make miracles happen, but these miracles take time. So, make sure to make arrangements with them early on. It gives them the time to do their best work and ensures that you won't be paying a premium for it. Listen to their advice, as they do this for a living and they want the wedding to succeed as much as you do.

The last minute wedding cake drama makes for great television, but unless you want an ulcer as a wedding gift, you want to keep your stress level down. Leave the drama for TV.

Cake should be enjoyed, not lamented

Keep these simple rules in mind and your cake cutting will be the seamless portion of your wedding reception that it's meant to be. After all, once the cake is cut, everyone eats the evidence, so you just need to make it to that point and you are safe.

Story by Alex Conde