When you're ready to choose your wedding cake, there are a number of factors that a bride needs to consider.
The cake is one of the most prevalent symbols of your wedding. It will be featured prominently in your wedding pictures and it will be a focal point for your guests when they arrive at the reception hall. Your cake can pull together your colors and wedding theme in one beautiful, delicious package.
There are so many choices available from today's pastry chefs. You can choose standard chocolate and vanilla, you can have fruit or pound cakes or you can delight the palate with cheesecake or cakes with a mousse filling. If you have a favorite cake, most experienced pastry chef can decorate it in just the way you want. You don't even have to stop at one flavor, each tier can be made of different cakes so you can please everyone.
Your cake can be frosted with basic butter cream frosting or rolled fondant or marzipan. You can add lace designs, ruffles and interesting shapes and pipe on any color to match your theme. Ribbons, flowers, bows and swirls can be created from pulled or blown sugar, icing, pastiage or a combination of tasty ingredients and the real thing. Marzipan and sugar flowers can be accented with real ivy leaves and your imagination is the only limit to the size and appearance of your special cake.
Where to start? First, calculate the following:
how many guests
what's your budget for a cake
how many tiers or what design
what colors and decorations should be included
what will you be using as a cake top
will the cake be the main dessert or will it be part of a sweet table
How to find a chef? Here are some tips:
ask your friends...try to remember a wedding you attended which had a wonderful cake and find out who did it
visit bakeries and ask to see pictures and models of their work
taste, taste, taste
What do I need to do? Simple steps:
your cake should be ordered 6-8 weeks in advance
take along your sketches, ideas, pictures pulled from magazines
take samples of your colors to leave with the pastry chef
get it all in writing! Your pastry chef should take care of all details, including getting the cake to the reception hall and setting it up.
Remember that the more elaborate the cake, the higher the cost. Also, the number of guests will affect the price. You'll also have to pay for delivery and set-up and the cost of the cake top, flowers and embellishments which will adorn the cake.
Read more at http://www.bridalzine.com/cake.html
Tips for the DIY Bride
If you are an enthusiastic baker and would like to make your own cake, or if a talented relative or friend offers, think carefully before you choose this option -- it may require more work than you expect. If you have your heart set on creating it yourself, consider baking two or three small cakes with fewer tiers, which are easier to manage in a home kitchen. You also may want to use uncomplicated decorations such as fresh fruit. But even the simplest of wedding cakes still makes a statement -- that the sweetness of married life is easily shared.
Read more at Marthastewartweddings.com: Selecting a Wedding Cake