Getting married? You need a wedding cake specialist …
Everyone knows that a wedding is one of the most important events that any couple can share together and making the day special is a time-consuming and stressful undertaking – which is one of the reasons why wedding planners are so much in demand. Choosing the dress, the theme, the colour scheme, the flowers, the venue and the guest list are all rather overwhelming for any bride, whilst the average groom is quite happy to hand over these choices to his bride and just turn up for the wedding at the right time and on the right day.
The cake cutting ceremony is an essential part of the reception
There is one more element to a wedding which is often the showpiece of the whole occasion, and that is the wedding cake. The cake is such an integral part of the whole theme and ceremony and the cake cutting ceremony is one of the pivotal moments of the reception and appears in almost all wedding photographs.
The cake is the centrepiece of your reception
Whilst wedding cakes may not be a part of the ceremony in all cultures, they do predominate in modern Western culture. The cake is usually displayed as a centrepiece on its own table, and is served, after the cutting ceremony, to the guests at the reception. Sadly, though, some of these wedding cakes are not even distributed amongst the guests, whilst others may consist mainly of props with just a couple of layers of actual cake.
There are two main reasons why we have wedding cakes
The tradition behind having a wedding cake is twofold: the cutting ceremony is seen as the first act that the husband and wife carry out together as a married couple, as well as being seen as a bringer of good luck to all the guests and the couple.
Barley bread or wedding cake? Need you ask?
It is an interesting fact that it was once a Roman wedding tradition for a groom to break a piece of barley bread over the bride’s head to symbolise, amongst other things, his dominance over her as her husband. Thankfully, this is no longer fashionable! Pre the Victorian era, the bride used to cut the cake alone, but when tiered cakes came into fashion, together with the necessary thickening and hardening of the icing to support the different layers, the bride needed the additional strength of her husband to successfully cut the cake.
There are no hard and fast rules in the design of your cake
Wedding cakes come in many different shapes, sizes, colours and themes, and almost nothing is off-limits when it comes to creativity in this specialised field. Whereas cakes used to be completely white, with white sugar flowers as decoration, they now often conform to the colours of the wedding and even the season in which the wedding is held.
The rise in skill, knowledge and creativity of wedding cake specialists, as well as the increased importance many brides attach to their wedding cakes has made these creations ever more elaborate and intricate. Some celebrity wedding cakes have been completely over-the-top with rainbow coloured lighting being built into the decorations, or many-tiers which produce a cake which is taller than the bride and groom. The original wedding cakes were simple affairs of two or three tiers – the bottom cut and shared during the ceremony, the middle layer distributed in small, decorated boxes after the event, and the top, smaller tier, kept frozen until the celebration of the birth of the first baby, when it was shared with family and friends.
Match your cake perfectly to the theme of the wedding
Whatever your needs are, a skilled wedding cake specialist will be able to produce the cake that befits the occasion. Whether it is a simple, low-key country or small family wedding, or a lavish celebration with dozens of guests in a smart venue, a wedding cake specialist will bake, build, decorate and produce a cake which reflects the theme perfectly. Whether it is simple and understated with fresh flower decorations or comprises many tiers with intricate sugar decorations, these specialists will produce the perfect cake for the occasion.
Break old traditions and ditch the fruit cake!
Traditional wedding cakes were mainly heavy fruit cakes with thick fondant icing made from sugar, corn syrup, glycerine and gelatine. Modern brides and grooms want cakes which are lighter, such as their favourite chocolate, vanilla, carrot or lemon cake, so for those couples who do not like fruit cake, they actually get to eat and enjoy their own wedding cake You name it – the wedding cake specialist will make it happen.
How to find the right wedding cake specialist
Check their online ratings and customer reviews
Wedding cake specialists are not your average daily cake bakers. Whilst they are perfectly capable of producing any cake, there must be that extra expertise, knowledge, experience and creativity to create a wedding cake. These specialists can be found through advertisements in bridal magazines or through enquiries from wedding and event planners, wedding dressmakers, certain florists and through the Yellow Pages. Alternatively, you can always look online through search sites such as Uptasker. Since this site lists in geographical locations, finding one in your area is that much easier. You will also have access to online ratings and reviews from other customers who have used these providers, as well as one-click links to websites, if available, so you can see the kind of cakes the specialist produces. You could also ask for online quotes through Uptasker if you know exactly what you want and can then compare prising and suggestions from different suppliers. If possible, use word-of-mouth referrals from friends and family, which is always a safe option.
