Weddingbee boards

how important is the cake? i used to think it wasnt important but then i started looking at all the cake eye candy online!  well due to my new cake love, our ballroom reception hall has completely underwhelmed me w our cake options (which are included in the package). there are 3 bakers to choose from

1- a well known traditional italian bakery- they dont do tastings and use white "cardboard" flowers. they will leave off some of the frills if you ask nicely.

2- small bakery who is willing to work with you on design & tastings but doesnt do good visual work

3- family bakery who does good work & tastings but upcharges out the wazoo for it.

none of their portfolios impressed me at all and i feel cheated bc i didnt realize they were so bad when we booked the place- 3 options sounded like a LOT. (i wasnt wedding-ed up back then)  we are supposed to choose a cake from their 3 portfolios at our tasting which we didnt do bc i didnt like them. now we have to make a choice.  we could opt for the simplest cake from one of them & then have our florist put fresh flowers on it, or we could even opt out of the cake, receive $3 back for each guest & book another baker. there will be ~ 150 guests & im not sure that is enough to make it worth searching around. what would you girls do? has anyone used fresh flowers on buttercream with success? ive never seen it done in person before.

rosychicklet, id love to see a picture of your friends cake w fresh flowers. i think the first thing to do is ask my venue if there is a cake cutting/ serving fee if we do bring our own cake. i hadnt thought about that!

Opt out of the Cake --- get your money and find someone else.

Tell your venue they need to get some fresh blood on the referral list while your at it. 

Fresh flowers on cakes is a pretty popular thing nowadays.   My bakery just delivered the simple cake to the reception and my florist decorated it with fresh flowers that coordinated with the look of the centerpieces.  If you've booked your florist, ask if they'll do the same.

If one of their 3 vendors has decent tasting cake, try to go that route.  Finding an outside vendor won't be that difficult, but may add up if the venue charges you more for bringing in someone that's not on their "preferred vendor list". 

To answer your question of "how important is the cake", it's something that everyone expects at a wedding.  But if you ask anyone who's attended a wedding if they remembered what the cake looked like and how it tasted, it's probably not at the top of the list.  So make sure it tastes and looks how you want it, but it's the bride & groom that everyone will be focused on.

I would price out another baker first and see if there is something you love that fits in your price range (ie the amount you would be refunded) and is what you are looking for.  If not I would go with baker number 2 and pick a very simple design and add fresh flowers and maybe those crystals on wire or a monogramed topper that would add some pizzaz.  (Although if you go this route you might as well take the money and go with a baker whose cake tastes amazing and will cost less.)

Before you take the $3/guest and find a new baker, make sure the venue doesn't charge a plating fee for outside cakes. My venue had a cake included in their package, and while they did give a $3 credit per guest, their plating fee was $1.75 per guest, so in the end it wouldn't have been worth it.

I had my baker make a really simple cake, frosted in white with some basic piping designs. Then my florist decorated it with roses to match the bouquets, and that was $40. It looked gorgeous. Fresh flowers are always pretty on cakes!