The wedding cake is an interesting part of the ceremony. It does not take a huge part of the budget, some venues when you book with them will offer you a free wedding cake in fact. However, every little bit counts when you're planning a wedding and cheap wedding cakes can help take a bit off that budget!
I also find it interesting that cakes have two roles in weddings:
The first is it gets its own special moment for a good five to ten minutes with the cake cutting ("Yes! Smash the cake in his face woohoo!"). And after the spotlight the cake is sent out for everyone's enjoyment (or critique)
So, how to get a nice "show" cake for the first part, and a nice "eating" cake for the second part, is what we're after here. Here is my list of cheap wedding cakes ideas!
For the "show" part, you can get a "show" cake.
- The "show" cake does not need to serve everyone, it can be smaller (and cheaper!). It is there for show
- You can "rent" a cake. Unfortunately that means you can't necessarily smash it. One wedding I was at the bride and groom cut into the cake for photographers and then that was it. The bakery then fixed it up and sent it to the next wedding
- You can make a "fake" cake. Styrofoam or something cheap underneath. It's the outside that counts
- Correction for item 2). You can have a piece of cake on a plate nearby for the ceremonial cake smashing!
- Instead of stacking the cakes on top of each other, use a unique holder or design that is spread out more to make the cake bigger than it actually is
For the "eating" part
- Sheet cake is good enough, it does not have to look good, just taste good.
- The frosting and decoration can be simple also
- Check with catering schools to see if they can make cheaper sheet cake for you (and even a cheap show cake)
- The filling in the cake does not have to be fancy either. Simple sweet filling instead of liqueur filling or an expensive filling will cut down your costs
- Order a "regular" cake without the word "wedding" attached
Finally, consider alternatives to wedding cakes.
Modern weddings and modern brides are more daring these days. With a foothold in tradition they continue to find creative ways to cut costs and express themselves. Such as cupcake "wedding cakes" or brownie "wedding cakes"
I hope this has been helpful for you in getting ideas for cheap wedding cakes!