No, you sleep with the cake under your pillow that night and dream of your future husband.
(Yikes. Whence that bit of folklore, which I haven’t thought about in 40 years?)
That’s what one of my co-workers did for hers a few summers ago, and they were a big hit.
Sure. Why not make Grandma nauseous?
I wasn’t necessarily suggesting them, but going along with the theme of skeleton cake toppers. And, well, if my grandmothers were alive, they wouldn’t be so delicate as to be nauseated by that. Either way, the way the cake tastes matters more than what it looks like in the long run. Nasty cake is nasty regardless of whether it is pretty or malformed.
I guess I’m one of the few, the proud, the wedding cake lovers. It’s one of the things I make sure I take pictures of at each wedding I go to. Eating it is not so big a thrill, but it’s all good. I worked at two huge bridal fairs recently, and spent most of my breaks walking around looking at the amazing things that are showing up on and in wedding cakes these days.
And Elysian? I was very rebellious at my wedding back in 1979 and insisted on two layers of spice cake and two layers of white (to appease the traditionalists), and colorful icing flowers instead of the traditional all white/soft pastels. Spice cake is perfect for a wedding, because doesn’t every marriage go better if you spice things up from time to time? Of course, I didn’t get to eat any until a year later when my dad brought the top of our wedding cake to us on a plane for our anniversary…too bad he got confused and carried it upside down the whole way…it still tasted great, and I had pictures of what the decorations looked like before they became a smooshed blob.
I’m more about taste. Fly some real Sacher Tortes in from Salzburg if you want to get extravagent.
And though Sachertorte is a Viennese specialty, the Salzburgers make it better. A particular old cafe, I remember. Better Kuchen.
I’m one of those weird people that feels like it’s a privilege to be invited to a wedding. You didn’t need to invite me to this ceremony, but you did, and I’m so thankful that you invited me and I got to share in your commitment that your cake could be made out of celery sticks and peanut butter and I wouldn’t care.
It’s your wedding. It’s your expression. I realize there’s a lot of other stuff you have to think about but if you don’t want to have the huge 3-layer cake with your effigies on top, don’t have it.
If you’re serving the cake as dessert, it’s more important that it taste good and not be dry as a bone than that it be a multi-level monstrosity of dryness and fondant.
My cousin’s wedding was less than a year ago, and I couldn’t tell you now what the cake looked like, but I can tell you that it was a damn good burnt almond torte and there were no left over pieces because every crumb was eaten.
She had, IMHO, the best wedding cake I’ve ever eaten.
I understand what you’re saying, and I’m sure it was fine with you, but I still have to say, bleh. Not for a wedding. White, chocolate, fine; even strawberry (even though I didn’t really want it), but spice…nah. Wedding cake is supposed to be bland and so sweet you choke, but moist and thick. Spice cake is good for Christmas, just not weddings, not for me. I’m a purist 
I personally don’t care what the cake looks like as long as it tastes good. That said, I did make sure that the Vietnamese bakery that did my wedding cake gave me exactly what I wanted : buttercream frosting in a lattice pattern, with cream-colored roses on top (no bride-n-groom topper for me and Mr. Lucky). There were 3 tiers, each a different flavor: mocha, banana and one other flavor, I forgot what it was - probably mango. Not everyone liked the frosting, but they did enjoy the inside of the cake.
That’s what we did for our wedding. We had six cheesecakes in six different flavors arranged on tiers, plus a tiny little cheesecake just for us.
We got tons of compliments on our wedding cake. Soooo good.
<KoL highjack> But if you got married on Feast of Boris, you could eat it all yourself! </highjack>
In my book, the wedding is all about the party. Since the wedding cake ceremony is usually early on in the ceremony, I’m cognizant that it’s going on. I will notice if it actually tastes pretty good, but I certainly couldn’t tell you which weddings had a good cake.
That’s how it has been at the weddings I have gone to.
I love good cake. Most wedding cake is crap- pretty crap but crap none the less. Several very clever poster’s here have suggested non-traditional cakes that sound far tastiers and less expensive than the traditional sugar-glazed cardboard.
Ah, and just what would the address be where this will be served? (Wipes drool off chin and makes plans for wedding-crashing)
I’d notice a brownie-cake for sure! The usual tiered white thingie with the rosettes and garlands and plastic figurines on top and so forth… meh. Especially if it’s tasteless, or sickeningly sweet.
A sheet cake that looks good and tastes fantastic would be a Tres Leches. Moist and delicious, topped with homemade whipped cream and fresh fruit. Absofreakinglutely marvelous.
Maybe it could be layered, but I would sure experiment with it first.
The key thing about cake it if the couple mush it into each other’s face their marriage will not last. Statistics prove this.
$600 for a cake to feed 100 people? That’s just ridiculous. The only reason it’s $600 is because some people lose their minds (and wallets) trying to create the “perfect” wedding. Good for you for keeping things in perspective.
Anywho, I’d suggest having one small decorated cake for display and to available for the cake cutting ceremony, if you’re going to have one. Just specify what you want (e.g. chocolate cake with strawberry filling), without telling the baker it’s for a wedding (because that’ll double the price). Then, if you’d like, add your own topper. You can pick up a bride and groom topper at any Hallmark store. And then I’d order enough sheet cakes to feed about 75% of the guests for cutting and serving.
Honest to God, Costco makes one of the most reasonably priced, yet delicious, sheet cakes ever. You can get an entire sheet of say, chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling, for about $35. Sometimes for parties, I’ll pick up one just for the heck of it. It’s great to hear the squeals, “Oooh! A Costco cake.” You can order decorated cakes ahead of time or pick them up the day of the party.
Congratulations!