Make a statement with your wedding cake

Wedding cakes have changed since the pandemic started.

“A lot of couples wanted to go convenient,” said Jessi Graves, owner of Simply Caketastic in Marysville. She bakes three-to-five wedding cakes a week during the season that can start as early as May and go into October.

She’s seeing couples go with a small cutting cake that would be for the wedding party and then cupcakes for the guests. The cake would have a top tier for a couple to hold on to until the first wedding anniversary. “It’s a lot easier and people really liked the idea.”

A lot of couples are getting married outdoors, either in a barn or a beautiful field, and some want the cake that will help serve as a backdrop for the natural surroundings.

“A lot of people are liking the look of organic,” Graves said, adding cakes will be decorated with some kind of greenery such as ferns or eucalyptus and a tree round used as a cake stand.

Brides and grooms may pour over every detail of their weddings, but few components of the festivities may be as fun, especially for foodies, as deciding what the wedding cake will look like. Couples who want to deliver show-stopping visuals often express some measure of their creativity and personalities through statement wedding cakes.

Many couples now eschew the classic three-tiered white cake in favor of a dessert that garners instant attention. Whether the cake is brightly colored or hand-painted, a towering architectural marvel or shimmering in metallics, couples are opting to make a statement with their confections. Apart from clever cake-toppers, here are ways to stand apart when dessert is served.

νAccording to the Perfect Wedding Guide, a rising trend in cakes is to cover a white or naked cake with translucent glaze tinted in the couple’s wedding colors. This artistic expression can be especially stunning in boho-chic weddings.

νStatement tiers also are popular. The cake may be traditional in nearly every way, but couples then set the cake apart by featuring an elaborate design or a different hue in one tier.

νMartha Stewart Weddings advises that more than just color can be used to make a statement. Lifelike sugar flowers can really set cakes apart. Guests may not be sure if they can consume all aspects of some cakes. But delicate sugar flowers taste as good as they look.

νHand-painted tiles on a cake are another way to add panache. A bride and groom may be inspired by a European vacation or the stained-glass effects of religious windows and want to add that feel to the tiers of the cake.

Graves said couples sometimes go in the opposite direction choosing a big cake with layers, pillars fountains and butter cream. Those styles of wedding cakes were popular in the '70s and '80s and are a tribute to their parents.

νSometimes a statement comes by way of texture. Even an all-white cake can be dressed up with interesting textural effects. Ruffles, lace, embossing, and 3-D rosettes are different textural components that can be incorporated in cake designs.

νCouples also may want to tell their unique stories with cake. Individual tiers designed to reflect various milestone moments from the couple’s relationship can be quite engaging.

νCapitalizing on the trend of edgier weddings, couples may opt for darker hues on their cakes — even a black tier — or nontraditional geometric shapes to the cake itself or its design elements.

Graves said getting a cake maker is one of the last vendors couples should contact. They should have a caterer, venue and a guest count established. She encourages people to have a budget in mind for the wedding cake.

“It depends on what they want to spend on it,” Graves said. “It’s more of making sure of what’s important on wedding day.”

She has been making wedding cakes in the Marysville area for more than a decade. For more information, check out www.simplycaketastic.com, or call 360-653-3113. 

“We’re just happy to see people getting out and have weddings again,” Graves said.