Wedding planning can be overwhelming. There are so many things to consider. Even with your wedding cake, there are so many possibilities with flavours, finishes, style you could go down a Pinterest rabbit hole and lose hours.
That’s why I’ve put this modern wedding cake inspiration guide together to help you with your planning.
You may not even know it yet, especially if you’re still in the early stages of planning your wedding, but the number of possibilities there are when it comes to your wedding cake is massive. What a lot of couples don’t realise is how much is possible for your wedding cake and that there are no rules. Plus, the rules that are there are made to be broken, right? When it comes to the style of your wedding cake you can go for something completely unique; a one-off centrepiece like none any of your guests will ever have seen before that reflects who you both are.
Let’s go through some inspiration for your modern wedding cake to show you just what’s possible.
Texture
The beauty of working with different types of icing for wedding cakes, is that it gives no end of textures. Fondant gives a smooth finish traditionally but it can also be marbled and stretched to give a distressed look. Buttercream and chocolate ganache can be painted or layered on to give more uneven and interesting textures.
This tall, modern wedding cake has a texture created with black and white cocoa butter with textured gold leaf. Photo by Rebecca Carpenter Photography
This modern wedding cake I made for Lucy and Jez features a mixture of textures. Photo by Amy Faith Photography
Colour
Gone are the days of white wedding cakes. You can go for just about any shade for your wedding cake. Think about featuring the colours of your bridesmaid dresses, the groom’s tie or any flowers or decoration you’re having on the day. Your wedding cake can be just as much part of your colour scheme, if you have one, as anything else.
This brightly coloured wedding cake set up is certain to make it stand out above the crowd. Photo by David C Photography
Shape
Traditionally, most cakes tend to be round, although we have been through phases with square and even hexagonal cakes being the most popular. What’s to say you can mix them up? My signature geometric cakes look at bringing together different tier shapes to bring a more modern and architectural look to my wedding cakes. With a square base you can mix up hexagon and round tiers for a more unusual look.
Finish
The finish or the icing of your wedding cake comes down to how you want it to look, but also to your tastes. You might prefer the smooth look of fondant icing, or the more rustic semi naked cake look with its roughly finished look. Remember that it all depend on where your cake will be displayed. Bear in mind that a rustic cake might not look right in a highly stylised room and that an elegantly finished cake might similarly, look odd in a rustic barn. You might simply prefer the taste of buttercream or chocolate ganache as a finish, so work with your cake maker on this to find what finish works best for you and for the design you want.
A rustic modern look with this semi naked, roughly iced wedding cake. Photo by Through the Woods We Ran
Height
If you’re only having a small reception, that doesn’t mean to say you have to have a tiny cake. You can go for fake tiers to add height and drama to a cake without having far too many portions for your party size. To make your wedding cake design more modern and unusual it’s possibly for your cake designer to play with tier heights and mix them up to make them less even.
Decoration
Other than the traditional sugar flower or even fresh flower decorations on cakes, there are so many wedding cake decoration possibilities. Wafer paper cake decorations and chocolate decorations are both as popular as other icing decoration that can be made into modern shapes and ideas.
Set up
Part of the wedding cake deal that often gets overlooked is the actual set up of it. Where will it be on display in your venue? Will the table be high enough for it? Would you like the cake to have a stand? You can also have floral installations, props on the cake table such as candles or other desserts with the cake. Make sure the backdrop your wedding cake will have will suit it and help it be seen in all its glory!
This cake has pride of place on the bar at the Boulevard Theatre, Soho. Photo by Marianne Chua Photography
Flavours
It’s also what’s on the inside that counts. Cakes are for eating after all. Make sure you think through what flavours you’d like your wedding cake to be. There are so many available, but try not to confuse your guests by having too many either. I’d recommend going with a couple that you both like and your guests are sure to love them too.
You can see the flavours I offer on my cake menu here.
And if you’d like some more wedding cake inspiration, you can see my cake gallery and Instagram here.
Happy wedding cake planning!
K x
