The wedding cake can be expensive and eat up a lot of your wedding budget - and it may not even get eaten at the end of the day. In this article, we explore some great ways to get a great-looking wedding cake that won't break the bank.
The wedding cake is part of the tradition of getting married, but if you are on a tight budget, the prospect of spending several hundred pounds from your budget on a cake that won't even get eaten, might have you looking for cheaper alternatives. You could try making the cake yourself from scratch, but cheaper alternatives to bespoke cakes can be found by looking to the high street.
Firstly - look at the traditional supermarkets. All of the supermarkets - Morrisons, Asda, Tesco etc. do a range of what they call "special occasion" cakes ranging from a very reasonable £10-20. Now that all of these supermarkets have a 'finest' collection, they also tend to do well iced, tasty rich fruit cakes. These are usually available in different sizes too, so you can layer them if you want to create a more traditional tiered cake.
Generally, the supermarket cakes are well presented but come only in plain white, which means that you will need to decorate them yourself. Luckily, this is easy to do! By browsing eBay or Hobbycraft, you can find tier holders and a selection of glitters, cake gems and foliage at very reasonable prices. For a white cake, rather than going overboard, you could always opt for some very simple green foliage (that is safe to put on a cake!) and a wedding topper - a sugar figurine of a bride and groom or something else that you like.
Waitrose supply some high quality cakes that are already iced and decorated. The same goes for Debenhams and John Lewis. These cost a bit more than the standard supermarket cakes, because they look slightly more special and professional, but they cost much less than a completely bespoke cake.
You might also consider a trip to Marks and Spencer, as they have a good selection of cakes - they offer a special service where they will make cakes to order for you. A whole selection of cake bases can be found ranging from sponge cakes to fruit cakes and even chocolate cakes. You can specify the size and the design on the cake and you can leave it white and plain to decorate yourself, or ask them to add some sugar flowers and other decoration. The price is around £150 or so for a 3 tier cake, which compares very well to the prices that wedding cake designers will charge you. Like the other supermarkets, they also have a pre-packed range that you can buy and stack yourself.
At the very top-end of the high street, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols both have exquisite food halls and - not surprisingly - a superb selection of pre-made cakes. Selfridges also has a made-to-order service, which can work out very well.
Finally, if you are on a tight budget, don't dismiss the idea of using good quality cupcakes or chocolate pots arranged in a tiered display that you could serve as dessert or leave on display for guests to help themselves later on in proceedings. You could even bin the idea of "cake" altogether and opt for Krispy Kreme doughnuts (arranged in tiers of course) or for a more continental croquembouche!
