Wedding Cake Tip #1 - Keep Your Eyes on the Price

No matter what your wedding budget looks like, there is one thing that gets away from every bride, and that is the price of each item or service required for her wedding. She starts with a firm budget, then as she goes on appointments to meet each vendor, somehow the little extras add up to big expenses. And the wedding cake is no different. In fact, it is very easy to end up with a much higher than anticipated bill for the wedding cake once the bride and groom see all the options available to them.

One of the biggest dilemmas in choosing the cake is the number of people that it should serve. Many people do not want to appear cheap and give their guests a tiny slice of cake. And this would be an important issue if the wedding cake is the dessert, too. But for weddings that also have dessert tables, the slice of wedding cake does not have to be as big as if it was the sole confectionery.

Another consideration about which most couples are not aware, is that there exist vendors who inflate prices as soon as the word wedding is mentioned. No-one disagrees that wedding cake design is a fine art and needs to be properly compensated, but when pricing cake, it is always a good idea to start with the base price minus the decorations. For example, you should first inquire about the pricing of the same slabs for a birthday or anniversary cake. If the wedding cake is considerably higher, then you might consider going elsewhere. Plus, by knowing the base price for the cake, you can compare apples to apples when shopping around.

Indeed, the decorations are going to be a major consideration when pricing your wedding cake. If you prefer customizations such as special flavors, unique colors, exotic fresh blooms, and other features, then expect to pay a higher price for your wedding cake.

Likewise, the actual display can grow to be very costly. Choosing a tiered cake requires columns or display pieces to hold each tier or section in place. Depending on how high or how many tiers you choose, the costs add up quickly. On the other hand, a layer cake where the layers lie on top of one another getting smaller and smaller as it reaches the top, does not need pieces in between.

Lastly, when choosing serving plates and utensils, the most expensive crystal and silver is not always required. You cannot really see the platter that holds the cake so whether it is dollar store or fine crystal might be a mute point in appearance, but is going to make a huge difference in the price. And if you are not having your wedding cake knife and spatula engraved, then a pretty set from a discount store will suffice.

Finally, delivery and setup are costs which no-one thinks about until the baker adds it to the bill. If you choose to order the services of a wedding cake provider who is not local, then be prepared to pay the transportation costs not only for the cake, but for the setup staff as well.