Cheap wedding cake ideas and tips to get the most for your cake dollar!
Did you know the average wedding cake is $3/slice?!
Looking for some cheap wedding cake ideas? Pull up a chair and grab your fork. Here are some buying tips that you should always keep in mind as you’re planning your wedding cake budget.
Tip #1: Order sheet cake.The best of our cheap wedding cake ideas is to order a smaller cake that will be photographed and used for your cake cutting ceremony. Then, when the cake is taken “backstage” to be cut and plated, have them supplement the small cake with a larger sheet cake. The larger sheet cakes are much cheaper since they’re simpler to make, and will ensure you have enough slices for all of your guests. The small “show cake,” however, is what gets photographed and showcased.
Tip #2: If you’re doing a fruit filling, make sure it’s one that’s in season. This is a pretty common sense piece of advice, but just because you love strawberries, doesn’t make it a good idea to use it in your wedding cake in the wrong season. Fruit that is not in season is not only more expensive (since it needs to be imported from far away where it’s still in season), but there’s also a very good chance it won’t taste good. Freshness is not only a more economical option, but it’s also one that your guests will appreciate more!
Tip #3: Order your sheet cake from someone other than a bakery.As a supplement to our favorite cheap wedding cake ideas, instead of ordering your larger sheet cake from your baker, order it from a grocery store. Or better yet: Costco. Let’s face it. Cake is like pizza. Even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good. The larger stores can get their ingredients much more cheaply than the smaller bakery making your hand-crafted cake, so take advantage of their cost savings and order your supplemental cake from them!
Tip #4: Look for someone just starting out in the wedding cake business.There are many home-based bakers who are first trying to break into the wedding cake business. Take a chance on one of these rising new stars (pun intended!) and have them bake your cake at a real bargain. Since wedding cakes are made in layers, they can fit into home ovens, and be made in someone’s personal kitch. Oftentimes, these bakers are even more careful than the experience, high-priced bakers since they only work on a single customer at a time. This is one of our cheap wedding cake ideas that helps build a small business and save you money. A real win-win!
Tip #5: Put the cake on a riser.If you decide to follow our tip to order a smaller cake, you can still create the illusion of a larger, more robust cake, if you put it on a riser. This is a small pedastal that your cake can sit on top of and create the effect of a larger cake. Many bakers will provide this for free, so be sure to ask!
Tip #6: Order one flavor.This is one of the more basic of our cheap wedding cake ideas, but you pay for complexity. Simpler is not only better sometimes, but it’s also cheaper. If you offer a few different flavors it usually means you need to order some additional slices in order to compensate for the fact that you won’t know which flavors will be most popular. Exploring cheap wedding cake ideas starts with an overview to help you save even more.
