Cupcake Wedding Cake FAQ's

How about cupcakes instead of a wedding cake? Wouldn't this be a lot cheaper?

Most wedding planners advise caution when planning cupcakes for a wedding reception. It isn't as easy to pull it off as it seems. There are three things to consider. Check out these simple solutions:

The wedding cake is the centerpiece of your reception. When your guests arrive, everyone will be looking for the wedding cake. If the cupcakes are spread all over a table, they may be disappointed. Cupcakes are associated with picnics and informal family gatherings, not with the formal elegance of a wedding reception. Cupcakes also rob your guests of the opportunity to get great photos of your wedding cake and photos of you and your fiancé cutting the cake.

Solution: An inexpensive way to overcome these two problems is to build a cupcake "tree", which looks vaguely like a wedding cake. The top layer can be an actual six-inch cake that you cut for the cake-tasting ceremony. This creates the photo op that your guests are looking for. You can also spend a little extra to have each cupcake packaged in a fancy, printed box. These can be stacked to resemble a traditional wedding cake.

To make cupcakes really pretty as befitting a wedding reception, it takes as much time and labor as it does to make a full-size wedding cake. Most of the cakeries that we interviewed actually charge the same price per serving for cupcakes as they do for a bigger cake. If you can't fit your wedding cake into your budget, you need to rethink your reception.

Solution: Cut back on something else but never skimp on the dessert! Remember, when looking at bakeries, be sure to compare apples to apples. Don't compare a handcrafted, made-from-scratch, wedding cupcake with the cupcakes supplied by your local bakery. Instead, have a look at these award-winning providers of artisan cupcakes for weddings:

• Cupcake Kingdom Cincinnati ($47.95 per dozen)
• Famous Cupcakes (39.00 dozen)
• CupeCakeMama.com (36.00 per dozen)
• MaribelleCakeryCincinnati.com (35.00 dozen)
• Magnolia Bakery (Specialty Cupcakes 36.00 dozen)
• SaraLynnCupcakes.com (35.00 dozen)
• CupeCakesGourmet.com (Minis only, 24.99 per dozen)
• CupCakeRoyalle.com (4-pack for 10.50)
• DotsCupCakes.com (33.00 per dozen)

Another reason to avoid the grocery store or bakery that doesn't specialize in gourmet cupcakes: there is simply no comparison between a cheap little paper cup with some plain cake and icing, and a fully stacked, richly decorated cake that will make your guests long remember your reception.

Solution: Order cupcakes with a rich filling! You want your reception to be memorable, and taste and smell are the strongest memories. Your guests will never remember what your centerpieces or your gown looked like, but they will definitely remember good filled cake!

What about a smaller cake in the center of each table?

Once again, all the wedding planners we consulted felt that centerpiece cakes can present unforeseen problems, for these reasons:

Appearance
Have you ever seen photos from a reception where cakes were put in the center of each table? Instead of a beautiful centerpiece, the photos show a big mess in the middle of each table, with crumbs and cake all over the table. Your guests may get their sleeves in the icing, and this will definitely not be appreciated. Who is going to cut these cakes anyway, your guests? Bad idea! The wedding cake is the centerpiece of your reception. When your guests arrive, everyone will be looking for the wedding cake. Why disappoint them?

Cost
Since most bakeries do a per-serving charge, it won't be any cheaper than a tall, beautiful wedding cake. In most cases it will cost more, since the labor charges for individual cakes are higher and you often end up with more cake than you actually need.

Solution: Ask your caterer to assign staff to cut the table cakes and plate them. Then have the staff remove the leftover cake from the table as soon as possible. Don't end up like the bride who wrote us: "When they saw my photos with the messy tables, they asked me — where did you have your reception? In a barn?"

What about sheet cakes? Can we have a smaller cake or a dummy cake and back it up with sheet cake?

There are two problems with this.

• Etiquette: Our wedding planners pointed out that some of your guests will definitely feel slighted if they receive a piece of sheet cake after they have seen the beautiful wedding cake which is the centerpiece for your reception. They felt that all of your guests should be treated the same.
• Taste: Sheet cakes lack fillings. The rich fillings in a torted wedding cake are what makes it so wonderful and unforgettable.

Solution: Simple. Never do a sheet cake. If you have too many guests and you need a back-up cake, it should be stacked, filled, and decorated just like the main cake. Your caterer can add it to the serving trays in the kitchen and all of your guests will feel like they are getting a slice of the real wedding cake.