‘Elevation’ is our word of the month – both the height-giving kind, and the ‘making things fancier’ kind, both of which can be achieved with your wedding cake simply by making an intentional, thoughtful choice when choosing a wedding cake stand. Not to be dramatic, but we really have seen some gorgeous, chic bespoke cake designs utterly let down by their display. There is so much more to showing off your wedding cake than the traditional silver cake stand, round table, white linen combo…and we’re going to show you how to achieve stylish elevation with a few simple tips.
Choosing A Wedding Cake Stand
There’s a reason we all love browsing for wedding cake inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram, and that’s because the images we see are so visually appealing. Part of this is that they’ve all been set up on carefully considered cake stands that complement the design, and displayed thoughtfully to create a visual ‘moment’ that is so much more than just dessert. We’d go so far as to say that choosing a wedding cake stand is the second most important element, after the design itself!
We know you’ve spent plenty of time designing the cake of your dreams, and we’ve spent plenty of time bringing your bespoke vision to life. We really believe the final part of our job is to help you achieve a top-tier display, giving your cake a chance to be a statement element of your wedding day. Of course, the easy option is to just use the stand available at your venue…but more often than not, this isn’t the option that’s going to give you the most appealing display.
Why Choosing A Wedding Cake Stand Is So Impactful
First and foremost, choosing a wedding cake stand is the single simplest way to add height (which equals impact!). This instantly lifts the design out of its surroundings and completely alters its look. You can see the difference between displaying the same cake with and without a stand here.
Option A above – no cake stand. Beautiful five tier gold textured wedding cake placed directly onto a white table cloth, with no cake stand and absolutely no styling. Yes, your wedding cake is still lovely but oh, could be so much more.
Option B above – your exquisite five tier wedding cake styled on a statement cake stand, tall table (no round table insight) with gorgeous Spring light flooding the room behind your showstopper. Now your guests will remember your wedding cake for all the right reasons! The absolute epitome of a wedding cake display.
Whether you’re having 2 or 5 tiers, adding a stand brings colour and style turns it into a sophisticated centrepiece. But which kind of display stand should you choose?
What stand do you choose?
The type of stand you display your wedding cake on will depend on a few factors; the design of your cake, your venue and the overall look and feel of your wedding. For example, opting for a log slice stand works really well for barn-style or laid-back weddings, but may not be so effective in a 5* hotel setting.
Pedestal stands really come into their own for a more formal, style-led look. You can choose from elegant block colours such as black, white, marble and even metallics. You can choose to echo the colours of your design or add a contrasting stand. As you can see above, Georgina and Oliver chose to pick out the gold of the delicate sugar leaves on their 4 tier, textured macaron cascade cake, really making it pop with a gorgeous gold pedestal stand and gold candles.
Click here to read more about Georgina and Oliver’s macaron wedding cake at The Orangery
And we’ve been slightly scathing about the classic silver stand, but for a certain style of wedding cake it’s the perfect choice – just like Courtney and Lucas’s white ombre hydrangea design.
You can even choose a plinth style stand so your wedding cake is displayed just like a piece of art, or to give the impression that it is floating with the inclusion of a tumbling flower skirt draped around it. Whichever way you go with choosing a wedding cake stand, think of it as the perfect frame for your mouthwatering masterpiece.
Click here to read more about our 8 wedding cake display ideas.
Top Tips – Buying, Sizing & Hiring Wedding Cake Stands
We have put together a few of our top tips to help you with choosing your wedding cake stand, because you’re probably weighing up whether it’s best to buy or hire one. Consider these few things…
Buying:
If you choose to buy your own cake stand it can really make it even more personal to you, and that’s wonderful! If you are doing this though, consider the weight of your wedding cake. This is what Sebastian and Lauren did for their wedding cake. Even a two tier wedding cake is heavy, and our 4 and 5 tier cakes are too heavy to carry once all the tiers have been stacked! This means you need a stand that is designed to carry this style of cake. Most of the usual gateau style cake stands you can find online or on the high street just won’t hold up, especially when made of glass.
Sizing:
Our top tip is to use a wedding cake stand that is approximately the same size or just a little bigger than the base of your cake. Using a stand that is too large can dwarf your cake and look out of proportion for a modern design, and using a stand that is too small is a recipe for an unbalanced, wobbly cake!
Hiring:
We have a range of cake stands available to hire, which we source from wonderful prop hire companies where we’re absolutely spoiled for choice! Lots of our couples choose to hire from us as our stands are in keeping with the modern style of our cakes and some of our stands, such as the marble options, are one-offs which make your cake even more special. Choosing a wedding cake stand doesn’t need to be difficult. We can guide you through the hire process to give you the confidence that your stand will look amazing and support your cake properly.
When designing and making your luxury wedding cake, we now always ask our couples how they are thinking of displaying their cakes as part of the process. Most are not sure, which we totally understand because usually they’ve never displayed a wedding cake before! We encourage you to use our expertise and allow us to help you make your cake look truly magical on the day. We can even work alongside your florist to craft a truly elegant, elevated centrepiece. Browse our portfolio to see our cakes in all their glory on cake stands, and get a feel for just how important choosing the right one is. Keep following our blog for more tips on making your wedding cake look as delicious as it tastes.
When you’re ready to start creating the bespoke cake of your dreams for your big day, please get in touch.
Photos: Beth Whithorn Photography, Fiona Kelly Photography, Rebecca Douglas Photography, Louisa Dettmer Photography, Chiko Photography, Shelby Ellis Photography, Steve Barber Photography.
