Wedding Cake Delivery & Set-Up: What Really Happens on Your Wedding Day?

You’ve chosen your flavours. We’ve planned and sketched your design with you. We’ve spent many hours bringing your wedding cake to life. Then comes the tricky part…how do we transport your magnificent wedding cake to your venue?

Wedding cake delivery is definitely not a case of popping your cake in the car and hoping for the best. Wedding cakes are heavy, delicate and often rather tall, three things that make for an interesting travelling companion. We personally deliver and set up every Bluebell Kitchen wedding cake. Over the years, we’ve learnt a thing or two about getting them safely to venues across Kent, London, Sussex, Surrey and beyond.

1. Wedding Cake Maker or Weight Lifter?

Wedding cakes are HEAVY. Honestly, sometimes we wonder why we don’t have arms like Popeye. Combine several tiers of cake with fillings, Belgian chocolate ganache, fondant and sugar flowers, and there is quite a lot to move around. How we transport yours depends entirely on the design. Some wedding cakes can travel safely fully stacked. Others absolutely cannot. For larger cakes, we may transport the tiers separately and assemble them once we arrive.

There’s no wedding cake Jenga going on in the back of the car. We decide how everything will travel well before your wedding day and pack it carefully for the journey. After the hours we’ve spent designing it with you, believe us, we’re every bit as keen as you are to see it arrive in one piece.

2. A Little Detective Work Before We Arrive

Wedding cake delivery actually starts long before we load the car. If we’re visiting a venue for the first time, we’ll introduce ourselves a couple of months before your wedding. We want to know where we’re going, where we can park and, most importantly, which door the cake needs to go through. Anyone who has ever tried carrying a large wedding cake through a busy hotel reception will understand why we’d rather know this in advance. We’ll also check any particular delivery requirements and provide insurance information if your venue needs it.

Around 10 to 14 days before your wedding, we’ll confirm the final arrangements with your venue or catering team. We’ll also send everything they need to know about your cake, including flavours, allergens and whether you’ve asked them to save a couple of slices for you. We sort all of this quietly in the background. You really don’t need to spend your wedding morning wondering whether we’ve found the right entrance.

3. Please Don’t Hide Your Wedding Cake Behind a Pillar!

We’ve arrived. The cake is safe. Now, where are we putting it?

We always ask couples to think about their cake table before the wedding. Occasionally, though, we arrive and discover that the planned position isn’t quite as wonderful as it looked on paper. We’ve found cake tables in direct sunlight, squeezed into corners and, yes, tucked behind pillars. We’re not frightened to ask whether we can move them.

Your wedding cake deserves to be seen, but its position also needs to be practical. Direct sunlight and wedding cakes are not happy companions. We’ll always look at what’s around and behind the cake before we start setting up. We want you and your guests to walk into your reception and be wowed by your wedding cake.

4. Now for a Little Magic… Setting Up Your Wedding Cake

This is the part we love. We’ll add sugar flowers, straighten ribbons and, yes, we’ll probably stand back, stare at it, move something by a millimetre and stand back again.

We usually spend at least an hour at your venue setting up your wedding cake. Some take less time, while particularly intricate designs can take longer. We’re not watching the clock. We’re making sure your cake looks exactly as we want you to see it.

It’s also the first time we see the finished cake in the setting we’ve heard so much about. The flowers are there and the venue team are dressing the tables. Suddenly, the cake we’ve been talking about with you for months becomes part of your wedding day. We never tire of that.

Before we leave, we’ll speak to your planner or catering team about the design. We’ll explain how to handle and cut the cake safely and go through the flavours and allergens. Then, and only then, are we happy to leave it behind.

For tips and tricks on stylish styling for your cake table click here

5. Please Don’t Let Anyone ‘Finish’ It For Us

This is one thing we’re rather particular about. Couples occasionally ask whether their florist can add fresh flowers to the cake after we’ve set it up. Some cake makers are perfectly happy with that. We aren’t! 

We’ve designed your cake with you, made every element for it and decided exactly where everything should go. Letting someone change it after we’ve left would feel rather like us rearranging your bridal bouquet. Or wandering into the kitchen and making a few adjustments to your wedding menu!

If you want flowers on your wedding cake, and we absolutely love them, we’ll make them for you in sugar. We make every rose, peony, sweet pea, hydrangea, leaf and tiny detail by hand. Each one works with your cake and your wedding flowers.

One of our favourite reactions will always be from Katie and Rhys:

The cake you made us was a work of art. It was the most beautiful cake I have ever seen. Thank you so much for all of your hard work and dedication to make it perfect. The sugar flowers looked more beautiful than our actual flowers!! 

You can find out more about our pretty petals here

6. How Much Does Wedding Cake Delivery and Set Up Cost?

We calculate your wedding cake delivery charge according to the location of your venue and the time and distance from our Maidstone studio. We’ll clearly show the delivery cost in your proposal, so you’ll know exactly what to expect.

We regularly deliver wedding cakes throughout Kent, London, Sussex and Surrey. And when we say delivery, we don’t mean dropping off a cake box with your planner. We personally take your cake to the cake table, assemble it and complete the design before we leave.

And That’s Your Wedding Cake Delivered

By the time you see your wedding cake, we’ve probably been thinking about it since breakfast.

We’ve packed it, driven very carefully, found the right entrance and carried it in. We’ve checked the table, assembled the cake, fussed over the details and finally stood back and decided we’re happy.

You haven’t had to think about any of that. You simply get to enjoy seeing your finished design and, of course, tasting it. That’s the other part we love about wedding cakes. They might look beautiful sitting there, but we make them to be eaten.

After getting yours safely all the way from our kitchen to your wedding, we hope you enjoy every last crumb.

Tell us about your wedding

Photographers: Fiona Kelly Photography, Rebecca Douglas Photography, Shelby Ellis Photography, Parkershots Photography