You’ve chosen your mouth watering wedding cake flavours. You’ve decided on the all-important colour palette and discussed the jaw-dropping decorations. You’ve made sure you’ve covered all dietary requirements. What’s left? Just one thing: how you’re going to create your wedding cake display!
More this year than ever before, our couples are asking us about any wedding cake display ideas we may have. Where in your venue should you have it? What should the wedding table set up be? How can you show it off?
This is a question we’re always happy to help with: in our opinion, the less beautiful wedding cakes placed by toilet doors or fire extinguishers the better! We’ll never forget a conversation we had with a wedding photographer back in the early days of our business, who said venues place them there so frequently they often have to be photoshopped out or photographed at a really weird angle.
Your wedding cake is probably the most expensive cake you’re ever likely to buy, and it deserves to be centre stage for everyone to see and admire. So today, we thought we’d put together our guide to wedding cake display ideas. In other words: how to create the best wedding table set up, to show off your gorgeous cake!
How to decide on the wedding table set up for your cake
1. Treat your wedding cake as part of an amazing display, not just a cake on a table
Your wedding cake isn’t just functional: it’s also part of the styling. Sure, you (probably) won’t be cutting up and eating your flowers in quite the same way, but it’s still part of the aesthetic display! With that in mind, don’t be afraid to tell the venue exactly where you want the cake going. It’s your wedding and you want your wedding cake to be enjoyed by everyone!
You can read all about Zahra and Phillip’s stunning London wedding at Carlton House Terrace here.
2. Think about your wedding cake stand
Don’t get us wrong: we’re not anti the classic silver cake stand. In the right setting it can look fantastic! However, many couples don’t know about the other options that are out there. The cake stand or even, no cake stand can totally change the look of your cake, so we always recommend assessing the alternatives. In fact, when we start discussing designing your wedding cake with you we always ask about the style and type of cake stand you might be considering.
Here’s what we mean:
Option A as shown below – 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 as shown below – 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.
3. Ditch the classic round cake table
It’s not just the cake stand that contributes to the wedding cake display, either. You can’t have a wedding table set up without a table (well, actually you can – but we’re jumping ahead of ourselves. That’s in the next section.) Most venues will offer a round table and tablecloth as standard for your cake. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box when it comes to your wedding cake display.
You could even gather your friends and family (and wedding cake) and make your cake cutting moment an outdoor event.
Wedding cake display ideas that make a statement
4. A ‘floating’ cake display
We mentioned above about the magic of a glass cake stand, but why not go one step further for your wedding cake or even macaron tower display? Combine a clear plinth with an amazing flower display to give the impression that your cake is floating. This works especially well with macaron towers placed on a bed of flowers.
5. On the Stage -Stealing the Show
What better way to set the tone for your wedding day than having your wedding cake by the stage, introduced by your band. Sarah and Russell did exactly that for their wedding in London at Kindred. Positioned on a tall bar table directly in front of the stage, their macaron tower was impossible to miss. Their wedding cake was really important to them and they not only wanted to enjoy it, they wanted all their guests to do so too!
6. On the dancefloor
This might sound like a crazy suggestion, but hear us out! We’ve worked on some amazing weddings where the couple have wanted the cake table set up in the middle of the dancefloor. Sonia and Aaron wanted to use their wedding cake as part of their entrance into the reception. They had their cake cutting at the beginning of the reception, and everyone toasted them at the same time.
7. A wedding cake display unique to your venue
The wedding cake display ideas we have here are just the tip of the iceberg. Each venue will have something unique to it that would also make an amazing wedding table set up, and we’re more than happy – in fact, we actively enjoy it! – to work this out with you.
If you get married at The Globe Theatre, you might want a wedding table set up that evokes Shakespearian styling. Kristin and Christopher transformed their room into A Midsummer Night’s Dream-esque set up as shown below.
Perhaps you’re having your reception at the Natural History Museum: you’d want your cake set up on the grand staircase into the main auditorium, not in amongst the tables. It’s a grand venue which needs a display to match.
Which wedding cake display ideas are your favourite?
We hope these wedding cake display ideas have helped get those creative juices flowing. And if you need any advice on your wedding table set up to go with your cake, then please do get in touch. We’d love to chat cakes (and macaron towers) with you!
Photographers: Fiona Kelly Photography, Rebecca Douglas Photography, The Unbridled, Amy Faith Photo
Venues featured: Bradbourne House, The Swan at The Globe Theatre, Kindred, Eastwell Manor, Carlton House Terrace
