As the centrepiece of your menu, your wedding cake has to impress. As well as complementing your wider wedding theme and colour scheme, the design of your wedding cake matters just as much as any other part of your big day. In fact, it’s up there with your wedding venue, dress and decorations.
Choosing the perfect wedding cake for your very special occasion isn’t just a matter of finding a look you love. Several factors will influence its aesthetic and those design details, including your venue, wedding style and even the season in which you are marrying. The latest wedding trends could also help you enjoy the sweet taste of success on your big day.
Discover our top tips for choosing a wedding cake and explore the 2023 wedding trends that will ensure a cake design you’ll look back on with pride.
The origins of the wedding cake
Giving your guests something scrumptious to chow down on during your special day has been a tradition for as long as we can remember. Wedding cakes are thought to have made their big debut in Ancient Rome and, as Reader’s Digest details, they weren’t just for eating:
“Wedding cakes have their roots in Ancient Rome, when marriage ceremonies ended with a scone-like wheat or barley cake broken over the bride’s head for luck and fertility. The new husband and wife would eat a few crumbs together as one of their first unified acts as a married couple, according to Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies. Not quite the mouthful of frosting you’d get today, but close enough.”
As time went by, wedding cakes and the traditions that surround them evolved. Still regarded as a symbol of good luck for marrying couples, the classic wedding cake became more of a pie in Britain from the 16th Century onwards.
Known as ‘bride pies’, these culinary creations were elaborately designed and decorated on the outside. Inside, their edible fillings consisted of ingredients that were known for their aphrodisiac qualities, with sweet potatoes and cock sparrow brains popular during these early days.
Bride pies would also have hidden compartments filled with live birds or snakes to ensure the ultimate showstopper.
The top wedding cake trends of 2023
Thankfully, the wedding cakes of today are known to be much sweeter and a little less lively, and 2023 is set to be the year for sweet-toothed couples everywhere.
Peanut butter, red velvet and coffee are the favourite filling choices for 2023, whilst outside marbling and florals are expected to be the looks that wow brides, grooms and guests alike. For minimalist brides and grooms, naked cakes adorned with natural décor make a welcome return to the 2023 wedding scene.
The fruit cake is also set to make a comeback, but it’s far from the traditional recipe sampled via the wedding cakes of yesteryear.
Puff pastry cakes using cream, fruit and nuts ensure a delightfully unique look and taste. Fruit cakes with a tropical twist – think chocolate and orange, white chocolate and passionfruit, dark chocolate and strawberry, and vanilla and mango – are also expected to be popular in 2023.
Shopping for your wedding cake
Whether you’re embracing the fruit cake trend or not, there are a few simple tips that will help you shop for the perfect and tastiest design. The look of your wedding cake should coordinate with your theme, style and colour scheme. Texture should also be an important consideration, with a soft, fluffy, chiffon cake or firmer buttercream texture just two options to explore.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with flavours to get the combination that suits you, and make sure you shortlist a few to try before making your decision. All that’s left to say is – happy tasting!
