Let Them Eat…Cake?

Let Them Eat…Cake?

September 16th, 2011 @ 6:00 pm by Miss Porcupine
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I learned something exciting and new when planning my wedding. It’s a secret MATHZ equation that apparently is a well hidden secret in the wedding industry. It goes something like this: flour + eggs (sugar / milk) = GOLD! Wedding cakes are REDIC expensive, kids!

Image via Martha Stewart Weddings

I was shocked and appalled when I learned that if you’re having a 150-person wedding, your wedding cake is not going to be under $1k, unless you pick up some Entenmann’s from Shop Rite. And, believe me, I tried really hard to find some cheaper cake options. I priced cakes at popular bakeries, semi-popular bakeries, and a few start-up ones, and guess what? They were all A LOT A LOT OF DOLLARS! And, I don’t even like cake! It was the least of my concerns. I usually completely forget to eat the cake at weddings or am too full to bother with it.

Finally, the little light bulb in the recesses of my brain lit up. A cake bar! I like bars! I like options! What if we just bought NORMAL cakes (that aren’t equal to the price of gold) and one teeny “traditional top tier” cake for our cake cutting, and lay them out in a buffet/bar type arrangement? And, then we could add in some cute signs to go with it, like “Love Is Sweet” and “Let Them Eat Cake!”

Image via Elizabeth Anne Designs / Photo by Marlin & Marlene Munoz

Image via Laurie Arons Blog / Photo by Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Image via The Funky Shack via Etsy

It soon dawned on me that this was the perfect solution for the wedding. Especially since I don’t even care about the cake. I’d rather eat a chicken-parm hero then a slice of cake any day.

After a yummy tasting we picked our baker, made a consultation appointment that my future mother-in-law was nice enough to attend since only Monday appointments were an option (and taking a vacation day for cake didn’t seem smart), and placed the order.

Let Them Eat...Cake? : wedding cake lancaster Caketa cake+ta

Personal photo of the delicious cake options at Providence Bakery

Did you take a less traditional approach to something in your wedding without even meaning to?

Tags: cake, lancaster |

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22 Responses to “Let Them Eat…Cake?”

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Member

radical4peace (message) 28 posts, Newbee

I definitely agree that unless a fancy wedding cake is one your *must haves*, it is easily swapped out for something else. I’ve considered sheet cake decorated with flowers (maybe with one smaller traditional wedding cake tier) — all the deliciousness without the $$. I’ve also thought about doing pie instead of cake. Both my fiance and I are more pie people than cake people.

9/16/11 @ 6:20 pm (reply)

Member

Coffee cup (message) 1,839 posts, Buzzing bee

This is a clear example of what Mr. Monkey stated a while ago, when you add the word wedding to something, they think they’re allowed to charge you 3 times the usual price =S.
I’m not having a cake at all, too expensive and don’t really care about it. Where I live it’s traditionally just part of the decoration and it’s saved for the next day ‘after party’, silly tradition.

9/16/11 @ 6:27 pm (reply)

Member

missapis (message) 669 posts, Busy bee

This is what we are doing I just love the look of a cake buffet, and I think that it is ridiculous that the same cake stacked vertically rather than laid side by side costs so much more.

9/16/11 @ 6:33 pm (reply)

Member

jmbrick (message) 62 posts, Worker bee

I don’t care about cake either! *High five!* Thankfully, our cake comes with the reception. So all we need to do is pick out the flavors. So I’ll leave that to FI. Done and done!

9/16/11 @ 6:56 pm (reply)

Member

KatieJean (message) 371 posts, Helper bee

Cake, schmake. We’re doing the same, but with cupcakes and atop tier cake.

9/16/11 @ 7:20 pm (reply)

Member

HummusGal (message) 117 posts, Blushing bee

Cake bar — cute!!

And then there’s me… I think we’re only having a small cake topper to cut and shove in each others faces. We’re going to have wedding PIES! I hope our plan works… it’s an Oct/2012 wedding… Fall says pie to me more than it does cake

Good luck and YUM!

9/16/11 @ 7:46 pm (reply)

Member

RobynD99 (message) 109 posts, Blushing bee

We were lucky to find an awesome cake lady. Happened to see one of my friends “like” her page on facebook, contacted her, had a tasting (best cupcakes ever - italian amaretto) and booked her. She’s even doing a Cowboys stadium replica cake for my FI - can’t wait to see & taste our wedding cakes!

9/16/11 @ 7:55 pm (reply)

Guest

Trish

We did a six inch wedding cake height round for our wedding with two kitchen cakes, the bakery’s little dirty secret for 150 people and it only cost us, with delivery 250 bucks, very sweet indeed!

9/16/11 @ 8:53 pm (reply)

Member

smdcontreras (message) 56 posts, Worker bee

I am making my own cake. Practicing really put pricing in to perspective. I can understand how some cakes seem ridiculously priced…some are. Making a wedding cake is a heck of a lot of work. It takes around 10- 15 hrs to make a cake often more than that. I am prepping for my cake now and my wedding is in Nov. Some decorations on cakes take hours to make and weeks to dry. You are not paying for the flour ,sugar, milk and eggs you are paying for a persons skills and time. I spent around $100 in just materials for a cake to feed 100. Now add in labor a 400 -500 cake is not to unreasonable

9/16/11 @ 11:12 pm (reply)

10.

Member

CupcakeKelly (message) 117 posts, Blushing bee

Okay, I AM obsessed with cake….but that’s why I think this is even more awesome! I’ve never been to a wedding with a cake bar like this - are you planning on having guests come up and serve themselves? Are there plates at the cake table? Curious about the logistics…

9/16/11 @ 11:58 pm (reply)

11.

Guest

Amber

This is one reason that helped us pick our venue, the cake was included! After looking at how much a wedding cake can run, I new this would be great for us.

9/17/11 @ 9:44 am (reply)

12.

Bee

Miss Ladyfingers (message) 1,119 posts, Bumble bee

I love this idea. I love cake. I really like the look of desert tables versus one big cake. We’re doing cupcakes, which are oh-so-trendy. Nonetheless, Mr. Ladyfingers’ dad had never heard of that, so it can’t be that widespread, and certainly not traditional

9/17/11 @ 10:15 am (reply)

13.

Guest

Jen

I was able to find a cake for 150 people for $600. Originally I wasn’t looking for someone based on price, but we lucked out. I needed someone who could make a gluten-free wedding cake. Her $600 cost even includes an extra charge for the specialty ingredients. What I learned, though, is that she is less expensive because she’s located outside of the city. I’m getting married in a downtown of a metropolitan area. Because our baker is located in a nearby rural area, she is much less expensive than the bakers that people normally go to in the city. And she still delivers to the city for free, has excellent cake, and does great work! I’m following the same logic for flowers - I’ll be looking at vendors in nearby towns outside the city that will still deliver downtown. They probably won’t be on the top of any wedding vendor lists, but I’ll be able to see from their portfolio if they do good work.

9/17/11 @ 10:35 am (reply)

14.

Member

jenn.christine (message) 10 posts, Newbee

I love, love, LOVE the idea of a cake bar! Looks pretty, more options.. *LOVE*. I actually have two good friends who bake and decorate cakes for a living and who have offered to make my cake FOR FREE as my wedding gift! AH! So I’m thinking I could ask the 2 of them to do a few smaller ones?? That way I could have a lot of variety. I do have a question tho…. how would you serve the cake?? Because there are so many, would you have the guests cut them themselves???

9/17/11 @ 12:09 pm (reply)

15.

Member

cancanny (message) 29 posts, Newbee

I just did a cake bar for a friends wedding, and think I will end up with a mix for mine: cheesecake, key lime pie, maybe a set of cupcakes, and one triple layer cake. If I am feeling ambitious, I may throw in mini pecan pies, too! And yes, I am doing them all myself. GO DIY!

9/17/11 @ 12:43 pm (reply)

16.

Bee

Miss Porcupine (message) 428 posts, Helper bee

@smdcontreras: I totallyyy understand that you pay for the skills of putting together a cake (not the actual ingredients per-say). I am not downplaying the labor that goes into making a wedding cake. Awesome that you are making your own! I wish I had that kind of talent/patience. I just couldn’t stomach spending 1k on a cake (that was the cheapest I was finding), when it’s the one item I have the least interest in at the wedding. For us it just didn’t make sense to spend the $$.

@Miss Ladyfingers: I considered cupcakes as well! The only thing that stopped me was that I’m not a big cupcake eater. It’s definitely still a fun non-traditional way to go!

@jenn.christine: We’re still undecided on how to serve. I’m thinking of having it displayed all in tact, having our cake cutting ceremony, and then having the caterers cut it up in the back and bring it back out (or cut it up behind the table as people come to pick a slice).

9/17/11 @ 6:52 pm (reply)

17.

Member

HaveGroomWillTravel (message) 65 posts, Worker bee

I LOVE this idea. Even to throw in some pies and/or cookies and milk would be great too. How many people just poke at the boring slice of wedding cake plopped in front of them? This is a great alternative which can end up being cheaper while also offering your guests some options.

9/17/11 @ 11:24 pm (reply)

18.

Guest

Jennica

I had a great cake at my wedding, but didn’t get a chance to have any.

9/18/11 @ 12:18 am (reply)

19.

Guest

Naturally Yours+Events

I am a firm believer in personalizing the wedding. If you don’t like cake, have pie. If you like ice cream, have an ice cream bar or gelato station. These are often cheaper than a traditional wedding cake anyway. I absolutely LOVE that you found early on to buy several cakes and I think a cake bar will be a huge hit. You decided what was important to you and didn’t let the wedding industry *tell* you how to spend your wedding dollars. Great job!

9/18/11 @ 3:21 pm (reply)

20.

Member

heknowsmyname (message) 698 posts, Busy bee

Do you remember what shape, color and taste cake did you eat on your friends’ wedding? Nobody care about it, so don’t pay too much time and money for that. Only one thing you have to think… add some pretty decoration yourself (like silk flowers as your first picture) for your pictures!

9/18/11 @ 6:27 pm (reply)

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