Wedding Cake Ideas for Columbus Weddings

Columbus Ohio wedding cakes have set a new standard! We looked at wedding cake bakeries around the country and noticed that six small, award-winning cakeries stand out above all the rest. These include Ron-Ben Israel, Cynthia Perlman, and Gail Watson (all three in New York City), the famous Maribelle Cakery in Cincinnati Ohio, The Cakework in San Francisco, and guess what! The Cake Studio right here in Columbus Ohio! These six cakeries are constantly mentioned in websites all over the Internet and have set the standard for amazing wedding cakes not just in Columbus but around the country. Congratulations to The Cake Studio for the national recognition that they have earned!

My gown is ivory. Should I have an ivory cake to match?

That's an excellent question. When you are cutting the cake, everyone is snapping pictures. You don't want your cake to be too much whiter than your gown or it will be washed out in the photos. If you have a natural white or off-white gown, your icing should be slightly off-white, since it will look better in the photos. If you have a darker ivory gown, your icing should be a pale ivory. It shouldn't be as dark as your gown or worse, darker than your gown. A pale ivory cake looks fabulous in photos next to an ivory gown. Even a white-white gown demands a barely off-white icing to look good in the photographs. The ivory cake at the left was finished with dark pink roses that beautifully complement the ivory icing and also match the roses in the bride's bouquet.

I want something really different from my sister's wedding. What about a colored cake? How do I select the color?

Icing can be tinted just about any color. Bear in mind that the color should be on the light side. Pastel colors work best. When icing is tinted a dark color, it drys unevenly and looks blotchy. The exception to this is detail work, which can be any color. You might choose a color to match the overall color theme of your wedding or the color of your bridesmaid's gowns. This blue cake was chosen to match the tiffany blue of a bridesmaid's gown. Another bride chose pink and moss-green for her colors. The pink and moss-green cake below was her choice. Gerber daisys come in every color imaginable, and are a good choice for picking up an unusual tint of pink.

What about fondant? I've heard that it tastes really bad.

It’s a fact that all the wedding cakes you see in the bridal magazines are made from fondant. But everyone knows that fondant tastes bad. What’s going on? Cakes created for magazines were never made to be eaten. They were made to be photographed and the designer wants to build a cake that looks as perfect as possible. Fondant can be made to look as smooth and seamless as plastic. Fondant decorations have an unreal quality about them, as if they were also made of plastic. The same decorators who build these fondant cakes for the magazines would never recommend a fondant cake for their customers. They may place a few fondant scarves or other ornaments on the cake, but the icing is always a good buttercream. This is much more tasty and much less expensive than a complete fondant overlay. Remember: taste and smell are our strongest memories. Long after the party favors and table decorations are forgotten, people will remember the food and the cake.

Why is the wedding cake so important for the reception? Why can’t I just have individual cupcakes or maybe a smaller cake at each table?

First, individual cakes or cupcakes were a big fad in the 80’s. But they are so 80’s! Modern brides have returned to the sculptured beauty of a multi-tiered cake. Your wedding cake is much more than just the centerpiece for your reception. Your cake makes a strong statement to your family and guests about who you are, about your hostess skills, about your flair for originality and creativity, and about your taste. It tells your guests that your reception will be no ordinary reception, but an event that your guests will long remember. After all, taste and smell are the strongest memories! Your guests will remember the cake long after the party favors, the so-so catering, and the decorations are long forgotten. They will have photos of you and your groom cutting the cake. (Who takes photos of the catering or the party favors?) Your cake must live up to some pretty high standards if your wedding reception is to be remarkable and memorable. If find that you must cut back on your budget--cut back on the flowers, the decorations, or the party flavors--but never on the cake!

What is a groom’s cake and how is it used?

The groom’s cake tradition originated in the Southern states about 200 years ago. It is still quite common in the south but has only recently migrated to the northern states. The groom’s cake can be used for three different purposes. 1) It’s orginal use, as a surprise for the groom. Usually his favorite flavor and sometimes decorated with a personal theme. 2) The groom’s cake is often used as dessert for the rehearsal dinner. 3) When you have already designed a beautiful wedding cake and you find that you will have more guests at your reception than you originally planned—you don’t have to go back and change your original cake design. Just add a groom’s cake to pick up the extra servings that you need.

The groom's cake at the above right is a chocolate cake with Bailey's Irish Cream filling. It is topped with strawberries that have been double-dipped in white and dark chocolate, and giant dark chocolate curls. This gives the groom three different things to taste, instead of just cake!

My cake is four tiers. Should they all be the same flavor or is it OK to choose four different flavors?

It depends entirely on how the cake is served. If you are having a formal, sit-down dinner, then each guest will be served a slice of cake but they will have very little choice about what flavor they get. If the server has two or more different flavors on a tray, and one of them is chocolate, then the guest may say “please give me the chocolate.” But this doesn’t always happen. It is still OK to have two or three different flavors because the guests can always trade flavors with other guests. I have seen this happen at many receptions and it adds a bit of fun at the table.

My favorite way to serve cake is a cake station (buffet style) where the cake is cut and plated at a table. Guests are free to select whatever flavor they want. In this case, you should have as many flavors as you have tiers because it is more fun for your guests. Also, you don’t have to worry about all the cake being eaten because if you have more than one flavor, some guests will go back for seconds or even thirds.

How about a square cake? I want something really different.

The cake on the right is a square cake with each of the layers offset. This opens up some wonderful decorative possibilities. The offset cakes leave a large, triangular area on the top of each tier that just begs for decoration. Here the cake designer has draped fondant scarves over each corner and finished it with white sugar flowers. Since the fondant scarves won't be served (the caterer normally discards such things on a wedding cake) you don't have to worry about the fondant tasting bad. The square cake above has an interesting story behind it. The couple were married in the islands, then had their reception back here in Columbus. They opted for seashells, driftwood, and flowers on their square offset cake. This set the theme of their wedding, which was Caribbean. Each table was decorated with similar arrangements.

Cake photos courtesy of Maribelle Cakery in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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