Buy A Simple Iced Cake
Many cake makers sell reasonably priced, ready iced cakes that you can decorate as you wish. You can buy two or three different sized cakes with plain white icing and use cake stands to stack them. You dont even have to stick to one flavour as you can buy fruit, sponge or chocolate layers and stack them together. Decorating the finished result with ribbon or iced figures can provide a classic but inexpensive effect.
Ordering A Wedding Cake From Walmart Publix Or Costco
Home » Supermarket Wedding Cakes? Ordering a Wedding Cake from a Grocery Store
Often considered a centerpiece of a wedding reception, wedding cake is not something you would find in a grocery store, right? Well, it turns out that in a wake of new cost-consciousness, even for weddings, that supermarkets are moving in on the gilded wedding cake business with more finesses that you would imagine. Nowadays, supermarkets are actually hiring people who are inclined to decorating cakes, and bakery employees have decorating skills beyond the ones they display for their stores standard cakes.
Grocery stores can make really nice looking cakes and they can be very tasty. Be sure that no one will notice that your cake is not a custom design by some fancy boutique bakery. And the best part is you dont really have to tell anyone. Though we can guarantee that your guest will ask you where you got your gorgeous cake.
For starters, lets clear up some common misconceptions about supermarket wedding cakes:
Final Thoughts On Planning An Inexpensive Wedding:
As I said the other day, this is your special day. Do what you want, invite who you want, plan it yourself, track all expenses, and dont be afraid to break stodgy, boring McWedding traditions.
We had an awesome wedding, despite it being super cheap. Great food, drink, entertainment, photos, in a comfortable location. We had a number of people tell us it was the best wedding that theyve been to. We didnt sacrifice anything. We had the wedding we wanted. And we had ZERO DEBT to show for it. Hopefully, this inspires you to do the same.
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It Feels More Personal
I’m someone who shows her love through food. Heck, when I was being “rebellious” in high school and parents would go out of town, my crew would play grown-up and host dinner party sleepovers.
I should add a disclaimer here: I am 100% on board with a rustic aesthetic. In fact, I vehemently despise fondant as an ingredient , and I hate the idea of inedible garnishes .
So, the idea of an elaborately designed fondant wedding cake that is painted, prodded, and airbrushed to look like a is in complete opposition to my cooking/food values. If that’s the cake you have at your wedding and I’m lucky enough to be invited, I will happily enjoy it! It’s just not for me.
Visit The Floral Section At Your Grocery Store
Many grocery stores including Whole Foods, Vons, Safeway, and Publix have a floral department. And in many cases, employees are accustomed to putting centerpieces together some of them have even been professional florists at some point. Contact a few stores, and you may discover that they can provide the same centerpieces and bouquets as the average wedding florist, and at a much lower price point.
Stores may also offer full floral packages that include boutonnieres, corsages, and ceremony flowers. As an added bonus, you can have your cake prepared by the grocery store bakery and consolidate vendors. However, some grocery stores wont deliver your flowers or they may charge a high premium to do so so be prepared to have someone pick them up the day of the wedding.
average return of 618%
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The Wedding Cake Design
While the size of your wedding cake will be a major factor in the pricing, the one thing which will have the most impact on how much your wedding cake costs you is the design you choose.
“A cake design which has a lot of detail such as handmade sugar flowers, hand-piping details, ruffles etc. take much longer to create and therefore increases the price of the cake,” says Nicola. “A single sugar rose can take an hour to make! Handmade sugar flowers, hand piping detail, ruffles, stencilling work – anything that is labour intensive will add to the price, as you are paying for their time and skill.”
Naked wedding cakes, for example, can involve much less work than fondant and handmade sugar details, which will bring the price down.
You may think going bespoke will add to the price, and in some cases it will – but not always. “The cost will always depend on what the design is, whether its a previous design that is requested or brand new design,” says Nicola. “A very simple new design would cost less than a previous, very detailed design, for example. My cakes are always bespoke as there are always some elements which will be different.”
Plan Your Own Wedding
Planning a wedding is a lot of work. Its also a huge cost saver and incredibly rewarding.
Planning the wedding yourself allows you to find out what all vendor costs are and get comparisons. You control the budget 100% versus relying on the input of someone else. Thats key.
Its also very rewarding. Every aspect of the wedding one of the most special days of your life was decided on by you and your significant other, together. It means more to both of you.
We didnt even consider a wedding planner, to be honest. I dont know exactly what they cost, but I know they arent cheap.
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Sainsburys Decorate Your Own Cake 450
If youre a dab-hand at cake decorating and fancy creating your own wedding cake, Sainsburys decorate your own cake is a great option for you. Serving eight people, its perfect for very intimate weddings, or alternatively, you could decorate one of these cakes for each of your tables and serve your wedding cake in a more untraditional way.
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How To Estimate Costs
To estimate wedding cake costs, the first thing you need to figure out is how many people and slices you’ll be serving. If you are doing a seated dinner with a dessert course and the wedding cake is the dessert you will be serving, you will need a slice for every single guest. However, if you are doing a whole dessert station or family-style desserts, its safe to say that not every guest will have a slice so you are going to need less cake.
Its important to keep in mind that most wedding cakes are priced out by the slice. Typically, they run around $2.50 to $8 per slice in the U.S., according to Bake My Day Baking in Dallas, but they often get closer to $12 per size with some of the more labor-intensive designs and specialty ingredients.
We have a minimum starting point and then add price based on time to execute the design, not so much by the slice, says Jamaica Crist of Top Tier Treats in Los Angeles. The price on any two-tiered or larger cake does tend to average between $7 to $9 per slice, as a base point. It can go way over that depending on the intricacy involved.
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Waitrose Fiona Cairns Undecorated Three
Add a royal-approved touch to your wedding day with a three-tier cake from Fiona Cairns, who created Prince William and Kate‘s wedding cake in 2011. This elegant design features one tier of rich fruit cake covered with marzipan, a middle tier of golden sponge with raspberry jam and buttercream filling, and a top tier of chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream, all covered in ivory icing and decorated with dots. Serves 80-100. £199, available from Waitrose.
Fiona Cairns undecorated 3-tier wedding cake, £199, Waitrose
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Use Real Flowers & Ornamentals Instead Of Sugar Ones
Sugar flowers on a wedding cake, or any type of cake, can take hours to make. As the cost of your wedding cake is decided by the amount of time the cake takes to make, it is sensible to consider whether the sugar flowers are really necessary.
Yes, the sugar flowers can look fantastic but you can get a similar effect by using real flowers, at a fraction of the price. In addition, you want the wedding to be about you, not about how amazing the wedding cake looks!
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Wedding Cakes For 450 600
The team at Anns Designer Cakes explain that the design at this price range can be a lot more complex: “A good example of this price range would be our naked, royal iced swirl or drip wedding cakes. These cakes are simple in design but by using fresh fruits, berries or silk flowers, we are able to create something very beautiful and personal for a couples wedding.”
This price bracket is the starting range for a three-tier fondant cakes, serving 80-120 people. Couples with a £600 budget for their wedding cake can expect more design work and more flavour choice than the lower brackets.
Dont Have A Fake Display Cake
What do I mean by this? Sometimes, to be extremely frugal, a bakery may give you a fake display cake made of Styrofoam! No, Im not joking!!!
Then they decorate it to look like a real cake. And when you try to do the cake cutting, the cake wont cut! This happened at a wedding I worked at!
Plus, this fake cake had at least 5 layers, balanced on wine glasses in between each layer. The cake ended up falling down before cake cutting!
The couple was able to cut the bottom layer of this fake cake. But by this point, it became obvious that the cake wasnt real because, they couldnt cut it all the way through and you could see the styrofoam peeking through the frosting.
Everyone was talking about it!!! Is this something you want your guests to remember about your wedding?
This is a good reason not to haggle too much with your wedding vendors! And if you try to talk down the price too much, theyll have to cut corners. And in the end, youll really have to pay for it in more ways than one.
I know wedding magazines will tell you to negotiate, but please keep in mind that weddings are stressful. A lot of things can happen and go wrong, but true wedding professionals with many years of experience know how to handle things without adding more stress to your day.
Wedding vendors work really hard for your wedding! They all know that your wedding is a special day that happens only once, if youre lucky.
Whats your favorite money saving tip for weddings?
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Myth : I Can Easily Make My Own Cake To Save Money Or Get My Mum/aunt/friend To Make It
Flour, eggs, sugar, butter and mixmaking a cake is easy! And indeed a lovely weekend cake is easy to bake. There is definitely more pressure when making a wedding cake and significantly more skill involved in creating a larger cake that may be stacked and displayed for several hours. I toyed with the idea of making my sisters wedding cupcakes not long after I started my business. However as chief bridesmaid I came to the conclusion that I couldnt possibly make wedding cupcakes while also managing other bridesmaids tasks. Importantly, I didnt want to be stuck in the kitchen while everyone was enjoying themselves and getting their nails done!
If you do wish to make your wedding cake, or someone else offers, this can be a lovely way of making your wedding day personal. It might be a good idea though to make something like fruit or chocolate biscuit cake that can be made in advance, so that the baker can relax before the day. Whatever you choose to make, do a few trial runs so you are confident in your abilities.
It should also be noted that many venues require proof of insurance and food safety certification from wedding cake designers. This is a very responsible policy in ensuring that all food served meets food safety standards. Venues may hence not be willing to accept a homemade cake for serving on their premises.
Tips For Hiring A Wedding Cake Bakery
Before hiring a wedding cake maker for your special day, be sure to:
- Schedule 3 to 5 cake tastings with different bakeries to sample a variety of flavors and options.
- Browse local bakery websites to see their design style and photos of previous cakes.
- Check their reviews on Fash and Google.
- Ask for references from recent wedding couples.
- Know the guest count. If you are still awaiting RSVPs, expect 80% of the guests to accept.
- Get at least three estimates.
- Read over all contract terms before signing or paying in full.
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The Thrifty Wedding: 8 Ways To Save On Wedding Cake/dessert
This is a series focused on how any couple headed to the altar can find ways to cut back on spending without sacrificing their vision for the big day. Stay tuned for upcoming posts in this series. The next one will be on food & catering.
When youre planning a wedding, everything can look like dollar signs to you. When it comes to the reception, you want it to be a fun party, where you can celebrate your union, and not stress about how much it all costs. Here are some ways you can get a cake/dessert thats sure to satisfy, without spending too much.
1. Order less slices than number of guests. Wedding cakes are priced by the number of slices youll need. However, not everyone is going to eat a slice of cake. Maybe theyre too full, maybe they left before the cake, or maybe they split a slice with someone, but usually about one out of five guests wont end up having a slice. So, if youre going to have 100 people there, you can comfortably order a cake for about 80 people, instead of 100. This rule applies for non-cake desserts as well. If youre doing doughnuts, or cupcakes, or something else, you can order 80 instead of 100, and still feel good about it.
7. Choose another dessert. Choosing cupcakes, pies, or doughnuts for your wedding can be cheaper than getting a wedding cake. While the actual pricing will depend on your bakery, these items dont require much decorating time, so youll be saving on labor for your wedding dessert.