Everything About DIY Wedding Cakes

If your big day is on the not-so-distant horizon, one of the many things you may be asking yourself currently is, should I make my own wedding cake?

As exciting a prospect as this is, and as confident as you are in your abilities, it’s best to think long and hard about whether you want to make your own wedding cake. Will you have the time and the headspace to devote to baking and decorating (and indeed delivering and setting up) your wedding cake in the run-up to one of the biggest days of your life?

If the answer to this is anything other than ‘definitely, yes’ it’s best to consider outsourcing this particular job to someone else. We don’t mean to be spoilsports, but it’s an important consideration at a time when there is a mountain of other things you could be doing…

But if that answer up there ☝ was yes, let’s plough on with a look at some DIY wedding cake ideas, and firstly some tips and tricks on how you can make the process of baking your own wedding cake an enjoyable and (relatively) stress-free one!

 

DIY Wedding Cake Tips and Tricks

 

So, after careful consideration, you have decided to make your own wedding cake. But before you even begin to think about weighing out your butter, sugar and flour, it’s a good idea to formulate some sort of strategy to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Making your own wedding cake can certainly have its advantages. Firstly, it is generally cheaper than getting someone else to make it for you, and at a time when there are plenty of other wedding-related expenses, this can be something you could make a little saving on.

Creating a cake you love, and you know your guests will appreciate too is another good reason to do it yourself. As we have already mentioned though, it’s not always an easy task with so many other things to organise at the same time, so hopefully, the tips and tricks we have shared below will come in handy.

 

Make a Simple Wedding Cake

Just because it’s your wedding, it doesn’t mean that you should take yourself completely out of your comfort zone by following a complex recipe or trying to bake a cake you have never made before. Baking a real favourite of yours with a recipe you are familiar with is more likely to result in success.

Making a simple, yet stunning wedding cake, which is straightforward to decorate, will prove to be a real winner among your guests. If you’re still undecided on what type of cake to make we have some ideas further down.

 

Preparation is Key

With so many other things to consider prior to your wedding day, your cake preparation is key. Firstly, ensuring you have all the ingredients you require available and to hand will mean you are not hunting around in your cupboards hoping to find what you need on the day you bake your wedding cake. A shopping trip for ingredients prior to the day you bake your cake is therefore usually necessary.

Another way you can prepare is by completing a trial run before the actual day of the bake. You may have made this type of cake 50 times in the past, but a wedding cake is likely to require increased quantities of ingredients, both for the cake itself and the decorations. Knowing that you can make a cake that looks and tastes just the way you want it to will give you peace of mind.

 

Declutter Your Kitchen

Decluttering your kitchen and making room on your countertop for only the ingredients, bowls, tins, utensils, and anything else, you need to bake your cake will provide you with more space in which to operate. It will also ensure that you have all the things you require right in front of you.

You will therefore have more space to create and decorate your very own wedding cake. Keeping things tidy and organised as you go will also ensure that your important ingredients are less likely to go missing and you won’t waste time looking for them. 

 

Schedule a Specific Day for Baking your Wedding Cake

Put a date in your diary, before your wedding day, which you can dedicate to baking your cake. Scheduling a specific day, and letting others know about your plans too, will allow you to focus all your time and energy on making the cake without any distractions.

You might think that an entire day might seem a bit excessive, but life does have a tendency to get in the way at times. So even if you miss half an hour of preparation or decorating time because you had to take a phone call, you will still have plenty of time to bake your DIY wedding cake. 

 

Acquire a Helper

Don’t be afraid to ask someone to give you a hand with baking your wedding cake. There will be plenty to do including mixing ingredients, decorating and also washing up! Having someone there to make your life easier could be a big help!

Planning out the cake making process with your helper before you start baking is a good idea. If you can both get on with different tasks at the same time this could reduce the time spent in the kitchen by quite a considerable amount.

 

Take Transportation into Consideration

Consider how you are going to transport your cake to your wedding venue. If it’s a tiered cake, are you going to transport your cake in separate tiers for it to be assembled when you get there? Are the cake tins you have at home going to be large enough or do you require specialist cake boxes? Also, it will be best to arrange to drop the cake off at your wedding venue a day or two before the wedding itself if this is possible.

 

 

Have a Contingency Plan

If, for whatever reason, baking your own wedding cake doesn’t go to plan, it will be good to have some form of backup. Doing some research beforehand to see which shops and websites have suitable wedding cakes, or plain cakes ready to be decorated could prove worthwhile. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that!

 

 

 

DIY Wedding Cake Ideas

 

The great thing about baking your own wedding cake is that you can create a cake which both yourself and your partner love. You’ll also have the added sense of pride and achievement which comes with making it yourself. After all, what is more rewarding and enjoyable than your guests telling you they love your homemade wedding cake!?

Certain factors might determine what type of cake you bake, and these could include the time of year, for example, if it’s a summer or winter wedding a style relating to the season might be chosen. If you are still a little stuck when it comes to ideas, don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of suggestions below for wedding cakes you can make yourself.

 

Pressed Flowers

This year Pressed Flower wedding cakes have emerged as a true star if you're looking for a natural and beautiful way of adding texture and colour to your cake. You can add pressed flowers to create simple patterns or arrange them into bouquets, garlands, or clusters to decorate each tier. Take the DIY theme further and use home grown flowers for an extra special touch.

 

 

 

Isomalt designs

Isomalt is a huge trend for this year. Whether styled as an eye-catching topper or around the sides of your cake, heating, melting and shaping Isomalt to decorate your cake will get your guests talking and create a stunning centrepiece for your big day.

Pick up the Isomalt of your choice and then give it a go!

 

Sugar Pearls

If you’re hoping to keep your cake simple but still wow your guests, adorning your delicious bake with sugar pearls could be the way forward. Whether you keep it sleek and simple with just a few pearls here and there or cover your cake in luxurious swathes, the result will be traditional yet modern. Fairy-tale yet minimal.

With so many sizes and colours to choose from, your sugar pearl design options are endless. Keep it simple and opt for traditional yet stylish ivory sugar pearls or dazzle your guests with a whole host of colourful pearls to match your chosen theme.

 

 

Acrylic Tiers

Achieve the illusion of a big cake with only a small number of guests to feed. Fill-a-tier is the perfect way to stack your wedding cake without having to bake or waste any actual cake. Use vinyl stickers around the edge to match your theme or fill the tier with flowers, sequins or mini balloons to create a central ‘cake tier’ as a talking point.

 

 

Drip Wedding Cakes

Still a huge trend at the moment in the everyday caking world, why not introduce a drip cake into your wedding plans? Delicious, stylish and eye-catching, single or two-tier drip cakes can be dressed up or kept simple to match the theme of your wedding.

And with such a huge array of drip colours to choose from, there’s bound to be something to complete your perfect DIY wedding cake like a pro!

 

 

Geode Wedding Cake

Who doesn’t say ‘Wow!’ when they see a really beautiful Geode cake?

Create a stunning centrepiece cake using Isomalt to make sugar crystals in your chosen colours, then decorate a Geode cake with them. Ideal for making in advance, Isomalt comes in loads of different colours so you should be able to make your sugar crystals to match your theme.

If you are unsure about how to make them, check out this fantastic video from Crystal Candy to learn the process.

  

Semi-Naked Wedding Cake

Naked cakes have become very popular for weddings over the last few years. A naked cake is not covered in icing but instead, the sponge is left uncovered, and you can see the buttercream between the tiers.

If you are thinking of going down this route, we recommend a semi-naked wedding cake. A semi-naked cake has a little bit of frosting on the outside of the cake, so the sponge isn’t completely exposed. This extra frosting can actually prevent the cake from drying out too much which can sometimes be a problem with standard naked cakes.

 

 

Wedding Cupcake Tower

Who said that your DIY wedding cake had to be an actual cake?

A popular alternative to traditional wedding cakes is a wedding cupcake tower. This will be a real showpiece on your big day and is more straightforward than you think to make. As each cupcake sits within an individual case, they are also easy for your guests to eat too, particularly if they are standing up.

You can use the same colour icing throughout on your cupcakes for a consistent theme or maybe a duo of colours for a trendy contrast. Sugar flower cupcake decorations are perfect for adding the finishing touches to your wedding day cupcakes. You will have to take your cupcakes to your venue in a box before arranging them on a cupcake stand on or before your big day.

 

 

Wedding Cake Toppers

 

If you are making a traditional wedding cake, then you might consider placing a cake topper on top of the icing. There are plenty of wedding-themed cake toppers available with popular varieties including those that feature words and phrases like Love or Mr & Mrs For a real traditional wedding cake, bride and groom figurine cake toppers can also be chosen. Making an edible bride and groom is an alternative option!

Share your DIY wedding cakes with us – we’d love to see how you got on making a special cake for your big day.  You might also be interested in our post about Top 10 Summer Wedding Cake Styles...