Smaller Wedding Cakes Are In Vogue
Nuptial cake trends have revolutionised since
the Middle Ages when a pure white cake symbolised wealth and while modern round
cakes are still popular, the current global pandemic has decidedly influenced
wedding cake trends.
As soon-to-be-wedded couples host more
intimate gatherings, wedding cakes have shrunk in size and grown in
exuberance.
Something Old, Something New
Chocolate, carrot or red velvet remain
sought-after flavours and decorative sugar flowers are still trending, “but the
blooms are more delicate and have lots of texture,” says celeb chef and
award-winning cake designer, Grace Stevens.
Grace Stevens — Framed By Claire Photography Grace is an award-winning cake decorator, author, and guest chef on SABC3 Expresso Morning Show who lives in Cape Town and travels throughout South Africa to teach the art of cake decorating and design
Globally, hand-painted art, elegantly
scattered sugar pearls and butter cream toppings are all the rage. On the home
front though, the Rainbow Nation has diverse trends across the country.
Grace Stevens & Bosch —Framed By Claire Photography Cakes with sugar pearls elegantly scattered across the tiers and while florals are still trending, couples tend to request more delicate blooms with lots of texture.
While Grace looks forward to creating a
beautiful rose gold cake with differently textured and themed tiers later this
year, a couple requested Karin and Joy Blom of Sweet Joy Designer Wedding Cakes to create a fishbowl
wedding cake.
All Cracked Up
Fault line wedding cakes featuring detailed
crack-like artwork are undoubtedly an interesting trend. Named after the
geological feature, they are perfect for single-tier or mini cakes with
“epicentres” ranging from geodes or fruit to flowers and pearls.
Pearl Fault Line Wedding Cake — Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium This fusion of the sugar pearls and fault line wedding cake design trends in a one-tier wedding cake is a lovely idea for a trendy wedding cake on a smaller scale.
Smaller cakes
Another popular
request is smaller or single-tier cakes with individual stands for each guest
table. Scaled down cakes needn’t skimp on intricacies: Sweet Joy designed a 35
cm-high cake enveloped in a blue marble-effect wraparound with gold trimmings,
a sugar protea, navy berries and small flower details.
Marble Protea Cake —Sweet Joy Wedding Cakes Intricacies without the towering tiers: at about 35 cm high, this double-tier wedding cake with its marble-effect wraparound, gold trimmings, sugar protea and small flower details shows that opting for a smaller cake doesn’t mean you need to skimp on the details.
Sweet Sentiments
Individual desserts or mini wedding cakes are
a health protocol-friendly trend that limit contact between guests and venue
staff. You could even request a bigger cake for the cutting ceremony with mini
versions for each guest, tastefully packaged as a wedding favour.
Individual Cakes — Weddingomania These pastel blue mini wedding cakes are topped with sugar flowers, leaves, and berries and can either be plated or wrapped as guest favours
Tiers of Thrifty Decadence
After downscaling on everything else, big
wedding cakes with a difference are also in demand. Cake designers provide
dummy cake options, so you can keep your original design without compromising
the cake’s size and height. The dummy layers cost less, and you select a “real”
cake as one of the tiers — allowing for a tasty and picture-perfect cutting
ceremony.
I’m sure your thoughts must be fluttering with
wedding cake ideas for your big day after reading about all these trends, but
there’s no need to worry. As Limpopo Wedding Planner, I will listen to your
vision and meticulously plan every aspect of your special day ensuring it’s
everything you’ve dreamed of — down to the last crumb.
Geo Cake with Sugar Flowers —Sweet Joy Wedding Cakes This couple chose dummy top tiers with a “real” cake bottom tier for the cutting ceremony. The cake itself was a decadent vanilla with Dolche de Letche and vanilla butter cream filling enveloped in a covering of light grey marble with rock sugar geodes and a variety of sugar flowers.