How to cut and eat cake

The cutting of the cake is the perfect photo opportunity! At the agreed time, ask the Master of Ceremonies or the best man to announce your intention to cut the cake. Your photographer should be in place. The bride stands to the left of the groom and takes the cake knife in her right hand. The groom places his right hand upon hers. Together you slice through the bottom layer of the cake. The room will be filled with the flash of photography, you'll feel like a movie star and then you have to eat the cake whilst being photographed! Traditionally , you serve one another from that first slice, which is a great photograph.

The groom using a cake fork, feeds the bride first. If you can, remember not to overload the fork. Having cut the cake, move away from it and hae it taken to the kitchen for slicing and plating. No-one, especially you, wants to see the messy destruction of this expensive but marvellous creation!

Special considerations

Cakes are made from fresh ingredients, therefore they can spoil if left out for several hours. A mousse or cheesecake, or a cake containingfresh cream will not last more than four hours if left out of a refrigerator. Your reception is likely to last longer than that. So avoid fillings and decorations that will not keep if you are having an outdoor summer wedding or a reception in a summer marquee.

Receptions in marquees or aboard boats and barges also bring some special considerations. If you are in a moving venue stacked cakes are advisable rather than tierd. The layers of a stacked cake are placed directly upon one another and supported by cake boards. This makes them more stable than the traditional wedding cake with tiers separated pillars. Likewise, marquee floors tend to be uneven, so it is worth having a spirit level and some cardboard handy to prop-up the table legs and ensure a stable level base. If the table is level from the start you have a hope of getting the cake level by the time you get to the top!

If you have not ordered your cake from your venue they may try and charge you? cakeage? (really!). This is usually a per plate charge to cover the cost of cutting, plating and washing-up. Try to remember to ask if there is a charge for supplying your own cake before you sign the contratc when you are in a stronger position to negotiate. If you have strong feelings about how appropriate a charge is, attempt to expunge the clause from your contract early on.

Cake questions

Wedding cakes are costly because creating them is time-consuming and most of the decoration is done by hand. A large, formal, tiered wedding cake will make a large dent in your budget. Therefore you have a right to expect a high level of service and the opportunity to both see and sample the cakes of potential suppliers. Don't be bamboozled. If you can't sample a cake, how do you know what you will get on the day?

The cost of your wedding cake is likely to be calculated upon the number of servings. Check whether price includes delivery and assembly. Cakes are rarely sent-out assembled; they need to be set-up on the day. If they are decorated with fresh fruits or flowers they can usually be delivered within a couple of hours of the start of the reception. If the supplier is unable to deliver and set-up the cake, who will? How are tey going to suitably transport the cake and when? If it is a complicated tiered cake or a largge sculptural design, does the person have experience of setting-up and dressing celebration cakes? If not, it's risky and it's therefore worth paying extra for the cake supplier to do it for you. Alternatively, your caterer or venue may be willing to assist if they have experience, but check first.

Also ask about ingredients. For example, will they uise butter rather than vegetable shortening? If they won't, does the quality of the cake match the price? The use of organic ingredients may also be a consideration; if so, are you willing to pay extra?

You will also need to liaise with your reception venue. Ask when the cake can be delivered and set-up on the day and whether they can provide a cake stand, knife and cake table - preferably with wheels if a large tiered cake has to be removed to the kitchen for plating. The cake is likely to be one of the focal points in the room. Check with your cake supplier that the table on offer is a suitable size and stable. a huge round table can make even a large cake look tiny and make it very difficult to reach the base tier for cutting. If it isn't the right size consider hiring one. Ensure you have discussed with the venue exectly where the cake table will be placedand that it will be provided with a clean cloth. It needs to be positioned in an area that is well-lit and with no distractions near or around it to spoil the photographs. If you are adding special lightning to the room, add a spotlight for the cake table too. If you want the table decorated with flowers, ask your florist to liaise with the cake supplier to ensure they are both happy and that each understands what the other is providing.

If you would like to send cake to family and friends who are unable to attend your wedding, bear in mind that many cakes will not stay fresh enough once sliced. Seek the advice of your supplier who mightmay be able to bake small individual cakes, or different suitable layer of wedding cake especially for sending-out.

Choosing the style of your cake

Your wedding cake could be provided by your venue or an outside caterer, a pastissier, a supermarket (many do bake some sashing cakes), an mbitious novice, or a specialist cake designer. As always, a recommendation is the best palce to start when sourcing a supplier. Your venue or caterer may try and insist they provide they provide the cake, or they may recommend a preferred supplier. Before agreeing to this, or to anyone supplying your wedding cake, ensure you see and taste examples and use the following advice to assess their suitability and expertise. Cake baking and decorating is a specialist craft. What kind of specialist you go to will depend upon budget, the style of cake you want and how complicated it is. A simple cake, especially if you have limited funds, could be provided by someone with less expertise and experience. But for a formal spectacular cake you'll need to call-in the experts.

A good time to come and talk about your cake is when you have chosen your dress and flowers and have an idea of the style of your day. Ideally, allow at least three months in advance. Take with you any ideas you already have. Books, magazines and the internet can offer inspiration. Think first about the style of your celebration: is it a simple contemporary wedding or a more formal and/or lavish occasion? Do you need a formal, tiered, iced cake or a sculptural creation? Should the cake form a dramatic centrepiece or can it be something more informal, funky or fun? Think too of the venue; scale is important, particularly if the cake is to be a foacl point. How many people has it got to feed? When will you serve it and what will you have eaten already? Do you want to serve the cake as dessert (if you do, you could opt for a cheese course instead of  a pudding or ice cream from your venue or caterer)? Do you want tiers of several flavours? Consider your flowers, colours, themes you may have chosen, the time of year, the time of day and how long the has to stand before it is cut and served. These are your starting points, but visit suppliers with an open mind. Trained cake designers may think ofthings and have ideas that you have not thought of. As with the rest of you wedding day, the cake should reflect your personalities. Think also of how the wedding cake is going to be part of your day.

It's a good plan to have an idea of the menu for your wedding dinner so you can see how the cake is going to fit-in. The first question to ask is: how many people will the cake need to serve?  That gives an indication of how big your cake should be. For a more intimate wedding, or perhaps a second marriage celebration, a beutifully decorated two-tiered, stacked cake could be appropriate. Or for smaller celebrations you could have individual cakes set-up on a stand; because the number of tiers build-up very quickly the result is quite dramatic and beautiful.

 
For a very large gathering we'd suggest working with fake tiers: you have a base tier for the bride and groom to cut, but the rest of the tiers are made up with polystyrene inside, but iced and decorated in the normal way. The cake provider can than bake and additional cake to the cutting cake that can be plated-up in the kitchen. This greatly assists the caterer as all they have to do is pre-slice the cake, then plate and serve it as soon as you have cut the other cake.

If serving the cake as your dessert, you can add other accompaniments; perhaps brandy sauce with a fruit cake, raspberry coulis with chocolate cake and garnish with fresh fruits and berries, edible flowers or nuts. Because it can take time to plate and serve the cake, you may decide to cut it either before the wedding dinner (perhaps with a blast of confetti from a confetti gun as you enter the dining room?) or following the first course.

If you want a cake in addition to dessert, think about what youare serving  for dessert. If you are serving a chocolate dessert, than consider an alternative flavour or flavours for the cake. The cake is usually served following speeches and toasts. Bear in mind when you are sampling the cake, that by the time you eat it on your wedding day, you may well have consumed canapés, champagne, a substantial meal and wine, so you will need a cake that will satisfy the palate without having a huge slice. It needs to have a gusty flavour that standsup to a champagne toast and 'packs a punch'. You could also consider serving the cake later in the celebration, maybe towards the end of the evening when dancing guests might feel peckish.