How Much Does A Wedding Cake Cost?
How much is a wedding cake?
It's a question that is in the mind of pretty much every engaged couple, but the answer is not quite as simple as you might think.
Think of it like a wedding dress or a wedding suit. They vary a lot in price don’t they? You might find your perfect dress or suit on the high street off the peg, or you may have the budget for a designer outfit or a bespoke one of a kind creation. There is no right or wrong choice, the only choice is the one that is best for you, your wedding and your budget.
The same can be said for wedding cakes.
Image: Jenny Appleton Photography
Off the shelf wedding cakes
These days, you can get wedding cakes from supermarkets or other high street stores. Whilst this can be a good choice for some people as they are both convenient and budget friendly, they will however, have been mass produced in a factory, not by hand. They will also require you to assemble them yourself at your venue which could be stressful on the wedding day.
If you look at the list of ingredients in a pre-made cake, it will not just be flour, eggs, butter and sugar, there will have been many additives and preservatives added. You also won't know when it was made, you won’t know or meet the person who made it for you and it won't have been made 'just for you'. Again none of this is right, or wrong, but it may be something you wish to consider when choosing your wedding cake.
Budget friendly wedding cake options
If you are on a smaller budget, don’t think a handmade cake may be out of reach. A semi naked cake might be your best choice. These require minimal decoration so can be cheaper than iced and decorated alternatives. They can look really beautiful decorated with fresh flowers, fruits, berries, figs or even herbs. Sometimes less is more with this style of cake. But similarly you can go all out with beautiful blooms to create a real statement cake.
They are particularly well suited to rustic or barn venues and to tipi or marquee weddings. Just consider the potential heat on your wedding day, particularly in a marquee as a semi naked wedding cake is not quite as stable as an iced wedding cake.
What will make my wedding cake cost more?
The general rule of thumb, is that, the bigger the wedding cake and the more detail in the design, the greater the cost. Sugar flowers, ruffles, intricate piping, complex models or additional fine detail are all going to add to the final cost. If you don't have a huge budget, you can still have an amazing wedding cake, without tons of detail and complex design elements - think 'less is more'.
A few statement focal points or elements of detail can still give you a wow factor wedding cake. Your wedding cake designer should be able to advise about working within a specific budget so be honest with them before you embark on the design process, so that you are both on the same page from the beginning.
Images: Jenny Appleton Photography / Taylar Jayde Photography
Delivery distance
Another thing to consider when choosing your wedding cake designer, is how far away from your venue they are. Most cake makers will charge for delivery, particularly if it is a long drive to the wedding venue. Again, the cost of delivery is not a fixed amount and will vary between cake makers, so it is always best to discuss this when choosing your wedding cake maker.
As an example, my minimum delivery charge is £25 but sometimes it can cost up to £200 for delivery if I am delivering a long way away. Not all wedding cake makers will be willing to travel long distances, so always check this when making an enquiry. Similarly, don’t be put off if your dream wedding cake maker is a long way from your venue - it doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t make your wedding cake!
Images: Jenny Appleton Photography
Why do different wedding cake makers charge different prices?
This is something I think a lot of people have misconceptions about. A wedding cake is just a cake, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter who makes it surely?
No, this is very wrong.
Let me give you a couple of examples:
Cake Maker A: They love baking but it’s more of a hobby than a business. They use cheaper 'Savers range' supermarket ingredients and baking fat, not butter to keep costs down, They batch bake cakes from home and freeze them so it's quicker to put orders together at the last minute. They are making at least eight cakes a week, so can't give too much time to each order to ensure a high quality of finish. They are happy just to charge enough to cover the cost of their ingredients as they just really love baking in their spare time.
Cake Maker B: They have been making cakes for a few years and now run a business from home in a private studio in their garage. They are fully insured, registered and food hygiene qualified. They have undertaken lots of professional training to hone their skills and stay on top of new cake decorating techniques. Quality is key with this baker. They buy the best of everything to ensure their cakes taste as good as they look. They pride themselves on attention to detail and a flawless finish. Nothing leaves their kitchen until its absolutely perfect. They limit the amount of orders they take on every week to ensure perfection.
Cake Maker C: They have a high street store front and have been established for 20 years. They employ five staff. They run a very successful business and have won numerous awards for their intricate wedding cakes and sugar artistry. They specialise in making wedding cakes for celebrity couples and are often in glossy magazines.
Obviously there is going to be a cost difference between these three cake makers. It is down to you to ask the right questions to establish what kind of cake maker you are employing to make your wedding cake and whether you are happy with the level of service and product they are going to provide.
If they are very cheap, there will be a reason for this, if they are very expensive, it might be they have a very well thought of brand and luxury product. Most reputable cake makers will have a good website and social media presence where you will be able to see examples of their work and read customer reviews. Just make sure you are completely happy with what you see and read before you commit. If you are not sure, ask to meet your cake maker and taste some samples of their cakes before you confirm the booking.
Image: Kate McCarthy Photography
How is the cost of a wedding cake calculated?
When calculating the cost of a wedding cake, lots of things need to be take into consideration. Each cake maker will have their own way of calculating costs that they are happy with. These are some things that will be taken into account:
Ingredients - This will form the very basic starting price for a cake
Time - Not just time for baking and making your wedding cake, there is also lots of other time to consider: answering queries, sending quotes, preparing for consultations, baking for consultations, the consultation itself, researching designs, designing the cake itself, shopping for ingredients, mixing, baking, making fillings, filling and ganaching cakes, icing the cake, making decorations, attaching decorations, contacting venues and florists, preparing the cake for delivery, delivering the cake, assembling the cake at the venue, washing up, cleaning the workspace, admin time.......just some of the tasks a wedding cake maker has to undertake for each and every cake they make.
Other costs - overheads, equipment, training, utility costs, car insurance, petrol, house insurance, cake boxes and boards, advertising, stationery, fuel, accounting, running social media accounts, hosting a website......etc.
So, it is by no means, just the cost of the basic ingredients themselves and a little bit of time.
Images: Jo Bradbury Photography / Mathilde Du Fraisse
Common myths
Dummy tiers will make my wedding cake a lot cheaper - This is not necessarily the case. If your dummy tier has a lot of decoration on it, then chances are, there won't be a huge difference between the cost of a real cake or a dummy cake. Also, dummy cakes, particularly large, or unusually shaped ones often cost more than the ingredients for a cake. Decorating a dummy cake costs exactly the same as decorating a real cake.
I'll just have a small cake and then cutting cake to keep the cost down - This can actually end up costing almost as much as a larger tiered cake, if not more. There is still the cost of making and icing the cutting cake, and the portions needed will still be the same. So it might be worth thinking about having more of a showstopper cake rather than a smaller cake and cutting cake that never gets seen.
Individual mini cakes will be cheaper than a bigger cake - Again, this is incorrect. If there are 100 individual cakes to bake, ice and decorate then this would actually be much more time consuming than making one tiered cake. Particularly if each mini cake has individual decoration e.g. sugar flowers. It is unlikely a tiered cake would have 100 sugar flowers on it, but 100 mini cakes might. The same can be said for dessert tables - they will generally cost more than a tiered wedding cake.
You are a lot more expensive than ABC Baker's down the road - This may well be the case, but a wedding cake is not just a cake (see previous paragraph). The level of training of the wedding cake maker, the quality of ingredients used, the height of each tier (this may vary from 3" - 5" or more), the finish of the tiers (rounded edges v's sharp edges), buttercream v's ganache, the quality of the fondant used....the list goes on. It is not possible to directly compare two wedding cakes unless every single aspect of the cake designer and the make up of the wedding cake is the same. Which it is never going to be. Would you expect a Primark dress and a Gucci dress to cost the same? No? Well, it's just the same with a wedding cake.
You are asking my budget to try and rip me off and charge me more - This is completely not the case. Most professional wedding cake makers would always try to establish a budget before meeting couples (often from the first contact) so they can make sure they can achieve what their customer wants within their budget.
From my point of view, there is little merit in me spending time meeting with a couple and planning their dream cake, only to find out we are on a completely different page budget wise and actually I cannot make what they want. I think honesty is the key from the beginning so as not to disappoint anyone. Whatever your budget, a professional and experienced wedding cake maker can help advise on how to achieve the best wedding cake within that.
Image: Zehra Photography
Summary
It is very rare that any two wedding cakes will cost exactly the same even from the same wedding cake designer, as there will always be some small differences. Be that, different flavours, different sizes, different decoration. Even if they look the same, they won’t be exactly the same.
Because, at Little Button Bakery, I limit the amount of orders I take to 2 weddings in one week, I do have a minimum starting price of £575.00 for my wedding cakes for 2021. Most people do tend to budget between £650-800, but often it is more. It really is dependent on the cake design we come up with and the individual needs of the couple.
So whilst I can't say exactly how much a cake from me will cost definitively, if you send me some ideas as to the style of cake you would like and the number of portions required, I can give you a fairly accurate quote before we progress any further.
I do also have approximate price guides on all of the wedding cakes on my gallery page.
For more ideas and inspiration, make sure you are following me on Instagram. If you have any questions at all, or you’d like to know how I can help with your wedding celebration, just get in touch.
I hope this is helpful.
Lots of cakey love
