what’s the big faking deal?

every year event and wedding design reveals new trends. most of those have to do with color, shape, texture, or graphic images. one trend that’s been around for the past few seasons is frugality. now being a girl who has champagne taste and a coca-cola pocketbook, i understand that not everyone has oodles of disposable income to throw at their wedding or celebration. it’s important in these difficult financial times that we make every cent count twice. so i applaud thrifty-ness and bargain-hunting.

brides are all about diy, from their invitations to their bouquets, to favors, forget fake it till you make it, just make it! all of those handmade items bring a certain whimsy and personality to a wedding, and i’m all for it! since brides are being discriminating with their  dollars, event planners are being creative with cost-cutting, thus, the fake cake.

most cake designers have created fake cakes before; tiers of styrofoam covered in fondant or plaster and decorated to look like a fab wedding confection. they’ve been made for bridal shows and exhibits, or for displays in their shops or studios. i’ve made quite a few myself. some of the work pictured on my website consists of display cakes that i’ve decorated for various occasions. up until recently most of us have never been commissioned to make one for a real live event. brides and planners are soliciting display cakes for show & pics, and then sheet cake for the kitchen with the hopes of saving some scratch. here’s the thing… that actually won’t save you money. in some cases it may actually cost you more! allow me to debunk a couple of myths for you.

• wedding cake costs more than other cake; bakers automatically charge more when they hear the word wedding. – not true, unless you are comparing the cost of a wedding cake to your local bakery or grocery’s grab & go birthday cake. personally, i charge the same for any special event cake – birthday, wedding, anniversary, baby shower, etc.. the price is determined by the level of detail and the amount of work that will go into a specialty design.
• a fake cake plus sheet cake will cost less. – bakers determine the price based on ingredients, how long it will take to decorate plus the amount of time it will take to bake the cake(s). when making fake cake plus sheet cake, the cake still needs to be baked, plus the cake designer has to decorate twice – first the sheet cake (which needs to look like it came from the pretty display cake), then the display cake. there are also additional materials for the display cake. that styrofoam can get pretty expensive! for a three tier cake, it can cost anywhere from $15-40 just for the dummies (not insulting them, that’s just what they’re called)
• no one will know the difference, i can just get cake from costco (nothing against costco, i LOVE costco – where do you think i get all that butter from?!) to keep the  number of servings down. – ummm… nope. most cake decorators have an all-or-nothing clause in their contracts. you must get all cake from them. this is designed to protect them and their reputation. guests don’t know that the groom’s cake came from one place and the wedding cake came from another. they just know they had cake. and if one is really awful…only one gets all the credit/blame. they won’t differentiate. also, sheet cake looks different. it’s usually two layers of cake and one of icing/filling, whereas wedding cake is usually three layers of cake and two of filling or icing. you wouldn’t want your guests to think there’s been a bait and switch!

so how can you save on your wedding cake? when is fake cake appropriate?

1. be realistic about your budget and share that information with your cake designer. s/he will present you with ideas that are within your price range if you are up front about it.
2. simpler is usually less expensive. choose a design that will not require hours of detail work. nix the sugar flowers and go with silk or fresh, non-toxic blooms.
3. choose a smaller cake for display (big surface+fancy details=more details & more time. little surface+fancy details= less details & less time) and other types of desserts like pie or cookies will reduce the amount of servings you’ll need.
4. choose a smaller display cake and kitchen cake provided by the same baker.
5. supplement the size of your cake by the addition of one or two fake tiers. this may not save you on decorating, but it will save you on the number of serving.

i hope this helps you navigate the world of cake!

which one is real?