Mmmm, cake. For some, this is one of the most important parts of wedding planning. Randy Umfleet, Owner of Whipped Bakery, breaks down the process of choosing the perfect wedding cake that your guests will remember forever.
Work out your budget
Figure out how much of your wedding budget you're going to set aside for your cake.
"One of the problems that we often run into is when clients come in with caviar dreams and $500 budgets," says Umfleet. "I highly recommend they start out by deciding how much they want to spend on a cake. Having a budget is foremost critical."
Dream
Once you have your budget, start dreaming of how you'd like your cake to look. It is good to have some idea of a design before going further into the process.
"Pinterest is a great website to go to because there is so much to look at," Umfleet states. "It's probably our friend and our enemy at the same time, but it really helps when clients get an idea of what they want their cake to look like."
Set up a tasting/consultation
It is recommended to bring in your future spouse or perhaps a mother or best friend to try flavors and get ideas of flavors that you might want.
"I meet with everyone on a personal basis, that's why it sometimes takes a couple of weeks to get in," explains Umfleet. "We offer them three to four flavors [during the tasting]."
Now the questions kick in...
How many guests will be at your reception? Are you wanting a tiered cake? Cupcakes with a small cutting cake? Sheet cakes? Or are you going another direction with pies, cheese cakes or a dessert bar? These are all important things to touch on before moving further.
Design your cake
Share your dream ideas and/or Pinterest photos and discuss what design you would like for your special cake.
"I sketch out their design while meeting with them and then figure out the actual cost of the cake or product that we're going to provide for them," says Umfleet.
Keep it practical
You don't just want a cake to be beautiful - You want it to be edible and servable.
"Guests will never remember what your cake looked like, but they will remember what it tastes like," explains Umfleet. "I carefully help them to pick designs that are edible, in other words not covered in fondant or other items that people aren't going to eat or enjoy."
Choose a flavor
Keep in mind that this cake is for your reception, so choose the flavor or flavors that you want.
"We want brides to choose things that they enjoy," Umfleet says. "Think outside the box, don't base your decisions on your guests. Try to give your guests an experience that perhaps they haven't had."
Timing
Umfleet recommends ordering your cake at least six months prior to your wedding. This amount of time is a good rule of thumb even though they have taken orders as little as a month or less before a wedding.
Delivery
Know when your guests should be arriving to your reception, that way the bakery delivering your cake can be in and our before your guests start walking in.
"For instance if your cocktail hour is starting at 5 p.m., then we assume guests will start arriving between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.," says Umfleet. "We want to be delivered and out of there before 4:30 p.m. So I would set the delivery time between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m."
You'll also need to keep in mind how far away a bakery is willing to deliver your cake.
"As a bakery, we have delivered as far as Mackinac Island and Chicago," Umfleet states. "We travel to Owosso frequently and we go to Jackson a lot as well."
Thanks to these steps from Whipped Bakery, you'll be able to have your wedding cake... and it eat too!
Whipped Bakery is located at 216 S. Washington Square (downtown Lansing, MI) and open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, visit whippedbakerylansing.com.
To enter for the chance to win a $100 gift certificate to Whipped Bakery, click here.
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