How Much Wedding Cake Do You REALLY Need? A Couple's Guide to Planning the Perfect Cake

Planning your wedding? From Detroit wedding venues to Ann Arbor caterers, every detail matters, especially your wedding cake! One of the most common questions engaged couples ask their wedding cake bakeries is, "How much cake should we order?" It's a sweet dilemma – you want enough for everyone to enjoy, but you don't want a mountain of leftovers.

Are You Offering Other Desserts?

  • Main Dessert (Cake Only): If your wedding cake is the only sweet offering, and it is served to guests at their table, then plan for one slice per guest. If it is placed on a dessert table for guests to help themselves, you can plan for up to 20% less.

  • Dessert Table/Buffet: If you're planning a lavish dessert table with cupcakes, cookies, macarons, brownies, or other delectable treats, you can reduce your wedding cake servings to about 0.75 slices per guest, or even 0.5 slices. Guests will likely sample a few different items!

  • Late-Night Snacks: If you're serving a full meal and late-night bites, some guests might skip dessert or take only a small piece.

Timing of Cake Cutting:

  • Served as Dessert: If the cake is served immediately after dinner, more guests are likely to partake. Plan for a higher percentage.

  • Later in the Evening/Alongside Dancing: Guests might be on the dance floor or chatting, and fewer may line up for cake.

  • Consult with your Coordinator or DJ for an ideal time to serve the cake to ensure no cake goes to waste.

  1. Guest Demographics: Believe it or not, this can play a role! Younger crowds might be more inclined to dance than sit down for cake, while older guests often appreciate a traditional dessert. Consider your cultural background also, as many cultures have different traditions surrounding wedding cake.

  2. Saving the Top Tier: Many engaged couples choose to save the top tier of their wedding cake for their first anniversary. Be sure to exclude this from your serving calculations!

Understanding Wedding Cake Serving Charts

Wedding cake bakeries generally use standardized serving charts based on the size and shape of your tiers. Here's a general guide for round cakes:

  • 6-inch round: 14 servings

  • 8-inch round: 26 servings

  • 10-inch round: 38 servings

  • 12-inch round: 56 servings

  • 14-inch round: 78 servings

  • 16-inch round: 100 servings

For square cakes, you generally get more servings from the same diameter.

Common Tiered Cake Combinations (approximate servings):

  • Two-Tier (6” + 8”): ~40 servings

  • Three-Tier (6” + 8” + 10”): ~78 servings

  • Three-Tier (8” + 10” + 12”): ~120 servings

  • Four-Tier (6” + 8” + 10” + 12”): ~134 servings

The Dessert Table Factor

If you're opting for a wedding dessert table in addition to your wedding cake, here's a good rule of thumb for the additional treats:

  • Mini Desserts (cookies, brownies, macarons, mini cupcakes): Plan for 2-4 bite-sized items per guest. If you have many options, guests will try a few.

  • Larger Individual Desserts (cupcakes, mini pies): One per guest is usually sufficient.

Your Ann Arbor or Detroit wedding dessert professional can help you tailor this perfectly to your vision.

Pro Tips for Michigan Wedding Cake Planning:

  • Consult Your Baker Early: Your wedding cake baker is your best resource! They have experience with serving sizes and can guide you based on your specific guest count, menu, and desired aesthetic. We recommend reaching out around 6 months or earlier before your wedding.

  • Consider Dummy Tiers: If you dream of a grand, multi-tiered wedding cake but don't need all those servings, ask about "dummy" or “faux” tiers. These are decorative, non-edible tiers that add height and drama without the extra cost of edible cake.

  • Sheet Cakes are Your Secret Weapon: For larger guest counts, many Detroit and Ann Arbor wedding bakeries offer sheet cakes to supplement your beautiful tiered cake. These are typically less expensive per serving and can be kept in the kitchen, making it easy for your caterers to serve without compromising the look of your display cake. We like to build our kitchen cakes just like the wedding cake, with 4 layers of cake. That way each guest has slices that look the same and no one feels like they got the cheap slices.

  • Factor in Dietary Restrictions: If you have guests with allergies or dietary needs (gluten-free, vegan), ensure your wedding cake or dessert table offers suitable alternatives. This might slightly reduce the number of traditional cake slices you need.

By considering these factors and working closely with your chosen Detroit or Ann Arbor wedding cake bakery, you can confidently order the perfect amount of delicious wedding cake for your special day, ensuring every guest gets a sweet taste of your celebration!

We would love to help you plan the perfect wedding cake! Schedule a complimentary consultation call with us today!

Tell it to Me Straight - Essential Questions to Ask A Wedding Cake Baker

Essential Questions to Ask a Wedding Cake Baker

When selecting a baker for your wedding cake, asking the right questions can help ensure your dream cake becomes a reality. More often than not, couples don’t even know what questions to ask. Here are some crucial questions to consider:

About the Baker and Their Business

  • How long have you been in business?

  • What is your specialty? (e.g., buttercream, fondant, 3D, realistic, artistic, etc.)

  • Can you provide references or previous client photos?

  • Are you available for my wedding date?

  • Do you offer cake tastings? What does this involve? Is there a fee?

  • What is your delivery process and fee?

  • How do you handle dietary restrictions and allergies?

  • What other desserts do you offer?

About the Cake Itself

  • What cake flavors and fillings do you offer? Can I mix and match? Can you create custom flavors?

  • How much cake do you suggest for our guest list?

  • When should we cut and serve the cake on our wedding day?

  • Can you create a custom cake design based on my ideas?

  • What is your design process like?

  • Do you offer rentals for cake stands or other display items?

  • How do you ensure the cake will hold up in different weather conditions and during delivery?

About Pricing and Contracts

  • What is your pricing structure? Is there a minimum order?

  • Are there additional fees for design elements or delivery?

  • What payment terms do you require?

  • Do you offer a contract outlining the terms and conditions?

About Logistics

  • When is the final payment due?

  • What is your cancellation policy?

  • How far in advance should I order my cake?

  • What is your process for cake set-up at the venue?

You may have questions that are unique to your situation too. Maybe you want to incorporate a family recipe. Sometimes a venue includes desserts as part of the package and you’re not sure how that affects cake servings. Try to give your baker as much information about your wedding so they can guide you through the process the best way possible.

By asking these questions, you can gain a better understanding of the baker's capabilities, pricing, and process, helping you make an informed decision for your wedding cake or desserts.

At Homestead, we build relationships and get to know our clients so that we can work together to design the perfect wedding cake. Knowing your personality and style is essential in creating a wedding cake that wows your guests and makes memories that last a lifetime.

, , ,

On Becoming Homestead Kitchen - Artisan Cakery

, , ,

Baking from Childhood

It could go all the way back to the 80's when I got my first Easy Bake oven. I just loved making Jiffy cornbread, chocolate cake, and vanilla cake (or marble!). I loved the smiles it brought to my family's faces. These smiles are still a driving force behind my baking.

The Legacy of Baking

My mother gifted me my first Kitchen Aid as a wedding present in 2000. My sister-in-law gave me cake pans, tools, and a whole set of gel colors. This fueled my desire to bake cakes. My mom has always been a from-scratch baker, which she learned from her mother, and she her mother, on up the family tree. That Kitchen Aid means so much more than simply a piece of equipment. I have added three more Kitchen Aid sisters, but none are as sentimental (except for maybe the one my husband got me for my birthday).

Wife and Mom and Baker and Student and Teacher and… and… and…

Just a couple years after our wedding, we began our family. I was so excited to bake our childrens' birthday cakes. Most of them consisted of sloppy buttercream and plastic figurines. It didn't matter. Those first cakes made my kids so happy, which filled my heart with so much joy and great memories!

Photo by Penny Ralene Photography

For years I talked about taking cake decorating classes some day. Life was too busy though. Little children, finishing up my bachelor's, and then working full-time as a kindergarten teacher with a growing family made some day seem like it would never come. Then one day my husband came home with papers for a Wilton cake decorating class at JoAnn's for which he already paid. While it wasn't super sophisticated, I loved every second of it. It taught me basic skills that set the foundation for so much potential.

Finding Purpose in a Passion for Cake

I started posting pictures of my cakes on Facebook and pretty soon friends were asking if they could pay me to bake for them! Once again, my cakes were making smiles. This time, they looked a little better. I loved my new hobby and continued to learn through online tutorials, blogs, books, and anything I could get my hands on.

Fast forward several years (2018) and my husband (I'll call him Cap. Hey, if Pioneer Woman can call her husband Marlboro Man, I can call mine Cap.) and I embarked on the difficult and rewarding journey of building our home (lots more on that later). While it was a long process, we saved a ton of money by doing things ourselves. We were able to build a much larger house because of this also. Enter the new mortgage. Cap and I are coordinators of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, which is how we became and remained debt free, including our previous mortgage, for many years. The new mortgage seemingly put our finances in reverse until I heard about Dave's rising star, Christy Wright, and her book Business Boutique.

Pursuing the Business of Cake

The week I was able to spend immersed in Christy's book has pressed itself into my memories as a pivotal moment in my life. I had a feeling God was nudging me to pursue caking more seriously. Any doubts I had before that week turned into extreme motivation and confidence in the direction He was leading me. Not only was that week life changing, but magical too. I followed Cap on a business trip to an amazing resort. I haven't read a book that didn't have pictures for years. But on this trip I could read uninterrupted, under palm trees, by a pool where people bring you anything you want! The sun shone so brightly it was as if Heaven itself was pointing with neon lights to pursue this path.

Business Boutique gave me practical information on how to turn my dreams and passions into a legit way to contribute to our family's budget. With her encouragement I turned my hobby into a business. While one of the goals of my business is to get out of debt again, my motivation is still those smiles and the joy I can bring to the lives of others through cake. So this is where I am now. I am so excited (and a tad scared, but that's ok!) to see what the future holds for me, my family, and Homestead Kitchen. I am looking forward to making so many more smiles with my cakes.