Cut Head Count to Cut Wedding Cake Cost

What helps make your special day, just a little bit sweeter?  A beautiful wedding cake, of course!  Although it may be beautiful, there’s no need to go to extremes on how big your cake is.  Just remember the bigger the cake, the more servings you are providing, and the more money that you will be spending. 

 

The size of your cake, meaning how many tiers you have and/or how many inches the tiers are, is determined by how many servings you need.  The catch is, that most bakeries charge per serving.  An average serving cost is $5-6.  For the sake of this blog, let’s say your bakery is charging you $5.50 per serving.  If you have 150 guests at your wedding, you will be paying a minimum of $825 for your cake.

 

Totally unnecessary!  There is really no need to pay for a piece of cake for every single one of your guests.  Most likely the banquet hall or the caterer that you are using, will also provide some type of dessert, usually some type of sweets tray with cookies, cannolis, eclairs, chocolate covered strawberries etc.  I’ve even been to some weddings that had “make your own sundae” stations, or a chocolate fountain station…wow!  Therefore, it is not necessary to cut your cake, then have it served at every single place setting.  By the time you cut your cake, most of your guests will have already engulfed themselves in the other desserts, or are already up dancing and/or chit chatting away.  

 

After you cut your cake, have the wait staff put the slices of cake on the cake table.  That way, your guests can grab it as they want it.  At the end of the night, ask the wait staff to put the remaining slices in bags or containers, so that your guests can take a slice or two home with them.  This way, you are not wasting any cake and you do not have to pay for a slice of cake for every single guest.  Should you want a slice of cake at every place setting, you can still get away with not paying for every single guests.  Most bakeries will tell you that your cake size serves 150 when after cutting the cake you will find it actually serves 200+.

 

As for my own wedding, we were expecting 230 guest.  I paid for 175 servings, which turned out to be more than enough!   This tip won’t save you a ton of money, but in the grand scheme of things, every little bit helps.  You can still get your beautiful wedding cake, without paying the maximum price.