The wedding cake in my mind is one of the most amazing wedding details that you can have at your wedding. You can infuse your wedding’s style and theme into your wedding cake design in SO many ways, and as a result, your cake can become a beautiful, artistic focal point of your wedding. To provide some insight into deciding on your wedding cake design, I asked the W Austin Executive Pastry Chef, Angel Begaye, to share some of the things she looks for when she designs her couples’ wedding cakes:
Personal Preference
Your own personal preferences when it comes to desserts can play a big part in your wedding cake design. You may LOVE buttercream, or maybe you really like a certain type of design you’ve seen already. It’s important to discuss any of these preferences with your pastry chef.
Angel shares, “I really like to find out their personal likes, I want to get to know them first before we even discuss flavors. Getting to know them sets tone for entire wedding—are they fun and upbeat and want an out of the box cake, or someone that is more subdued and wants a more classic approach.”
Vision
Depending on whether or not you’ve already established your wedding’s theme, style, or design can certainly have an influence in knowing your cake design. You may already know that you’re going to have a modern chic wedding, and when you share that information with your pastry chef, he or she can create something that will fit within your wedding as whole.
“I try to understand their vision before I give any suggestions, I want to see and understand where they are at in their planning process. Some people are super detailed, and know exactly what they want, and some people need more direction and I can help guide them to make their vision a reality.”
Flavors
Chances are good that you already know what flavors you like or don’t like. Start there, but don’t be afraid to try other flavor combinations too! Some of the BEST cakes that I’ve had have been flavors that I would have never even dreamed of!
From pastry chef Angel Begaye, “I always give the basic flavors, but I love giving combinations of flavors too. My favorite combination right now is chocolate, caramel and hazelnut. There’s so many different ways to incorporate flavors, whether it’s the cake, filling or icing.”
Elements to inspire
You can look to other elements of your wedding to inspire your cake design. In fact, I highly recommend doing this, because then your cake can become a piece of decor at your wedding, reflecting the style or theme.
“If a bride doesn’t know what she wants, I’ll play off her dress, invitations and other elements in the wedding—this will help set the tone.”
Tasting
I think the wedding cake tasting is one of the parts about planning a wedding that couples look forward to most. I mean, who doesn’t want to spend a day eating cake?! Chef Angel Begaye says, “The tasting is the most fun experience of the wedding planning. You get to relax, eat, choose what you want. You’re in control of the process- I try and make the cake exactly what they want. It’s fun to see the entire process from beginning to the end, it’s a big part of their life as a couple, so want to ensure that it’s exactly how they want it to be.”
A few wedding Cake tasting tips from W Austin wedding insider, Lisa Pritchett:
– Bring pictures! Even if there isn’t one cake with exactly everything you want design-wise, it is helpful for the pastry chef to see what you like.
– Don’t be afraid to play around with flavor combinations. Remember, a cake can have different flavored tiers, so you don’t have to stick to just one option.
– Know if you want one cake or two. (IE, a wedding cake and Groom’s cake)
– Know if you want to save your anniversary tier. This can influence the size and design of the cake, so it’s important to have this decided ahead of time.
So there you have it! Some very important things to know that will help you when it comes to deciding on and designing your wedding cake- a huge thank you to the W Austin Executive Pastry Chef Angel Begaye for sharing her expert insight!
I’d love to hear from you all about what you’re thinking about for your cake! Do you have a design in mind already? Share in the comments!
Lauren
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Great topic! I feel like this is something everyone wonders about and needs help with!