Cake is pretty much everyone's favorite part of a wedding (or frankly, of life), so it's important that you have a good one. Unfortunately, many bakeries know how important it is and charge you accordingly. One reader needs help navigating the wilds of deliciousness vs. priciness, so listen in!
Dear Party People,
Do you have any suggestions for a cake shop in Denver that is good quality, but affordable? We want to have a very simple cake, but still elegant and tasty!! We don't have a huge budget for it so any help would be great!
Sincerely hoping to melt in frosting,
Eagerly Excited Fiancée
Dear Eagerly Excited,
Don't worry, it's possible! The primary thing to keep in mind is that most of your guests won't remember what your cake looks like, and they'll also probably forget what it tasted like the morning after the wedding - it's only important that YOU love how it looks in your pictures, and that you think it's tasty enough to eat another piece on your first anniversary. Cakes can get expensive quickly, especially if you want lots of intricate decoration, but it sounds like you're already on the right track by wanting a simple but elegant design.
My biggest money-saving TIP: (it gets its own paragraph because it's such a big one): get just one or two tiers of the decorated cake that you want to display during the wedding and cut for pictures, and then serve your guests equally-as-delicious but undecorated and much less expensive sheet cake that the caterer will keep in the back. No one will ever know.
Now for the cake itself. Most bakeries price bridal cakes by the serving, and the more cake you get the more the per serving price goes down (although, of course, the total cost will go up). In the Denver area it's possible to find prices anywhere from $3.50 per serving to $9.50 or more per serving. Usually the less expensive servings will cover a tier that has a basic buttercream or chocolate frosting, one filling, and little or no design. Once the design starts getting complicated or includes fondant, the price goes up fast. A few delicious and reasonably-priced Denver recommendations:
Mermaids (mermaidsbakery.com): $3.50 for vanilla/chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and filling. Their website has a great, clear explanation of how the prices go up for fillings and decoration. Their half sheet cakes feed 35-40 people and are $69.
Cake Crumbs (cake-crumbs.com): $3.50 for cake with filling, frosting, and basic decoration. This is one of the few bakeries that includes fondant dots on the cakes for no extra charge (per Greg). Their half sheet cakes serve approximately 30 people and are $60.
Mulberries (mulberriescakeshop.com): $4.25 for cake with filling, frosting, and decoration including some piping. The extra-awesome news about this bakery is that their full sheet cake serves 100 and is $69.95!
One last thing to remember: some bakeries will include delivery and set-up within a certain mileage from their shop, but some charge for it. TIP: Don't forget to ask about this when calling bakeries, because a delivery fee will add to your overall total. Hopefully this helps give you a few ideas. Congratulations on your wedding and best of luck finding a delicious, elegant, and affordable cake. Now go out and do the fun part ... tastings!
Happy partying,
Party People
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Dear Party People,
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of the idea of a cupcake wedding cake? I understand that some brides are going in that direction. Can cupcakes be elegant (and delicious) enough? Do you know any bakery that creates wedding cupcakes? Are they more expensive than regular wedding cakes?
Wanting Something Small and Chic,
Denver
Dear Small and Chic (I bet you planned on that cute nickname when you wrote that comment, didn't you??),
ReplyDeleteYes, cupcake tiers/cakes are a fabulous idea! Lots of people are going with that option because it makes for a fun presentation and eliminates the whole cake cutting process. It's also a great option if you want a whole bunch of flavor combinations, because with a classic cake you're limited to flavors for the number of tiers you have, but with cupcakes you can get a million different combinations.
Depending on how you want your wedding to go, this might be a pro or a con to cupcakes, but remember that having an individually-sized dessert serving makes cutting cake for photos much more difficult. Also, I've had people swipe cupcakes from the cake table before it's time, but there are certainly ways around that.
Cupcakes tend to be just slightly pricier than traditional cakes because they are more labor intensive. They are definitely more expensive than sheet cake ... but what isn't?!? One great way to save on cupcakes is to just buy them in bulk at King Soopers - I know it sounds crazy, but their cake is delicious and unless you want specially-decorated cupcakes, the decor is basically what you'll get from a specialty bakery. If you want more exotic flavor combinations, one of my favorite cupcake options in Denver, as you might have guessed, is Happy Cakes (happycakesdenver.com). Mermaids also has wonderful cupcakes, but it's such a hot trend that I can almost guarantee than any bakery will make them for you if you ask.