Wedding Cakes

Wedding Cake Toppers

In recent years, bride and groom cake toppers have been described as cheesy, tacky, and out dated by modern cake designers, but you might also consider that they are traditional, and if done tastefully they can be a lot of fun.  After all, what makes a wedding cake different from just another fancy cake if it doesn’t have a wedding topper?

Here are five ways you can have a bride and groom topper on your wedding cake without being accused of being corny:

1. Look for a topper that reflects you as a couple.  If you’re both into riding, the bride and groom could be sitting on horses. If you love winter sports have your bride and groom slaloming down the cake on miniature skis.

2. You don’t have to have the bride and groom in the classic arm in arm position on top of your cake. Work with your cake designer to come up with something unusual. Some couples have the bride trying to climb up onto the top tier, helped by the groom who is already on top. Others have the groom down on one knee at the base of the cake while the bride looks down from the top, a little like Romeo and Juliet during the balcony scene.

3. Having a bride and groom topper made from clay to resemble you and your groom is a very fashionable option, and while it may be quite expensive it will make your cake truly unique and a real talking point. Try to let the designer have pictures of your wedding outfits; just make sure the groom doesn’t get a glimpse of your gown.

4. Adding humour to your cake with a funny bride and groom topper can make it more original. The reluctant groom is always a winner, with the bride dragging him across the cake by one ankle. You could also have the groom standing alone by an altar reading a note from the bride that reads ‘still shopping’. If you have a funny cake topper, make sure it really reflects your personalities or the joke may be lost on some guests.

5. Using a vintage cake topper, such as the one your parents or grandparents had on their cake, is a popular way to stick with tradition and honour your family at the same time.

If you are determined not to have a bride and groom cake topper, there are many fashionable alternatives. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Flowers make a great feature on your wedding cake, whether they are fresh flowers to match those in your bouquet, or iced flowers tumbling down the side of your cake. Ribbons are also a simple yet effective way to decorate your cake and to tie it into your colour scheme.

• Making antique jewellery, especially brooches, into a cake topper is currently in vogue, and it is a good way to include your ‘something old’ in your wedding.  Work with your cake designer and see how you can incorporate a family heirloom into your top layer.

• Some couples design a wedding motif or monogram that features on their wedding stationery.  Recreating this motif in icing to use as a stylish cake topper should be simple for an experienced cake designer.

• Traditional wedding symbols can be used as wedding toppers in place of the usual bride and groom. These include intertwined hearts, kissing doves, tilted champagne glasses, or a decorative horse shoe for good luck.

• Bold patterned wedding cakes, and cup cake towers are both popular wedding cake trends of the moment, and these could look overdone with anything on the top.  If you don’t think your wedding cake needs a topper, there’s no real reason to have one.