What size wedding cake do I need?

Floral wedding cake created with white chocolate ganache by Emma Page Cakes London

When it comes to planning your wedding, it’s a bit overwhelming. There are so many elements to think about, so let me simplify one for you. Choosing the size of your wedding cake is super straightforward. All you need to know are two things:

1 How many guests do you need to feed?

2 Will the cake be dessert?

If you know both of these, your wedding cake maker will be able to tell you very quickly how big your cake should be. I have a serving guide which you can download here.

Basically, a wedding cake that will be served as dessert will be twice the size of a cake that will be served in addition to the meal. Traditionally, guests were served pieces of cake with coffee after the meal. This would have been rich fruit cake and the servings were very tiny.

Now that wedding cakes are generally made of sponge and not so heavy, conventional servings are a little bigger, mine are 3in x 2in x 1in. Each is half the height of a tier.

If the wedding cake is to be served as dessert, each serving will measure the whole height of the tier, and be 6in tall. Caterers will often suggest serving slices of cake with berries and cream.

Bear in mind that if the cake is to be served to table, you will need to have a yield that comfortably covers your head count. If guests are to serve themselves cake, you can reduce the yield by 15%.

If you are in the London area and would like some advice on choosing a wedding cake, please get in touch and I’ll see if I can help.