Wedding Cake Tasting 101

One of the tastiest parts of a wedding is the cake. Culturally, a wedding cake holds a lot of meanings. It can represent the couple through its decorations and flavors. It’s a special moment in the wedding for the couple to cut the first piece of cake. Some couples even freeze a little bit to eat on their first anniversary!

The first part of getting a great cake is to find a bakery and do a tasting so you know which one you want. However, requesting and attending a cake testing can be kind of awkward. Read more to prepare yourself for everything to expect at a wedding cake tasting.

What Is a Wedding Cake Tasting?

Very simply, a wedding cake tasting is when you go to a bakery and they offer you a few flavors to try. However, it is as much an opportunity to get to know the baker as it is to indulge in some sweet treats.

From flavor choices to design ideas, a wedding cake tasting is an opportunity to plan an important aspect of your wedding. Plus, you get to eat a lot of delicious cake!

 

Everything You Need to Know about Cake Tasting

It’s not abnormal to go into a wedding cake tasting or consultation with a lot of questions. Wedding planning is an overwhelming process and there are a lot of things to keep track of.

The first piece of advice we recommend is to go into your wedding cake tasting with a list of questions to ask the baker and those who will be making your cake. If you know what to expect and what you want to ask, your appointment will be a success.

You may want to ask certain logistical questions, like how the it will be delivered to the wedding venue, and if they already know where the venue is. There are other things to tell them, like how many guests will be attending. This can give you an idea of how big the slices will be.

It is also important to address allergy concerns or dietary restrictions.

 

Finding a Bakery for Your Cake

If you don’t even know where to find a bakery, the internet is pretty much always the best place to start vendor research. Try Googling “wedding cake near me” or looking at review boards like Yelp or local Facebook pages.

If you prefer word of mouth, your venue or wedding planner may be able to suggest vendors they’ve worked with in the past. You can even ask friends who had a particularly good wedding or party dessert!

Once you find a bakery or narrow to a few, look at pictures on their website and try to find testimonials. Some bakeries have a very distinctive decorating style or specialize in unique flavors, so make sure their service goes hand in hand with what you’re looking for.

 

Wedding Cake Tasting Etiquette

In preparation for your tasting, there are a few etiquette points to keep in mind.

One thing to communicate before you get there is the flavors of cakes. Some bakers will automatically give you a few types of cakes, fillings, and frosting flavors to try, while some may ask you to pick from a list of available flavors.

Be sure to communicate with the bakery about the flavors you’ll be trying before you get there so you’ll be close to picking after the tasting.

Another thing to do is to develop some inspiration for how it will be decorated so that the bakery knows how you’d like it to look.

Do you want fondant or a more edible frosting like buttercream? If you want flowers, should they be sugar or frosting? Do you have a specific topper you want integrated into the cake? These things are important to the baker and should be discussed during the tasting.

 

Are Wedding Cake Tastings Free? 

While many people expect a wedding cake tasting to be free, it actually really depends on the bakery, which is why it’s important to discuss the expected cost beforehand. It may depend on the size and reputation of the bakery.

Certain flavors may be more expensive than others as well, in the tasting and the final product.

There are also bakers that will charge based on how many samples you try– for example, the first three may be free, but to try more kinds might be an extra fee. They may also charge you for bringing extra people.

It is also possible that the bakery will add the tasting fee onto the final cake bill. All in all, it’s possible that the whole thing will be entirely free, but it’s not guaranteed.

 

What to Expect at a Wedding Cake Tasting

You can expect to try a few flavors and give the baker feedback on what you like. You can also expect to get to know the bakers and the staff a little bit. They may show you a portfolio of their previous work or make small talk with you about your wedding.

It is also likely that they will want to get an idea of how you would like your it decorated for the big day. This would be a good time to pull up inspiration for them to go off of on your phone or to bring some printed out.

This might be a meeting with a different person than the baker, as some bakeries have a specific designer or decorator.

You will also want to have a very frank discussion about budget with the bakery. You will need to judge the budget for your cake against the estimate the bakery gives for your estimated number of guests.

This is really important, as you don’t want to be blindsided by the bill. It is also worth discussing other fees, like extra decoration fees and delivery fees.

 

Who to Bring to Your Cake Tasting

Before inviting anyone, be sure to ask the vendor how many people they expect to house and bake samples for. They may say just the couple getting married. If you would like to bring others, there may be an extra fee.

If you’re welcome to bring more people or are willing to pay the extra fee, the first invite should probably go to anyone financially contributing to your wedding, be it parents, grandparents, or other family members and friends. If they are paying or partially paying for the cake, they should get a say in its quality and price.

If you are paying for the cake, then you can open it up to other sugar-loving friends, like members from the wedding party or your favorite double-date partners.

 

Picking the Perfect Cake After Your Tasting

Once you’ve tasted, you may immediately know which flavor is the one you want. If that is the case, then tell the bakery right away and get to planning your dream cake!

However, if you’re still not sure (maybe they were all too good!), don’t feel weird asking for some extra time to think your options over. Just think about which flavor you want and let them know when you’ve come to a decision.

 

More on Wedding Cakes

Here at Yeah Weddings, we know a lot about wedding cakes. Once you’ve chosen a wedding cake, consider the other desserts on the table and decor for the big day!