Sunday Sweets: Fun Wedding Cakes
January 23, 2011 If there's one thing I love, it's couples who have fun on their wedding day. Let loose a little, show some personality! And really, what better place is there to throw tradition to the wind than with the cake?
Submitted by Peter D., baker unknown. Anyone recognize it?Admit it: you wish you were invited to this reception.
This one will make your guests nostalgic for old-fashioned candy dots:
My fellow cat lovers may find the hand-painting on this next one absolute purrfection:
Sub'd by Lessa. Baker unknown.
For you cowboys and girls out there:
Sub'd by Tom G. Baker unknownThis reminds me of the Van Gogh cake (scroll down), with the icing blended to look like actual paint. It's a neat look, and great for you icing purists out there who don't like the taste of fondant.
Ever wanted to turn the traditional wedding cake on its head?
Sub'd by Vanessa M., found via Brides MagazineThe Day of the Dead might seem an odd theme for a wedding cake, but there are tons of them out there. Personally, I just love all the bright colors:
Sub'd by Melanie B. Baker unknown
Sub'd by Hatty I., made by Nouskie Noo'sPreeeetty. Just look at those sweet little roses, the vines, the sculpted balustrades...so much great detail, and simply divine with all that white.
Suppose you do want a traditional wedding cake, though, only with a twist.
In that case, how about having it delivered by turtle?
Made by Studio CakeAnd now from the other side:
Before you're overcome by the sheer adorableness here, notice that the turtle is only supported by his four legs. That's some impressive cake architecture going on there! I'm also digging the little 3D turtle freckles (do you call them freckles?) and the texture on his shell. Just amazing.Seen a fabulous wedding cake lately? Then send it to me at Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com!
Reader Comments (81)
OMG the Dot cake, turtle cake and mexican cake are all so cute :)
Am I the only person here who really, REALLY wants to know the story behind the first cake?
All of them are gorgeous, but that one is fascinatingly enigmatic.
I love the upside-down one and the one being carried by the adorable turtle!!! Also, the Romeo and Juliet one is nice, if you like more romantic ones. They're all so perrty! Now I can't wait for an excuse to try making an amazing cake.
Meow! I'm a cat! *giggle* That sunset cake was pretty awesome: I've been trying to do that with paint for months... imagine how hard it must have benn to do it with icing. And the turtle (I prefer to say tuttle!) cake. My sixth-grade sciense teacher would have loved it!
-B
Underneath the turtle there are clear support. It's still a great cake though!
I just squee'd! So totally awesome. They were all very good but I especially loved the turtle. Very different and very sweet. Oh and I can't forget the cat cake! Wonderful!
The south-of-the-border-cake makes me think of San Antonio. It even has tiny cascarones (confetti eggs). I was amazed by the tiles and the serape. What an awesome cake!
Oh, wow! They're all fabulous, but I really love that first Viking cake.
Thanks for sharing such interesting, amazingly well done cakes!
Awesome, the cat cake says "I'm in ur side stealin' ur hearts." Huzzah for the lolcat inspiration!
I have to admit; the first cake had me wondering about the theme of the wedding for the bride and groom.
Second cake; oh, that is SO CUTE! i really liked those candies! Not so much the paper that would stick to them, of course.
I've seen a few Day of the Dead wedding cakes on shows like 'Amazing Wedding Cakes'. The ones i saw were bigger and much more colorful, but this is nice and it works if you're having a smaller wedding but want to make a splash.
Oh, the TURTLE CAKE! That is just... the turtle is SO CUTE.
Some great selections!
I think I'm in love with the cowboy/cowgirl cake. If I have a Western-style wedding I just may try to have a cake like that.
The turtle cake is pretty awesome too. It reminds me of my best friend and me always joking that our transatlantic packages are delivered by sea turtle. :P
The Fiesta cake was inspired by San Antonio. The cascarones had edible confetti inside. The only non-edible parts of the cake were the toothpicks holding up the margarita glasses.
That candy dot cake is just awesome and the Turtle cake is so cute!
Tortoise, not turtle, you can tell by the feet. Even more adorable than turtles, in my opinion.
The turtle reminded me of the Great A'Tuin... Awesome. (And seriously, when my husband and I have our remarriage with an actual wedding party, we are doing a viking cake. I married a viking. Seriously. Icelander. From Iceland ya know.)
I saw the South of the Border photo in person. It was fab :)
The Romeo and Juliet one kind of looks like Phantom of the Opera, to me? With Christine in a large dress and the Phantom watching from Box Five.
Are you saying the turtle is CAKE??? I thought is was amazing that they could balance a wedding cake on the back of a ceramic garden turtle, then I scrolled down to see the whole thing is the cake. Amazing.
Loving the dots cake. Can just imagine how a wreckerator could take such a simple concept and mess it up.
Please tell me you've seen this cake. Or have you posted it before?
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2011/01/ghostbusters_wedding_cake.html
I love that Mexican one, with the tiles. Lovely!
Ohhhh!!!! The turtle cake!! Absolutely a-MAZING!!! I seriously squealed with girly joy at that one!! Thanks so much for sharing :D (and thank the baker for me!!)
Love the cat cake! And the turtle is adorable!
the candy dots cake is beyond amazing! i mean, they even did the ribbon in candy dots... sa-weet! (literally.)
also love the upside down cake, quite a nice little engineering marvel.
Now I want to see a cake supported by an elephant supported by a turtle!
All of them are so cool and cute! When I get married someday, I am definetly going to have a "fun" wedding cake. :)
The cowboy cake got me singing -
"Oklahoma! Where the wind goes whipping down the plains!"
That cake could have been Curly and Laurey's wedding cake.
Tortise/turtle-co cute!
I know a couple that would love the Day of the Dead cakes. Slightly grim but with enough color and pizazz that it doesn't seem gothic. Totally them.
Wow. Most of those were incredible.
My vote is still out on the sunset/windmill one. I love the country. I love sunsets. I love windmills. But, I think that cake looks more like a wreck than a triumph.
I cannot tell you much how much I love the candy dot one. Wow. Why didn't I have that as an option for my wedding? Hey, Honey, I know what I want for my birthday...
Beautiful cakes-- proof one can have fun, be eclectic, and yet still tastefully celebrate the day. But, I couldn't help but think what wrecks these designs would have been had they been made/decorated by less skillful bakeries!
The first cake made me laugh-- it's so joyful and summery. Roses, raindrops, dragonflies-- with lightening and a helmet?! You can't help but think what a fun, lovely couple they must be, and want to be friends
I've never had candy dots, but it's well executed albeit a little girly and pastel for me.
I'm not a cat person, but that cake is adorable! It really shows their love for each other. And their pets! (Too bad not every pet is as well-loved)
NIce details, classy design, and love how they interlocked the different cakes. cool idea! I may just have to play with that next time a friend has a milestone birthday and I have to bake for a large crowd! (The challenge will be icing it-- I'm not a pro, and don't know how to work with fondant)
Love the colour blending-- just gorgeous. But I'm surprised they didn't smooth the icing a bit more; looks a little choppy. The upside is that I might be able to make something like that!
I LOVE the upside down cake! What fun-- a classic design writ a bit funky. I could totally see myself going that route. Hmmm....
I'm not sure how dead people, or a couple that suicided, are suitable for a wedding (!) but those are beautifully made cakes. And I have a skull-obsessed friend who'd totally squee over those stunningly-decorated sugar skulls.
I'm impressed with the turtle cake-- he's so well done, and even seems to have personality, I'd feel terrible cutting into him and eating him. I'd just feel like I'm further endangering the species :(
PS @Kristen's right-- if you zoom in on the first photo, you can see the clear supports under the turtle. Still really cleverly done, and the fact that those supports are so easily missed even by you guys shows how well chosen they were to not interfere with the presentation. Even more credit to the bakery!
I just re-looked at the Van Gogh cake. It is not just a Van Gogh cake, it is also a Monet cake. When you look at the other images of it on flicker you see that the bottom tier is all Monet with the water lilies. The middle tier is both because they both did hay stacks. The top tier is quite obviously Van Gogh because it's quite obviously the sky in "Starry Night."
and that turtle cake is a bamf!
They're not "dead people" or a "couple that suicided." El Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican tradition. It's about honoring the dead, celebrating death as a part of life. It's not glorifying suicide or anything else. There's a long tradition of designing various casts of skeleton characters, calaveras, that poke fun at the living. Sheesh. It's a gorgeous cake!
I love the dot cake, the "Will you marry me cake?" and the turtle cake. Love them!
The one with the windmill has to be an aussie tribute
these are awesome!
I'm guessing for the awesome "viking" cake that a gardener married an opera singer? Totally fantastic.
Love this site!
That candy dot cake just begs to be licked! Jen, I heard you on the Splendid Table on NPR yesterday and it was one of those moments when I wanted to shout "I know her!" which is completely not true, and a little stalker-ish, but I was excited to hear it. Who woulda thought; cake wrecks + npr = joy!
#1 is balanced on the knife edge of sweet vs. wreck. Bugs on a cake? I don't really care why they're there, I'll pass.
#5 I like this one. I'm a country guy at heart and my fiancee is a country girl (which works out nicely), so this would be very appropriate for our wedding.
#7 Again, sweet vs. wreck. It's gotta be a tough call. Maybe there could be a new category: sweet-wrecks. That sort of imagery is the last thing I want to be contemplating on my wedding day, thank you very much.
#8 proves that it is possible to have multiple cakes, architectural elements and taste all at the same time. Very sweet, and not a lighted fountain in sight.
#9 I want this one for my wedding, too. The chelonian* would symbolize perfectly how long said event has been in arriving.
*Generic term for turtles and tortoises; my contribution to the anti-EPCOT effort.
There are clear supports for the turtle. I had to look close to see, but it is still such an awesome cake!
The candy dot cake now has two little girls planning their weddings and wishing for that cake! I think I'll be planning a spring or summer party just because simply for the chance to make one. :)
Yep. That Tortoise cake totally ROCKS!!!!!
Gena - I think that Aliza was referring to the "Romeo and Juliet" cake when she was talking about "the couple that suicided." Also, if you're not familiar with the Day of the Dead, a cake with skulls on it *does* seem a little gothy. (I think it's pretty, but not for me.)
I can clearly see acrylic cubes under the turtle, but that's nothing to be ashamed of. So cute!
Our wedding cake had the top tier sculpted to look like a castle, and we thought we were pretty hot stuff.
Hope you don't mind my making a second comment, but since someone took offence to a remark of mine, I'd like to apologize.
@Wendy-- thanks! That was exactly what I meant
@Gena-- Wendy's right, the suicide couple line was in reference to the end of Romeo and Juliet (I have never understood why that play stands for "romance"!). I agree with you that it's a gorgeous cake, so can we pretend that it's a romantic Victorian setting instead? :)
As for the Day of the Dead cake, I just thought it was along the lines of the cakes with movie characters or gothic symbolism (due to the topper and the recent skulls fashion trend); I didn't realize it was a religious tradition in some parts of the world (I'm from the country on the northern border of the US, so we aren't as familiar with Mexican traditions as many Americans would be). So I meant with my comment that I thought it very odd to be glorifying death when you should be celebrating the prospect of decades of life with your new spouse! I'm very, very sorry if I offended you; I had no idea that it was a way some cultures honour beloved relatives who've passed on at their weddings. I just thought it was a quirk of the couple (akin to a Viking helmet or cats or movies themed cake). I've lost a mother and a stepmother, and am looking at the possibility of a wedding in my future, so I completely understand why my comment could be upsetting to you. I just wanted to reassure you that some readers/commenters are well-intentioned, reasonably familiar with multiple cultures, but don't know them all, so may mistake a cultural reference in a cake for different taste. So, we'd welcome an explanation-- learning is one of the many bonuses of reading the comments sections on this blog. Today it's my turn to go off to Wikipedia thanks to your comment :)
And while I"m posting another comment anyway...
@Craig... you have me nearly convinced I should consider a turtle/tortoise/chelonian motif if I do get married!
I'm loving the cowboy cake because 1) it is so well done, and
2) I am an icing purist.
The fondant cakes are undeniably gorgeous, but I will always love true frosting the best!
I love the candy cake! I also love that you're featuring the good along with the bad...although the bad is still my favorite part.
Aliza,
This is the interwebs. If somebody isn't offended, you're not doing it right.
I would write more but Jen and I are writing a post about poop!
john
The turtle's (it's actually a tortoise) "freckles" are scales. Unlike many reptiles turtles or tortoises do not shed all of their skin at one time, so you often see a variety of shading. The larger scales that make up the shell, or carapace, are called scutes.
There's the bio lesson for the day on an extremely cute cake!
As an ailuorphile, I am in love with that kitty cake! If I knew who did it, I'd have them make me one for a BIG birthday I have coming up in a little over a year. But the others are awesome too -esp the "dot" cake! Wow.
All these awesome cakes make me want to get a weird, totally unique if unexplainable cake. Whenever I get married. Something like that biking helmet cake, where you look at it and start wondering how it came about. And that Day of the Dead cake was so pretty...albeit a bit morbid...but thats me! And hey, dont like it? Dont eat it...more for me!
~Jaclyn
I'm with Oldish Lady from 9:38 AM-
I really, really, REALLY want to know the story behind the Viking/Thor/dragonfly/rain/flowers(roses?) cake aka the first cake. I read today's post first thing this AM and I hoped that by now someone would have posted the story but I don't see it in the comments.
Will someone please at least make up something really fun?
Thanks!
the tortoise cake reminds me of the the book "the grey gentleman" (orig. title "momo" tranlated from german)which features a tortoise character. maybe that's the backstory?
i am in love with the turtle wedding cake! it's adorable.