Cake, Cupcakes, or Dessert Bar? Please Weigh In!

I say go cake. Cupcakes remind me of a birthday party not a wedding.

The last wedding I was at they had a small cake on top of cupcakes. The cake was white and the cupcakes were chocolate! I hate white and yellow cake, so I was glad to get an option! I am making a huge sheet cake for my fw's grandfather's b-day today and her aunt wants both WHITE... UGH! How considerate of her aunt! I have to make 2 cakes and put them side by side, most people do half white, half chocolate!

ETA: sorry about the rant.. add got control of me... forgot to mention.. AND they are going to the WORST Restaurant/buffet in town for his b-day party... I won't eat anything the whole time I'm there but still have to pay $8 or something to get in...ugh

If you do cupcakes or dessert bar I would still do a small traditional cake for cutting.

Cake!

We are doing a almond wedding cake with raspberry filling!

But we will also have some other cakes in a dessert bar like chocolate and carrot! Maybe I'll add some cookies too!

We are doing a cupcake tower and a small cake

If you're going simple, Wholefoods has a giant sheet cake serves 80-100 i think for about $135.

Me personally, I'm doing one sheet cake, plus otter pops (Its a fun june wedding) and i'm also having cookies. We have about 100-150 people coming.

I think it depends largely on the type of reception you'll have. For some receptions, like those that are more cocktail/appetizer based, cupcakes work really well (or cake pops, etc...). I was originally going to have cupcakes (even though I didn't want to) because of my reception site. But I changed my reception plans and am now having a traditional cake. I couldn't be happier!

I'm with ChampagneBride. Cake! But you could add some other things as well (we had some pies and pumpkin cheesecakes since it was fall).

We did various round cakes in a dessert bar. Our guests loved it and it was affordable.

We are having a cake AND a large dessert table. Both are included in the venue price

This is what we are doing and why. Our baker is local - we LOVE HER. She makes the most delicious cakes ever (and believe me I tried cake from at least 20 bakers through bridal shows). The problem we have though is that our venue is located over an hour away. Since we did not want to transport a tiered cake and seriously question how to appropriately cut it, we went with cake balls. We can get them in 6 flavors and pick them up the night before. We will also have a 6 inch "cutter cake" for us. It will work out perfect. My best guy friend from childhood asked if we were serving pie. The salon where I bought my dress is next door to the world famous Wick's pie factory so I might get like 30 pies to have in addition to the cake balls.

I personally love the look of a traditional wedding cake so if it's possible with your budget that would be my vote. But if not, cupcakes or a dessert bar will taste just as great. My cake was around $500.

We will have a small 2-tiered cake which they said will feed like 15 people and 90 cupcakes of 3 different flavors. I honestly don't get why "cupcakes remind me of a birthday" thing. Most guests are happy when there is an option. Someone might be allergic to chocolate or hate vanilla or not eat anything blue (lol) and when you get cupcakes of different flavors you really help make everyone happy. Ya its a pain in the ass because someone somewhere is going to complain about something, but I'd rather deal with a few "I can't eat any of those cupcakes" than "You know I'm allergic/hate/color allergic" from 50 people. I'm a people pleaser so its no biggie to me!!

But in all honesty, do what you really want. You'll have people question why you did what you did and you just say "cause its my wedding!" and they will just deal. Many people will have their fence side choosing moment when they see the pricing for cupcakes vs cake vs candy bar. We have that 2 tiered cake and 90 cupcakes for $400 which is insane because when we were just looking at wedding cakes, they were starting at $400. This is your chance to be a princess and have it they way you want!

We are doing 'gourmet' cupcakes in 7 different flavors. Every time I looked at cakes I couldn't get excited about picking a design or even about any I tasted so I'm super excited about the cupcakes. I'm also excited about the price. It was $300 for 13 dozen nicely decorated, totally delicious cupcakes and a tier to put them on. :-D

I did a cake and it was yummy. I wanted mini-bundt cakes or cupcakes, but the cost came out to about the same ($3/slice, $3 a cupcake for the really good cupcakes).

As a guest, I'm more likely to go for a cupcake. They're small, cute, and I love them. I don't get the "cupcakes remind me of a birthday" thing either. I've only been to one wedding with cupcakes, and they were in place of the grooms' cake. I ate the cupcake instead of having a slice of wedding cake.

Edited to add: In Houston, gourmet cupcakes are the rage. They're amazingly good, lovely to look at, and (to me) more formal than typical birthday cupcakes. Yumm… Sprinkles or Crave.

We are doing it all. Mainly because I have a huge sweet tooth.

We have a 3 tier cake (the bottom tier will be fake) with cupcakes so guests can choose flavors. We have my coworkers daughter making them and she's very affordable. If this isn't an option I would do a wedding cake and then sheet cakes to serve my guests to cut down on costs.

We are going to costco for these lemon mini cakes, cookies and other small treats for a dessert table. It may not be fancy but it's cost effective and delicious.

We found that cupcakes were more expensive (or the same price as) a tiered cake. I LOVE the gourmet cupcakes that are everywhere now, just like Erica, so we are still considering. I would probably go with the cake for tradition, though.

I would say try to do a cake and if you can only afford a small cake then do cupcakes or other desserts on the side. Our cake is a 3 tier and was around $500.00 and each layer is a different flavor so that everyone can have something they like or can at least eat.

I would say try to do a cake and if you can only afford a small cake then do cupcakes or other desserts on the side. Our cake is a 3 tier and was around $500.00 and each layer is a different flavor so that everyone can have something they like or can at least eat.

There are some pretty strong personal preferences on the cake. Vs. cupcake trend. Personally I would vote for a cake or dessert bar, but cupcakes are way cheaper if you are on a tight budget. I'm waiting for someone to start a gelato bar trend at weddings