Cake Size

I would honestly not worry about freezing a tier or any portion for your first anniversary. We opened up and ate our frozen top tier after 3 months (we ran out of freezer space) and it did not taste good at all! We then got a small anniversary cake from our baker for our first anniversary, and the difference was night and day. I would ask your baker if you can have a fresh anniversary cake made when the time comes, because wedding cake just doesn't freeze well

Most people (and countless posts on the forums) who save the top tier for 1 year say it tastes nasty, if it doesn't make them sick. It's because the ingredients for the cakes are not made to stand up in the freezer for any period of time and there isn't any method that completely stops freezer burn of it. They say they all wish they had eaten it the night of the wedding in their hotel. Plus many bakers offer a fresh anniversary tier.

Keep in mind that if you do cupcakes, they can be very messy. Many people can't open their mouths that wide without getting frosting on their faces. So a regular cake slice is easier to eat, less messy and actually less labor intensive so ends up being less money than cupcakes. Only grocery stores that mass produce them can get away with charging less for more labor. Provide plastic forks and paper party plates from Costco/Dollar Tree.

I second this! Personally I avoid putting anything in the freezer at the best of times (if I can avoid it) because cooked or baked foods that are frozen and thawed are just not the same as pre-frozen.

As to the size of the cake, your baker should advise you on how much cake to have so as to cater to your numbers.

My FH and I plan on doing something similar for our cake! We were initially going to do a single 8" tier for us to cut and then serve the remainder along with cupcakes and other desserts - my FH and his family are absolutely insistent that we save some cake for our first anniversery but I think it sounds gross 😩

What we have decided to do is to have a two tier cake (6" and 8" - if we were sticking with one tier I would do an 8" so it doesn't look like a child's smash cake 😅). We are going to save a single large slice to freeze but I will be ordering a remake of our cake for our first anniversary so we actually have something enjoyable to eat.

If you want to save a decent amount of cake I would probably bump up to two small tiers, 6" & 8", save the 6" cut and serve the 8" along with the cupcakes 🤗