No Fondant or Sweet Buttercream

You may not like buttercream, but I think most of your guests would prefer that. You could maybe try a cream cheese based frosting, if there is a baker in your area that would do that.

If you don't want butter cream, definitely look into cream cheese. Or a whipped cream style (if your cake won't be in heat)?

Swiss meringue is great but also more challenging which is why most bakers don't use it. Whipped cream is also good but not as easy to work with and doesn't hold up well. You can keep searching to find what you want or accept the standard options.

Definitely check out whipped toppings! But buttercream may be best choice. You could try different flavors to make it less sweet. My best friend's wedding cake was frosted with a mocha caramel espresso buttercream, and it wasn't too sweet. It was just perfect!

Could the baker you used before do a small cake for you to cut at the reception and then do sheet cakes to serve? Is she concerned about doing a large decorated cake or just baking for such a big crowd?

Buttercream is definitely the standard, but cream cheese is also an option.

You do realize that fondant is usually covering a thick layer of icing and used primarily for decoration, right? Most guests (and some venues even!) will just peel that off before they eat their cake...

That said, I don't understand why you specify "sweet" buttercream. Are you talking about traditional buttercream due to the high sugar content, or an almond buttercream which tends to taste sweeter due to the almond flavoring? If it's the former, then cream cheese won't really help, because it's made essentially the same way as buttercream, but using cream cheese instead of butter.

I just looked up the Swiss meringue, as I wasn't familiar with it. It appears to just be a variation on the buttercream, which makes me lean toward it just being the almond, which is commonly used in buttercream for wedding cakes.

As pp have mentioned, another option is the whipped frosting, but it does not work well at all for decorating and is typically not a good choice for wedding cakes. I also believe it cannot be used underneath fondant.

There really aren't many other frosting options. You can ask a baker about the Swiss meringue buttercream, but the reality is that ALL frosting is made with sugar as the primary ingredient, and you're really not going to be able to get away from the sweetness. The only other option might be a naked cake so you use less frosting, but it comes with its own issues such as the risk of a very dry cake, higher cost due to the difficulty factor, an the fact that decorating it is pretty minimal.

My baker did an Italian buttercream that was amazing! Not too sweet and very light.

I like whipped cream icing. It's delicious.

There are definitely variations of sweetness in different bakers frostings. Some are far too sweet for me. My buttercream is very balanced. I use very high quality vanilla (not almond) and I'm very careful when adding sugar, that I don't go overboard. Interestingly, our baker does Italian buttercream and prefers not to use American buttercream. Shop around and be prepared to pay more for it.

I hate fondant. Eww

I agree with Chelsea. Yum

Buttercream is great!! It holds up to decorating...talk to your baker for some other options.

I prefer whipped frosting

Our bakery uses a super-light, not-too-sweet frosting they will only call a 'whipped topping'. I have no idea what's in it, but it can be shaped into all kinds of designs.

Maybe go with a naked cake? Less frosting?

Following!

I'm struggling with this idea too since I cannot stand buttercream. We will most likely use buttercream for the cakes for our guests but our small cake for FH and I will most likely be whipped frosting.

@HeatherB - she referred me to someone saying that she's not ready for weddings yet..she's great with cakes and stated that she's only done one wedding cake so far.. I appreciate her honesty

@mna-- I'm afraid that the buttercream will be TOO sweet.. I refuse to pay $5.50+ serving for fondant for people to peel off..

I appreciate all of the suggestions. We have a long weekend of planning ahead and this is #2 on our list..

Where do you live? I got married in SoCal, and could recommend an awesome baker for you.

Mrs CK: I literally was coming on here to recommend a naked cake too. They are delish and beautiful. If the cake is light enough, the limited frosting is ideal.

Our breakfast cake was naked although it was a crepe cake and we were purposely avoiding sugary topping.