Wedding Cake Servings & Cost

I ordered my cake from a well known cake artist in LA. She charges $5 per person for fondant cake and $4 per person for buttercream. I had to go with fondant since the weather on the day of our wedding could have been 110*F, it ended up being 60*F with rain. I had an estimated guest count of 300-250. She suggested doing 20% less since in her experience since people are usually out of their seats dancing when cake is served so the banquet halls don't serve empty seats. I had a 6 tier cake with 4 faux tiers, one real bottom tier for cutting and top tier to save. We also had sheet cake for serving, same bakery, flavor and quality. I ended up going home with a full sheet cake. Any additional cost will come from decorating, if you have an intricate design then it could cost more because of the time involved. Also delivery and set-up could be extra. If you are having additional desserts I think 115 servings of cake will be plenty.

Hi Lauren,

Thank you! I'm going to ask about doing the faux tiers and having a sheet cake for serving. And yes we are doing buttercream as well.

I think taking off 20% of the guests is fine, but I wouldn't go any lower than that - 175 would be about the bare minimum you'd want to do for servings. And see if you can include in your cake contract that you're allowed to adjust the servings down 2 weeks before the wedding (or whenever your headcounts are due) in case not as many people RSVP as you're expecting.

I know you have a big venue, but one way to cut down on cost is to do a small cake for cutting and then have the baker make a sheet cake to supplement it. I think that's where the fake layers can save money - you can have one or two real layers on the top, then two fake layers on the bottom. Then a couple of giant sheet cakes in the back with your same cake flavors. If the bakers you're talking to say that a fake layer is the same cost and/or that a sheet cake won't save you money, keep talking to other bakers! Every bakery I spoke with had a cheaper cost for fake layers and a sheet cake. You WILL be able to find someone who is not price gouging you on this. And when I say "sheet cake" I don't mean something from Costco - I mean the same baker that's making your wedding cake bakes a sheet cake and makes it in the same flavors as your cutting cake.

I think cost is going to depend a lot on where you live. We had a 3 tier cake to serve 100 people and it cost $350. Delivery would have been an extra $50 or $75 I think. As PP mentioned you could ask about having sheet cake for most of it and just one or two small tiers for cutting. Though when I asked our baker about it they said it didn't make a difference because they priced by servings regardless of cake style. But it's worth asking.

We settled on a cake for 100 people when we thought we might have up to 125 people, but we ended up with 100 people and there was 2.5 foil pans of cake left after the wedding. One was eaten the next day as MIL's birthday cake, the others are in my parents' freezer. If you're going to have a lot of other desserts you can definitely get away with not having a serving of cake for everyone. Only having for half seems a little low to me though.

We're in the Chicagoland area. Our bakery starts with $3 per slice. Luckily, our cake is included with our venue. But I think it might be weird if you don't have enough slices for everyone if you're planning on the waiting staff to deliver the cake to each table, how do you determine who gets one or will you ask each individual? I've seen couples only have a small one tier cakes for just them two, and desserts for the guests will be at the dessert table. I would rather do that than get a cake that might potentially run out and not be enough for everyone who wants one.

Thanks Christine...You have some great suggestions. I will be sure to mention these in my upcoming cake consultations.

We live in a relatively high-cost area. Daughter originally got proposals in the $6-10 per slice range for a three tier cake with buttercream frosting to serve 120 people. That seemed high to us, and she is really picky about food consistency and found many bakers' frostings "too slimey...." She kept looking and found a small, independent cupcake shop that also makes wedding cakes. The owner was super sweet and worked with her to find a custom frosting blend that was a consistency that she could stomach (she, quite reasonably, REALLY wanted to be able to eat and enjoy the wedding cake). A mix of 80% rich buttercream (very thick) and 20% whipped frosting, ended up perfect for her. And, at less than $3.50 a slice, including delivery & tax, the cake was less than $450. She was thrilled. My advice is to do a lot of comparison shopping and look beyond typical wedding cake bakers.

I had 250 guests but I think my cake technically was moreso for 210-220 or so? I feel like it isn't just about servings but in the way they cut and serve it because some slices may be smaller or larger depending on who cuts it.

for me when I went to get quotes the average cost was around 600 for a cake of that size for me.

i do think 115 servings is a bit low though. i agree with taking off 20% but with that being said you probably need more cake than 115

Yes, I agree with taking 20% off! I'm one of those guests where sometimes I have cake and sometimes I don't. You could always do a beautiful cake to cut and serve cupcakes to the guests. Many independent bakeries do both and will have a more unique variety of flavors, and they are less expensive than a huge cake with less waste!