Wedding cake size??

The cake portions for a wedding are 2”x2” which is 4 bites.

I'd talk to your baker or caterer to figure this out. Always assume that each guest will want to eat a slice of cake. Imagine if your cake was too small and you ran out!

I had 2 tiers of faux cake, and only the top tier was the real cake 😬

Hi Rachael, we kept the larger size cake after we had to downsize our wedding guest list. With all the changes we had to make, felt good keeping something the same and I just really loved our design. I just told the venue to give generous slices and some guests had a few pieces! Double check with your baker and they can give you the proper servings you will need. I have heard of foam tiers to make the cake larger and visually appealing if you want a larger cake. 🍰❤️

Standard wedding cake slices are 1 x 2". Half or third the size of a birthday cake slice. Always prepare for everyone to have 1 1/2 slices. Some will have more, some less but everyone expects it.

Give your baker the exact number of guests times 1 1/2 slices and they can work it out from there.

Serve your top tier at the reception. No one likes year old frozen cake and most bakers offer a free or inexpensive anniversary tier.

I have seen a fake iced foam cakes at a couple receptions and they did not go over well at all. (You are paying for the labor of decorating and assembly so serve real cake.) But to make up for it, they served 3 flavors of half sheet cakes (with filling) cut fresh as guests asked for them (people were excited to have it cut right in front of them which everyone says never to do) and guests could get 2nds or 3rds and still still take home leftovers to eat the next day.

I found this on Pinterest a while ago! Might help. 🙂 it was a long pin so couldn’t get the entire thing 🙈

View Quoted Comment For everyone talking about cake portions, who cuts the cake? We're getting ours from a baker friend who has a small business so the caterers won't be involved. I assumed I'd have to find someone to do the cutting, but then how do I know they cut the right size slices 😂

View Quoted Comment I have never seen cake cut 2x2 and have worked catering for years. Where do they cut it so small?

View Quoted Comment I worked at a venue as a planner that did 60-80 weddings a year we always cubed the cake I can get 16 servings out of a traditional cake layer that way. In my experience hardly anyone eats it anyway

View Quoted Comment Normally the venue staff would cut it and serve it for you

I’d talk with baker.

View Quoted Comment How awful! Better we serve delicious cake , and people would howl if there were as little as that.

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Either the cater the catering staff cuts the cake or a relative volunteers. Unless the baker is also they don't hang out during reception to cut the cake.

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What size do they cut where you are? For weddings, various sites such as wilton.com and many professional bakeries say the cake slice is no bigger than 1×2" which is barely a taste. Weddings where a friend or relative volunteered to cut the cake, it always a regular birthday cake slice l3×3") with plenty leftover and enough for all. I wonder there is a discrepancy?

And unless the couple deliberately orders extra cake, they tend to run out because everyone wants it.

View Quoted Comment The little cubes are for bride and groom feeding each other. And often, people with little kids include them in the cake feeding, we are now one family, symbolically, we will now always nurture and take care of one another.
But I have heard, many places go cheap on the cake, especially when other goodies are on offer.
Every place I have worked, assumes that at dinner ir in the following 3 plus hours, they will eat 2 times a regular restaurant portion of layer cake , or a regular piece and a second full dessert, piece of pie, 2 pieces baklava, apple crisp, sundae station. Eat more sweets, drink less. A 2 layer log cake ( rectangular) 3 on frosted edge by 4. 10 " Round cake Wedge 2 on frosted edge, tapers to 4.5 or 5.5 inch. 12" round they cut a 2 inch strip from the center, and other pieces are wedges like from a 10 inch cake. always at least 5.5 up to 9 square inches minimum of double layer cake. 2 by 2 inch is 4 square inches. Only an administrator who counts pennies or a wedding planner would cut such a small piece except on request.

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Excellent to know

I would definitely recommend planning on everybody eating cake! I know that I always eat a full slice of cake at weddings. It's better to have more than necessary than to run out. We had a 150-person cake despite having 120 guests (we got more declines than we had anticipated) and there were only 4 slices left to take home at the end of the night.

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I used to work as a catering server and have cut many wedding cakes. It's a more complicated and messier job than most people realize (it's totally different than cutting a birthday cake for a casual at-home party). I would ask your caterers if they can provide this additional service or ask your baker friend for help. Don't give this job to a guest.

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Out of curiosity, is deconstructing the tiers the only difference in your experience? What exactly sets it apart?

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To start, you need to remove all the non-edible decor (fresh or silk flowers, etc.) and that can be a bit messy, depending on how much icing is on them. Then separate/deconstruct the tiers.

To cut (I'm probably not going to explain this well) you can't just cut wedges like a standard 8" or 9" birthday cake. The big rounds need to be cut with a circle in the middle (making 2 circles). Then the outside is cut into roughly rectangular pieces and the inner circle is cut a variety of ways to make more roughly rectangular pieces (depending on the size of that inner circle). Then plate each piece, add a fork, and either pass the cake out to guests (with napkins) or set the cake plates on a cleared table for guests to serve themselves.

This is bringing back nightmares of guests (adults AND kids) hovering around during that whole process (which takes way longer than you'd think), jostling for pieces, asking for their favorite piece, getting in the way. And if the tiers are different flavors, then you have an extra set of cutting/plating/serving complications.