Aside from being eye candy and dessert for later, the practice of having a wedding cake has been deeply rooted in different cultures. And if you’re the beach bride who won’t pass up to showing a little bit of tradition on her beach wedding, the cake is unlikely to take a backseat. And for some, it’s simply not as fun without a cake.
The wedding cake has taken on so many forms over the years. A multi-layered cake with butter cream frosting cannot go out of place in an air conditioned reception hall. But owing it to the different circumstances surrounding a beach wedding, choosing a cake can be more stressful than that in a traditional reception.
Luckily, for the beach bride, she is not compelled to have a towering cake on her beach wedding. (So fight off the temptation to showcase your family’s uber prosperity as much as you can.) For one thing, the guest list is usually much shorter, so just have enough and avoid wastage. Second, transporting an enormous cake is anything but sweet. Delivery of the wedding cake to the beach wedding location often comes with a surcharge if the location exceeds the bakery’s delivery limit. And judging from the distance of the bakery to the destination, just imagine the possible appearance of the cake when it gets to the beach wedding location. Look for bakers that transport the cake in parts and just assemble them on the location. Why not have a one-tier cake and affirm the couple’s laid back, casual choice for a beach wedding?
Other than the possible stress of transporting the cake, scouting for beach wedding cakes is so much fun. Think starfish, shells, terrapins, dolphins and other sea life in place of the typical rose sculpting. Mystical sea creatures like mermaids are most welcome, too. It’s a beach wedding, so naturally the terribly drab bride and groom topper should be off right away. Dress the toppers down to surfer wear and the cake will definitely be in sync with the theme.
Who says beach wedding cakes need to be round? Choose a sea shell or starfish cake, or even go nautical with a lifesaver, yacht or a ship.
Choose cakes with light frosting. Imagine your face being stripped off of makeup because of the heat. Yes, same goes for frosting. Fondant can stand very high temperatures, but does not taste very good for some people. Marzipan encrusted cakes are delicious, too. Tropical fruits and flowers add a very nice touch to the cake.
Other couples just have a small cake for themselves, but provide other dessert forms such as cheesecake bar, chocolate fountain within a chocolate dessert bar, fruit salad bar, ice cream bar and the like. Cupcakes have been very popular alternatives over the years.
Whatever the design, flavor and shape the wedding cake turns out to be, the beach bride should be particularly concerned where the cake will be placed on the beach wedding location. Temperatures can get pretty unpredictable on these beachfront sites. It would be a shame that after all the painstaking baking, styling and decorating, the cake suffers a literal meltdown under the heat. Oh, and stop those kids from throwing sand.
