Wedding Cake Alternatives
Six things people have instead of a wedding cake, and this page is honest about which of them we make. Cupcakes, a cutting cake with cupcakes, several round cakes or a dessert table: yes. A cheese tower, a croquembouche or a doughnut wall: no, and the reasons are worth knowing before you start ringing round.
The question underneath all of them is the same — what feeds the room and what does it cost — so the arithmetic is on the page for every option including the ones that take the order elsewhere.
What does each alternative cost?
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
Wedding cupcakes Each, in boxes — one per guest, no cutting, no plates one each | £6 |
A cutting cake plus cupcakes Two tiers to cut at £270 plus three dozen cupcakes — the usual answer for a hundred about 100 | £684 |
Four 10" cakes Several flavours, no tiering, served from the kitchen about 100 | £600 |
French mini macarons Each — a dessert-table component rather than a centrepiece per piece | £3 |
Those figures are for about a hundred guests. The hundred-guest guide works the numbers properly, and wedding cupcakes has the boxes and the tower question.
Tell us about the wedding
We reply within 24 hours with a price. No deposit is taken until you are happy with the quote.
Not ready to send it? What follows answers most of what people ask first.
How long it takes
7–10 days for a simple design, at least 14 for two tiers.
Sooner is sometimes possible: a rush adds 50% when the notice is under 7 days, if the diary is clear.
In a hurry? Bento cakes take 3–5 days.
Delivery
From £30, quoted by distance from RG12 0UY.
Collection from Bracknell is free — see the areas we cover.
Paying
50% deposit to hold your date; orders under £50 are paid in full.
Balance 3 hours before collection, or cash on the day, 7 days for weddings.
The deposit is non-refundable but transferable with 4 days' notice — full terms.
Which alternative does what?
They are not interchangeable. Some feed a room efficiently, some give you a moment with a knife in it, and some do neither but look extraordinary on a table. The table below sorts them by what they are actually good at, and marks the ones that are not ours to sell — a wedding is the wrong event to find that out late.
| Instead of a cake | Good at | Weak at | From us |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cupcakes | Serving a room in minutes | No cutting moment | Yes |
| Cutting cake plus cupcakes | Both, for less than enough cake | Two orders to plan | Yes |
| Several round cakes | Flavour choice, lower cost per slice | No centrepiece | Yes |
| Dessert table | Looking abundant | Costs more per head than any cake | In part |
| Cheese tower | An evening table, not a dessert | Needs cool and a cheesemonger | No |
| Croquembouche or doughnut wall | Spectacle | Built on site, eaten within hours | No |
Why is a dessert table dearer than a cake?
Because it is several products rather than one, and each has its own minimum. A table of cupcakes, macarons at £3 each, small tarts and a cake is four orders with four batch sizes, and the quantity that looks generous on a table is always more than the number of guests — that is what abundance means. Caterers reckon on filling the table rather than on feeding the room, and the bill follows the table.
It is worth it when the table is part of the room’s decoration and people graze all evening. It is poor value when the guests sit down to three courses and then walk past it full. If the budget is the thing deciding, a cutting cake with cupcakes beside it looks generous for about half the money — the budget guide has the rest of that reasoning.
Do you still need something to cut?
Only if you want the photograph, and that is a real consideration rather than a sentimental one. The cake cutting is one of the four or five moments a photographer is booked to capture, and a doughnut wall gives them nothing to point at. The trade-off is answered for a few pounds: a small cake to cut, and whatever you like feeding the room with.
The traditions guide covers who cuts it and when, wedding cakes has the tiers and prices, and wedding cakes by season covers what the weather does to any of this.
What else do people ask?
Allergies? Our kitchen handles all 14 of the allergens UK law requires us to declare, so nothing we bake is free from any of them. What is in each cake, and our hygiene rating.