Taking the Cake; Alternatives to Traditional Wedding Cakes
By: Wendy Pineda
Weddings are all about expanding your imagination; thinking outside the box to make your wedding as unique and catered to your specific taste as possible. Sometimes this means breaking tradition and going a different route, particularly in the area of dessert. Why limit your tastes to a stacked yellow cake with white frosting when you can have an arrangement of brownies, donuts, parfaits and more? The options are endless! Check out some of our ideas below:
Donut Wall
There’s nothing better than taking a vow for forever with the love of your life, but donuts are a close second! While some like to stack the donuts to mimic the shape of a cake, consider creating a donut wall for your guests to keep the mess to a minimum and the taste to the max!
Smores and Hot Chocolate
Having a fall or winter wedding? Nothing says “I love you” more than sharing hot chocolate and smores with those closest to you. Set up a hot chocolate bar for your wedding with different fixings like marshmallows, candy canes and chocolate shavings so that you, your significant other and your guests can make it more personalized. Next to your hot chocolate bar, set up the smores station with graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate and Sterno S’mores Heat Fuel Cans to roast your marshmallows in. To make it extra cozy, throw in a basket full of blankets for you and your guests to have and to hold in case you get cold.
Cookie Bar
Like a hot chocolate bar, a cookie bar can serve as a delicious cake alternative for your wedding. Simply set up a bar with trays full of assorted cookies and maybe even include a coffee stand right next to it. Don’t be afraid to get wild with your assortment and include unique flavors like toffee crunch or brownie cookies! Insomnia Cookies is a great place to make your wildest cookie dreams come true.
Cake Pops
Say you do want to keep it slightly traditional with cake but want a way to make it unique. Cake pops are perfect for this! Have an arrangement of cake pops made with various cakes and decorate them accordingly to your specific wedding theme, or even as a bride and groom theme. Easy, adorable and delicious. Need we say more?
Pie/Mini Pies
Some prefer cake, some prefer cookies, but who doesn’t prefer pie? Consider laying out an assortment of different pies to accommodate all preferences and look forward to the leftovers…if there are any! Or, perhaps you would prefer an assortment of mini pies instead of regular sized ones to maximize space and efficiency. Either direction you choose to go in, pie is truly a dessert you can’t go wrong with.
Mini Parfaits
Last but certainly not least, parfaits are a great alternative to wedding cakes as they provide a greater assortment and selection to best accommodate the tastes of both you and your guests. You can include an arrangement of different parfaits-some fruity like a cassata cake and some decadent like a German chocolate cake or Boston crème pie. You can even stack them to maximize space and arrange them in the shape of a wedding cake. Nothing says love like mini desserts to celebrate a wedding!
What would you consider using as an alternative to your wedding cake? If you already took your vows and chose to go down a different route with your dessert, what did you use? Let us know below in the comments!
Interested in more ideas behind wedding cake alternatives? Browse our Alternatives to Wedding Cakes board on Pinterest to find the perfect dessert for your perfect day.