Creative Wedding Cake Designs to Inspire Your Confection

Be inspired to add artful details including sugar flowers, watercolor, and wafer paper!

It wasn't so long ago that all wedding cakes nearly looked the same – elegant white confections with various amounts of tiers and adornments; however, nowadays more and more couples are choosing to make their wedding cake part of the décor.

By Kelcy Christy

close-up-of-ivory-wedding-cake-with-sugar-roses
Photo: Justin Marantz

It wasn't so long ago that all wedding cakes nearly looked the same – elegant white confections with various amounts of tiers and adornments; however, nowadays more and more couples are choosing to make their wedding cake part of the décor. Oftentimes, the wedding cake is displayed in the center of the room, on a stage, or even on a swing to serve as the pièce de résistance of the celebration. With such an important stage from which to shine, wedding cake designers are going above and beyond with the designs. Whether they're creating a towering seven-layer confection or a small two-tier cake, the edible art piece is making a statement and wowing guests of all ages.

wedding cake with bow design and gold layers

Photo by Juano Abreu

Whether you choose to frost your wedding cake with buttercream or fondant, there are a number of design options to consider. Do you want an all-white cake adorned with pearls and sugar flowers or a colorful confection with three-dimensional wafer paper designs handpainted in vibrant hues of pink and purple? The options are endless! While it's exciting to choose what the outside of the cake will look like, it's just as important to consider the flavors on the inside. Gone are the days when the only choices were chocolate or vanilla – there are now hundreds of cake and filling flavors so you can choose what you love and what you think your guests will enjoy as well. 

To inspire the design of your own wedding cake, we're sharing photos from a newly opened, family-owned bakery in Midtown Miami. The designers at dbakers Sweet Studio create stunning confections that will surely spark some creativity for your own wedding confection. Take a look at the designs (as well as the flavors and fillings!), below, for more ideas. 

white chocolate cake with velvet texture and tropical flowers

White Chocolate Velvet cake featuring white chocolate ganache filling with raspberries and pistachios decorated with white chocolate velvety texture and fresh tropical flowers. Photo by Juano Abreu

naked wedding cake with cascading succulent designs

"Naked" cake with almond flavor featuring cherry preserve filling and vanilla bean buttercream decorated with cascading succulents. Photo by Juano Abreu

wafer parper wedding cake with pink and purple wedding flowers

Wafer Paper Petal cake featuring lemon poppy seed cake with lemon curd and fresh raspberry filling covered in white fondant decorated with royal icing textures and white sugar pearls as well as deep pink and purple hand-painted wafer paper petals cascading along the cake. Photo by Juano Abreu

silver flower wedding cake with hand painted details and silver leaf

Silver Flower cake featuring dark chocolate cake filled with passion fruit curd and covered in white fondant decorated with watercolor hand-painted flowers showcasing silver leaf accents and 3D hand-painted wafer paper flowers. Photo by Juano Abreu

square cake with ivory marble texture and wood vintage inspired old world cake ideas

Square Rustic Cake featuring banana walnut cake with chocolate ganache covered in ivory marble textured fondant and "white wood" fondant decorated with hand-painted watercolor, wafer paper poppy flowers with sugar paste eucalyptus and touches of gold leaf. Photo by Juano Abreu

white square cake with white sugar flowers lace and sugar pearls

White Square Cake featuring vanilla cake covered with white fondant adorned with white sugar flowers, white lace, and sugar pearls. Photo by Juano Abreu

wedding cake with paris london and sydney design motifs

Hexagonal Travel Cake featuring chocolate cake with double espresso buttercream covered in white fondant and decorated with watercolor splashes, gold eedging, and hand-painted decorations. Photo by Juano Abreu

For more ideas, view cake inspiration for the most popular types of weddings, learn how to choose what kind of wedding cake to have, be inspired by gorgeous confections decorated with fresh flowers, and read our interview with "Ace of Cakes" star Duff Goldman.

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