Let’s be honest: Size matters—depending on the effect you want to achieve. But it’s not a simple case of bigger is better. When it comes to wedding cakes, scale is determined in part by personal preference, catering logistics, and aesthetic sensibilities.
WE asked some of the most sought-after cake artists interpret Wedding Essentials’ “Big and Small” challenge with cascading tiers and table-wide spreads of varying heights and sizes. Nothing too outsized, nor too petite—but everything’s just right.
Diane Ang of Bethany Dream Cakes experiments with shapes, sizes, and textures for her sophisticated take on a tiered cake. Standard round tiers of varying heights—airbrushed with edible sequins—sandwich an eye-catching geometrical tier, covered in a dense row of gum paste layers.
Cake Concepts hits the sweet spot with their playful, outdoorsy spread. To achieve a rustic feel, the cakes were lightly frosted and purposely roughed up around the edges, and presented on faux tree trunk baseboards of varying heights. Brightly colored flowers provide a uniform design element, to further emphasize its conversation-starting cake toppers.
The famously extravagant Marie Antoinette would have certainly lost her head over Cuppy Puppy’s luxurious cake spread. From the edible gold ornaments and pearl sheen to the painstakingly crafted quilted fondant, the regal gold frame and sugar flower crown—each element is
majestic on its own, with none ever overpowering the others.
Let me not to a marriage of hues metallic admit impediments. Hearts and Bells’ gold and silver themed cake seamlessly combines traditional wedding cake design with contemporary sensibilities. Satellite cakes of varying sizes and heights add rhythm to the design.
Judy Uson, better known as The Cake Artist, presents a master class in classic cake décor with these pretty-in-pink tiers and satellites. By keeping the design, in her own words, “fresh, simple, and elegant,” attention is focused on the exquisite craftsmanship, from the clean lines of the fondant layers, to her deft hand with royal icing piping work, and dainty gold dragees.
Pastry Bin is one of the pioneers of the wedding industry, and Penk Ching’s name is synonymous with quality craftsmanship and stylishly executed themes. For her big and small cake design, she toys with the bride-and-groom cake and turns the stereotype inside out. The groom’s tuxedo cake in brown is a better match for the official wedding cake, a tiered confection airbrushed with a muted bronze sheen and turquoise highlights, while the elegant pearls and lace motif of the bridal cake
stands out amid a sea of brown.
Weddings mark the start of a new life for a happy couple, and Lovely Jiao celebrates this milestone with satellite cakes that proudly proclaim the date to be the “Best Day Ever.” A pastel palette sets a
cheerful tone, the abstract paint design on the bottom layer more perky than psychedelic. Gold-touched wood texture and garlands of sugar blossoms add a rustic touch to the setup.
Love blooms in mysterious ways. Floral-inspired wedding cakes may be a dime a dozen, but Joy San Gabriel steps up the game by picking an uncommonly difficult frosting to work with: neither butter cream nor fondant, but whipped cream!
Photos by Ken Go
