When guests troop to the reception hall, they expect to see a gorgeous wedding cake proudly ensconced where everybody can see it. They are also pleasantly surprised when it tastes as good as it looks. This should be your goal when you are looking for the wedding cake of your dreams.

Wedding cakes come in wonderful designs and trimmings, and colors undreamed of. You no longer have to settle for a pristine white cake that looks so official with the traditional sugar flowers also in white or the usual hoi polloi of green, blue and pink.

Wedding cakes have fun colors ranging orange to lavender and an assortment of trimmings an inventive and creative baker can dish up. Lace, ribbons, fresh flowers and fruit, candies, grated coconut, and swarovski beads and edible fondant pearls are used for stunning decorative pieces that would send your great grandma to fits of envy.

Fondant and marzipan icing revolutionized cake decorating and new baking technology allowed the successful baking of wedding cakes in unusual shapes - cubes, triangles, hearts, harem pillows, castles, and yes, shoes and bags or your caricatures for a touch of fun. Perhaps if you could afford it, you'll have them all for their stunning looks alone.

How to Find the Right Mix of Looks and Flavour

Planning for a fantastic wedding cake starts month before the wedding because bakers are fully booked months ahead. Your plan should include the cake recipe. Here are some ideas for your cake:

* White cake recipes * Chocolate cakes * Cakes with fruits and nuts

Wedding cakes may cost $1.50 a slice or $15.00. This is how bakers calculate the cost of the cake and price includes cost for frosting and flavour. For your chocolate or white cake, ask the baker how much he will charge for ganache or fruit fillings because bakers routinely charge more for specialized cakes that require special fillings and frosting. But if flavour is tops in your requirement, then shell out a little more.

For your cake icing, you can choose one to complement the cake's recipe:

* Cream cheese icing * Cocoa and butter sauce * Traditional butter icing * Meringue frosting * Milk chocolate

Icing for wedding cakes can be made to look like swaths of silk, Venetian lace, and feathers. This will all depend on the skill and of the baker who will also present his portfolio of wonderful wedding cake designs.

Ideally, since it is your wedding, get your favorite cake recipe. The groom may also want his groom's cake or may want a different flavoured cake. If this is so, request the baker to have a three tiered cake in different flavours.

Before You Get a Baker

Before talking to a baker, prepare to give the following information:

* Date of wedding * Wedding motif * Venue of reception * Number of guests * Number of servings for the cake

Armed with this information find a baker who has the patience to understand the visions of wedding cakes cavorting in your head and who can duplicate the exquisite flavor of your mom's butter rum cake. If you find this gem of a baker, sign that contract at once before he can say no.