Wedding cakes and desserts

Ours were just plastic—clear ones, actually—so they didn't even stand out since everyone was too busy eyeing the cookies. Honestly, maybe the plastic was for the best. A few of them ended up cracked or something, and we weren't exactly looking to drop extra cash to replace them.

Hey ladies, I’ve been lurking here for quite a while now, and honestly, your advice has been such a lifesaver when it comes to planning this wedding—but I’ve hit a bit of a wall regarding the dessert menu and could really use some input...🤷 Absalom, Mark Twain, or Tom & Jerry?
Thanks so much! 🙂

Jerry Fox4 said:Hey ladies, I’ve been lurking here for quite a while now, and honestly, your advice has been such a lifesaver when it comes to planning this wedding—but I’ve hit a bit of a wall regarding the dessert menu and could really use some input...🤷 Absalom, Mark Twain, or Tom & Jerry?
Thanks so much! 🙂

Tom & Jerry...

I’ve tried the ones from Absalom and Tom & Jerry before my wedding—honestly, there are plenty better options out there, so you can pick any of those three and it won't matter much 😁 though I haven't given the third one a shot yet.

Does anyone know if Tom & Jerry actually has a chocolate fountain? I'm kind of stuck deciding between them and Bruster's.

Thanks for all the input! 🙂
I realize there are definitely higher-end options out there—but I’m really trying to stick to a budget of under $23/lb. I know you can't have your cake and eat it too, but I’d love to find the best possible quality within that price range...

Uh, I just unearthed this from the archives. 😬
Even though we hit a few minor bumps in the road during the initial planning stages, everything turned out absolutely flawless in the end. They truly earned my trust; the desserts were both visually stunning and incredibly delicious, which was honestly a pleasant surprise. The cake was equally spectacular—I think I received more compliments on the sweets and the band than anything else at the wedding. So, my official recommendation goes to Absum. Their prices are reasonable, yet the quality is top-tier! 😍

velvetwalker742, glad to hear you’re liking Absum.👍 My sister used them for her wedding back in the day—this was way back in 2008, and they were only $18/kg then. What are they charging these days? 🤷 Also, do they still charge extra for the setup and the serving plates?
We’re looking at grabbing about 50 kg.

Right now, we've narrowed it down to a few options: Absum, Emma (from Chicago, $27/kg if you order over 20 kg), Srčeko (around $28/kg, if I recall), and we also checked out some folks from Long Resa at a bridal expo. Their pastries actually tasted great (I sampled a few), plus they don't charge for setup or plates—you just return them—and delivery is $33. Price is sitting at $22/kg.

As for the cakes, we’re heading to m & m in Rudeš.

I caught those photos from velvetwalker742. What Absum pulled off was truly top-tier. 😲

On my end, I can personally vouch for an m & m cake. 😍
What flavors are we thinking?

Hey, Jeremy Kern!
I think I paid $20/kg—or at least that’s what I was aiming for when I put down my deposit while the price was still low, though now I’m second-guessing myself and wondering if it actually jumped to $65. I already shelled out $133 for the decor, but honestly, I’d happily pay even more because everything was just so incredibly 😲! I also picked up those little mousse cups; they were priced at $3, $5, or $2.25 depending on how much you wanted to indulge, and let me tell you, they were absolutely divine. I'll post some actual photos once I get the professional shots, because these amateur ones I took are all blurry and frankly embarrassing... anyway, the cake was a Raffaello flavor and it was simply heavenly! 😁

Daniel Smith8 said:I caught those photos from velvetwalker742. What Absum pulled off was truly top-tier. 😲

On my end, I can personally vouch for an m & m cake. 😍
What flavors are we thinking?

I haven't decided yet. My sister—and yeah, I know I’m being a total pest about this, 😁, but it’s just easier to mimic her since everything she did was flawless 🙂—ended up getting five cakes total (the main wedding cake plus four others). They were all different: one was a frozen breeze flavor, then a deep chocolate, then a Schwarzwald... I can't remember the fourth one off the top of my head, gotta ask her.🙂 It worked out great because guests could actually pick what they wanted. You know how it is—you don't want someone handing you a chocolate fudge when you hate chocolate, while the guy next to you gets a fruit medley and isn't a fan of fruit.😁
What kind of flavors did you all go with?

velvetwalker742 said:Hey, Jeremy Kern!
I think I paid $20/kg—or at least that’s what I was aiming for when I put down my deposit while the price was still low, though now I’m second-guessing myself and wondering if it actually jumped to $65. I already shelled out $133 for the decor, but honestly, I’d happily pay even more because everything was just so incredibly 😲! I also picked up those little mousse cups; they were priced at $3, $5, or $2.25 depending on how much you wanted to indulge, and let me tell you, they were absolutely divine. I'll post some actual photos once I get the professional shots, because these amateur ones I took are all blurry and frankly embarrassing... anyway, the cake was a Raffaello flavor and it was simply heavenly! 😁

That's awesome, glad you loved it.👍
I meant the way they plate them, not the actual decorations. Does she charge extra for that?
I'm planning on calling them next week to get a full breakdown of prices and see what the final damage will be. Is delivery still $67? I don't doubt the quality, though—they were just as good back in 2008.

How many pounds did you guys order, and what was the total hit to the wallet, if you don't mind me asking? (No pressure). My sister went with 70 lbs 😁 at $18 per pound.

Our flavors were pretty basic—one layer orange and chocolate, one cherry, a layer of Milka, and then a mix of white and milk chocolate. Something like that. It was from Monica's.
At one wedding we had a cake from Emma (Chicago) and it was flawless—just like the cakes and pastries we had from the local bakery at two other weddings.

Nathan Cox25 said:Our flavors were pretty basic—one layer orange and chocolate, one cherry, a layer of Milka, and then a mix of white and milk chocolate. Something like that. It was from Monica's.
At one wedding we had a cake from Emma (Chicago) and it was flawless—just like the cakes and pastries we had from the local bakery at two other weddings.

At the last wedding I hit up, they served sweets from Emma (Chicago), and honestly, they were incredible.🙂
But I’m not dropping $110, let alone $27/lb. Especially since we're looking at 50-55 pounds total; it's just not worth that kind of money.🙂

We’ll most likely end up ordering from Absum—I actually gave them a call to check, and the price per pound for wedding cookies is currently $22. They still seem to be one of the most affordable options around, and if the quality hasn't dipped since the last time I tried them two years ago, we aren't going to give it a second thought.

I am aware they charge extra for certain services, such as the setup and everything else...

Jeremy Kern said:I haven't decided yet. My sister—and yeah, I know I’m being a total pest about this, 😁, but it’s just easier to mimic her since everything she did was flawless 🙂—ended up getting five cakes total (the main wedding cake plus four others). They were all different: one was a frozen breeze flavor, then a deep chocolate, then a Schwarzwald... I can't remember the fourth one off the top of my head, gotta ask her.🙂 It worked out great because guests could actually pick what they wanted. You know how it is—you don't want someone handing you a chocolate fudge when you hate chocolate, while the guy next to you gets a fruit medley and isn't a fan of fruit.😁
What kind of flavors did you all go with?

That's awesome, glad you loved it.👍
I meant the way they plate them, not the actual decorations. Does she charge extra for that?
I'm planning on calling them next week to get a full breakdown of prices and see what the final damage will be. Is delivery still $67? I don't doubt the quality, though—they were just as good back in 2008.

How many pounds did you guys order, and what was the total hit to the wallet, if you don't mind me asking? (No pressure). My sister went with 70 lbs 😁 at $18 per pound.

As for the plating situation, I honestly haven't a clue; we opted for that dessert table setup instead, which turned out to be a brilliant idea. Everyone just grabs whatever catches their eye onto their own little plate, and it works perfectly!
I'm not entirely sure where you're located, but they usually charge for delivery based on distance. It cost me $233 to get everything to our place. However, the guy I spoke to at the bridal expo mentioned that anything within 31 miles is free of charge, though I suppose that depends on where you are. Your best bet is to just call and ask. One piece of advice, though: whatever you settle on, make sure you confirm everything via email and for heaven's sake, do not delete those threads until the whole thing is over! We had a bit of a misunderstanding once, and if it hadn't been for that paper trail, things would have gone south quite quickly...
We had 100 guests, and we ordered (roughly speaking, I'm just throwing numbers around here) about 25 kilos of pastries, over 100 of those little cups in various sizes, roughly 3kg of chocolate-covered fruit, about 3kg of chocolate pralines, and a cake. All told, including delivery and the decorations, it came to $1633.
And everyone keeps raving about those pralines, yet I didn't even manage to try a single one. Not even the fruit! 😢

Jeremy Kern said:At the last wedding I hit up, they served sweets from Emma (Chicago), and honestly, they were incredible.🙂
But I’m not dropping $110, let alone $27/lb. Especially since we're looking at 50-55 pounds total; it's just not worth that kind of money.🙂

That's way out of my budget 🙂
The ones we used were $25/lb including the platter service (standard bakery style, usually $23/lb), and they were great—even the ones from the local shop that were in our shortlist ($27/lb).
In the end, we spent: $852 on the platters (we got 20kg on trays and 15kg to give away—we ended up with a ton left over, so we definitely overbought) and a cake from a bakery in the suburbs, about $633 (one tier was left over, again, we overdid it on the order 😁)

Jeremy Kern said:I haven't decided yet. My sister—and yeah, I know I’m being a total pest about this, 😁, but it’s just easier to mimic her since everything she did was flawless 🙂—ended up getting five cakes total (the main wedding cake plus four others). They were all different: one was a frozen breeze flavor, then a deep chocolate, then a Schwarzwald... I can't remember the fourth one off the top of my head, gotta ask her.🙂 It worked out great because guests could actually pick what they wanted. You know how it is—you don't want someone handing you a chocolate fudge when you hate chocolate, while the guy next to you gets a fruit medley and isn't a fan of fruit.😁
What kind of flavors did you all go with?

That's awesome, glad you loved it.👍
I meant the way they plate them, not the actual decorations. Does she charge extra for that?
I'm planning on calling them next week to get a full breakdown of prices and see what the final damage will be. Is delivery still $67? I don't doubt the quality, though—they were just as good back in 2008.

How many pounds did you guys order, and what was the total hit to the wallet, if you don't mind me asking? (No pressure). My sister went with 70 lbs 😁 at $18 per pound.

Bottom tier was chocolate mousse, middle was strawberry-chocolate parfait, top was pistachio-hazelnut parfait.
Honestly, I couldn't tell which part was better. 😍

We wanted something light since it was early June, and they kept it chilled, so it almost felt like eating gourmet ice cream cake.

I was actually planning on ordering all my desserts and cakes from Sugarland, but since our restaurant already has their sweets on the menu, they won't budge on the price if we bring our own...
It feels a little silly, honestly! We’re going to try negotiating with them one more time because I've had my heart set on those specific wedding treats from Sugarland for ages...

Lido or Vince? 😁 I'm looking for some advice on cakes and pastries. Specifically, I've got my heart set on a Black Forest cake. Thanks a million for any help you can give! 🙂

velvetwalker742 said:As for the plating situation, I honestly haven't a clue; we opted for that dessert table setup instead, which turned out to be a brilliant idea. Everyone just grabs whatever catches their eye onto their own little plate, and it works perfectly!
I'm not entirely sure where you're located, but they usually charge for delivery based on distance. It cost me $233 to get everything to our place. However, the guy I spoke to at the bridal expo mentioned that anything within 31 miles is free of charge, though I suppose that depends on where you are. Your best bet is to just call and ask. One piece of advice, though: whatever you settle on, make sure you confirm everything via email and for heaven's sake, do not delete those threads until the whole thing is over! We had a bit of a misunderstanding once, and if it hadn't been for that paper trail, things would have gone south quite quickly...
We had 100 guests, and we ordered (roughly speaking, I'm just throwing numbers around here) about 25 kilos of pastries, over 100 of those little cups in various sizes, roughly 3kg of chocolate-covered fruit, about 3kg of chocolate pralines, and a cake. All told, including delivery and the decorations, it came to $1633.
And everyone keeps raving about those pralines, yet I didn't even manage to try a single one. Not even the fruit! 😢

Ugh, now you've totally sold me on these mousses and pralines. My dessert order is going to be 15 kg lighter because of you, but I need them.😁
I'm in Chicago, so I'm assuming there'll be a delivery fee.
The dessert table idea is great, but I want at least one small plate of sweets on every guest table, right within reach (well, easy for me to grab 🤣). But maybe both? 🤔 Put more pralines and those little cups on the main dessert table, then serve the cake after midnight, and keep the pastries on the tables. Hmm, I still need to wrap my head around the logistics.🙂

Thanks for the heads-up 🙂, I'll give them a ring soon to check out their menu.

Anyway, I probably won't get the cakes from them. I think four slices of M&M cake is plenty. Maybe a Lemon Icebox cake, a Black Forest cake, some kind of chocolate wonder, and maybe a parfait. Honestly, this is my favorite part of planning this wedding.😁