Wedding cakes and desserts

Here is mine... 😍 I am planning to have one exactly like this 🙂 with those petals all around the edges and everything

I'm digging these:

David Torres5—this one right in the middle is fantastic! I personally can't stand those "smooth" ones—I've never been a fan of that glossy finish—but I can certainly appreciate why 🙂
enjoys looking at them.

Sorry, guys—addiction is addiction...

That second one is just perfect—it’s got that unique vibe without being tacky at all...
My absolute favorites were these:
So mine wasn't actually that different from yours, just more square and covered in patterns 🙂

It’s called FONDANT. Honestly, finding someone in a city like Chicago who can actually pull this off is like searching for a needle in a haystack; most local bakers simply don't have the skill. I went through an absolute nightmare trying to get a specific cake made because everyone kept insisting a multi-tiered design was impossible to execute while looking flawless on the outside. Of course, I eventually found a way to do it online, but our local pastry chefs? They hadn't even heard of the technique. The one professional I met in America who actually mastered the craft knew exactly what I meant. She told me it was no problem at all to pair it with a soft fruit filling, so I went to her—though even then, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the results. And don't even get me started on shapes. Our bakers can maybe manage cylinders or rolls if they're lucky, but cubes? Forget about it. Perhaps the only bakery in town that comes close is a local spot like Magnolia Bakery, but even their cubes were poorly proportioned—either too wide or too shallow. For the record, I checked out:
The Cheesecake Factory, Krispy Kreme, and Hardwick. None of them could do it. They just flat-out told me it was impossible.

petra25 said:I’ve decided against a mountain of cookies. Instead, I'm going with a chocolate fountain topped with all sorts of fruit! Since my wedding is this summer, I think it’ll be a total hit. What do you guys think? Mmm, dipping strawberries into a chocolate fountain... I can hardly wait! 👏 👋 🙂 🙂

Are you serious, Petra? Where on earth are you going to find a chocolate fountain in America? You sound just like me—you see something trendy over in the States and suddenly you just have to have it at your wedding at any cost. 😁

Just wanted to weigh in with my two cents regarding the desserts...
We ended up getting our cake and sweets from the Small House, USA over in Oakwood. The cake is basically a dead ringer for the one David Torres5 posted—the one in the bottom row on the left. It’s made of three layers stacked slightly offset, and since everything we do here tends to favor earth tones, the cake follows suit: beige with chocolate brown edges. It's hard to describe, but I saw it in an ad in one of those wedding magazines where they actually had a whole feature on cakes, and this was the exact model they used. A cake for 120 people set me back $400 and the pastries were $20/kg. They were delicious, honestly. I found them through that magazine ad, but it turns out a few of my buddies have been buying their sweets there for years and gave me a glowing recommendation. When I went in to finalize everything (which happened to be a Saturday afternoon), they had the exact same cake sitting right there on the counter... so I knew exactly what I was getting. That's my take so far. Oh, and the owner is super sweet and easy to deal with...🙂

Harold Miller24 said:Honestly, maybe the only dessert shop that actually gets close is Baskin-Robbins, but even their cubes were always way too wide and too shallow for me... anyway, I’ve checked out:
Orient, Meli, and Hardwick who have absolutely no clue how to pull this off (they straight up told me they couldn't)

Seriously, stay far away from Hardwick. First, they made me jump through hoops just trying to figure out how to make a three-tier square cake where every layer is a different flavor. Then, when they finally figured out how much to charge me, the price was so insane I practically passed out. I ended up going to Sweet Secrets instead and had everything sorted out in like five minutes.

Hey Jesse Ross11, you pretty much nailed my cake description... except I can't quite remember what those layers actually tasted like. Either way, it's not exactly rocket science to pull something like that off.

It isn’t easy to pull off. Getting that texture to look seamless without it ending up looking like cheap plastic—at least according to our local pastry chefs—is a massive challenge. However, I’ve heard nothing but glowing reviews about Small House, USA, so I have high hopes you'll nail it! Best of luck!

I just had the exact same experience Jesse Ross11 is describing when I dealt with Hardwick and Orient... can you believe they actually tried to charge me 3600 dollars for just 100 people!!!!! 😲 😱

Come on, Jesse Ross11, show us a photo of that cake so we can see how it actually turned out!
I was aiming for something extra tall and slender—think skyscraper style—but apparently, nobody knows how to pull that off.😢

Harold Miller24 said:It’s called FONDANT. Honestly, finding someone in the States who can actually pull this off is a nightmare—most local bakers just don't have the skill. I went through hell trying to get a specific cake; everyone kept telling me it was impossible to make a tiered cake look that flawless on the outside. Then, lo and behold, I find a way to do it online, but our local pastry chefs? Never heard of it. The only pro I met in America who actually knew their stuff told me, "Yeah, sure, we can do that," even with a super soft fruit filling inside. So I went with her, though even then, she wasn't exactly amazing. Our bakers especially struggle with geometric shapes—they might manage cylinders, but cubes? Forget it. Maybe that one boutique bakery in NYC does it okay, but their cubes were always either too wide or too shallow for my taste. Anyway, I checked out:
Orient, Meli, and Hardwick they all said they couldn't do it.

I had a similar situation once—a smooth white cake decorated with little 3D hydrangea flowers made from the same stuff. My baker (an independent operator, not a big commercial shop) called the mixture "fondant"—it honestly looked a lot like marzipan to me. I think a kilo of that stuff goes for about $50 and you can find it easily around here... so making it shouldn't be an issue. But those high-end, fancy bakeries—like that one place in Chicago—are asking $1167 for a simple cake meant for 120 people. They're totally ripping people off...

lolita11 said:I just went through the exact same thing neontrucker17 is talking about over at Target and Home Depot. Seriously, they were practically trying to charge me extra just for existing. 3600 A hundred bucks for a hundred people?! Are you kidding me?😲 😱

I had the exact same experience at that bakery over in Springfield... except I actually got mini Minion treats on two-tier stands. They were bite-sized, too—not those massive Minion mounds they were trying to upcharge you for at Charlotte's. $1000 With 120 people on deck and a standard of 3 million per head—which, let’s be honest, is a pretty low bar—we ended up calculating everything by weight instead of by piece. Honestly? That’s the only way to do it right. Why count individual units when you can just weigh the damn thing?

David Torres5 said:I’m actually quite fond of these ones:

honestly, this one looks like it would match that bouquet of yours perfectly😍

Sly said:I suppose I should offer my own thoughts and wishes regarding the desserts...
To be honest, we ended up ordering our cake and pastries from Small House in Oakwood; the cake was remarkably similar to the one David Torres5 posted, specifically the one in the bottom left corner. It’s composed of three blocks stacked atop one another with a slight rotation, and since everything we tend to go for here is in shades of brown and beige, the cake followed suit—beige with chocolatey edges... it's difficult to describe quite right, but there was an ad in that wedding magazine, and they even had a feature on cakes in one issue where this exact style was used as the prime example. A cake serving 120 people set me back $400 and the pastries were $20/lb—we tasted them, and they were truly delicious... I originally found them through that advertisement, but it turns out a few of my friends have been buying their sweets there for years and gave me glowing recommendations... when we went in to finalize the details (which happened to be a Saturday afternoon), the exact same cake from the photo was sitting right there on the table... so, I was able to see firsthand exactly what it looks like in person... anyway, those are my impressions thus far... oh, and the owner is just lovely and so very kind...🙂

Sly, where exactly is that Small House located? That would actually be much more convenient for me than Sweet Secret, which has held the top spot on my list until now.🙂

lolita11 said:Jesse Ross11, come on, show us a pic of that cake so we can see how it turned out!
I was really going for something super tall and skinny—like a skyscraper—but nobody I asked knew how to pull that off.😢

Ugh, same. I wanted mine a little taller and narrower too, but honestly, I ended up loving it.
Here's the photo, right under the venue decorations

northernhawk87 said:This looks like a perfect match for that bouquet of yours. 😍

Honestly, they all look amazing—I'd love to try everything. But I'm just glad Emma pointed me toward this killer bakery that can actually pull this off. I saw some photos of a cake they made recently, and it’s almost exactly what I have in mind.

Two-faced twin said:Honestly, I love them all, I wish I could have everything... But I'm just so glad our dear Emma recommended this amazing bakery that can actually pull this off. I saw their photos online, and they made one cake that looks almost identical to what I'm dreaming of.

Two-faced, which bakery are you talking about???
We still have plenty of time, but we decided to spend this week doing a little "tasting tour" of local spots... so far, we're hitting up: Emma, Vincent, and I might try that Little Cookie House too. Plus, at the bridal expo, I chatted with this super sweet lady who just opened a new shop down by the Hudson River, and she lets you try wedding treats for free... so we'll see how that goes... We want a tiered cake too, but without those fancy stands... more like the ones you guys were describing😍
The guy over at Grandma's Sweets near Times Square told me the same thing—that those designs aren't even possible, they're just props for magazines👎