Hello Friends, here's additional information to conclude getting a successful cake event: Having spent the much you did on your cake, you must ensure that the cake presentation during the wedding is very well taken care of. While the cake decorator takes care of the transportation and table presentation of the cake, you might have the responsibility of ensuring the "Cake Cutting Ceremony" goes well. The following is information I usually either write to or discuss with brides:

CAKE CUTTING CEREMONY: The cake cutting ceremony is one of the highlights of every event reception. For weddings, it is symbolic of the couple’s first task together, plus it makes a great photo opportunity. Traditionally, the cake cutting ceremony takes place after all the speeches and toasts and before the dances, but wherever this special ceremony is placed in your program, it turns out just as captivating and enlivens the guests’ attention. The couple should know that the more “Love” is seen in the air, the more memorable their wedding. Guests want an assurance from the couple’s display of romance that the couple do not only have friendship but are also in Love. The couple ought to pick a close friend or relative before hand who will help oversee the cake cutting ceremony. Please pick a fun person who will help interject some joy and playfulness into the ceremony.

The following is the order in which the ceremony goes: • The MC announces the ceremony making sure that photographers are already on hand to take adequate photos of the cake both before and during the cake cutting ceremony. • The couple proceeds to the cake table with or without an accompanying low level music. At the cake table, there will be a cake knife and server, a dessert plate/platter, 2 glasses, some napkins and forks on request. • The bride picks the cake knife up and places it at the spot on the cake from which they will cut (usually the bottom tier of the cake). The bride places her hand on the knife and the groom places his right hand over the bride’s and together they cut the cake at the overseer’s command. • The bride cuts a piece/slice and places it on the plate or platter. (The feeding of the cake tells a lot about the personality of the couple. Remember to interject some romance, comic or fun in it.) The groom feeds the bride her first bite and then the bride feeds the groom, followed by a good kiss. Some couples like to introduce the Nigerian tradition, by having the bride kneel to feed the groom and then the “good kiss”. All of these signify the couple’s commitment to provide for one another. Remember to express your true emotions for your day so the pictures can capture the real feelings while your guests are reassured that you love one another dearly. As a thoughtful gesture and if you wish, the bride may cut a piece of the cake for her new in-laws and parents too.

Usually, the drink toast follows the cake cutting ceremony. The groom pours some drink into the glasses for the couple and the drink toast follows. Having followed this sequence, it is only natural to have the couple’s first dance right after to continue the “Love’s in the air” theme. Once these have been done, the Cake Decorator may take the cake aside where it will be cut up and served to the guests.

Hello Everyone, how’s your summer going, and now “Back-to-school”? It’s been very busy for me, pretty much trying to juggle so many stuff together! Just take it easy, the weather’s changing in a couple more weeks, so cooling off is on the way, yaaay! These next entries will be dealing with all the technical jargons of cake decorating, servings and the cake cutting ceremony. Everything comes easy with ordering when you already know what you need! While there are different charts and opinions out there about servings, what you’ll find here is my tried and tested recommendations. I hope you find this useful! Now, 1 cake pan iced and decorated is called a cake LAYER, most butter cream cakes are single layer cakes. The professional cake baking pan is usually 2 inches high. Single layer cakes are usually 2 inches high plus the added inch or two of the frosting.

Two or more cakes sandwiched with fruit or cream filling is 1 TIER. These days, the trend is to sandwich 3-4 layers to give the cake some height.

A cake tier is 4 inches or more plus the height of filling and cake covering. Wedding cakes and cakes for big birthdays usually have several tiers.

When ordering a cake, three things you might have to consider are: The flavors of cake you’ll like, size of cake you want (depending on your guest count) and the design you want on the cake. FLAVORS are the condiments added to your cake to give it a unique taste. Most bakeries have a large variety of flavors to pick from. Some of these flavors are either fruity, alcoholic, nutty, with vegetables, drinks etc. There are strawberry cakes, orange cakes, rum cakes, champagne cakes, almond cakes, coconut cakes, zucchini cakes, carrot cakes, chocolate cakes, ice cream cakes etc. Also, you might have to think up what SHAPE of cake you want. There are uncountable shapes of cakes now that cakes are made in 3D! The basic shapes are round, rectangle, square, oval and hexagon. There are pans for most other items but the cake decorator can also cut out shapes using the basic shapes. These are called SCULPTED CAKES! If you wanted to make a shoe cake for instance, you might need to ask your decorator if they can sculpt a shoe. CAKE PANS are made to size. The sizes are either even or odd numbered. I usually use the even sizes. I have cake pans 4”, 6”, 8”, 10’’, 12”, 14”, 16” and 18”. The square pans give you added SERVINGS because they are full size. Round and hexagon pans give you a little bit less servings. Think about it this way: round, oval, rectangle and hexagon shapes are actually square shape trimmed on the sides. Here are my own recommendations for number of servings per pan. These are generous slices and not considering single or double layers. The double layered cake will just be extra cake for your guests. 4” cakes will serve 6-8 people, 6” cakes will serve 12-15 people, 8” will serve 20-25 people, 10” will serve 35-40 people, 12” will serve 50-60 people, 14” will serve 100-120 people, 16” will serve 140-160 people, 18” will serve about 200 people.