he wedding cake- maybe you know exactly what you want or you have a general vision for this celebratory treat. Whatever you have in mind, when you come to address this yummy part of the wedding, you need to factor in the local weather of your wedding location and how it affects the cake. Why?
The reason why is that the temperature and local conditions ie. humidity and heat of your destination is a factor in the wedding cakes that’ll be available to you. This specifically is true for warm-weather weddings. The heat and humidity has an affect on the type of frosting (buttercream, fondant) local bakeries are willing to make. Ask me how I know- I learnt the hard way.
During my planning process for our destination wedding in Maui, my now husband and I decided that we wanted the classic French pastry mille- feuille, or napoleon, displayed in a tier and adorned as our “wedding cake”. It was pretty important to us. Daniel not being a huge cake fan, and me loving every pastry on the block, we both had a soft spot for this French pastry. This sweet treat brought back memories of us road tripping through France a couple years back and stopping at bakeries along, that’s why we wanted to have this as our cake. This being on the top of my list along with the venue and ceremony site, I eagerly shortlisted a few bakeries, I spoke to the first pastry chef, and was told immediately “no, no we don’t make those”, my heart sank. The pastry chef explained to me that the heat in Maui can melt the fondant on top and the colored swirls on the top layer may bleed, so it could look end looking very messy. Of course I was disappointed, and eventually I did find another pastry chef on the island who was willing to make it. Daniel and I ended up re-prioritizing (an all too common occurrence in wedding planning!). Instead we went for a local macadamia nut chocolate cake that was better than we could of imagined and everyone went nuts for.
My recommendation is for you to talk and check with bakers about the components of your wedding cake; the fondant, buttercream, chocolate decorations, etc. if these elements are suitable for the weather of your wedding destination. Every bakery has different recipes, so just ask them how your cake will hold up in the heat if you’re having a warm-weather wedding. Storage and delivery of the cake is also affected by the warm weather.
Will it need to be refrigerated up until the reception so that nothing melts? Maybe an air-conditioned room is best to prevent the fondant from melting without creating air pockets? Is the buttercream cake going to attract bugs or debris flying around? How close to the reception-time can the cake be delivered? Does anything need be set up before hand in order for the cake to be delivered? It’s a lot of questions, but that’s okay! The baker-actually any wedding vendor is used to being asked just about anything. And you’ll start thinking about your own situation and have questions come up naturally. You just need to make sure you cover all the bases so that your budget gets you the best of what you want to make your wedding vision come to life.
Happy Planning! If you need help with coordinating with your baker or anything else with your destination wedding planning just give me a shout and contact me here
