The more frosting decorations such as swirls, flowers, scrolls, dots, pearls, etc, the more the cake will cost. So any cake idea that involves minimal decorations will be more cost effective. The key is to find what decorations you can add yourself to save money and still have a beautiful wedding cake. 

• Consider a simple frosted cake (such as the Walmart cake idea seen at the right) that you decorate with edible flowers (rose petals, johnny jump ups)

  • Rose petals strewn on a simple cake can be very pretty

  • Use flower container spikes for inserting fresh flowers into wedding cakes they keep the flowers looking fresh all day. An example of a floral cascade wedding cake is Wedding Cakes

• A new trend amongst celebrities is jewels on a wedding cake. You can emulate this sort of wedding cake "bling" with any new jewel on a hairstick or bobby pin with something like a pearl or jewel at the tip, wrap the "stick" part in plastic saran wrap to keep it sanitary, and stick in the cake. Make sure to remove the jewels before serving!

Some pre-made edible cake decor items. Buy these in advance & place on your cake with a dab of frosting. 

• 5MM Ivory Edible Pearls, 5MM Pink Edible Pearl Dragees, a few other colors, you can decorate a plain cake with pearls. See some of the books below for some ideas. (notice the pearls around the base of the tiers on the cake seen on the cover of Cakewalk: Adventures with Sugar)

• You can buy pre-made fondant sugar flowers to place your cake. (The photo for the Stargazer lily And Leaves Gum paste Spray is missing but is an easy and pretty way to decorate a wedding cake yourself). These are edible (but very hard, so you may not care to eat them) Buying these yourself and having a friend place them on your cake or as a cake topper saves money and looks great. Some Examples:

  •  gum paste wedding cake decorations - pre done calla lily sprays, leaves, roses, etc.

• royal icing flowers for your cake, various colors and sizes. Small flowers all over a cake gives everyone a flower with their slice, and you can put these on your cheaper sheetcake to match

• Daisies Cake Do-It-Yourself Decorating package  

• Fondant Gift From The Heart - Pastel heart fondant kit - comes with ready to use pastel fondant, fondant cutters so you can just cut and apply the hearts

• Forget me nots sugar flowers, more detailed than royal icing, not as detailed as gumpaste fondant.

You can use decorative candy, such as truffles or Godiva chocolates, that are very detailed, and embed them or place them on the cake, adhering themwith a dot of frosting. Since candies are very detailed, and the plain cake looks intentional to not distract from the intricate candies.

• See Godiva chocolates for cake decoration ideas and recipes using Godiva chocolates, or just place chocolates around the cake

• Godiva decorated white chocolates

• platinum collection - decorative "artworks" of chocolate - see some individual pieces here and here

• Godiva dark chocolates

• Godiva hearts, leaves, flowers

• Gold edible glitter, opal sanding sugar in several colors, emulate the look of much more expensive decorations by using a stencil pattern & glitter to make a pattern on a plain cake. Gold and silver could look great with a scroll pattern stencil, here is an example wedding cake decorating book that uses Pearls & gold scrolls: Cakewalk: Adventures with Sugar

  • pearls, flower stakes, real flowers on a simple cake

  • Marzipan is a classic confection for wedding cake decoration. You can purchase pre made marzipan and decorate a cake:

    • marzipan fruit, bulk marzipan, and some larger realistic looking marzipan fruit

    • try making your own gum paste kit and make your own

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU SEE YOUR DREAM WEDDING CAKE SO YOU CAN STILL SAVE MONEY

• If you see a cake you just love and do not want to compromise with a less fancy cake, consider buying a smaller version of that cake for display than the size you would need for the total number of your guests, and instead supplement that cake with a similar flavor & decoration sheet cake that they cut in the kitchen. Costco, Walmart, Sam's Club and most supermarkets bakeries generally are very reasonably priced for sheet cakes. (get a free $500 Costco Gift Card to pay for your wedding cake and sheet cakes here) (This sheet cake money saving idea comes from the Bridal Bargains Book, which has several tips for saving money at your wedding, including discount bridal houses.) While your baker may or may not offer a discount for this idea, tell him/her about your budget concerns and ask them to make you a main cake for show (perhaps with one less tier) and then the same kind of cake but in sheet cake form that does not need to be decorated and ask for a cost estimate. 

MORE WEDDING CAKE RELATED ITEMS

• A wedding cake cookie cutter - like Martha Stewart's cookie favors. They can decorate the side of the cake or be given as a wedding favor

• Wedding Cakes You Can Make: Designing, Baking, and Decorating the Perfect Wedding Cake

• Sylvia Weinstock - makes the wedding cakes of the rich & famous. Her cakes frequently featured in Brides magazines. Her book is really worth it

• Colettes Cakes - pictures & step by step instructions to make your own wedding cakes

• The tiers are the toughest part of doing a wedding cake yourself. Martha Stewart explains how to use dowels to make the wedding tiers in her books

See more about do it yourself wedding ideas:

• Do it yourself wedding invitations

• Do it yourself wedding bouquets and wedding reception table centerpieces

• Do it yourself wedding catering  Get hors doerves & appetizers direct from the same wholesale place that 5 star restaurants & hotels & caterers get them. Just heat for about 15 minutes & serve. It costs about $5 per person to get enough for a cocktail hour.

• Wedding freebies

• wedding resources for do it yourself

• Do it yourself wedding reception music

• FREE $25 Linens' n Things Gift Card when you try Simply You discount service for $1. Use it for wedding decorations like candle votives, cake knife, ribbon, silk flowers, fairy lights, etc. 

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THESE WEDDING CONTESTS :

Finish an online survey for a 2 Night Hotel Stay Reward you can use on your honeymoon and enter to win $50,000 cash

Enter to win a $50,000 Personal Makeover before your wedding day

free $500 victoria secret gift card offer