Fall Themed Wedding Cakes
Fall theme wedding cakes are elegant vehicles for showing off the gorgeous, understated colors and features of the harvest season. Most autumn cake themes are best suited to weddings that take place in the chilly months right before winter, but some themes are appropriate for year-round use.
Fall Theme Wedding Cakes
Wedding cake choices can be overwhelming, even within a particular theme. Before talking with potential decorators, it's helpful to have a specific idea of what you want so you can articulate requests and get accurate pricing estimates. To do that, spend some time looking through galleries of pictures of fall wedding cakes or sketching your own designs that reflect an autumn theme. One of the most common motifs is the fall leaf, which is a great way to incorporate the beauty of nature into your celebration. Leaves make for a lovely cake, whether they're edible or real, but there are plenty of additional fall themes that are worth exploring in dessert.
Fall Flavors
A simple way to reflect the season in your wedding cake without sacrificing traditional looks is to go with an autumn themed flavor combination. Pick a richly flavored, robust cake that's moist, hearty and offers some kick. Try pairing one of these cake flavors with a lightly spiced frosting that isn't too sweet:
- Spice
- Ginger
- Molasses
- Carrot
- Banana
- Raisin
- Pumpkin
- Apple
- Cinnamon
- Maple
- Honey
- Nuts
Fall wedding cake flavors are a refreshing change from the usual vanilla/vanilla wedding cake, and they invite guests to embrace seasonality and celebrate the harvest as well as your union.
Harvest Cakes
Few brides and grooms celebrate the abundance of the fall harvest with their wedding cakes, but it's a theme that's tied to nature just as closely as leaves or flowers. To give it special attention, ask a decorator to create a cornucopia from fondant or gum paste and fill it with figures of seasonal vegetables and fruits. For an idea that's a bit subtler, garnish the finished cake with fresh fruit, such as figs or apples.
Autumn Flowers
Spring and summer may be the most abundant seasons for flowers, but there are a number of blossoms that shine in autumn, and they're certainly worthy of being featured on wedding cakes. Some of the most colorful include:
- Carnations
- Amaranthus
- Anemone
- Chrysanthemums
- Irises
- Gladiolus
- Roses
- Sunflowers
- Zinnias
- Lilies
To showcase autumn colors as well as autumn blossoms, choose flowers in deep shades such as burgundy, goldenrod, maroon, dark orange, and eggplant purple.
Halloween Cakes
If your wedding falls around Halloween, make the most of the occasion and celebrate with a spooky Halloween wedding cake. If frosting in orange and black is too flamboyant for you, consider dressing up a bridal couple cake topper in costumes or slinking faux cobwebs around the base of your cake. You can also go all out by depicting a haunted house on a multi-tiered cake, adorning the dessert with skeletons and ghouls, or featuring favorite Halloween characters such as witches and mummies as cake toppers.
Thanksgiving Cakes
A Thanksgiving theme can easily overlap with a harvest theme, so consider borrowing related ideas such as the cornucopia decoration. If you want to focus specifically on the Thanksgiving holiday, though, try a turkey cake topper or a turkey feather decoration. Flavor-wise, appropriate choices include a pumpkin cake decorated with sugared almonds, a pecan-flavored cake, or a round of pecan pies in lieu of the traditional cake.
Featuring a fall theme wedding cake at your reception is a thoughtful, seasonal choice that guests are likely to remember and appreciate. Whether you go with the traditional autumn leaves or choose an idea that's a bit more unconventional, the odds are good that you'll end up with a fall wedding cake that will superbly fit the occasion and help you remember one of the most treasured days in your life for years to come.
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