Photo: Courtesy of Whitefashion Photographer
In need of wedding cake ideas? The ceremonious confection has, after all, been a tradition for millennia: its roots trace back to ancient Rome, where grooms would break a barley cake over their bride’s head to officialize their union. Thousands of years later, Queen Victoria served a royal icing cake to her bridal party for her marriage to Prince Albert—the earliest precedent of the all-white style that’s still so commonplace today—whereas her son, Prince Leopold, is often credited with being the first person to serve a completely edible tiered cake on his wedding day in 1882. (A photograph of the historic cake, which is on display in Kensington Palace, shows it was decorated with putti figures holding bows and arrows.)
Fast forward to the modern day, and wedding cakes have become a highly personal matter of preference—and, as we’ve seen in Vogue’s wedding coverage—sometimes even an art form. Take Umber Ahmad s brutalist-inspired cake, or PJ Magerko-Liquorice and Jordan Millington-Liquorice’s ten-foot wedding cake that required sabers to cut. At the culmination of their three-day St. Tropez extravaganza, Sarah Staudinger and Ari Emanuel cut an enormous Tarte Tropézienne, while Babba Canales served a Swedish “princess cake” with a miniature 3-D print of the couple on top.
Below, see some of the best (and most unusual) wedding cakes published in Vogue weddings—perhaps you’ll find inspiration for your own
Anna Mack and Ben Pardee
A creation by Christoph Artisan Chocolatier. There were three flavors in each tier—lavender, espresso, and tres leches. The flowers were made with traditional French chocolate molds.
Photo: Instagram.com/joseph.rogero
Umber Ahmad and Ray Crisara
The couple worked on their architectural cake with Heather Anne Leavitt, of Sweet Heather Anne in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Photo: Larissa Cleveland
Makeda Saggau-Sackey and Thomas Rabioux
Khadija Fouchard of K&Kakes created two cake flavors for the couple; one with red velvet with cream cheese frosting and one vanilla cake with lemon cream. They saved the top layer, which was a combination of both flavors, to celebrate their one-year anniversary.
Photo: Charla Storey
Chloe Richards and Lee Rubenstein
A berry-topped, tiered confection.
Photo: Jose Villa
Babba Canales and Carl Waldekranz
A traditional Swedish “princess cake”—a torte made up of sponge cake and pastry cream—decorated with roses and a miniature 3-D print of the couple on top.
Photo: Johanna Rosenlew
Ivy Getty and Tobias Engel
The couple’s cake was made by Flour & Bloom.
Photo: Jose Villa
Alexandra Daddario and Andrew Form
This cake was cookies-and-milk-flavored.
Photo: Storm Santos
Sarah Staudinger and Ari Emmanuel
A gigantic Tarte Tropézienne, the one and only dessert of St. Tropez.
Photo: Robert Fairer
Dasha Muzaleva and Max Aengevelt
This cake was accented with floral garlands and icing made to look like lace.
Photo: Courtesy of Whitefashion Photographer
Latisha Duarte and Luke Mccoubrey
A tiered lemon crème fraîche cake.
Photo: Courtesy of Bruce and Rebecca Meissner / Love Made Visible
Caroline Sieber and Fritz von Westenholz
Layers of cake and flowers.
