Let them eat cake! Guests may be happily dancing and toasting to their newly married friends at the reception, but food is always on everyone’s mind, especially cake and dessert. Fortunately, there are several ways you can cut your spending when it comes to dessert at the wedding, without giving up too much. My husband and I knew we wanted to have lots of desserts for our 250 guests, but we also knew we didn’t want it to break the bank. There are a lot of tips and tricks we learned that will ensure you get the most goodies for the smallest price.
The Traditional Wedding Cake

There are many tips and tricks to saving money on the centerpiece of your reception menu. Wedding cake is usually priced by the slice, so you can cut down on the amount you need by telling your baker it must serve about 25 people less than your actual guest list; not every guest will have a piece. You can also supplement the cake with more cost-effective desserts to make up the difference, too. We had the cake and a few other options, and while there wasn’t a crumb to be found at the end of the night, we never heard complaints about anyone going home hungry. The biggest cost saver is a “behind the scenes” sheet cake. Decoration of a huge, elegant wedding cake is what eats up a large part of the cost, and a plain sheet cake can taste just as good at a fraction of the cost. Your wedding cake can still be several tiers high, but the secret is to make some of those tiers fake...