Photo: Nathaniel Edmonds Photography

One of the most important parts of planning a wedding is figuring out the design of the wedding cake. Whether you’re making it yourself or want to send some great cake decorating ideas to the bakery you’ve chosen, you should take a look at eight ways to get the cake you’ve already dreamed of for your special day.

Garnish the Cake with Fresh Fruit

Fruit is not only good for your body and your taste buds, but it also looks pretty—making it a great option for decorating your wedding cake! Just picture arranging your favorite fruits carefully on top of or around a cake, and you’ll see why this is one of the most popular cake decorating ideas around.

Some of the best fruits to put on your wedding cake are berries, as fruits like blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries taste great and are easy to sprinkle on each tier of the cake. But you can choose other fruits, too, such as halves of plums, apricots, and peaches. Cherries are always a hit, as well, and provide an easy pop of color for any cake.

Whether you choose fruits based on taste or color, be sure to pile plenty of them on the cake. This is not the time to sparingly sprinkle fruit on your dessert. Buy more fruit than you think you’ll need to get the best look. And feel free to compliment the fruit with mint leaves if you’re feeling fancy. Finally, pair your fruit-laden cake with a table cover that matches the berries or other fruits, such as the Milkweed Linen, shown above.

Decorate with Flowers

One of the easiest ways to add some color and class to your wedding cake is to adorn it with flowers. After all, fresh flowers look and smell fantastic, and you’ll already be thinking about floral arrangements right before your wedding, thanks to venue decorations and bridal bouquets. So why not add a few to your cake?

There are lots of cake decorating ideas involving flowers. You can put some blooms on the top tier of the cake and drape some of the petals down the sides, or you can add clusters of flowers around each tier. Or you can go all out and cover the edges of every tier with beautiful blooms.

Once you choose one of these cake decorating ideas, it’s time to pick the flowers you want. You can use fake flowers if you want to be able to take them home after the wedding. But fresh flowers are the most popular option for wedding cakes. After all, many flowers are both stunning and edible!

Some of the best edible flowers for wedding cakes include calendulas, violets, roses, hibiscus, and sunflowers. Consider the flowers that best match the rest of the colors in your wedding, or even the ones that will be in your bridal bouquet! And then pair them with the perfect table cover, such as the Red Blitz Overlay to match red roses.

Coat Your Cake in Candy

If you don’t like that you have to choose between serving cake and candy at your wedding, how about combining them with a candy-coated cake? There are some really fun, easy cake decorating ideas involving candy!

For instance, you can simply add chocolate chips to the sides of your cake to make polka dots. This style of cake decoration would look great with the Cirque Overlay on the cake table, whether in black, red, brown, or any other shade that would complement your wedding colors.

Another way to add candy to your cake in a cool way is to use melted Jolly Ranchers. When you add these to the sides of a cake, they look like shards of stained glass, creating a unique look for your wedding dessert.

Finally, you might consider using Twizzlers candy in a fun way by slicing them up into small pieces. This results in lots of tiny pieces of candy that resemble flowers, which you can then arrange any way you’d like on your cake.

Make It Sparkle with Edible Glitter

If you want your entire cake to be edible, but you also want it to sparkle, your best bet is, well, edible glitter! When you top your cake with this décor, you’ll dazzle your guests from the moment they get a glimpse of your wedding cake.

To get a sparkly look on your cake, just mix edible shimmer dust with powdered sugar for a cake that looks and tastes great. Don’t forget the finishing touch before you set your cake out: a stunning table cover like the Black Amelia Overlay—which is shimmery itself!

Add Some Crunch to Your Cake with Nuts

Some people put nuts in the cake batter itself to add extra texture and taste to every bite. But you can also put the nuts on the exterior of the cake so they double as decorations. Just choose the nuts you like the most—or the ones you think would look best on your cake. Then decide where to arrange them.

For example, you can add chopped pecans or sliced almonds along the edge of every tier, or you can simply sprinkle them all over the top tier. Another option is to stick chopped or sliced nuts to the sides of the cake. Either way, your cake will look great set on top of an elegant table cover, such as the Chocolate Oxford Table Linen.

Beautify the Cake with Edible Lace

One of the classiest cake decorating ideas involves putting edible lace around your wedding cake. This is an easy, quick way to get an intricate design without spending hours using cake decorating tools.

Whether you opt for pale pink edible lace around every tier of the cake, or want some subtle white lace on the bottom tier only, you can complement your elegant cake with a pretty table covering, such as the Rose Gold Marilyn Table Linen.

Wrap It with Ribbon

A great way to match your dessert to the colors in your wedding is to wrap ribbon around your cake. If you have ribbon around your wedding dress, you can pick a matching ribbon for your cake. Or you might opt to ensure the ribbon matches the color of the bridesmaid dresses.

No matter which color ribbon you choose, make sure it never makes contact with the actual cake. You can do this by wrapping a strip of parchment paper around each tier before you add the ribbon. This way, the ribbon won’t get stained from the oils of the frosting.

Then choose a table linen that matches the ribbon on your cake. For example, the Fuchsia Cabana Table Linen would look beautiful with a wedding cake that has a fuchsia ribbon.

Top It with Edible Decorations

One of the easiest cake decorating ideas is to add edible décor to your cake. This way, you get to dress up your cake the way you want, even if you’re not exactly an artist or a professional cake decorator!

The most popular choice for wedding cakes is to add an edible topper that depicts the bride and groom. You can just buy the topper that looks most like you and your significant other, and place it on the top tier of the cake.

Another option is edible decorating paper, which you can cut into any shape you’d like, such as a heart, star, or flower. You can then stick the shape onto the side or top of the cake. You can also buy readymade edible shapes, such as flowers, if you don’t want to design them yourself. Then choose an elegant table cover for the cake table, such as Charcoal Waterview Table Linen.

If you’re not sure which of these cake decorating ideas would best suit your big day, consider taking a look at numerous pictures of wedding cakes until you find one that catches your eye. Then take note of what kind of decorations adorn the cake. You can add the finishing touches to your special day by ensuring the cake table—not just the cake—looks gorgeous with the right linens. Feel free to browse our table linens today to find the perfect way to complement your wedding cake!