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70 Creative Wedding Cake Ideas

Author: Hollie Bond

NB: To help you browse our best suggestions we have included some third party links. Some purchases made through these links may earn us a commission to help keep our blogs and offers current and up to date. Thanks for your support!


The wedding cake is a key part of your big day. Not only do guests look forward to tasting your chosen confection, but it also works as a piece of stunning decor to be displayed throughout the day and can be used for the classic cutting of the cake picture. If you’re on a budget, you can even have the cake served instead of a dessert course.

When it comes to choosing your wedding cake you need to think beyond whether it simply tastes good and think about how many people it needs to serve, which design will work well with your wedding theme and colour scheme and how best to display it on your wedding day.

How To Choose Your Wedding Cake

Now you know what you’re looking for and have all the information about size and budget to share with your cake maker it’s time to think about the design. To help you decide we’ve rounded the top 70 creative wedding cake ideas that will wow your guests and become a real show-stopping part of your wedding day decor.

1. Classic Drip Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

For a simple, yet striking cake design you can’t go wrong with a beautiful frosted drip cake. Ask your florist to set aside some flowers that match your bouquet and scatter them across the tiers of your cake to create a seamless wedding day look.

Credit: Lily Vanilli

2. Blossom Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

This blossom wedding cake will look divine at a spring wedding day. The design might be simple, but the effect is out of this world.

Credit: Rosalind Miller

3. Naked Flower Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

A naked cake? The term might sound a bit funny but it just means that the cake isn’t covered in classic fondant or royal icing and the sponge is visible. Naked cakes work really well at rustic barn weddings and can be covered in beautiful blooms.

Credit: Fondant Fox

4. Cheese Wedding Cake Tower

Wedding Cake Ideas

If you’re not a fan of the sweet stuff and would rather serve up something savoury then a tower of cheeses might be the perfect wedding cake for you. Pretty up the cheese with flowers and decorations between each layer.

Credit: The Fine Cheese Co

5. Ombre Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Have fun with your main wedding colour with a modern and stylish ombre wedding cake. Keep it simple with one or two standout blooms on the top layer for maximum effect.

Credit: Julie Michaelsen Photography and Little Bear Cakery

6. Gold Leaf Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Go for gold with an entire layer of your wedding cake covered in edible gold leaf. This metallic design works really well at a glamorous affair.

Credit: Katy Lunsford Photography

7. Meringue Kisses Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Add pops of bright colour to your big day with a cool meringue kisses adorned wedding cake. This decoration looks as good as it tastes too.

Credit: Meringue Girls

8. Real Petals Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Instead of having petals made out of sugar paste you could opt for the real thing! Choose edible flowers and then cover your entire cake in the brightly coloured petals. This ombre effect is particularly stunning.

Credit: Bees Bakery

9. Autumn Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Give a nod to the season you’re getting married in with this cute autumnal chocolate cake. The decorations are made out of biscuit too, a bonus sweet surprise for your guests.

Credit: Biscuiteers

10. Sequin And Ruffle Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Play around with textures when it comes to your wedding cakes for a sophisticated look. Ruffles and sequins are two brilliant textures for tiered wedding cakes or you could ask your cake maker to design something to match the fabric of your wedding dress.

Credit: Abigail Bloom

11. Floral Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

How pretty is this floral cascade wedding cake? Pick out your favourite flowers from your bouquet and table centrepieces and ask your cake maker to recreate them in sugary form.

Credit: Cakes by Robin

12. Foliage Covered Wedding Cakes

Wedding Cake Ideas

Oversized leaves and striking blooms can make a stylish impact on a wedding cake. Who would have thought a few carefully chosen leaves could create such wow-factor?

Credit: Amanda Earl Cakes and Nicola Dixon Photography

13. Macaron Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Add some French flair to your big day confection with some chic macarons. Keep the tiered wedding cake simple and then decorate each layer with these tasty dessert treats in your chosen wedding colours.

Credit: Sugar Bowl Bakes

14. Floral Wreath Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Wedding cake decor can be added to a tiered cake after it has been made, so you could get creative yourself and design a pretty wreath to sit on the side of your cake like this clever design.

Credit: Cake Of The Day

15. Textured Frosting Tiered Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Instantly transform a simple frosted wedding cake by adding some texture. This cake is really easy to achieve, doesn’t cost the earth and will look really stylish on your big day.

Credit: Bitesize Bakehouse

16. Fairytale Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Depict some of your favourite stories or fairytales on your cake with a unique design like this Flower Fairies cake. The sky is the limit when it comes to wedding cakes, as long as you choose a cake maker with the skills to create your dream design.

Credit: The Phresh Prince of Buttercream

17. Flower Cascade Tiered Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

A waterfall of flowers cascading down from the top to bottom tier is a classic wedding cake design for a reason. Choose flowers and colours that work with your wedding theme for extra style points.

Credit: Cake Daydreams

18. Cosmic Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Your wedding day will be out of this world, so why not reflect that feeling in your cake with a cosmic design? Stars, moons and planets lend themselves nicely to a wedding theme and like this design shows, you can keep the look very pared back and chic, but still add an otherworldly look to your cake.

Credit: Melanie Todd Cake Design

19. Novelty Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

This cake is so clever it doesn’t even look edible at first glance! If your wedding day has a really strong theme, you can get creative with a cake that really reflects that. Make sure to ask to see previous examples of your cake maker’s work if you’re going down the novelty route to ensure they look chic enough to grace your wedding table.

Credit: Cakes by Robin

20. Beach Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

At first this looks like a classic flower adorned wedding cake, but it’s actually a subtle and chic look for a beach wedding with the addition of crumbs for sand at the bottom and chocolate shells and coral.

Credit: Lily Vanilli

21. Large Blooms Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Choose large standout blooms to decorate your cake and you won’t need many. This cake is a gorgeous mixture of both sugar paste flowers and a hand painted flower design if you can’t decide between the two.

Credit: Rosalind Miller

22. Semi Naked Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

A semi naked cake is essentially a sponge cake covered in a thin layer of buttercream. It’s meant to look rustic and not too manicured and works really well at an English country garden style wedding. Cover with fresh fruit and flowers for a cheap and chic finish.

Credit: Alison Bond

23. Bright Colours Modern Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Go all out with a bright colour to catch your guests’ eyes as soon as they walk in the room with a colour pop cake like this turquoise and pink confection. Achieve the look with a mixture of decorations including meringue kisses, fruit, chocolate shards and fresh flowers.

Credit: Fondant Fox

24. Boho Petals And Macrame Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Create a relaxed, boho vibe at a festival style wedding by decorating a semi naked cake with fresh flower petals and a simple lace ribbon. If you’re crafty you could even give this macramé cake topper a go.

Credit: Little Bear Cakery and Heline Bekker Photography

25. Tropical Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Having a tropical themed wedding or getting married somewhere exotic? Then you’ll want to reflect the theme in your cake design. Choose bold colours like bright pink and yellow and have fun with some different decor like the dried fruits used on this statement cake.

Credit: Bees Bakery

26. Light Blue Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Love the traditional white cake but want to do something a little different? How about tiers of the softest baby blue instead and having your wedding cake as your something blue for the day? Combine with glimmering silver for a really chic look.

Credit: Abigail Bloom

27. Classic Three Tiered Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Tiers of white fondant are a wedding classic for a reason. This smart look will stand the test of time and looks elegant whatever your venue or theme.

Credit: Fiona’s Taylor Made Cakes

28. Modern Art Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Are you known for your love of modern art and all things design-led? Then turn your wedding cake into a piece of art worthy of a space in a top gallery by opting for a cool hand-painted design like this fabulous faces cake.

Credit: Malarkey Cakes

29. Ruffled Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Pair tiers of classic buttercream with a standout ruffled bottom tier to catch your guests’ eyes. Top with roses for a simple, but chic cake.

Credit: Stewart Barker Photography

30. Eastern Inspired Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

This cake takes its inspiration from the east and would work perfectly at an Asian wedding. Ask your cake maker to match your cake to the fabric of your sari or stationery to keep a streamlined wedding look.

Credit: Little Bear Cakery and Caroline Hancox Photography

31. Navy Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

A bit like your dress, wedding cakes don’t have to be white! In fact you can really make a statement with dark icing like this navy cake. Bright fresh flowers stand out particularly well against a darker backdrop too.

Credit: The Rose Cake Parlour and Kat at Bond Photography

32. Pillow Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Wedding cake tiers don’t have to be just round or square. Have some fun with your cake and choose something sumptuous like this pillow cake that looks good enough to sleep on.

Credit: Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium

33. Uneven Tiers Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

As well as the shape of your cake tiers the depth and size can be altered to give your cake a more modern look. We love this tall cake with only two tiers in dramatically different sizes to create vertical interest.

Credit: Cakes by P and Gail Secker Photography

34. Dried Flowers Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

If you’re worried about fresh flowers wilting on a warm summer’s day, you can decorate your cake with dried flowers and still create an amazing effect. A big bold spray of dried flowers like this looks really striking.

Credit: Birch House Bakery and Matthew Scott Photography

35. Simple Two Tier Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

If you’re working to a tight budget or have a small guest list you don’t have to compromise on cake design. Two tiers can look just as impressive as a huge tower if you go for a simple idea and have it perfectly executed like this.

Credit: Cottonwood Bakery and Sophie May Photo

36. Geode Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

This clever geode cake is like a piece of art and will astound your guests. Keep the rest of the cake simple and let the colourful crystals do the talking.

Credit: Ever After Cakes and Ioana Porav Photography

37. Modern Hand Painted Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Mix and match your wedding colours in modern style with clever hand painted icing. A spray of flowers finishes off the look perfectly.

Credit: Sylvia’s Kitchen and Fitzgerald Photographic

38. Golden Autumn Leaves Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Does anything say autumn like golden leaves cascading down from the sky. If you’re saying “I do” in autumn a simple way to reflect the season is with gold dusted leaves tumbling down the tiers.

Credit: Jill The Cake Maker and Lilybean Photography

39. Mix And Match Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Can’t decide on just one style for your wedding cake? Mix and match all your favourite looks in a tall tiered cake instead!

Credit: Bespoke Bakes and Ami Robertson Photography

40. Pastel Perfection

Wedding Cake Ideas

Ask your cake maker to create an abstract feathered look using your favourite pastel colours across the tiers of your cake for a pared back, but perfect cake.

Credit: Lily’s Bake Box and Honeydew Moments Photography

41. Damask Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Take inspiration for your cake from your interiors with this statement metallic damask design cake. As it’s such a bold print keep the look to just one tier of your cake.

Credit: Emily’s Mixing Bowl and Fitzgerald Photographic

42. Colour Block Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

This cake couldn’t be simpler to make – just three different colours of buttercream across the tiers. it might be easy, but it still looks amazing especially when paired with a modern cake topper.

Credit: Cakey Bits and Honeydew Moments Photography

43. Painted Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

How delicious does this painted cake look? The abstract design would work perfectly at a modern big day or a colourful summer celebration.

Credit: Nutmeg Cake Design and Jessica Cooper Photography

44. Floral Tiers Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Flowers don’t just have to top a cake, you can go bloomtastic with your favourite flowers in between each layer of your cake. This works beautifully with a semi naked cake too.

Credit: Jen’s Cakery and Will Patrick Photography

45. Rainbow Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

If you’re having a rainbow theme on your big day then you can have a lot of fun with a colourful cake. This cake mixes colour and texture perfectly with a pastel take on the rainbow to keep things chic.

Credit: Crumbs and Doilies

46. Croquembouche

Wedding Cake Ideas

Look across the channel for cake inspiration. The French certainly know how to make an impact when it comes to dessert with the classic croquembouche, which can do double duty as pudding and cake.

Credit: Couture Cakes

47. Monogram Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Personalise your cake with your couple monogram for an elegant look. If you’ve got a monogram on your stationery you can ask your cake maker to copy it to make sure everything looks seamless.

Credit: The Frostery and Shane Webber Photography

48. Paint Splatter Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

There’s a real art to making a paint splatter look good, but when it does it looks amazing. The monochrome paint splatter tier on this cake is a really modern look for a wedding cake and you could choose to have all your tiers match or simply opt for a single tier like this design.

Credit: Malarkey Cakes

49. Tiered Geode Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

It’s often what’s in the inside of a cake that really matters, so let your guests glimpse the delicious delights within your wedding cakes with a geode pattern that runs from the top tier all the way to the bottom.

Credit: Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium

50. Black Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

A black wedding cake? Yes black can look as exquisite as white when you add bright colour pop flowers like on this tiered wedding cake.

Credit: Jens Cakery

51. Doughnut Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Can’t decide between a doughnut tower and a wedding cake? Combine the two to elegant effect like this.

Credit: Sprinkles and Creme and Kristie Carrick Photography

52. Ruffle Wedding Cakes

Wedding Cake Ideas

Does your wedding dress have ruffles on? Then you might want to make your dress match by asking your cake maker to create this clever ruffled effect with the icing.

Credit: Cheshire Cakes and Shane Webber Photography

53. Macaron Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Oh la la! How chic is this tier wedding cake? With macarons in Tiffany blue interspersed with pretty roses it’s like the most elegant of waterfalls cascading down your cake.

Credit: Bluebell Kitchen

54. Wreath Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Ask your florist to make a pretty wreath with any leftover flowers and place it on a simple white wedding cake that you can buy for next to nothing from a supermarket. Et voila, a delicious and eye-catching cake.

Credit: The Beautiful Cakery

55. Blossom Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Spring brides take note, this blossom cake is perfect for your big day and will wow your friends and family. And how gorgeous are the matching cookies?

Credit: Rachelle’s

56. Geometric Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

You don’t have to stick to one shape for your wedding cake tiers so have fun with lots of different geometric designs including circles, squares and hexagons like on this metallic beauty.

Credit: Fancie Buns Cakery

57. Marble Effect Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

You can make a cake look incredible with the simplest of ingredients – buttercream and food dye. We love this modern look that is simple yet striking.

Credit: Celestial Cakery and Taken By Sarah

58. Crystals Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Let your cake sparkle as much as your engagement ring with a standout crystal and metallic design in a deep striking purple.

Credit: For The Love of Cake

59. Modern Monochrome

Wedding Cake Ideas

Black and white always looks smart and we love the addition of a personalised topper and big, bold letters on this cake.

Credit: Etoile Bakery

60. Book Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Are you and your partner known as bookworms? Then why not immortalise some of your favourite reads in cake form at your wedding?

Credit: Jens Cakery

61. Wedding Pie Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

If you haven’t got a sweet tooth there are loads of great wedding cake alternatives to consider, including a stack of savoury pies, which looks prettier than it sounds.

Credit: Higginsons of Grange and Shane Webber Photography

62. Cube Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Cube-shaped tiers can look amazing especially when they’re decorated with a gorgeous hand-painted design like this one.

Credit: Kyle John Photography via Martha Stewart Weddings

63. Celestial Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Look to the skies for your wedding cake inspiration and create a space age look with metallic constellations and glittering stars.

Credit: Whipped Orange Photographie

64. Sunflowers Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

This sunny cake would work wonders at a summer celebration.

Credit: Maisie Fantaisie

65. Sugared Petal Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

You can make a plain white cake look instantly incredible with the addition of an artful smattering of sugared petals in your wedding colours.

Credit: Cutter and Squidge

66. Hand Painted Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Know someone who is amazing at art? Ask them to paint a pretty design on your cake using edible food colour for a cake that is completely unique.

Credit: Matthew Bishop Photography

67. Fig Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Figs are a beautiful and tasty wedding cake decoration and look particularly brilliant when paired with edible flowers and herbs.

Credit: Especially Amy

68. Brownie Tower Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

If you prefer brownies or another type of sweet treat to classic sponge or fruit cake then there’s no reason you can’t have a tower of them as your wedding cake and decorate it in lavish style.

Credit: Brownie Heaven

69. Stripy Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

Now this is a striking look for a cake, classic white tiers with an eye-catching stripy design in the centre.

Credit: Fancie Buns Cakery

70. Strawberry Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake Ideas

This is a really unique idea, but one everyone will love at a summer wedding. A tower of chocolate dipped strawberries looks as good as it tastes and can double up as dessert.

Credit: Couture Cakes

HB

Written by

Hollie Bond

Hollie is a lifestyle journalist with over ten years’ experience working in the wedding industry as Lifestyle Editor for You & Your Wedding magazine Also a Regional Editor for Muddy Stilettos, Hollie has written for Square Meal magazine, Family History Monthly, BBC History magazine and Homes & Antiques. In her spare time you can find Hollie in a dance studio practising ballet…

Learn more about Hollie Bond

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