$150 to rent a fake cake? Maybe I'm naive, but that seems way too expensive. How much does a normal cake cost?

* The average cost of a wedding cake is $543, according to The Bridal Association of America.
* For wedding cakes, most bakeries and pastry chefs charge by the slice. A low-end option would be a smaller tiered cake in chocolate or vanilla paired with a sheet cake for cutting for around $1.50 a slice.
* A mid-range two- or three-tiered cake in a standard flavor such as chocolate, vanilla, carrot cake or lemon poppy seed with buttercream icing and minimal fondant decorations can run $5 or $6 a slice.
* A high-end multi-tiered gourmet cake with flavored fillings, fondant icing and elaborate fondant, gum paste and sugar decorations can run $10 or more per slice.

from :[www.costhelper.com]

My wedding cake was included in the hotel package. Made life easier.

You don't even have to have a cake!

I (and several others) helped a friend make about 350 large cupcakes for her wedding this summer. There were several different flavors of cake and different colors of frosting, with cute sprinkles. The bride rented inexpensive tiered wire holders for table display, which the catering staff kept filled.

I don't remember exactly how much it cost, but literally pennies per cupcake. And we had fun doing it, the 150 guests loved them, got to take some home and we froze the rest for the first anniversary party!

The one and only wedding I've ever been too did this. I was confused at first until someone explained this concept. If a 'rental' is $150, doesn't seem like enough of a savings to lose the cake cutting moment.

Or make your own cake! Then it's delicious and special and relatives will talk about how you're cheap behind your back. No one will ever ask to borrow money from you! Awkward money-deals with relatives averted forever!

Sure, it won't be pretty and professional, but maybe it won't taste like crap. Fondant, seriously? Horrible! Also I won't feel bad slicing into it with a small chainsaw.

Cake is easy. Its the icing that hard, its also the icing your paying for. I do them all the time. For the most part I just charge $100 for most. Until they ask for more and more and more.

Wow ... that IS pricey. I don't think my wedding cake was more than $200 or $250. (It wasn't uber-fancy, but I thought it was very pretty, AND we actually got to eat it!)

My wedding was all about the love, baby. DIY style on the cheap.

My gadgets are about vanity.

I think the nicely shaped wedding cakes are really pretty. I don't know how worthwhile they are though. Do people really remember the cake?

I didn't have cake on my wedding day. Shoot... I don't even think I had any dessert on my wedding day. Of course, the only people there on my wedding day were me, my fiance turned husband, the minister, and the photographer. Later that night we hung out with the bartender at the hotel bar and she gave us a couple of free glasses of wine. Wine is better than cake.

For our wedding, we ordered 90 very nicely decorated and very delicious cupcakes that came on a sterling silver stand, with a 6" cake at the top for the cutting. The best part was serving the cake took absolutely no effort. It worked out very nicely, and for less than $250.

I threw a wedding for my best man... at my house. Catering from a deli included 6 foot subs, mac & cheese and sausage and peppers. The wedding cakes were two sheet cakes from Costco. Fun was had by all... I gave the best that I could afford.

This is pretty common to have a fancy looking cake, or a fancy cake for the bride and groom to keep, and then serving sheet cake, which usually tastes better. Wedding cake is nasty anyway... that frosting is gross.

But, yeah a lot of people are doing alternatives to wedding cake. My sister did ice cream sundaes and then more traditional cake, it was a big hit, the staff brought all of the stuff out to the tables, and everybody got a scoop of ice cream and could add their own toppings. It was great.

@MichaelBrazell

That's why I avoided fondant and did buttercream. Less flexible for designs, but edible.

@devsgurf: Also, much less expensive!

Is this like... you don't actually buy beer, you only rent it?

The local grocer did a sheet cake in the shape of two hearts together, carrot cake with cream cheese icing (I know go the the same store and pick up a brick if I'm hungry for my wedding cake!). My wife tried to drag me into all the details. It was my first, and her second, and she thought the wedding should have been about me (I disagreed...).

It was an outside wedding on a beach, with the reception at a hotel on the beach. I originally wanted hamburgers, bratwurst and weiners (It was a beach party theme), but then it was the same price just to have a nice seafood feast, so we went with that.

My wedding cake ([pablo.memory-of.com]) was a fake. I don't know exactly how they did it, but they had delicious, undecorated (just had icing) cakes in the kitchen waiting to be cut up for the guests.

Ya know the cake is days or weeks old and pretty much sux?

(yes, weeks old because often the cake has been stored in a freeze and then thawed hours before being served)

How about having a show cake for the bride and groom to play with.... and serving slices from a decent, FRESH and reasonable priced sheet cake cut in the back room? The guests will never know they got a slice of substitute cake... actually they might know because the cake would be edible.

@Bryan Price:

I like your carrot cake. At least it is a cake that I like and I know carrot cake will stay fresh for a day or so with the cream cheese frosting (YUM), thus allowing advanced prep.

So...they don't get to have their cake and eat it too.

*ducks tomatoes for the bad joke* Yes, I went for the easy line.

@Ciao_Bambina: I like the cupcake idea. I'm totally going to steal it for my fake wedding.

For my wedding, we went uber-cheap.
My mum let us use her screened-in porch, and we had tons of fun decorating it with Autumn garlands of lights and leaves. She sewed the runner for the altar (my step-dad built that!), and also hand-made my dress.
The cake was wonderful too, it looked ordinary until it was cut, then you could see the inside: somehow, it was checkerboard! All in all, I think we spent about 500 bucks on the whole thing, and it was perfect. This whole massive wedding trend is simply stupid and wasteful.

@Mr. B: You still get the cutting moment. There's one section that's cut out to allow for a real piece of cake.

@Vastarien202: The secret is in the pan: [www.joyofbaking.com]

We had a Carvel ice cream cake for our wedding. Of course, since it was a special occasion, we sprang for the extra crunchies.

@DaWezl:
I'm imagining the happy couple cutting into a "Fudgie the Whale" cake....

For my daughters wedding I'm proposing that we replace the cake with a tastefully arranged display of donuts. :)

@DaWezl: Heck yes, I LOVE Carvel. I've been trying to convince my fiance for about two years that its a good idea to get a Carvel cake for our wedding...unfortunately she doesn't agree.

at my wedding we had a smaller display cake and a big sheetcake in the back. it worked out well since i think total it was like, 150.

The cake is the biggest waste of money in a wedding. Most of the time people dont eat it, and its only used for a prop for the first bite. You can buy Duncan Hines in the grocery store for like $1.50 and make it yourself. Thats what Ill have at my wedding

We had the cake the hall provided, which was very nice, but we also had Krispy Kreme deliver fresh Donuts at the end for all to take home! mmmmmmmm

...modern trends considered... don't just rent the cake... rent the spouse too! Thousands spent while courting... Tens of thousands of dollars spent on a wedding... Hundreds of thousands spent on the matrimonial home... Thousands spent on counseling... ALL of it given to the lawyers during the divorce.

Gosh, rent the spouse by the hour, day or week and you will still come out ahead of the game.

The trick with getting stuff for a wedding is not to mention it is for a wedding.

As soon as you mention something is for a wedding, you have to use the mysterious wedding price list which is much more than the standard one.

I'm suddenly really hungry for cake!

We hired a caterer (the mom of one of my hubby's friends) to do our cake. We wanted something simple that didn't need to come from a bakery.

She did an awesome job, and even made a smaller gluten free cake for my mom who has Celiac Disease for free!

@Ciao_Bambina:
Cupcake cakes are not very attractive, though. Check this out:
[cakewrecks.blogspot.com]

I think everyone who is commenting about what they did at their wedding is missing the point. The Consumerist is offering a tip for your *next* wedding.

Me, I am not planning on having another wedding, so I guess I'll have to dream about cake rentals. Sigh.

@Meretrice: You could always rent a birthday cake. Big, showy, extravagant celebrations shouldn't be restricted to just weddings.

@Meretrice:

So when I eventually am able to marry my boyfriend I should keep this in mind eh?

/think the business will still be around in 25-50 years?

Seems like a good idea...I mean, we all just 'rent' food anyway. It's not like it sticks around for an extended period of time. And if it decides to stay longer than intended, you 'rent' a cleaning service and it all comes out in the end.

unfortunately, my fiancee wouldn't go for the Krispy Kreme donut cake... Our cake is included in the reception package, which was one of the reasons for choosing that particular restaurant.

I have an idea, how about renting your wife! Oops, sounds a lot like prostitution--still something to consider.

When I had my wedding, we made rings of aluminum foil, and said our vows at city hall. Our friends bought us pizza at our house for a nice, intimate reception.

No not really, but it seems that all these discussions about weddings on the internet seems to be who can out-cheap who.

@algal924: Sounds like if you want to do cupcakes, you should look here for your baker, especially if you're in NYC

[cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com]

Yipe... $150....

Forget that, my fiance and I are going with a small pretty cake from a bakery in Chinatown and a sheet cake for additional servings. $200

@algal924: Those are only unattractive because whoever decorated them did such a horrible job.

I've seen cupcake cakes done extremely well. :)

Remember, weddings are all about appearances, not about substance!

We had a great cake at our wedding, a beautiful three-tiered number that was reasonably priced and all-butter deliciousness. Since that "small" cake wouldn't feed everyone we ordered a separate "backup cake" which was just a sheet cake and it was far less expensive.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again, if you're keeping up with the Joneses at your own wedding, for fear that someone will judge you, those people shouldn't be invited. A friend of mine asked me what was the cake like at the last wedding you were at? I mean really what was ANYTHING like at the last wedding you were at? Chances are, none of you remember anything but WHAT YOU WERE DRINKING that night. So spend your money throwing a great party, that's all people care about. NOBODY CARES HOW MANY RIBBONS YOU CAN THREAD INTO YOUR PROGRAMS, FAVORS, etc. Not a one. Top shelf open bar? Everyone remembers that.

My wife and I actually used this company for my wedding last year. The thing that I particularly liked, aside from the modest cost, was that the styrofoam structure of the cake allowed for a lot more interesting design options that ended up far more structurally sound than a traditional cake. On the day of the wedding, it was just a matter of picking up the cake, throwing it in the back of the car, and going.

Our "real cake" slot (there's a notch to place real cake so you can cut into it) was filled with custard long-johns, too.

I'll throw my recommendation toward Kimberly Aya and FunCakes-- my wife and I are both designers, and wanted something less conventional and a bit more difficult-- Kimberly was both accomodating and enthusiastic toward making something fun and unique when we started throwing out ideas.

I had a photo, but apparently my Gallery2 install is on the fritz. [www.cakerental.com] - It's the "Square Choco" on the bottom of page 1.

@Meretrice:
Ha! - I hadn't noticed the "next" wedding cake in the title. Nice observation!