This is a question that I get asked at every consultation and what better way to explain then with a blog post!
Budget savvy couples are always looking for ways to save and the wedding cake is no exception. There are many options to cutting cost, unfortunately, styrofoam is not always one of them. To simplify things, we can break down the cost of a $525, 110 serving wedding cake into 2 parts:
$157, or 30% of the cost:
Goes to materials (your basic eggs, milk, butter), time that goes into whipping those ingredients and turning it into a 2, 3, 4 and 5 tier white/ivory tower of cake goodness. At this time, if you substituted styrofoam for cake your cost would be $50 for the styrofoam vs. $157 for the cake.
$368, or 70% of the cost:
Goes into decorating the cake, turning that plain tower into a breathtaking spectacular creation. At this time if you substituted styrofoam for real cake you would be saving $0. Let’s explore why:
The wedding cake requires the same amount of icing
The wedding cake requires the same amount of time to decorate
The wedding cake requires the same amount of skilled talent required to execute the design
Total cost is $418 all styrofoam vs. $525 for an all real cake, savings of $117. Some couples opt to go this route as they do not plan to serve the cake at all. If you’re the couple looking to serve the cake, then you’ll need 110 servings of slab cake (undecorated cake that goes to the kitchen to be cut and served) to feed the guests.
$165, @$1.5/serving
Now the total cost is $583 for the fake cake and slabs vs. $525 for a cake to feed the same amount of guests.
If you’ve followed this example to the end, thanks for sticking in there! I hope this example helps to debunk the mysterious styrofoam myth!
