A wedding cake isn’t just something to serve after dinner — it’s a prime moment for a fun photo-op, as well as an extension of your décor. Indeed, for 2024 and 2025, couples aren’t shying away from turning their wedding cake into total conversation pieces.

Best wedding dessert ideas? We’ve got a few. The ceremonious confection has, after all, been a tradition for millennia: its roots trace back to ancient Rome, where grooms would break a barley cake over their bride’s head to officialise their union.

Thousands of years later, Queen Victoria served a royal icing cake to her bridal party for her marriage to Prince Albert — the earliest precedent of the all-white style that’s still commonplace today — whereas her son, Prince Leopold, is often credited with being the first person to serve a completely edible tiered cake on his wedding day in 1882. Fast forward to the present day, and wedding cakes have become a highly personal matter of preference — and sometimes even an art form. Take Umber Ahmad’s brutalist-inspired cake, or PJ Magerko-Liquorice and Jordan Millington-Liquorice’s ten-foot wedding cake that required sabres to cut. At the culmination of their three-day St. Tropez extravaganza, Sarah Staudinger and Ari Emanuel cut an enormous Tarte Tropézienne, while Babba Canales served a Swedish “princess cake” with a miniature 3-D print of the couple on top.

Extra-Grand Cakes

The popular return to traditional, multi-tiered wedding creations could have something to do with all the events that were put on hold throughout the last three years. Now that big weddings are back in full swing, the desserts have to be equally as impactful — after all, what’s a party without cake? Extra-tall cakes (think six and seven tiers or more) will tower above dessert tables, creating a focal point at your reception venue and giving you the ultimate cake-cutting photo opportunity. Expect to see these massive desserts decorated with glamorous embellishments, like sugar flowers, custom crests, and fancy piping details.

Kate Nielen Photography

Cakes with Separated Tiers

For 2024, wedding cake designs won’t just focus on the flavour of the sponge or the colour of the frosting — there will be a bigger emphasis on other types of decorative (and unexpected) details that can be included as well. Things like hoops, clear acrylic separators and even hidden stands that give the illusion of levitation are a fun way to make the treat stand out. Using a non-traditional stand, separating the tiers of the design or adding other 3D props will give your cake a contemporary, architectural look.

Sharon Elizabeth

Waterfall Cakes

You’ve seen wedding cakes decorated with cascading flowers, but this new wedding trend takes the concept to an entirely new level. “Fresh blooms on a cake are lovely, but we are seeing more designs focusing on intricate sugar and/or fondant florals and designs,” says Nancy Park, founder of So Happi Together. Details like spun sugar threads, structural swirls and elaborate handmade accents, such as sugar flowers or butterflies, will envelop wedding cakes in a waterfall-like effect.

Purple Tree Photography

Lambeth Cakes

We can’t get enough of this adorable wedding trend — and you might have even already spotted it popping up on your social media feeds. The Lambeth cake, which dates back to the early 20th century is a traditional British type of dessert decorated with elaborate piping, string work, icing rosettes and other ornate flourishes. The cakes — usually in a pastel colour palette of pink, purple, yellow, green, or blue — are topped off with bright red cherries that complete their vintage-inspired look.

Lila Cake Shop

Pressed Flower Cakes

The trend of using dried and pressed flowers in your wedding décor is also making its way over to wedding cakes. Large florals will always have a place on a cake, but vines and small-pressed florals are making a huge statement right now. Perfect for a garden wedding theme or relaxed outdoor reception, this trend is sweet and simple if you prefer cakes that don’t look too overdone. Your wedding baker and wedding florist can help you choose food-safe flowers, which is important to keep in mind when adding any type of plant or natural element to your creation.

Perry Vaile

Wedding Dress-Inspired Cakes

If classic wedding cakes are a better fit for your style, there’s a trend for that, too. “For couples who prefer something more traditional, we will see a lot of cakes with details that replicate bridal gown details,” says event and wedding specialist Kathy Sanders. This trend is less about making the cake look like an actual wedding dress or tuxedo but rather incorporating decorative embellishments that mimic your attire for a hyper-personal design. Lace fondant patterns, embroidery-inspired cake piping, bow accents and ruffled buttercream resembling a tulle skirt are just a few examples.

Tess Follett