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Key Takeaways
To choose the right cake size, plan for about 75-85% of guests to enjoy a slice.
Calculate your cake’s servings by considering both your guest count and additional desserts you might serve.
Consider your venue’s size and your cake’s style to ensure it complements the setting and decoration.
It’s one of the most well-known wedding traditions: the cake. And if you and your soon-to-be spouse plan to partake in the custom, serving slices of the confection to all of your loved ones at your reception, you may spend time considering your preferred flavors, decorations, and shape. Maybe you envision a spring-themed treat with fruit and ornate piping, or perhaps you’re dreaming of a heart-shaped, two-tier confection with black bows. Yet before you finalize your order with your baker, there’s another key aspect to consider: the size of your wedding cake.
Unlike your food service, not everyone will decide to enjoy a plate of cake at your reception. As a result, you may stress about determining the ideal number of slices. While you don’t want to come up short with the amount of dessert you offer to your guests, you also don’t want multiple tiers of the rich treat to go to waste. Luckily, there’s an expert-backed way to estimate the perfect number of pieces needed for your celebration. Regardless of whether you plan to cut into a multi-tier round cake or want just a simple geometric confection, below, we break down how to figure out the best cake size for your nuptials.
Read on for a complete guide to wedding cake sizes so that you can ensure you have enough dessert for all your guests.
How to Determine Wedding Cake Sizes
“Start by looking at the number of guests you are inviting,” says Dominique Pickering, the owner of Poppy Pickering Cake Design. “With regards to the number of portions, not everyone will wish for a piece of cake. Therefore, you do not need to cater to every guest. However, some guests may wish for seconds or wish to taste each flavor.” Expect 75 to 85 percent of your guests to enjoy a piece of cake. However, even though that’s the amount you can anticipate serving on the day of your nuptials, consider whether you want to have leftover slices, as well as how large you envision the pieces being.
Typically, a standard wedding-cake serving is a one-inch by two-inch slice. However, some couples opt for a “party-size” piece of one-and-half-inches by two-inches. Make sure to discuss your preferences with your baker ahead of your nuptials to ensure you select the correct cake size.
A Breakdown of Wedding Cake Sizes
Consider your cake from top to bottom. Start by totaling the number of pieces a six-inch top tier will give you. Then, do the same with the next tier. By working your way from the smallest to the largest tier, you’ll ensure you have enough of the dessert for everyone who wants a slice. For example, if you have 100 guests, you’ll need approximately 75 slices of cake. In such a case, a three-tier round cake with a 10-inch tier as the base, an eight-inch tier as the middle, and a six-inch tier on the top would work perfectly.
Design by Mehroz Kapadia
Round Wedding Cake Sizing
- Round six-inch cake: 12 servings
- Round eight-inch cake: 24 servings
- Round 10-inch cake: 38 servings
- Round 12-inch cake: 56 servings
- Round 14-inch cake: 78 servings
- Round 16-inch cake: 100 servings
Design by Mehroz Kapadia
Square Wedding Cake Sizing
- Square six-inch cake: 18 servings
- Square eight-inch cake: 32 servings
- Square 10-inch cake: 50 servings
- Square 12-inch cake: 72 servings
- Square 14-inch cake: 98 servings
- Square 16-inch cake: 128 servings
What to Consider When Selecting Your Wedding Cake
Even if you think you know the correct size cake to order for your big day, there are a few other factors you’ll want to consider. Here, we break them down.
Additional Desserts
Planning on serving other treats at your reception? You’ll want to take those into consideration when selecting the size of your wedding cake, as they may decrease the number of slices you need. Experts recommend offering enough dessert for guests to enjoy one and a half items.
Saving the Top Tier
Prior to your wedding, you and your partner are likely not thinking about you’ll spend your first anniversary as a married duo. However, taking into account your plan for this celebration is important when it comes to your wedding cake size. Many couples opt to preserve the top tier of their confection to enjoy on this occasion. If you’d like to do the same, make sure not to include it when doing your calculations.
Venue Size
Consider the landscape of your venue when selecting your cake size. “For example, if the room is large with high ceilings, then a small-sized wedding cake might look a little lost and out of place,” says Pickering. “Fake ‘dummy’ tiers can be combined with real tiers to add height and grandeur.”
Decorations and Aesthetic
Some cake styles require a larger size in order to work. For example, if you find yourself gravitating toward a confection with tons of ornate piping, you may want to consider a confection with multiple tiers. Pickering offers another scenario: “If the couple only requires a small-sized cake, then it might look out of proportion with lots of sugar decoration.”
Service Style
Your service style may also play a role in the cake size you select. For example, if you’re planning to have a plated slice given to each guest right after their meal, you’ll want to be sure you have enough cake to deliver that same slice to everyone. However, if you’re planning to cut the cake just before or in the middle of a dance party, chances are, not everybody on the guest list will head over to the cake table to grab a bite.
