How to Choose a Celebration Cake: A Simple Guide

Ordering a cake for a birthday, wedding or celebration involves more decisions than it first looks like. Here's a rough order to work through them in.

Start with the occasion

A cake for a milestone birthday, a wedding, a christening or a corporate event all call for a different look and feel — and often a different size, since guest numbers vary so widely between them. Knowing the occasion first makes every other decision easier.

Flavour and filling

Classic sponge, chocolate, red velvet and lemon are reliable crowd-pleasers, but don't be afraid to ask what's possible beyond the standard list — most bakers, us included, can talk through less common flavour and filling combinations.

Size and servings

Cake size is usually planned around guest numbers rather than picked first. As a very rough guide, a single 8-inch round tier serves somewhere in the region of 20-24 standard party-sized slices — tiered and sheet cakes scale up from there. It's worth confirming exact serving counts with your baker, since slice size and tier shape both affect the number.

Design and theme

Bring reference photos if you have them, even if it's just for colour or a general style rather than an exact copy. It's much easier for a baker to work from "something like this, but in these colours" than a description alone.

Timing

The more notice you can give, the more options stay open — this matters most for wedding cakes and anything with a bespoke design. If your date is approaching fast, it's still always worth asking.

Have a date and rough idea in mind? Get in touch about your cake and we'll help you work out the details.