Five Unique Flower Alternatives for Your Wedding Cake

Flowers have long been a symbol of beauty, love, and new beginnings, making them a quintessential element of weddings. When it comes to wedding cakes, incorporating flowers can transform a simple confection into a breathtaking centerpiece. Indeed, there is no design more classic for a wedding cake than one that showcases flowers arranged on a white cake.

While incorporating fresh flowers into your wedding cake design will always be a timeless look, we love coming up with other unique and creative methods of adding the look of flowers without using fresh flowers themselves. This allows you to have all the beauty that flowers add, but with a unique (and fully edible) twist! Let's explore some of our favorite fresh flower alternatives for wedding cakes.

Sugar Flowers

We love crafting sugar flowers and incorporating them into wedding cake designs because they add such gorgeous detail. Sugar flowers can be sculpted to look like just about any flower, and they can be painted to add color if you would like. These raised flowers look the most like fresh flowers but are completely edible, so you do not have to worry about removing them as the cake is cut and served. Adding custom sugar flowers to your wedding cake guarantees a stunning and memorable design that stands out among more traditional cakes.

Buttercream Flowers

Buttercream flowers have become more and more popular over the past several years, and they continue to be a major design trend that we cannot get enough of! Buttercream frosting can be piped to mimic just about any flower, and the frosting can be dyed to exactly match your wedding colors. This makes buttercream flowers the perfect alternative that can tie into not only the fresh flowers in your bouquet, but also the rest of the wedding design as a whole. This is a great option to add some fun colors and textures to your wedding cake!

Watercolor Flowers

Watercolor flowers are created by brushing edible paint directly onto the base layer of frosting on the cake. Similar to buttercream flowers, watercolor flowers can be painted in any color to look like just about any kind of flower, making them a fun and versatile option. We love combining watercolor flowers with fresh flowers or sugar flowers to create a really amazing look with lots of texture and dimension. Watercolor flowers tend to be more flat against the cake because of the way they are painted, so this is a perfect way to add multiple layers of design.

Delicate Piped Flowers

Piped flowers are similar to buttercream flowers in that they are piped and textured into the frosting, but they are typically smaller and less raised off of the cake. Piped flowers are detailed and are created using smaller piping tips than buttercream flowers, and they add gorgeous imagery to the cake. If you like the look of buttercream flowers but are looking for a more delicate alternative, piped flowers are the perfect way to go!

Pressed Flowers

If you love the look of fresh flowers and do not want a sugar or frosting substitute, using pressed flowers is the perfect alternative. Edible flowers are pressed to preserve them, and then they are gently adhered to the cake frosting to create a unique field or bouquet of flowers. This design is perfect for spring or summer weddings where you want flowers to shine as the design focus but don't want to use traditional fresh flowers. Pressed flowers also do not wilt in the heat, so the design stays looking fresh and beautiful for a long time.

Incorporating flowers into your wedding cake design adds a layer of beauty and sophistication that ties your cake into the overall theme of your wedding. Whether you choose sugar, frosting, or pressed flowers, these flower alternatives can transform your cake into a stunning centerpiece that leaves a lasting impression on your guests.