Petit Gâteaux

When you envision your perfect wedding reception, you see a series of wow moments that will have your guests gushing and hashtagging throughout the celebration. You can bet your buttercream that a creative dessert moment is a golden opportunity to impress partygoers, and petite, individual wedding cakes will do just that. 

“It’s a great opportunity for a couple to have individual servings of something sweet that’s special to them,” said Ryan Haydel, co-owner and third generation baker at Haydel’s Bakery, who views the unexpected addition as a way to up the dessert experience. 

“The sky is the limit of what can be done to make it unique and creative,” said Haydel, noting ideas like three-tier petit four cakes. “Individual cakes require similar attention as large wedding cakes, so it definitely presents an upscale experience.”

It’s also a way to customize the dessert concept further by catering to individual dietary requirements of guests. 

“Couples could send menus with R.S.V.P. cards with (flavor) options to choose in advance or dietary options for each,” said Haydel, acknowledging that bespoke requests might be easier with a smaller number of guests. 

Cheryl Scripter, owner of Bittersweet Confections, sees mini wedding cakes as an opportunity to create a dramatic moment. 

“I think that a presentation with all the cakes served at the same time — putting them on little silver platters with a lid on each and delivered to the table — is super exciting for guests,” said Scripter. “Not only is there this amazing dessert just for you, but the little cakes show that the couple went out of their way to make the guests feel special.” 

She also sees the potential for a couple to be artistic with design choices, playing up the color story of the event. “Some people are very much about coordinating and matching elements,” said Scripter. “But if you are doing a buttercream cake, it could be a fun idea to do different designs for each. Sort of like bridesmaids all wearing a different shade of the same dress.” 

The idea of individual cakes doesn’t mean you have to forego the tradition of the centerpiece cake, reminds Haley Kennel, catering sales manager at the Windsor Court Hotel.

“It’s fun to do the new and different, but there are still ways to have those traditional moments,” said Kennel, who recently helped with an intimate wedding where the couple had a smaller scale wedding cake that featured a cake topper and bottom for the formal cutting. 

“Every single guest there was served an exact replica of the big cake topper. It was beautiful and it was a wow factor that set the night off.” 

Keeping in mind safety issues and minimizing contact between servers and guests, for those comfortable she also suggests providing send-off slices for a sweet finish to the evening. 

“Having go boxes with individual slices from the larger cake available for those wanting to take them is also an option to consider. The guests will feel at ease and be appreciative for feeling taken care of while still having choices.”  b

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