Wedding cakes serve more of purpose than simply providing delicious desserts for receptions. They are also an opportunity to display creativity and fun. These culinary canvases can be used to reflect the personalities of couples, as well as provide great photo opportunities and conversation topics.
As wedding cakes grow in importance for weddings, couples will look to break the mold by forgoing tradition and following the latest trends. The wedding experts at The Knot recently shared the trends in cakes they see being big in the coming year. These new ideas prove that being bold and having fun can pay off on wedding days.
The Knot’s 2024 wedding cake trends include:
- Heart-Shaped Cakes – All about whimsical details and over-the-top embellishments, and perfect for maximalist style. Heart-Shaped cakes are usually decorated in pastel colors like pink, purple, yellow, green or blue, and often topped off with bright red cherries that give a really vintage look and feel.
- Garden Patch Cakes – In 2024, fresh flowers will adorn cakes in new ways that evoke a more abstract, organic look by using florals in a way that feels like they sprouted directly out of the cake.
- Ribbons and Bows – Dainty bows are already trending for hair accessories and wedding fashion, and they'll be making their way onto wedding cakes too.
- Wavy Piping – Wavy and ruffled piping brings unique dimension to wedding cakes and creates depth and structure.
- Textural and Tonal Cakes – This new trend includes pleats, lace, stenciled patterns, monochromatic texture and more that can range from simple to highly detailed.
- Extra-Grand Wedding Cakes – Extra-tall cakes (six or seven tiers or more) will tower above dessert tables, creating a focal point at reception venues and providing the ultimate cake cutting photo opportunity. The display can be taken to the next level with lavish embellishments and add-ons.
- Sheet Cakes – These cakes can be decorated just as much as (if not more than) vertical cakes, complete with fresh flowers, intricate piping and other decorative techniques. Because of their horizontal design, sheet cakes won't need as much structural support.
- Unique Cake Flavors – Draw inspiration from experimental avant-garde menus and seasonal flavors. Some unexpected flavors that are gaining popularity for wedding cakes in 2024 include savory options like matcha and pistachio, and citrus-based flavors like yuzu and passion fruit.
“For 2024 wedding cakes, we have these key words for you: BIGGER = better!” said Kelsey Connely, owner, creative director and principal planner and designer at Downey Street Events in San Francisco, California, to The Knot. “Wedding cakes have been making a comeback after taking a backseat in the last few years to dessert displays and other unique types of dessert offerings.”
