The Dreamiest Floral Wedding Cakes for Your Springtime Celebration
Floral wedding cakes by Philly-area bakers / Photography by Jillian Guyette / Florals by We Are Wildflowers / Styling by Kelsi Windmiller / Shot on location at Power Plant Productions
Spring is here, which means it’s time for a fresh crop of wedding ideas that take advantage of the season’s bounty, like flowers on everything — from your gown to your cake. These floral wedding cakes from Philadelphia-area bakers are bedecked with fresh, dried and sugar flowers, and they’re anything but garden-variety. Need more ideas? Head to our Local Wedding Guides for inspiration.
Set Your Foundation
Two-tiered fondant-covered pistachio cake filled with cherry buttercream, dark chocolate, cherry jam and bourbon cherries from Nutmeg Cake Design
A base of geometric fondant tilework adorned with decorative cascading sugar ranunculus brings visual interest — and the florals can be kept as mementos.
Layer on the Petals
Four-tiered lemon cream cake layered with lemon curd and blueberry lavender buttercream and covered in a thin layer of terra-cotta-colored white chocolate ganache from Clara’s Groovy Deliciousness
Serve a high-drama dessert with a bottom tier clad in 200-plus hand-shaped petals made of textured wafer paper, a second tier covered in sugar flower petals, and a third tier accented with sugar leaves. On the final tier? A fantasy flower made from the leftovers. Samirah Williams of Clara’s Groovy Deliciousness mixed six different colors over two hours to get this fiery terra-cotta shade.
Mix in Dried Blooms
Three-tiered chocolate cake with a cold-brew soak and coffee buttercream filling, wrapped in gray concrete rough fondant from Butter Sugar Flour
Dried flowers are having a moment. Make the most of them with a blend of dried materials (pressed flowers, bleached baby’s breath and lagurus) and sugar cosmos, peonies, roses, berries and leaves.
Create Fresh-Cut Toppers
Cake slices: Gluten-free almond sponge cake with mango and passion-fruit mousseline and raspberry jam and hand-piped-and-painted florals in Italian meringue buttercream. Single-tier cakes: Vanilla cakes soaked in lavender simple syrup, layered with citrus curd and almond cream and frosted with honey Swiss meringue buttercream tinted periwinkle.
Just-plucked blooms are playful finishing touches for Second Daughter Baking Company’s two periwinkle pastries. Second Daughter has a penchant for colorful frostings that create a dreamy look as well as florals with unique shapes like curly stems. Slices of Aux Petits Delices’ gluten-free treat ensure that those with restrictions get their fill, too.
Pie Not?
If you’re not entirely sold on cake, consider a seasonal pie. The pastries are equally delicious but more low-key and rustic-chic than their frosted counterparts. Fillings and crusts span the gamut, from the lattice-topped blueberry iteration by Bakeshop on 20th shown here to a rich and decadent chocolate raspberry. Serve a few of your favorites on the dessert table, or send guests home with hand pies or turnovers. Cutie pies!
Published as “Love in Bloom” in the winter/spring 2023 issue of Philadelphia Wedding.