Question – Does it have to be fruit?

Answer – Not if you don’t want it to be.

The choice is endless, you can have chocolate, carrot, lemon drizzle, walnut, vanilla sponge, cherry, light fruit, rich fruit; you can please yourself,  (it’s your wedding) or keep granny happy.

You can have one tier, three tiers, a tower of tiers, fairy cakes, small individual cakes, profiteroles, meringues, cheesecake, or even a cake made of cheese rounds.

You can cover it in Royal icing, roll-out icing, buttercream, fresh cream, melted chocolate or chocolate ganache; that’s melted chocolate and cream mixed together.

You can decorate it with fresh flowers, sugar flowers, ribbon, piping, cake toppers, butterflies and diamonds, or leave it plain and simple.

You can call it dessert and eat it all on the day, send out pieces to absent friends, or wrap the top tier and save it for the christening.

No wonder we all go a bit gaga when this particular decision has to be made, and that’s why it often gets left till last! But like all good wedding suppliers, if you want the best, book early.

First of all, find a good cake decorator, ask other wedding professionals if they could recommend one.

Have a look on the web for a cake decorator near to the venue rather than where you live, the cake has to be transported there and they don’t always travel too well.

Ask for tasters, any decorator will oblige. They can also help with the size of cake, or numbers of small cakes needed for the all the guests to have some. Most decorators make sugar flowers, figures and cake toppers, and will be happy to show you examples of past work.

Give your decorator time to do the work. Book the cake at least two months in advance, and make sure she has all the details for any decoration she has to make. Sugar flowers are made petal by petal and can’t be left until the last minute.

You will need something to present your wedding cake on. Most venues have a silver plinth available, if not, your decorator may have cake stands to hire. Your venue should also have a cake knife, ask before your wedding day, if not, try the decorator again but in either case don’t leave this until your wedding day to find out.

And finally, don’t forget the photographer. He will be on standby to take pictures of you cutting the cake, and might appreciate a slice too!