A collection of cakes...

My aunt makes wedding cakes.  I've watched her work at her kitchen table on cakes, trim, latticework, roses and all that jazz since I was little.  It was a no-brainer to ask her to make our cake for our wedding day, and happily, she has agreed to do it. 

The challenge came in when deciding how the cake-making would work, logistically.  She lives about a five hour drive from the wedding site, which means she'll probably need to bake and freeze the layers ahead of time.  Then she'll need some time in Austin to put the cake together and decorate it.  When staying at a hotel, this proves to be a bit of a challenge.

I did decide one thing that should make life a lot easier - instead of having a stacked/tiered wedding cake, we are going to have several stand-alone layer cakes.  Think something like this:

Photos by Pobke Photography / Cakes by Sugar and Spice Cakes / Event by White Room Events

Or this:

Image via (and cakes by) Sweetapolita

Or this:

Image via Wedding Chicks / Photos by Imaginale Design / 
Cakes by friends and AJ's Fine Foods / Event by Rust and Lace

Maybe we'll have one smaller stacked cake as the one we'll ceremonially cut, like in the images above?  Not sure yet, but I definitely like the idea of different cakes on different platters of varying heights.

I'm also not a fondant girl - give me soft frosting all the way!  And I'm loving the simple but pretty ruffled/swirled look, maybe with some flowers on top for prettiness - here is some more tasty eye candy for you:

Image via Style Me Pretty / Photo by Michael + Anna Costa 

Image via Emmaline Bride / Cake by Call Me Cupcake

Image via design*sponge / Cake stand from Herriott Grace

Image via (and cake by) Objetivo: Cupcake Perfecto

I can just see some beautifully textured cakes perched on pretty platters at our reception.   I can't wait to talk with my aunt to finalize the plan and make sure she has everything she needs to make this work on the day of.  We have to talk flavors, colors, and sizes.  I can almost taste them already!

Did you have a cake at your wedding, or many cakes, or no cake at all?  If you did, how did you decide what your cake would look like?