Fake wedding cake trend?

Question

a couple of weddings i've been to have opted for a fake wedding cake instead of the real deal......basically styro forms covered in icing.....and then a cheap slab cake is ordered from a bakery to hand out to guests.. Even get pictures taken "cutting" the fake cake. Has anyone else noticed this trend? I know weddings cost a lot of money and people view this as a cost saving measure.....but as a baker, it bothers me for some reason. 

Thoughts?

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Is this fake cake especially made for each wedding, or is it a "rental"?

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I think I understand where you're coming from. A fake wedding cake is misrepresentation. Personally I had a real cake -- however, my wedding cake wasn't super expensive. I can understand why people cut corners to make their budget.

The cake cutting ceremony is tradition. The cutting of the wedding cake is supposed to symbolize the couple sharing their first task by breaking bread. It does seem a bit odd cutting into a hunk of styrofoam.

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Seems bizarre to me. Fake cake? Sounds like a case of getting swept away with what folks think a wedding is "supposed" to be and losing sight of what's really happening. 

Maybe if one doesn't wish to pay for a limo they could have someone make a cardboard cutout shaped like one and paint on the details, then attatch it to whatever car is actually being used. Aluminum foil or a wire coat hanger could be used to create a fancy hood ornament. Possibilities are endless.

All of that said, however, I suppose folks should do what they want to. I just feel bad that they think they need to do such things. There is no shame in doing with what you have.

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it not an entire fake cake because sometimes the layer that they actually cut has a wedge of real cake. but then again these styrofoam cake can cost as much as the real thing. 

but i don't think it is going to catch on really quick. haven't heard many wedding boards talking about actually having it. even though they talked about the option.

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I think it's GENIUS.

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Some wedding cakes have both real and fake layers... usually the cake can feed an army anyways so part of it are faked... I assume it's easier to decorate and less waste of food. I don't mind that the wedding cake is entirely fake as long as I'm fed good cake in the end.

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What I've seen on the TV wedding planing shows are couples who choose to have a couple tiers of real cake on top of a couple of fake cake. It makes sense for those who want the big multi layered cakes but don't have the # of guests to eat it all. These cakes are still prepared by bakers and they still cost a pretty penny (labor and decorations). I think it's a great way to have the traditional multi tiered cake without waste.

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I have heard about this. I, too, find it offensive, and I am not a baker by trade. There is just something about the tradition of everyone eating "THE wedding cake" ... offering anything less to your guests seems likely to provoke a negative impression on some people. I once participated in the wedding party for a very large wedding (for which I spent many months helping to plan all sorts of events and activities). I distinctly remember my dismay at the wedding reception when I was served a piece of run-of-the-mill sheet cake that looked nothing like the super-duper fabulous many-tiered wedding cake (real) that had just been presented to us. Maybe I wouldn't have been so disappointed if I hadn't had prior discussions over the cake/filling/design with the bride... ! I was looking forward to tasting it. Why do people do that??? I understand that sometimes even a very large cake won't serve everyone... in that case, I think the couple should have the bakery make smaller, less fancy cakes with identical ingredients for serving. A fake cake is even weirder to me-- I mean, if it's not that important to you to have a "real" cake, then why take photos with it as if it were? Or take photos with whatever kind of "real" cake you choose to have, however small or simple. Seems like it would feel a bit more authentic, no? Bizarre.

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For the last few weddings I have been to, the "fake" cake has made an appearance and the overheard discussion was that the bride/groom/family wanted a lavish dessert table and couldn't afford both the cake and the dessert table.

And here I was thinking that cake WAS dessert. Foolish me.

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Thinking more about this, I think I would do a small two tier cake, then serve sheet cake of same flavor, filling and frosting. If you're serving the exact same kind of cake, really what's the difference? You're there to enjoy the marraige of two people, not squabble about the origins of your dessert.

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At the bakery I worked at in college, the cake itself wasn't the expensive part. It was the hours that the decorator spent rolling fondant and piping on details that made a cake expensive. For most brides, by the time they paid for sheet cakes and the "man hours" to get their 4 tiers of styrofoam decorated like something out of Bride magazine, the savings was minimal.

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I know there are some hotels that keep a selection of gorgeous styrofoam wedding cakes in storage, monuments of royal icing that are entirely fake except for a little wedge of the bottom tier. That piece gets filled in with real cake and is decorated to blend with the rest of the cake. While the bride and groom are busy with the cake-cutting traditional bit, the catering staff is in the back cutting sheet cakes for the guests. Once the ceremony is over, the fake cake is wheeled into the back, and moments later all of the guests are served cake all at the same time. Done like this, I think it's quite clever.

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Just to give another example, we had about 130 guests. We had a lovely white cake with buttercream and blueberries which was three tier cake with a wonderful fondant design and pez dispensers as the cake topper. But it was only three tier and would only feed 75 people or so. So we ordered a sheet cake as well. The sheet cake was the exact same as the three tier but did cost loss than having a 5 tier cake. I tasted both and have to tell you that the sheet cake tasted a bit better. You have to work with the budget you have and this was perfect for us.

And to keep this as a recommendation. Our baker was fantastic. If you are getting married in mid coast maine go with Sweet Sensations and Steve Watts. Really great.

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I think it's rude to complain about something in another person's wedding. You are there to celebrate the couple, not your own dining preferences. Plus, they are paying so they should serve whatever they want. 

To the OP, I understand from a baker's perspective because what you do is an art. I just think that budgets, especially in today's economy, are what become priority #1.

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When I did a large feature on wedding cakes...maybe three years ago - several CAKE people mentioned to me that many brides who were having cake and punch receptions did exactly this. It's not just that it's less expensive (although that's a big part) - it's that it's easier to cut and apparently most people could give a rip that the cake is white and the frosting sugar fluff - as long as there's a pink rose or something on it.

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My daughter is getting married on August 2, 2008. Which was here grandparents wedding anniversary. We are very excited, but limited on funds as most people. The one thing that my daughter has always wanted was a beautiful wedding cake. I didn't think much about it until we started pricing them. At three dollars a slice, being a 2 X 2 square it is expensive, plus we aren't having but about 100 to 150 guests. We are having the wedding at our house with the reception, I will be making all the dresses including hers. We are cutting cost but still keeping a pretty wedding. We have a nice big front yard with a nice field to hold the reception in. She decided she would just go with a small cake, which would feed anyone who wanted a piece but still costing more than her dress by a mile. Someone told me about the fake cake. Yea I thought the same thing that is just weird. Well the more we got to checking into it the less werid it became and the more her dream cake is becoming true. We are signed up to take cake decorating classes so we can do that our self. We are going to have what they call stallite cakes around the main cake with a fountain. The stallite cakes will be real so they will be cutting into real cakes plus serving real cake. So before you think things are just a little to weird you try to tell your only daughter that she can't have her dream cake and eat it to. And to the person who said her parents had a nice cake and wedding and it wasn't that much. My wedding cake in 1983 was a beautiful 5 tier cake with colomns and flowers it cost a whole whopping 75.00 and my sister cake was less than that in 78 and she had a huge cake with a fountain and 5 staillite cakes. So times has changed and money doesn't go as far as it did when gas was a dollar a gallon. Because of this kind of cake I am still making my daughters wedding her dream wedding.

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Real cake or fake, I can't get over this... Seriously?

http://syndicated.livejournal.com/bestweekever/2180457.html

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Maybe I think different than some, but when I got married it was the only time I was going to be getting married, and told my wife to go all out on the wedding. No fake cake, no cash bar, etc. I would have been embarassed if I had done either of those things. Just poney up the cash, and worry about it later...

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I've never had a good wedding cake, anywhere. I have seen some spectacularly beautiful ones, but they're not made for flavor.

We had cupcakes at our wedding. Four varieties (chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, carrot) from an outstanding local bakery (http://bakednyc.com). They were a huge hit and were both more affordable and delicious than any wedding cake we could have gotten.

We didn't have a formal cake cutting, obviously, though we did feed each other one of the cupcakes & have photos to prove it.

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Fake wedding cakes are the norm in Japan (where most folks have western-style ceremonies either in addition to or in lieu of Japanese ceremonies). There's one piece which is real for the cutting and picture taking but the rest of the cake is fake. I'm not sure they even bother to give the guests pieces of cake that look like it as everyone knows the cake is just for show.

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This has to be one of the most pitiful things I've ever heard! Sad that people are so committed to some arbitrary idea of what a wedding "should" look like that they'd actually pay for frosted styrofoam! 

It just makes me want to scream, "Be yourselves!" "Be individuals!" Why insist on having a carbon copy of other peoples' weddings? 

Then again, my mother-in-law ordered the cake for my wedding as her contribution to the day. It was an absolutely beautiful-looking, single-layer, rectangular-shaped cake with pretty white fondant on it. Inside, it was a fruitcake (It was England in December, mind you, and they call it a Christmas cake, but it's fruitcake). I think some of us would rather have eaten the styrofoam. But it is the thought that counts!

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I'm probably weird, and I haven't been to that many weddings, but I'm not sure I've ever actually eaten the cake. It runs out, or I'm doing something else at the wrong time, or who knows what. I think it's tacky to be making sure I get some cake or whatever. I have a suspicion that most cakes made up fancy don't end up tasting that good because they are made so much for looks. I suppose it depends upon your baker, but really, when you taste a sample, they haven't made you a sample that's the same as that crazy design they're actually going to make, right?

When it comes down to it, the cake designs are pretty silly anyway. So faking it seems entirely appropriate. Eat a normally made cake that tastes better, use a fake one to look "pretty" (whatever your version of pretty happens to be). Perfect.

I entirely intend not to have any silly traditional stuff like this when I get married. I used to be ambivalent about it, but now I truly find the whole idea off-putting. I'll go to others, for very close friends or family, but I will not be involved in my own ceremony and reception that is anything like the typical events I've seen and experienced. (Yes, if that rules out some potential brides, oh, well. The one I'm with now agrees with me. ;-)

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I think the fake cake trend is consistent with a lot of other trends of indulgence and excess, and weddings are one arena where superindulgence tends to get a free pass...the whole, "you only plan to get married once" train of thought. There's a line somewhere between 'splurging on a special occasion' and 'pretentious showing off'. I don't know exactly where it is, but IMHO, spending the money for a huge fake cake is over it.

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You know, I keep reading all of the replies to this thread, and it's amazing to see the wide range of opinions that people have on what others choose to do. However, I think we can all agree that one's wedding day is - or, well, at least SHOULD be - one of the most important days of your life. There are different aspects of that day that matter to people - someone may not be able to conceive of walking down the aisle in anything less than a Cinderella princess dress, while another may choose a bikini on a tropical beach. Someone else may not dream of getting hitched without family and friends there, while others may just jet off to Vegas and get married in the drive-through at the Little White Chapel. And along those same lines, some people may not be able to conceive of a wedding without a big, tiered, "traditional" cake. Should they be criticized because they either can't afford a real cake or choose not to waste the food? I for one don't think so.

Whether or not I would have a styro cake isn't the point unless I'm the one getting married. If it's something that allows someone to have their dream wedding and adds to the perfection of the most important day of their life, well, hey - more power to 'em.

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I hear about so many etiquette offenses concerning weddings (receptions, showers, registries, invitations, etc etc,) that if I even noticed this it wouldn't be a blip on my radar.

The only way this is rude, in my opinion, would be if the said cake was of higher quality and served only to the bridal party and anyone they deemed more "worthy" than their mere guests, but this applies to all food and beverages.

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i think its brilliant. had i thought of the idea 8 years ago... i would have done it! Instead, we got a very reasonable cheesecake, and had it decorated.... and those who wanted it, ate it. Everyone eles had fancy pastries..... that were much better than cake!

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I'm from the Dominican Republic and the fake cake trend has been going strong there for ages. Mine was semi fake.....the bottom layer was real cake and the rest was styrofoam covered in fondant.
I think it's a great idea because I was able to cut my cake and save money. I wanted a big beautiful cake but did not have the funds.

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The amount of money the average couple spends on their wedding is really insane...lots of people send themselves and their families deep into debt, and often, it is just to "keep up with the Joneses" and impress other people. But a fake cake is just silly...especially since it is wasteful to decorate a styrofoam cake that will just be thrown out later! When my husband and I got married last year, we tried to keep things within a budget by limiting certain things or having people provide things (like the band and the cake) in lieu of wedding presents. This allowed us to have a live band and a real cake. They meant more to us than a generic (and expensive) cake or band, but still, were better than cutting corners by self-djing or having a styrofoam cake. I know, not everyone has friends with such talents, but really, it's the thought that counts, so even a homemade cake from Auntie Martha would be better than a hunk of styrofoam, in my opinion!

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Wow, never heard of fake cake. Do people still do groom's cakes? And if they do, would they do that in styrofoam too?? STupid!

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I have seen lots of fake cakes. One was even bigger than the bride ;)

I think most wedding cakes, especially ones that look pretty taste horrible. So, i don't think there's anything wrong with cutting a big pretty fake but feeding the guests a cake that tastes good. 

but, it is annoying if the cake they serve is also yucky.

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After reading all the responses and thinking about this for a while I have to admit there is one situations where I would find a fake cake acceptable - when the wedding involes a blow up fiancee.

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Does Sandra Lee have something to do with this?

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I just got married a few months ago, so yes, I am aware of this trend. I'm bothered, personally, by fake anything or doing anything simply for show. We included no traditions in our wedding unless they had personal meaning for us. We didn't want the day to be about show. 

A few things I don't understand--someone having a small wedding, but wanting a giant cake. Those two things don't go together in my head. A decent cake designer should be able to make a beautiful cake that is suitable to the scale of the wedding. It doesn't have to be three tiers to be impressive. And I have seen people cut a small decorated cake and then bring out the sheet cakes in the same flavor, but without ornamentation. That seems preferable to me, because at least the cake is real.

And also--a lot of cake makers are working hard to make the cakes taste better. There's a lot more creativity in weddings nowadays and therefore a lot of people are skipping bland cake in favor of customized cupcakes, pies or a dessert table, sundae bar, etc. Everything's about personalization nowadays and cake makers have a lot more competition for the wedding market than they used to.

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I believe the point of a wedding cake originally was a fancy treat for the guests, but, in modern ceremonies, it's as much there for a picture as anything else. The fake cake probably serves the photo opportunity better than a real one and other types of desserts perhaps satisfy guests better.

Personally, I think all weddings are pretty overblown in this day and age. I had a strawberry sheet cake with white frosting and my entire wedding cost $500 (including my dress). I'm happy with how things went to this day and wouldn't have done everything differently if I could do it all over again with limitless funds on someone else's tab. It's the marriage that followed that I cared about, not one day.

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I make both fake and real cakes. I’ll let you all know that I spend most of my time decorating fake cakes then real. I charge $100 to rent a 4-tiered, $150 for a 5-tier and up and they can have it decorated any way that they want. The clients that I have made fake cake for either hate cake, or a popular reason is they don’t want to cut up their cake. Think about it $500 for a real 3 tiered cake to feed a 100 people or a $100 for a fake 4 tiered cake and $25 for a sheet that will feed a 100 people. The couples still get their dream cake and still get to serve cake.

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It kind of defeats the object of the day, by using a fake cake just for pictures, and then serving a cheap store bought sheet cake to the guests. Weddings are about loved ones celebrating a joyous event together; with good food adding to that celebration. What are you going to appreciate more years later looking back- that pretty picture, or the good memories of that celebration? I used a local bakery for my wedding cake, and it was a simple, single tiered cake but it was fresh, tasty, and it fed all 40 of my guests (and then some), so I was happy, and it wasn't expensive at all. I agree that weddings are way too overblown these days. It's about the joy of the event- not the minute details of the event itself.

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I recently got married and had a reception with 200ppl. While looking into cake options I came across this bakery in NH that makes fake cakes for a fraction of the cost of real cakes and also makes sheet cakes of all kinds. I was a little hesitant at first with the whole fake cake thing, but after seeing the cost of a real cake decided to go for it. My mom's friend who is a fabulous baker offered to make three sheet so I did not have the bakery make the sheet cakes. What this bakery does is make the styrofoam cake and on the bottom tier puts one big piece of real cake so you can still do the cake cutting. They decorate the whole cake with real fondant and frosting so no one would ever know it was fake. When the cake was delivered I was shocked. I had a simple three tier white cake with intricate snowflakes all around it. It was fabulous! I thought $125 was a bargin compared to the $700 I was quoted for a real cake. The best part is it was beautiful. Everyone was complimenting me on it. We did the cake cutting and then the caterer took the fake cake into the kitchen and cut up the sheet cakes to serve. I think this was the way to go because we got a beautiful cake and fabulous tasting cake to eat. I received a call from the reception hall three days later telling me they had my cake in the freezer and could not figure out why it was never served at the reception! The chef couldn't even tell it was fake.. I think if you are trying to save money this is a great thing to do esp. if you find a bakery that does a good job.

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This is hardly a new 'trend'. My sister had a partly fake cake at her wedding over 20 years ago. The cake was 3 tiers and only the top was real. The guest were served identical and delicious, I might add, cake, but from a sheet cake. 

And, by the way, the styrofoam layers aren't necessarily tossed at the end. They can be washed and reused.

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I was married in the 70s and we had a cake with a chocolate layer, a white layer and a Styrofoam top layer. I'm a romantic and wanted to keep the top. It's in the basement and a little dusty but still good. Sort of like the marriage!

My mother also made a fruitcake and soaked it in brandy for months. My husband and I handed out the fruitcake which gave us a chance to thank people for coming. I also believed in the 'sleeping on a piece of wedding cake' tradition and fruitcake is so much better for that than a chocolate cake. The staff served the white and chocolate cakes as dessert.

I think weddings are more fun if people feel free to have what they want and not care so much what people will think.

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This is an old post I missed back in January, and I absolutely abhor the "over-the-top just-for-appearances" weddings, but I'd just like to add that the only times I've ever heard of couples having fake cakes were in instances where the venues demanded it, using the rationale that sheet cakes are easier to cut and plate than the typical round, tiered cakes. That would be my argument for choosing another venue, but alas, some couples obviously opt to go with the styrofoam!

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We had a beautiful small wedding cake and other cheesecakes of various flavors to be cut up and served-it was the same price as if we had gone the fake cake route. It doesn't even save that much money!

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So... they save the top styrofoam and icing in the freezer and retrieve IT for dessert on their one Y anniversary? They smash styrofoam lovingly into one another's face for pictures?? Grumble grumble grumble...

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The bakery I worked at refused to do them. The fake cake takes just as long to decorate as a real cake, and still have the materials cost of the buttercream. Most couples don't realize that the bakery's main cost is the labor involved in decorating. Once the couple pays the price of the fake, and the sheet cake, they may as well have bought real cake.

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Also, don't forget, an inedible dummy stands up to hot lights better and looks better in photos. Plus, the real sheet cake they serve the guests is fresh from the kitchen rather than being in a smoke-filled reception room for hours, so it's got to taste better.
 And I agree that most wedding cakes are more for show than for taste. I went to a wedding where the cake looked gorgeous but tasted like yesterday morning's toast dipped in plaster of Paris and topped with dirt. My taste buds were VERY disappointed. 
 My wedding -- and sweetheart -- are fantasy at the moment -- but when i do find my Heart's True Hero and we tie the golden cord, we will make it a point to have a cake that tastes absolutely divine. A confection to set the tastebuds aglow

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I think it's sad and kind of off-putting. But I have to say that I LOVE wedding cake and I've only ever had bad wedding cake a couple of times. The rest of the times, it is plain yummy. 

It's kind of like saying that we want to put on a show of ostentation, and that appearances are the most important thing to the couple? I don't know, it's just kind of depressing.

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I noticed that but in the wedding i was at, the substitute cake was not a cheap one but rather a good quality cake that would have been astronomically expensive to make into layers and decorate.

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Went to an elaborate wedding recently that had a fake cake and actually really cheesy dessert. But it was widely known that the bride had spent close to $10,000 on her dresses (she had two - a demure one for the church and push-up bra tulle nightmare for the reception). It seemed like a bit of a disconnect -- amazing location, expensive dresses and then cheap out on the dessert and wine. But that may just be my chowhound tendencies taking over.

But this is not a recent trend by any means, I was a bridesmaid more than 20 years ago and they had 3 fake layers and one real for cutting. Then there were sheets of the actual cake for cutting. But this wedding was in a small town and the caterers (actually the local church womens group) found it easier to serve everyone this way.

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I'm sorry alkapal, it is about the bride & goom; this is not just any random party. In my opinion, guests are guests; they shouldn't expect the bride & groom to provide any particular item other than invitation, i.e an expensive wedding cake or anything else. It is the bride & grooms occasion, not the guest; they are there to witness a marriage. It is up to the bride & groom if they choose to provide anything above that; THERE IS NO FURTHER OBLIGATION TO THE GUESTS. These days, many couples don't even have a large reception, rather, they may have a cocktail hour and serve cupcakes or individual cakes instead. Who is the guest to be offended?

So when a bride decides she wants to buy the dress of her dreams or the couple would rather spend their money on the honeymoon instead of buying a large expensive cake that no one eats anyway, it's their right. Just like it's the right of the guest to either accept the invitation or reject it. Also, if you're an invited guest, should the bride or groom tell you that they expect you to give them a particular item as a gift? NO. If a guest feels that someone should have a cake that "they" themselves would have, maybe that guest should volunteer to pay for it. These are not the good ole days....

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I guess they have a right to have a fake wedding cake and I have the right to think it's kind of sad and inauthentic. 

And on a related note, I do think it shows a lack of character to buy a $10,000 dress and then cheap out on serving guests. Then it definitely seems like she thinks the world revolves around her. I pity her new husband. It's kind of like those brides who don't want ugly bridesmaids or ones that are too pretty and might upstage her. Gross.

And I am a "Say Yes to the Dress" addict, too. I chalk up the crazy dress purchases ($24,000 dress in a recent episode) to the celebrity-worshipping that has become an unfortunate part of our culture. On some of these brides, again I think "I pity the husband. Does he have any idea what he is signing up for with this one?" 

As someone else said, there are way worse things than fake cakes that many couples do related to weddings, etiquette-wise, but the fake cake thing is still kind of off-putting to me. Next they will have a model stand in for the bride so the wedding pictures will look better.

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Hey, if I had my way, my cake would've just been frosting, through and through! And to think when I got married, it was considered DARING that we had chocolate cake under the white-on-white frosting! (I'll eat any flavor frosting, but ONLY chocolate cake!)

However, along the lines of fakery at a wedding, the Rabbi wanted my husband to break... a lightbulb!! Huh? He told us it breaks easier! I've even seen in a catalog, they'll suspend the lightbulb shards in lucite as a souvenier! Like yr celebrating the fakery!

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My instincts were right-on 30-some years ago -- glad we eloped.

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My 12 yr old daughter's thoughts on the "faux wedding cake" is... it's ridiculous... who wants to look back at wedding photos and say, "Look at all the fun we pretended to have." Well put.

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I got married in May, and we made our own wedding cake (and food). 3 layers, bottom one was styrofoam. We are amateurs and we were worried about a lopsided bottom layer making our cake slant. Plus the top two layers were plenty to feed everyone, and it wouldn't have looked right as a two-layer cake.

The cake itself was delicious. We're both chocolate fiends so the top layer was a dense chocolate torte (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Cranberry-Torte-108967) filled with chocolate mousse and homemade caramel, and iced with ganache and a thin layer of buttercream (we wanted a white cake). The middle layer was a white butter cake also filled with mousse and caramel and frosted with buttercream.

We couldn't afford a professional cake, and our limitations as amateur bakers forced us to go fake on one of the three layers. If I'd had more time (and a backup plan), of course I would have preferred a real bottom layer. But the consequences for error were too large so we went with the fake bottom layer.

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Omg that is a GREAT idea. I don't know maybe I'm not cut out to be a baker but it still takes a lot of skill to decorate styrofoam I mean, I guess you don't have to be as careful...but a lot of wedding cakes have fake layers anyways?

And this way you get a nice looking cake, and you can have a great tasting cake because it's not covered with awful, awful fondant that took god knows how long to decorate.

And a few of you seem to be implying because it is not tall and decorated with a gazillion flowers it tastes bad? If I get the cake from the bakery wouldn't it still taste good...cause a lot of people are implying the cake is cheap, how do you know?

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That is so wrong ...

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Well, not a FAKE wedding cake, but certainly a different type of replacement - a whole BigEye Tuna that is later cut up by professionals for sushi!

http://www.slashfood.com/2009/12/23/couple-replaces-wedding-cake-with-tuna-fish/?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl7|link3|http%3A%2F%2F

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I'm going to a wedding this weekend that I'm reasonably sure is going to have cupcakes after dinner, not a regular cake. The ceremony is on a ski slope. Dinner is at a ski lodge restaurant (private room). Dress is casual. This to me is more interesting than the staid traditional stuff.

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It's actually a very popular tradition here in Japan. However, there is also usually an entrance fee guests pay to attend a wedding reception. This is typically anywhere from $20-$100 per guest.

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I was first married in the 70s. We had 200 guests at the evening reception. Buffet dinner included a dessert table. It was a social convention to send guests home with a small wrapped portion of Wedding Cake, which was expected to be dense fruitcake with fondant frosting. No expectation, whatsoever, that the wedding cake would be served as dessert. Therefore, fake cake! Complete with a real cake section for the knife, and ceremonial mutual cake tasting photo. Fruitcake was ok. Dessert buffet was delicious.
Fast forward 30+ yrs to 2nd wedding. Pastry chef created a beautiful cake. Cake was less than optimal. But beautiful. Photos would have been just as lovely had she decorated a fake cake.
Just sayin'

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As a Wedding Cake Decorator, I discourage Brides from doing this. It costs us the same amount of time and ingredients. Styrofoam dummies cost money just about as much as the cake ingredients. Most of the wedding cake bakers I know charge the same amount for dummies that they would for real cake. The only way using a dummy cake would save money would be to rent a dummy cake and serve sheet cakes.

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I guess people want their cake and eat it too LOL

Seems oddly incongruous to use a "fake" prop for an event that is supposed to symbolize the start of what is supposed to be a lifelong commitment.

That said wedding cake is usually gross and goes uneaten - give me a tower of cannoli or tiramisu or something any day

some people are slaves to tradition I guess

do they freeze a piece of the cardboard and fake it on their anniversary

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I think it's a cool idea. I'm not a big cake person and we had a table of pies and carrot cakes and cheesecakes when I got married but I definitely would've done this if The Cake was important to me.

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