Fall wedding Cakes

Get ideas on cake decorations for fall and autumn weddings

Also see fall wedding flowers, fall wedding ideas and wedding cupcake cakes

A wedding in the fall has a different character than a wedding during any other time of year.  The spirit is festive, hopeful and abundant.  To bring these feelings into your fall wedding, you should incorporate a few seasonal elements into the ceremony and reception.  One of the fun ways you can add a unique seasonal touch to your autumn wedding is with a themed fall wedding cake. 

Since your wedding cake will be one of the main points of interest for your wedding reception, you can incorporate some seasonal touches with the cake decorations as well as the flavor of the wedding cake. 

Whether you opt for a rich fall wedding cake flavor or incorporate fall foliage into your cake decoration, there are lots of creative ways to give your fall wedding cake a taste of the season. 

Read on for our tips on fall and autumn wedding cake decoration, cake flavors and more.
 

Fall Wedding Cake Decorations

Take inspiration from the season for fall cake decorations.  Fall foliage, harvest fruits, grains, pumpkins and gourds can all be incorporated into your wedding cake design.  A cake covered in bright marzipan leaves is an obvious choice.  You can also decorate your fall wedding cake with miniature pumpkins, red apples or pears. 

A unique idea is using sprigs of wheat (real or made from gum paste) to decorate the layers of your wedding cake.  Marzipan ferns climbing up the tiers of the cake or meringue mushrooms and marzipan branches add a playful woodland touch to your fall wedding cake.

Flowers in autumn hues like sunflowers, orange roses, marigolds, zinnias can be placed on your fall wedding cake using fresh blooms or flowers made from gum paste or fondant.  Floral berries can also be used to invoke the autumn spirit.

You can also use real fruit to decorate your fall wedding cake.  Grapes dipped in caramel or covered with superfine sugar can cascade down the tiers of the cake or be placed in bunches at key points all over the cake.  Small in size, lady apples or crab apples can also be used to decorate wedding cakes.  If you’re doing a Halloween themed wedding, consider decorating your cake with caramel dipped lady apples.

Flavors for Fall Wedding Cakes

You can use more complex flavors in cakes for fall than you would in cakes for a warm weather occasion.  You also have the flexibility of using different types of wedding cake décor (like chocolate ganache) that don’t stand up in warm weather. 

There are many flavors that you can use for your fall wedding cake.  Richer flavors are appropriate and chocolate is always a crowd pleaser.  Chocolate cakes are perfect for fall.  You can use dark chocolate or a mixture of milk chocolate and dark chocolate.  You can also mix chocolate with other flavors like hazelnut, cherry, peanut butter or French vanilla. 

Other rich flavors that work well with the season are caramel, dark cherry and espresso.  You can also use liquor to give more depth to the cake – think chocolate cake with Kaluha or Godiva liquor or black forest cake with Kirsch. 

Because the weather isn’t scorching, you can use almost any cake decoration for your autumn wedding cake.  Chocolate ganache, buttercream, fondant, marzipan and royal icing all do very well in the cooler temperatures of fall.
 

Wedding Cake Cupcakes for Autumn Weddings

Using cupcakes in lieu of a large tiered wedding cake is becoming more and more popular.  With wedding cupcakes you have more flexibility in cake flavor and design.  Each tier of cupcakes can be a different cake flavor and each cupcake design can be unique. 

For fall weddings, cupcakes can be decorated in many different ways.  If you’re using a leaf theme, you can have each cupcake decorated with a leaf in red orange or yellow. 

You could also decorate the cupcakes with fondant mushrooms or tree branches.  Another idea is to decorate the cupcakes with marzipan apples or pears.

If you like the idea of individual cakes and you’re doing a woodsy fall wedding theme, consider having individual roulade (aka roll cake) made from chocolate cake and icing – it can be decorated to look like the trunk of a tree.