February 8, 2022
Elopement Cake Guide: From Hiking to Icing
Why & How to Incorporate an Elopement Cake into Your Day
The dress, the location, the vows – they get so much attention, but you know what’s often left out of the eloping conversation? An elopement cake!
Imagine hiking a mountain, crying through your vows, and then replenishing with a yummy slice of cake!
Cutting the cake is a natural dopamine hit that will uplift you and your partner after gallivanting around in nature.
It tastes great, it activates your playful side, and it pairs well with watching the sunset after a blissful day.
That’s why when it comes to elopements, we say….Let Them Eat Cake!
Why Bring a Cake to Your Elopement?
A lot of people probably don’t envision having a cake when they think about eloping.
Much of the focus is placed on external things like what you’ll wear and the scenery, which is important, but on your day what you’ll care about most is how you’ll feel.
What could feel better than a full belly to go along with your full hearts?
Now you might be thinking, “Doesn’t a cake complicate the eloping process?”
Nope!
You don’t have to get the grandest, largest, heaviest, most expensive cake. A small, simply designed cake for the two of you is perfect.
We recommend working with a local baker (like we do!) who specializes in custom cakes for weddings and events (and bonus if they have experience with elopement cakes).
Think of the cake as the end note to your incredible day – the icing is the reward you get for the hiking! You might even have a few leftover slices to enjoy later at your hotel or airbnb (maybe alongside a hot tub!) as a post-dinner treat!
Our Hike to Slice Experience
How we do the cake experience is something we are really proud of!
We work with a talented local baker, Short Street Cakes, who consistently provides our couples with the most delicious artisan cakes!
We handle the whole cake process including pickup, transport, and delivery, so you can focus on things like hair and makeup appointments and other pre-elopement to do’s.
Your elopement assistant picks up the cake, brings it to your location, and carries it to your ceremony site to set up a picnic complete with a blanket, utensils, nice plates, champagne and flutes, along with any props you might bring like a “Just Eloped” sign or custom mugs.
After the first slice has been cut, the rave reviews come in immediately! Couples can’t help but tell us how good the cake is and how happy they are with their chosen flavor (more on that later!).
Finally, we pack it in and pack it out, making it easy for you to relax and enjoy the view on your way out.
Let us provide a Cake for Your Elopement
We love supporting you through the whole elopement journey including organizing your cake and champagne picnic, and making it easy and low-stress for you.
Check our Wildflower or Evergreen packages which includes the cake and picnic!
Best Cake Toppers
Popularized in the 1950’s, cake toppers have made their comeback as a modern wedding decor staple.
Cake decoration has the power to pull together the whole look of the cake and contributes greatly to the entire design and theme of your wedding elopement.
From monogrammed initials, to funny statues like cute animals to replace the bride and groom, or the ever popular couple with their dog silhouette, there’s so much to choose from.
One of our favorites was when Angelina and Brendan, aka “The Powers,” topped their cake with Power Ranger figurines and even had custom Power Ranger shoes to serve as a fun accent piece. So cute and nostalgic!
Choosing cake toppers that can be reused as keepsakes are an environmentally friendly trend that allows you to bring a piece of your elopement home.
Decorative plates also add personality. We’ve had couples bring their family china, and one even brought plates with their beloved doggie’s face on it!
Whatever you choose, the cake is a great place to infuse personality and emphasize your theme and color palette.
Best Cake Flavors
Okay, let’s talk about a Lavender White Cake – yes this is a real thing!
With so many flavors, how do you choose one for your elopement cake?
First consider aesthetics. Choose your cake flavor in alignment with your colors and theme. For example if your colors are light blue, you might avoid clashing with red velvet cake and could instead opt for vanilla cake with blueberry filling, and add blue flowers as decor.
Next, consider what flavors you are drawn to or really liked since you were a kid. You can start with a simple vanilla and chocolate and add something like chocolate ganache in the middle.
Finally, think about the time of year and what matches the season. For example, a greenery themed cake fits a spring wedding and light, fruity, and refreshing cake will work great for summer.
Read more information on choosing your wedding cake flavors here.
We bring the Local Flavor Euphoria
Working with us means you get the best cake ever (yes we are biased, but wait until you taste your cake)!
Our baker offers the most unique flavors around, from Blueberry Lemon to Raspberry Almond (and more) for your elopement cake.
Short Street Cakes creates their fresh, natural cakes from scratch and with love – and you’ll taste that with the first bite!
Imagine biting into delectable toppings like chocolate ganache, fillings like crushed peaches, and the ever-popular buttercream icing. They even have vegan wedding cake options that are equally tasty!
Best Ways to Cut Your Cake
Cutting the Cake at a big wedding is sometimes awkward as Uncle Ernie eggs you on to smash pieces of cake into your partner’s face. Welp, you won’t have to worry about that when eloping!
When eloping, the cake cutting becomes YOUR moment, in private, as your photographer snaps away. You can decide to make it crazy or simple without any outside pressure.
One of the best ways we’ve found to cut the cake is actually the most traditional.
You each cut the cake, hand over hand, holding the slicer, which creates a unified ceremonial feel.
It looks great in your photos as it keeps you close and tends to make you laugh at how well you think you did at cutting the slice.
Now in terms of how you eat your elopement cake – that’s where some creativity is encouraged.
You can delicately use your forks to feed each other a slice at the same time (which is so adorable ah!) or you can feed each other one at a time.
We have definitely seen airplane feeding which makes for some pretty priceless reactions that you get to review in the photos later!
Now, there’s also the next level “let’s get weird” option! You can ditch the forks and smash cake into each other’s faces, or go for a fake cake smash where you look like you’re going to, but at the last minute you feed each other normally, keeping your faces clear of icing!
These pictures are proof of the fun that is waiting to be had when you include an elopement cake!
We’ve also seen couple’s dogs take a lick of their cake while some pups watched politely. The truth is that dogs are the cutest audience ever for your elopement cake cutting, so don’t hesitate to bring them along for the fun.
Involving your child into your cake cutting is also a cool way to make it a family moment.
We love how the Bride’s daughter patiently waited for her slice and then happily devoured it! The fact that this is all captured in photos and on video makes it even sweeter!
However you decide to cut your elopement cake, just have fun with it and make it your own!
Have Your Cake + Eat it Too –
Elope with us in Asheville!
From fog-cuddled mountaintops to beautifully bubbling waterfalls, Asheville has it all.
It would be our honor to host and support you with everything from planning your cake-cutting to finding the perfect location.
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