Studio Ostendo operates in multiple creative fields including photography, design, and education.
Kaleb doesn’t really like cake. Every year I’ve known him, his mom has mailed him these AMAZING caramel apples covered in yummy toppings like little pieces of snickers bars for his birthday. On top of that, I’m the type of person who gets half way through a piece of wedding cake and doesn’t want to finish it. So when it came time for us to decide on a wedding cake, we knew we weren’t going to pick an actual wedding cake.
Instead, we picked desserts that fit our personalities better AND satisfied our dessert preferences. Our alternatives to wedding cake (yes, we got TWO chances to celebrate our wedding—one in my hometown and one in Kaleb’s hometown) were: donuts & a s’more bar. And let me tell you, THEY WERE SO GOOD.
For our Indiana wedding reception we had a local bakery make donuts with our top 6 favorite topping/donut combinations. We served them in individual bags at our reception so people could eat them there and take one home! My donut of choice—chocolate cake donut with chocolate frosting topped with mini m&ms. Kaleb’s donut of choice—vanilla yeast donut with maple frosting. It was a hit with our guests AND a way to share something we love with the people we love!
Then at our Idaho reception we had a s’more bar, complete with little sticks to roast a marshmallow over a flame, graham crackers, and assorted pieces of fancy chocolate—things like peanut butter drizzled chocolate, sprinkle covered white chocolate, etc. Kaleb and I both grew up camping with our families, so when his mom told us about the idea, we knew it was perfect!
We loved switching out the cake for these desserts. Why? Because it was US. It made our wedding feel more like a reflection of who we are and what we love.
We’ve seen a lot of clients and friends incorporate wedding cake alternatives into their wedding days.
We’ve had multiple clients and friends choose to serve cupcakes instead of traditional wedding cake at their weddings. Although it’s a minor switch, it’s fun for a couple reasons: it provides multiple flavor options and each guest gets to choose his/her own cupcake! We couldn’t help but smile when we saw cupcakes at one of the weddings we photographed last season, because we knew the bride was OBSESSED with cupcakes. We loved that the couple used their wedding dessert as a way to personalize their wedding and share something they loved with their guests.
Having a candy bar is becoming more and more popular at weddings, and as a self-diagnosed candy addict, I’m a HUGE fan. We’ve seen lots of candy bars that include small bags for guests to fill up and either eat throughout the night, or take home with them! One of our favorite “candy bars” was one that contained only blue and/or white candy. The bride was known for her intense love of blue candy, so all her friends and family noticed the personalized choice and loved it!
At a wedding we photographed last season, the couple chose to replace the wedding cake option with cookie jars. The jars were decorated to match the wedding and populated the dessert table along with small dessert plates guests could load with one or a few of their favorite kinds of cookies. They had four different options, and the guests couldn’t get enough!
One of our friends had an ice cream bar at her wedding instead of wedding cake and it was just PERFECT. Here’s why: her family owned the local ice cream shop in the small town she lived in. She grew up hanging out and working there, so it was a sweet part of her childhood and family life. Guests could sample multiple flavors or get a larger bowl of their favorite. We loved it because of how special it was to her and her family!
We loved all these wedding cake alternatives because they weren’t just fun ways to spice of the wedding, but because they were true reflections of the couples who chose them. We love how each one shares a little more about who the couple is, and how it adds to their story and their wedding day!
Wedding photography is my heartbeat. For me, it holds the perfect tension between creativity and authenticity, observation and connection. In front of my camera clients transform to friends, and behind it you'll usually find me tearing up, cheering you on, or holding my breath because of the raw goodness of the moment at hand.
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