Whether you live here in Scotland or you're planning a destination wedding in Scotland, if you're in the process of searching for a wedding cake maker to create your dream cake, one of the things you might be wondering is what is the average cost of a wedding cake in Scotland and how do Scottish wedding cake prices compare.
This article explores wedding cake pricing and things you should consider when setting your wedding cake budget, and covers the following topics:
Average costs and price ranges of wedding cakes
Factors influencing the cost of a wedding cake
Different types of wedding cakes and how much they cost
How design and decoration affects the cost of a wedding cake
Additional costs and considerations
Grab a cup of tea and a comfy seat, and keep reading to find out what you need to know about budgeting for your dream wedding cake.
How much does a wedding cake cost in Scotland on average?
A quick Google search for "how much does a wedding cake cost" will return you a whole range of results... You might stumble across Bridebook's annual report from 2023 stating that the average cost of a wedding cake in the UK was £300-£400. Dig a little deeper, and you'll discover that almost a third of the couples surveyed for that report did some sort of DIY cake themselves, meaning they didn't pay anyone to make their wedding cake. Of course, that brings the average cost of a wedding cake right down. You might also discover the 2023 article published by Hitched with a snippet saying that wedding cake prices in the UK generally start from £700 from a reputable cake artist. Read a little more, and you'll see this article also makes reference to higher-end cake designers offering luxury wedding cakes, whose customers usually have wedding cake budgets of £800-£1,500. Based purely on this selection of figures alone from 2023, if the lowest is £300 and the highest is £1,500, that would make the average cost of a wedding cake £900 in the UK.
As these wedding cake price ranges already demonstrate, there's a large variance in the price of a wedding cake across the UK, and the same is true when evaluating wedding cake costs in Scotland. To fully understand the average price range of wedding cakes in Scotland it's necessary to look at things in a bit more detail.
Factors influencing the cost of a wedding cake in Scotland
There are so many variables and factors that influence how much a wedding cake costs, such as whether you're ordering from a reputable professional wedding cake designer or a neighbour who's a hobby baker, whether you're looking for a luxury bespoke wedding cake or a basic supermarket cake, whether you'd like a large, modern, elegant and showstopping wedding cake or a smaller and more basic wedding cake design. These are just a few of the reasons why wedding cake prices can vary so much.
There's a great selection of professional wedding cake makers in Scotland, but no two are the same: they don't produce exactly the same cakes, they don't work in the same way, they don't have identical business models or operating costs, therefore neither do their wedding cakes cost the same as each others.
Some cake makers will have a selection of cake designs at a fixed price for you to choose from, but most of the top wedding cake designers in Scotland offer bespoke, custom wedding cakes which are created uniquely for each couple. This level of personalised service and unique wedding cake design involves a lot more time, a full wedding cake consultation process, cake sketches, and lots of correspondence and communication between the cake designer and the couple to agree all of the details before a final wedding cake quote is given. It's actually not possible to get an exact quote for a bespoke wedding cake until all of this has taken place, because each cake is completely unique.
What's more, specialist equipment is often required for bespoke wedding cakes, such as stencils, and many of the best Scottish wedding cake makers also invest in learning specific skills and techniques to be able to create certain styles of wedding cakes, keep up with the latest wedding cake design trends, and simply to offer the highest standard of work, all of which comes at a cost and affects their wedding cake pricing.
Let's not forget the cost of the raw ingredients and basic materials needed to bake a wedding cake. Most of the leading wedding cake makers in Scotland bake their cakes freshly in-house and from scratch, but each has their preferred ingredients to work with. Depending on the brands they use, whether they bake with butter or margarine, whether they buy supermarket chocolate or professional couverture chocolate, whether they opt for local free-range eggs, right down to whether they make their own jam fillings or perhaps source artisan produce for their cakes, all of this affects the total cost of a wedding cake.
There's sometimes a misconception that wedding cake prices vary depending on the location in Scotland. Whilst some operating costs for cake makers may slightly fluctuate depending on their geographical location, many of their business costs are the same regardless of whether they're a wedding cake maker in Edinburgh or in Perthshire, for example. Considering that time, skill and experience are the biggest costs involved in creating quality high-end wedding cakes, where the cake maker is based isn't significantly relevant.
Types of wedding cakes and how much they cost
As touched upon already, you should expect that bespoke wedding cakes in Scotland made by a reputable and specialist wedding cake designer will cost a lot more than a supermarket cake or any attempt to make your own wedding cake. They will also usually be more expensive than a more simple style of cake ordered from a bakery shop.
Although some cake designers in Scotland specialise in a particular style or type of wedding cake, you'll certainly be able to find a reputable cake maker offering the type of wedding cake you like most, and they'll be able guide you on their pricing for the different types of wedding cakes they offer.
As a guide, the main types of wedding cake that are popular in Scotland are fondant (sugarpaste) iced wedding cakes, ganache covered wedding cakes, semi-naked wedding cakes, and full buttercream wedding cakes.
Fondant wedding cakes offer a huge opportunity for lots of different wedding cake designs, styles and for accommodating the latest trends. They look spectacular with sugar flowers, and equally exquisite with dried or fresh flowers. Most Scottish wedding cake makers offering fondant wedding cakes create modern designs which look elegant and sophisticated, perfect as a beautiful centrepiece luxury wedding cake. Fondant iced wedding cake designs are usually the most expensive type of wedding cake in Scotland due to the skill and amount of time they take to perfect with a smooth, crisp finish, as well as the level of decoration they often require.
Semi-naked wedding cakes are usually the most budget-friendly wedding cake option. They consist of sponge tiers with a covering of buttercream scraped back to expose sections of the sponge crust. This type of wedding cake can be a popular choice for rustic Scottish barn style weddings, but caution should be taken when considering this type of cake as it does have some disadvantages, such as less stability in warmer environments and risk of the cake drying out much more quickly. Although these types of cakes are often at the lower end of the pricing scale, there is still some opportunity to make the design more bespoke with arrangements of fresh fruits or flowers. In wedding cake price guides which indicate "prices from", semi-naked style wedding cakes are usually at the bottom end of this pricing scale, if the cake designer offers them. It's worth noting that some wedding cake makers don't offer this type of cake due to the pitfalls.
Prices for buttercream and ganache covered wedding cakes vary quite a lot depending on the sort of designs offered by the wedding cake designer. There are a number of talented cake makers in Scotland offering this type of cake, and some offer very artistic designs which are priced at the higher end of the wedding cake pricing scale. However, more simple buttercream and ganache wedding cake designs are also an option, and may come in at a slightly lower price point.
How design and decoration affects the cost of a wedding cake
Regardless of the type of cake, whether it's a fondant wedding cake or a buttercream wedding cake, the design and decoration plays a large part in determining the total cost.
When it comes to wedding cake design, factors such as the size of the wedding cake, the number of tiers, the size and shape of each tier, and the number of portions required all affect the price of the wedding cake. Some wedding cake makers also have different prices for different cake flavours, so choosing "premium" flavours for each tier may also make a wedding cake more expensive.
As for decoration, it goes without saying that a more elaborately decorated wedding cake will cost significantly more than a very simple wedding cake design. That said, what may be perceived as a simple cake design might still require a great deal of time and expertise to execute well, and the cost of the wedding cake may be higher than estimated.
Wedding cakes often take centre stage in the wedding venue and create a focal point for guests to admire, and a cake cutting photo is still a very popular tradition at Scottish weddings. This is why it is important to so many couples to have a beautifully decorated statement wedding cake, and why they prioritise their cake highly within their overall wedding budget.
Additional wedding cake costs and considerations
You might be wondering if there are any additional costs involved with booking a wedding cake or if there are any other points to consider when budgeting for your wedding cake.
Although it is difficult to give an exact quote for a bespoke wedding cake design immediately upfront (as previously discussed above), trusted and reputable wedding cake designers in Scotland will be as open and transparent as possible about their pricing. In fact, many will also ask you at the point of booking what your wedding cake budget is, so that there are clear expectations about the sort of wedding cake that can be offered in line with that budget. This helps to avoid any disappointment or difficult conversations about costs further down the line.
Other than this, there are a few other key points you may want to consider asking about when booking your wedding cake:
Does a wedding cake tasting cost extra?
How much is wedding cake delivery and set-up?
What do "prices from" include?
Is there a minimum order value for a wedding cake?
Every wedding cake maker will approach each of these points differently, and it could affect the total cost of your wedding cake.
For cake tasting, many wedding cake makers will include a wedding cake tasting as part of an in-person consultation meeting, others will send you a box of wedding cake samples to enjoy in the comfort of your own home, some may only offer wedding cake tasting boxes as a chargeable extra.
When it comes to delivering wedding cakes, most wedding cake makers in Scotland are happy to travel within a fairly wide geographical area to deliver and set-up their wedding cakes. This means that if you love the style of a particular wedding cake designer, but aren't getting married near their cake studio, you can still book with them and arrange for them to deliver to your wedding venue. There is usually a delivery and set-up charge based on the round trip mileage and travel time to your venue from their base, but they should be able to advise you on this if you ask at the point of booking to ensure there are no unexpected costs at the last minute.
With a view to helping you make your decision, many wedding cake makers display "prices from" on their websites for different sizes of wedding cakes. This can be useful to understand if the wedding cake designer can offer a wedding cake within your budget, but it should be noted that these prices are rarely the final price you will pay for one of their wedding cakes, that is unless you are having a plain undecorated cake with simply some icing and ribbon. Others may show a "price range" or "average spend" for different sizes of wedding cakes, which is usually referring to a moderately decorated cake, and may be more indicative of the final cost you could expect to pay for one of their wedding cakes. It's always worth clarifying and considering this when comparing different wedding cake prices.
Lastly, a final point to consider is that it is increasingly common for wedding cake designers to have a minimum order value in place for their bookings. This means, that regardless of the type or design of the wedding cake, this is the minimum price you can expect to pay for one of their wedding cakes. Given that the full process of booking, designing and creating even a relatively simple wedding can take anything from 20 to 35 hours, sometimes much more for larger or more complex cake designs, in addition to the cost of ingredients and business overheads, expect that minimum order values for wedding cakes are set with these points in mind, as well as for various other reasons relating to wedding cake businesses.
Summary of wedding cake costs in Scotland
In conclusion, how much a wedding cake costs in Scotland is a very broad topic and the final cost of any wedding cake is affected by a wide range of factors. When establishing your wedding cake budget and planning your wedding cake design, it's important to consider not only the type of wedding cake you'd like, but also the overall design and level of decoration that may be involved. To ensure your budget is definitely realistic for the cake and service you would like, it's also important not to forget some of the other additional costs too, such as wedding cake delivery charges.
Although there's a lot to think about when it comes to knowing how much to budget for your wedding cake, there's never any harm in having an open conversation about costs with your chosen wedding cake designer at the point of booking. Most will gladly give you an initial rough estimate or ballpark figure to work with, and they'll be more than happy to chat and share their expertise!
It's a huge topic and we've barely scratched the surface, but I hope this article has provided you with a good insight into what's involved in wedding cake pricing and how to plan your wedding cake budget.
If you're looking to book a cake designer in Scotland to create you a beautifully bespoke and modern luxury wedding cake, I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch to enquire about my availability for your wedding date and I'll gladly provide you an initial estimated no-obligation quote.
Alison x
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