Flowers on Cakes

In this newsletter, we've talked about almost everything you can do with your wedding flowers, but we haven't talked about putting them on cakes. Part of the reason for that is that we don't advise using our flowers for this; they're grown for decoration, not consumption, and even those that are VeriFlora certified are not organic, meaning they may have come into contact with pesticides. And you don't want pesticides on your cake!

That said, we do get a lot of questions about using flowers on cakes, so I'm going to try to answer those questions this month. The first thing you'll want to decide is whether or not you want the guests to eat the flowers. Plenty of varieties of flowers are edible; rose petals, nasturtiums, pansies, violets, and lavender are among the most commonly eaten, but you might also try squash or zucchini blossoms, for a more rustic look. If you aren't planning to have the guests eat the flowers, you have more options, but do be sure to remove the blooms before serving the cake.

If you don't want to go to all that trouble, you might try using flowers around the cake, rather than actually atop it. If you choose to place the flowers around the cake, you can use any variety of flower, which makes it easier to coordinate with your bouquet. Try using larger flowers like Roses, Lilies, or Calla Lilies for a tiered cake, or smaller flowers like Mini Gerbera Daisies, Mini Calla Lilies, or Orchids for a single-layer cake. If you're using Lilies, you may want to remove the pollen before placing the flowers around the cake, as it tends to stick to everything, and can stain.

Whichever you prefer, you will definitely want to talk to your baker before making any decisions. They'll want to know exactly how you plan to adorn your cake, so that they can plan the icing accordingly. Chances are, they've done this before, even if you haven't, so they probably have some useful suggestions. You may need to bring them the flowers beforehand, so that they can add them as part of the decorating process. And if all this seems too complicated, why not ask them about flowers made from frosting? It's as traditional as it is easy, and guaranteed to be delicious.

I hope this is helpful, and gives you some ideas, in addition to just making you hungry. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions, about this newsletter or just about wedding flowers in general. You might also want to browse our Wedding Newsletter Archive, which is an amazing resource. If that doesn't help, just give me a call. I'm here all day Monday — Friday, and I'm always happy to hear from brides or grooms-to-be!

Thanks for reading, and have a great autumn!

Best Wishes,

Andrea Ashmore
andrea@flowerbud.com
Event Flower Specialist
Flowerbud.com