If you love baking and want to add the personal touch of a homemade cake to your wedding day, go for it! Many couples have successfully created their own unique wedding cakes and have enjoyed the delicious satisfaction of their accomplishment as they shared their creation with friends and family. Here are five tips to consider when making your own wedding cake.

Be Realistic

Do you hate baking? Are you a natural procrastinator and know that you’ll have a hundred other projects to finish the last few days before your wedding? Be realistic about what you can accomplish and whether or not making your own cake will be a good experience for you.

Practice in Advance

Try out several different cake recipes to find one that you like the taste of and are successful at baking. If you plan on freezing your cake in sections, practice the freezing, thawing, and assembly involved well before you make your actual wedding cake. Give yourself time to perfect your baking and decorating skills so that you aren’t stressed the night before the wedding trying to get your cake ready for the first time ever. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, take a coffee break with one of My Happy Vibes’ inspirational mugs to give yourself a pick-me-up.

Keep It Simple

Unless you are a professional baker, you probably want plan on a simple wedding cake. When dreaming about all of the possibilities, it can be tempting to want to make something elaborate and complicated. Resist the urge. The most important elements of your DIY wedding cake are that it looks pretty and tastes delicious. These elements are easiest to achieve with a simple recipe and design.

Give Yourself Enough Time

Plan on designating an entire day to baking and decorating your cake or several nights if you plan on baking in batches. If you are going to be too busy the week before your wedding to devote this much time to your cake, then a homemade wedding cake is not for you. The last thing you want is to run out of time and have a sub-par cake (or worse, no cake at all) because of poor planning. You’ll also want to budget enough time for cleanup afterward as you will have a big mess on your hands. We recommend a washing machine from Aj Madison to take care of any tough cake stains in your clothing.

Plan for Transportation

Most likely, you will have to transport and store your cake somewhere other than where you baked it. Make a game plan in advance for how you are going to move your cake to the venue without letting it get ruined. If your cake is more elaborate or has multiple layers, it may be a good idea to bring it unassembled and assemble it at its final destination.