While we'll always love a classic white wedding cake, we're seeing more and more couples buck tradition and serve a colorful dessert. By using edible watercolors, colored fondant, dyed buttercream frosting, bright cake layers, vibrant flowers, and foliage, brides and grooms are able to incorporate tons of fun colors into their wedding cakes. Even trendy naked cakes are seeing splashes of color with dyed cake batter or layers of frosting. There's nothing wrong with a white cake, but your guests will be wowed by these confections.
Plus, with a colorful cake, no one will be able to resist taking that perfect dessert Instagram, giving them yet another reason to use your wedding hashtag. Who doesn't want to see more photos from their big day all over their social media feed? Here, we've pulled together our favorite styled cake designs, plus some gorgeous desserts that were served at real weddings. Whether their shades reflected the flavors inside or complemented a celebration color palette, these beautiful confections are surprising and one-of-a-kind.
Pretty Floral Cake
How darling was this floral-patterned cake, with pinks, purples, greens, yellows, and oranges?
Orange Drip Cake
From the whimsical flora to the bright, sugary drip, this Sweet T's Bakeshop cake was straight out of a dream.
"XO" Cake
This wedding was inspired by a Beyoncé song, with "XO" sprinkled throughout. The cake was primarily red and white, with a fitting raspberry-lemonade flavor. Hey There, Cupcake! made it.
Blue-Painted Cake
Layered Bake Shop made this bright dessert, which had alternating tiers of plain white and painted blue.
Clean-Cut Cake
This colorful cake was surprisingly timeless with its clean edges and pretty flowers. Melissa's Fine Pastries baked the superb confection.
Mini Painted Cakes
Maggie Austin Cake made these individual cakelets, which were painted in impressionist style. The pastoral scenes were perfectly picked for the garden-inspired wedding.
Purple-Flecked Cake
This sweet little cake looked finger-painted, mixing whimsy with modern romance. Sweet Treats Bakery made the lovely dessert.
Unique Pink Cake
This pink cake from Sugar Magnolia featured a glam surprise: Spots of gold sprinkled across tiers!
Moody Blue Cake
Layered Bake Shop made this leather-textured cake with bluish-gray fondant. The fuschia and white flowers complemented the color gorgeously.
Enchanting Cake
Have you ever seen a cake like this deep-green beauty? Perfect Endings was the genius behind the enchanted-forest design.
Geode-Inspired Cake
A wedding cake like this one is not for the faint of heart! Between the geode-like center and dinosaur topper, Stephanie Norton made this fun confection daring.
Stucco-Inspired Cake
Stucco inspired the white tiers on this cake, while the ombré middle tier provided a nice contrast. Susie's Cakes designed the simple confection.
Geometric Wedding Cake
Marbled purples and blues and gold geometrics were one-of-a-kind on this Cake Whisperer cake.
Foliage-Inspired Cake
Leafy prints are oh-so-stylish, and totally wow-worthy on wedding cakes! Whipped Confections made this chic dessert using a pattern inspired by nature.
Blue-and-Green Cake
This cool-colored cake was extra appealing and super pretty. Whipped Confections made the yummy dessert for a rustic, romantic wedding.
Epic Cake
This towering cake was simply epic, with fondant frills and sugar flowers. Jenna Rae Cakes designed the dessert, and used painted, slivered almonds for its gilded tier.
Dreamy Cake
This striped, pastel cake was supremely dreamy, and made by Bobbette and Belle.
Limelight-Loving Cake
Wedding cakes can be as flashy as you want—just look at how this one stole the show! Martine's Pastries made the dessert with dark greens and vibrant pinks galore.
Pink-and-Green Cake
This small vanilla cake from Sweet and Saucy Shop was filled with passionfruit cream and coconut cream cheese frosting and covered with a vanilla buttercream. The pink and green colors were inspired by the reception's tropical theme and anchored the table of island-inspired treats.
Blue Mint Cake
This couple served a pale blue, mint-chocolate groom's cake from Buttercup Bakery at their Houston Wedding.
Pastel Watercolor Cake
Sweet Cheeks Baking Company created this vanilla citrus cake with raspberry preserve filling and lemon curd, layered with buttercream frosting and covered with white fondant. Splashes of pastel and soft florals were added for a watercolor effect.
Rainbow Slices
This cake from Charm City Cakes West was all-white on the outside with rainbow layers on the inside as a nod to gay pride.
Geo-Printed Cake
This couple served a pumpkin spice cake with a cinnamon-brown-sugar buttercream frosting form Sweet Fix at their fall wedding. They brought the diamond motif and bright colors of their wedding into the cake design, hand-painting the motif onto the white fondant.
Pastel Blue Cake
Sylvia Weinstock drew inspiration from the bride's after-party outfit—a lace "tuxedo"—to make this light blue, four-tiered confection with different flavor pairings: chocolate cake with cannoli cream and almond cake with blood orange and key lime buttercream.
Rock Candy Cake
This hexagonal-shaped chocolate cake from Sweet and Saucy Shop was frosted in vanilla buttercream and covered in crushed pink rock candy.
Colorful Macaron Cake
Boutique Souk created this colorful macaron cake featuring vanilla-, violet-, and raspberry-flavored macarons.
Purple Cake
For their winter wedding in Utah, this couple served a dulce de leche cake with salted caramel filling and vanilla buttercream and topped with pinecones for a wintry effect. The cake was made in-house at Deer Valley Resort.
Dripping-Blue Watercolor Cake
Hey There, Cupcake! adorned this lemon cake with blueberry curd filling with paper flower garnishes and blue watercolor detailing.
Skull Cakes
BCake NY drew inspiration from Dia de los Muertos to create these bride and groom skull cakes. The bride skull cake was dark chocolate with chocolate mousse and ganache filling, with a floral sugar veil topper. The groom skull cake was infused with white tequila and lime and layered with tequila buttercream and was decorated with a top hat.
Yellow Ombré Cake
This small lemon cake from The Wedding Cake Shoppe featured frilly piped buttercream frosting in a yellow ombré style.
Elegant Blue Cake
Underneath this pale blue fondant exterior was a dark chocolate cake made by Rose's Cakes.
Pink Naked Cake
Vanilla pound cake dyed in different shades of pink were dotted with buttercream and stacked on layers of blood-orange and passionfruit curds to create this vivid naked cake. Pro tip: Bake the cakes slightly larger than the desired finished sizes so the browned edges can be trimmed, revealing the vibrant tiers.
Watercolor and Metallic Cake
This three-tiered vanilla cake with strawberry and cream cheese filling from Sugar Bee Sweets Bakery was decorated with gold, a watercolor floral pattern, and a handmade, ceramic topper of a unicorn bride and elephant groom from Melabo Wed.
Pink Tier Cake
This three-tiered confection from Hey There, Cupcake! was covered with sugared fondant and wafer paper flowers, and featured a bright pink accent tier on the bottom.
Dutch-Patterned Cake
A small vanilla pound cake with lemon curd from DeClare Cakes was decorated with a Dutch Delft pattern and topped with "Mr. and Mrs." wooden, hand carved clogs—a gift from the groom's parents brought from Holland.
Bright Slices
This couple's white chiffon wedding cake, made in-house at the Four Seasons Hotel, Seattle, was cut to reveal cake layers of bright sunset shades, separated by vanilla-bean créme filling.
Gown-Inspired Cake
Classic Cakes and Confections was inspired by the bride's blush pink Monique Lhuillier gown when creating this two-tiered pink confection.
Small Blue Cake
This small cake from A Touch of Magic boasted three different flavors: layers of chocolate fudge, biscuit, and Baileys-spiked coffee cake. The confection echoed the couple's travels to India and to Ireland, where the wedding took place, and was topped with paper elephant from Concarta.
Beach-Themed Cake
Pink ombré ruffles frosted this miniature coconut cake with ganache filling from Cabo Flowers and Cakes. Kissing seahorses topped off the confection as a nod to the Mexican beach location of the wedding.
Techy Cake
This incredible new cake-decorating technique will let you design your cake with any pattern or image you want. Have your baker press edible paper featuring the pattern of your choice, printed in food-safe dye of course, around the sides and top of a buttercream-frosted confection just before serving. We love this watercolor-inspired pattern on a petite, two-tiered cake.
Bright Orange Cake
This orange, four-tiered cake from The Mixing Bowl Bakery contains three different flavors: marble cake with chocolate ganache, two tiers of lemon cake with raspberry filling, and butter cake with Bavarian cream filling. "I've never been the girl who wanted a traditional wedding cake," the bride said. "So I decided to go with my favorite color, orange."
Golden Cake
This lemon-thyme cake made in-house at the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe, was given the Midas touch with gold fondant and adorned with pink florals and succulents.
Pink Rose Cake
We love the pink swirls of lemon buttercream frosting on this incredible vanilla confetti cake from Susie Cakes.
Dark Purple Cake
One Sweet Slice created this four-tiered pumpkin cake, frosted with purple cream cheese frosting and adorned with golden leaf details and fresh flowers.
Whimsical Pink Cake
The balsawood topper from Publique Living was set on top of this pink Tahitian vanilla and mocha buttercream cake created by Inticing Creations.
Frozen Treat Cakes
Chill out before your big day by making these delightful sorbet bombes. All you need is a mixer to soften the sorbet and a metal container or four (we used cake molds and a vase to get these shapes). Once the sorbet is smooth in consistency, spoon it into the containers (for visual flair, layer different flavors), and freeze overnight. At your wedding, just slice and serve! Lemon, peach, coconut, and pink-grapefruit sorbets are showcased in our versions, but you could easily substitute ice cream.
Ikat and French-Silk-Ribbon Cake
The spirit of a century-old French silk ribbon can be felt in every bite of this darling cake. On top rests a dramatic bow of molded gum paste (so realistic, you'll be tempted to untie it). An edible luster dust was mixed with lemon extract and then painted onto the fondant in a rose pattern that evokes the blurry quality of an ikat weave.
Floral-Cotton Cake
This stunner of a cake, with yellow roses that appear to bloom before your very eyes, takes its cues from a swatch of graphic 1960s floral cotton. The leaf and bud designs were photocopied from the fabric to make patterns, then cut out from tinted sugar paste using a craft knife and transferred to the white-fondant-covered tiers. The finishing touch? A sprinkling of yellow sugar-paste roses throughout for an eye-popping embellishment. Cake by Ron Ben-Israel Cakes.
Crushed-Candy Cake
As fun to make as it is to eat, our sparkling marmalade-candy cake takes a little muscle—and that's about it. Buy your favorite hard candies, place them in a large resealable plastic bag, get a rolling pin, and have a blast pounding away your pre-wedding jitters. Then press the glittering crushed pieces to the sides of a buttercream cake. Orange hard candy, La Vie de La Vosgienne.
Pleated Cake
The edible pleats here recall the crinolines beneath a cream puff of a wedding dress. White wafer papers, cut with scallop scissors and folded, were painted with gold luster dust and petal dust in pinks and greens. They were then piped with white royal icing and attached to the mint-green fondant-covered tiers with more royal icing. The fluted pastry cups, filled with pillow mints, complete the pleated theme.
Present Cake
The fondant-covered box "lids" are the actual cake here, and the bottoms, also wrapped in fondant, are cake risers. The whole package is tied together with a taffeta ribbon, while each tier is edged with gold luster dust and matching royal-icing dots. The surrounding gumdrops, mint "lentils," sugar wafers, dragees, and pillow mints are treats you might find inside these packages, were they not made of cake.
Georgian Cake
No wonder King George went mad! He was likely driven to distraction by the opulent jewelry Englishwomen took to wearing during the 18th and early 19th centuries. This cake is an homage to those showstoppers, with four regal tiers of spearmint-hued fondant, royal icing piped to mimic pearl strands, and sparkling edible baubles, each ringed in a "pave setting" of royal-icing pearls.
Cake with Pop-Up Decorations
You want to decorate your cake, but you're not so skilled with the pastry bag? No problem. Just order up a tiered cake covered in fondant, and deck each layer with paper ornaments. Any way you slice it, it's a budget-conscious, style-savvy idea.
Cherry Blossom Cakes
The traditional princess cake, an old Swedish wedding standby, is normally covered in green marzipan. In our decidedly floral interpretation of the confection, we cloaked the dome-shaped cake in pink fondant and topped it with a smattering of real cherry blossoms, some of which have been coated with sugar.
Striped Cakes
Here, we put the notion of icing on ice, relying instead on unadorned pastel layers for graphic appeal. Coconut pound cake, tinted with gel-paste food coloring, serves as the foundation, while white fondant and passion-fruit curd rests on top (the curd is also between each layer). Sorbets in mango, passion fruit, lychee, and coconut are paired with strawberry sugar wafers that mimic the look of the cakes.
Teardrop Cake
Give your cake a splash of whimsy. Order up a fondant cake, plus a bucket of fondant, from a bakery. Add food coloring to the fondant to get the right hues, and roll out into a thin sheet. Cut with various teardrop-shaped cookie cutters, let dry, and attach to the front of the cake with gum paste mixed with hot water. Cookie-cutter set, Ateco, Sur La Table.
Filigree Heart Cake
Long ago, the heart was thought to be the origin of all human emotions. Though modern science proves otherwise, the phrase "giving your heart" is still the best way to express that you'd sacrifice anything for the one you love. Jay Qualls of Tennessee-based Maples Wedding Cakes printed our designs on paper, covered them in parchment, traced them with royal icing, then transferred them onto fondant.
Ring-Inspired Cake
As a symbol, rings are stunningly simple yet monumental in their meaning. More than a promise cast in platinum or gold, they represent the eternity you and your husband will spend together: The band itself has no beginning and no end. Here, New York City baker Mark Joseph uses an abundance of precisely applied sugar-paste rings to create a stylish, mod-inspired pattern. A base of unexpected yellow makes the rings pop and completes the fresh, contemporary effect.
Butterfly Cake
Pretty fabric butterflies transform a plain-Jane cake into a marvelous tiered wonder—and there's nary a pastry tip in sight. Simply slide the wired section of each fluttery beauty into a fondant-covered cake, clustering the butterflies here and there for the most dramatic look. Tied around a cake knife, a ribbon in a matching hue completes this super-easy—not to mention easy on the wallet—makeover.
Macaron Cake
A majestic design turns a bit coquettish when it's festooned with macarons—the quintessential French treats—and dressed up in flirty pink. Homemade marshmallows cut into rounds echo the shape of the raspberry macarons, as does the pattern on the fondant.
Neatly-Tailored Cake
Neatly tailored tiers draped in pale-pink fondant and trimmed with braids of royal icing serve as the backdrop for a few artfully placed bright pink gum-paste camellias. Cake maker Wendy Kromer took a cue from Coco Chanel, who chose the lush flower as her signature bloom. Both elegant and exuberant, it's always in fashion.
Rose-Piped Cake
This happy rose confection may look couture, but just about anyone is capable of re-creating it. Start with a plain fondant cake from a bakery. Next, print out our template of abstract roses, place parchment paper over it, and trace with a piping bag of royal icing. Once dry, peel the paper from the piped roses, and adhere the designs to the cake using gum paste that's been mixed with hot water.
Poppy Cake
Cheery poppies don't have to be in season for you to make this pretty fondant-covered cake. If you're the kind of bride who bookmarks Etsy, fashion crepe-paper ones yourself, or look for similar ones at crafts stores. Either way you slice it, you've got a cake with flower power that lasts all day.
Violet Cake
Shrinking violets? Not the riotous ones piped in luscious buttercream on this winningly old-fashioned four-tier cake by Wendy Kromer, which also features sugary pansies and sweetpeas.
Blue-and-White Cake
Flecks of vanilla bean in buttercream icing give this cake the appearance of one of the most enchanting harbingers of spring: a delicate robin's egg.