Cake and sweets table - silly questions!

Our cake was delivered to our venue in the morning. It was on its own table, next to the top table, and no one would have dreamed of touching it, chopping it up, eating it until after we cut the cake. I assume the cake you're having is identifiable as a wedding cake?

For the sweet buffet, we set it all up the day before, put a chiffon cloth over the top and I asked my brother, who was one of the ushers, to uncover it and take the lids off the sweets at about 8pm, before the evening buffet.

As long as the cakes look like a wedding cake people will leave them alone. Wedding cakes are usually delivered before the ceremony and the venue staff but it in place when they prepare the room.

The sweet table will be a free-for-all unless you cover it up!

Great thanks - that all makes sense!

It's a cupcake tower rather than a cupcake tower but I'll have a small cake on the top, with toppers, for cutting. It will probably be obvious, but I'll put a sign maybe like cake cutting after evening bbq and hopefully that will be clear to anyone who fancies a cupcake too early! I presume it's okay to leave cake out like that for hours...?

I'll probably cover up the sweet table then, and uncover it for the reception.

Thanks guys

Are you having the same room for the day and night receptions?

We are having different rooms and I too am planning to serve the cake in the evening (after a 4 course meal I imagine people are going to be too stuffed for cake) but do I set it up in the wedding breakfast room so it is on display? Or put it straight in the evening reception room?

Yes same room! It's all in a marquee. If I were you I'd probably just have it set up in the evening reception room! (I'm obviously no expert though.,. But that makes sense to me!)

Yeah I think that is what would be best, we have our photographer all day and night so we will still get photos of the cake cutting - I am making it myself so I will be taking it to the venue the day before as me, my daughter, my mum and bridesmaids are all staying over the night before ?

Oh wow wish I was clever enough to make my own cake! So many talented brides on hitched! I would say definitely set it up in the reception room beforehand then... You don't want the hassle and stress of shifting it around yourself!

Are you having a plated meal? I can't imagine anyone taking a cupcake anyway, but if your meal is plated there probably won't even be an opportunity for your guests to wander around. I can't even remember getting out of my seat at all at the last wedding I went to, until they ushered us all outside while they prepared the room for the evening portion.

Noooo... We're doing an afternoon tea which is kinda plated I guess in the sense that people won't be moving around... And also there will be plenty of cakes on there anyway... But then the evening meal will be a BBQ buffet and also there will be a couple of hours to kills before that! But I think I'll just put a sign up maybe, like 'cake cutting at 7:30pm' or similar. Just hope the icing on the cupcakes doesn't melt (marquee in summer)... But maybe I'm being too ambitious with the British weather!!

If your cake's on its own special table, plus you mentioned you'll be having toppers, I think it will be obvious that it is a wedding cake and I wouldn't bother with a sign. Particularly if you're serving a lot of cake during the day anyway.

I know that the cake usually gets delivered to the venue and set up on the morning of the wedding on it's own table. Our cake maker is a professional cake maker but also a guest so she will arrive about an hour earlier, deliver it, set it up them wait at the bar for the wedding ha!

That's a good point about the sweet table and not something I had thought about before. I have only been to one wedding where there was a sweet cart but it was set up in the evening just before the evening guests arrived.

I wanted to decorate my sweet table with bunting to the front and sparkly table confetti so that it would also be some decoration in the marquee so I don't want to cover it up! But, on the other hand, I don't trust people not to start helping themselves to sweets as not all of my containers have lids! I think putting a cloth over it is going to be the only course of action! X