Spring is fine and all — but November is one of the best, and most under-rated — times for a wedding. The weather is near-perfect. It’s right before the rush of the holiday season. Autumn’s vibrant copper and jewel tones are universally flattering. And then there’s the cake.
While the idea of falling leaves and darker colors may not sound like the kind of thing you typically see on a cake, creating a fall wedding cake can be both seasonal and stylish. Famed New Jersey bakery the Pink Cake Box has some great ideas on how to add elements of the season onto your cake — without going overboard. (You don’t need a fondant turkey on top of your cake to have a November theme!)
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Autumn Wedding Cake Ideas
“The rustic elegance of fall definitely inspires many of our designs, along with the warm natural autumnal color palette,” said Anne Heap, pastry chef and founder of Pink Cake Box.
Fall’s color palette offers some fun options, too. Heap explained, “We use a lot of gold, bronze along with deep reds, purples and burnt orange as accents. We love to use warm champagne or a dark ivory as a base color instead of a bright white. It’s a little softer and romantic for the fall.”
Once you’ve got your colors picked, you can get creative about mixing and matching, which is a popular trend this season, as are textured cakes like chalkboard. Yes, a chalkboard cake, which works well with the ever-popular rustic-chic wedding.
“We are seeing a lot of rustic buttercream cakes, sometimes mixed with fondant tiers. Also, hand-painted fondant cakes, and chalkboard-style cakes are extremely popular, as is the use of metallics,” Heap said. “Sugar flower arrangements often have soft warm pink and ivory mixed with deep purples and burgundy — with a lot of natural greenery.”
Heap offers these tips for a November wedding cake that’s charmingly on-trend — and oh-so-delicious.
Add Autumnal Flowers
“We designed a three-tier buttercream cake reminiscent of the fall wedding season. The ivory cake included green and orange berries with brown branches and gold, deep burnt orange and red leaves cascading down the cake.”
Reflect the Outdoors with Leaves
“Leaves and acorns adorn this fall buttercream wedding cake delivered locally to the Heritage Grill in Denville. The bottom tier is chocolate cake with hazelnut filling, the middle red velvet with cream cheese and the top vanilla with chocolate filling.”
Invoke a Rustic Feel with Chalkboard Frosting
“Kristin Rockhill from Details of I Do reached out to us to help design this cake for a country chic wedding shoot in Hopewell at Boxwood Farm,” said Heap of this chalkboard cake, which adds down-home, rustic feel that’s right at home with autumn weddings. “We created this four-tier cake topped with sugar wildflowers and decorated in black fondant with gray chalkboard decorations. The chalkboard drawings included ‘Love is Sweet’ written across the front along with pearls and florals.”
Add Seasonal Details — Sparingly
Tiny pumpkins and acorns are a tasteful, seasonal touch — that don’t go into cutesy, or over-the-top, territory. “We delivered this fall-themed wedding cake to the Birchwood Manor in Whippany. The cake was covered in ivory fondant and highlighted with acorns, pumpkins, and leaves with gold, chocolate brown and red tones to match the fall colors,” explained Heap. “The couple requested vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream for the filling.”
Pick Seasonal Colors
Want to echo the season without adding a lot of adornment? Just go with fall colors for your frosting. “Calla lilies and hydrangea in red, yellow and orange decorate each tier of this three-tier wedding cake,” said Heap. “Copper color separators add contrast between each ivory-covered tier.”
Play with Textures
“[The bride] reached out to us and asked if we could work with her and her fiancé to create a wedding cake with a rustic country theme for their September barn wedding,” said Heap. “The entire cake is covered with a birch bark fondant and topped with a looped burlap bow. Clusters of green and purple wildflowers decorate the base of each tier. The center of the cake includes a carved heart with the couple’s initials (J+N).”
Hero (Top) Feature Image: © Andrey Cherkasov / Adobe Stock
Additional Images (in Order) Courtesy:
Pink Cake Box / Website
