Nautical Themed Wedding Cake Ideas
When it comes to a nautical themed wedding, I personally envision a stylish east coast preppy wedding. Think the Kennedy's sailing on their yacht near Hyannisport on Cape Cod. The nautical motif usually incorporates things like sailboats, lighthouses, Adirondack chairs, anchors, and beach items such as starfish and sand dollars. And when it comes to the color scheme, think blue, green and white with a hint of khaki mixed in here and there. With all that in mind, I set out on a quest to find some of my favorite nautical themed cakes at Flickr. You can see a collage of my favorites below:
As you can see from all the photos above, I generally prefer a white fondant or buttercream base for the cake color. That way, the designer can easily incorporate a wide range of blue hues into the color scheme. I especially like a navy and red or navy and light blue striped pattern around at least one of the layers. The middle cake is also one of my very favorites as I love the nautical roping that encircles the cake tiers. For the wedding cake topper, I prefer either a lovely sailboat or even a pair of white Adirondack chairs.
As always, I recommend finding some photos online of nautical themed cakes that you like and bring those to the bakery with you to show the designer. Don't forget to interview a few bakers and taste lots of cake because you deserve only the best on your big day!
More Cake Ideas:
Beach Wedding Cake Ideas
When it comes to creating a beach wedding cake that will wow your guests, consider the location of your wedding and use the local landscape and scenery as your inspiration. Will you be getting married in a more tropical setting full of hibiscus flowers or a more nautical setting near a cliff-side lighthouse? Take a cue from your surroundings and you are sure to have an impressive cake.
Seashells
Without a doubt, the most popular motif for a beach wedding cake is seashells. Television shows like Cake Boss demonstrate just how creative and talented cake bakers across the U.S. are these days. If you give your baker some shells that you love as inspiration, they should be able to create similar "shells" out of marzipan, chocolate, and other tools at their disposal. I've found that it is best to try and get the shells to look as natural as possible using colors that you find on the actual real shells.
Besides shells, you can consider using other sea creatures on your cake as well. Things such as sand dollars, starfish, and seahorses always tie in well with a shell and beach-inspired cake theme.
Sandcastles
If you've ever been to Virginia Beach during the sand castle building contest or to the malecon in Puerto Vallarta, you've seen some of the amazing sculptures that can be created using beach sand. You can have your baker create an elaborate sand castle cake just for you. They simply use brown sugar to create the "sand".
Tropical Flowers
You can always choose to keep your cake classic and simple by utilizing some tropical flowers such as hibiscus, bromeliads, birds of paradise, etc. around the base of your cake. You can also get your baker to create edible tropical flowers out of gum paste, marzipan, or icing for the top and sides of your cake.
If you are having difficulty choosing a cake design, I recommend looking around online for inspiration. Below I've put together a collage of some of my favorite beach cake designs....maybe one of them will be just what you want for your big day! Now, what on earth are you going to do for your wedding favors?
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