Sadly, when I was married all those years ago the wedding cupcake trend hadn’t happened yet.

But now that cupcakes are all the rage, it is the perfect time to add some cupcake fun to your reception dessert table!

I love the idea in today’s featured cake photo – a small wedding cake (for the newlyweds) and cupcakes for all the guests. You could have so much fun with this concept – think of the flavors you could have with those cupcakes!

You could choose seasonal flavors, classics like white and chocolate, and even fan favorites like red velvet (my all-time favorite cake flavor).

And to add even more deliciousness to the party, make sure you have cute take-home boxes and enough cupcakes for you guests to take one for the road.

You’ll find this cupcake and cake tower here.

They’re fun and functional. And everyone loves cupcakes!

But what if you want to serve cupcakes but still have a traditional wedding cake to cut too? Simple – serve both!

This is a fun concept – have a small, one tier wedding cake as the “main” cake – basically for the couple to cut – and then surround it by gorgeous cupcakes.

You can have your cake and eat cupcakes too!

The cupcakes can be assorted flavors – maybe themed to the season (red velvet, spice cake, strawberry). And for an added touch of fun, make sure you have enough so that guests can take one home too. Order some cute Chinese take-out boxes for the cupcakes.

You can check out this fun cake and cupcake idea here.

That’s right – let them eat cake AND cupcakes!

I love the idea of keeping the traditional wedding cake as part of the reception – it is easier to cut a slice of cake than it is to share a cupcake with your new spouse.

But if you could also serve cupcakes – in the same flavor as the mini cake or a variety of flavors – then you’d have the best of both dessert worlds.

This way the cake can be just for the bride and groom and the guests can enjoy cupcakes and perhaps a fun dessert candy bar thrown into the mix. Variety is the spice of  life after all!

You can see more about this cake and cupcake trend here.

There’s just something extra special about wedding cake that makes it taste better than your average every day cake.

So how amazing would it be if you could serve your guests their own wedding cake?

I’m not talking about a slice of cake – I’m talking about miniature wedding cakes. One for every guest.

Now granted, this wouldn’t be ideal if you have, say, 350 guests coming to your reception. But if you were having a small reception and didn’t want to splurge on a huge cake, individual cakes would be perfect.

I like the idea of the mini bundt cakes but I’m a frosting person and bundt cakes tend to be a bit slim in the icing department. Perhaps your baker could create miniature wedding cakes or small one-tier white cakes.

You could set the cakes at each place setting and then your guests don’t need to wait in line for cake or wait to be served.

You can find these mini cakes here.

I love strawberry shortcake and today’s naked wedding cake reminds of that sweet treat.

This wedding cake was created with pound cake (of course!) and layers of mascarpone cream and strawberries. I think it might be my new favorite spring or summer wedding cake.

Imagine how perfect this cake would be at your late spring or early summer wedding – especially if you just happen to be planning an outdoor reception!

This is a “naked” wedding cake trend I would definitely like to see at a summer wedding!

You can find this strawberry wedding cake here.

But serving cupcakes in place of a traditional wedding cake leaves one small problem – how are the bride and groom supposed to cut the cake? You can’t really cut a cupcake and have it be the same.

Which is why I love this cake-and-cupcake idea! You can have your cake (and cupcakes) and eat it too.

The happy couple can pick out a small cake in their favorite flavor and it gets top billing on a tiered cupcake stand. I also love the adorable banner that adorns the top of the cake. Very shabby chic.

Then the guests can nosh on some delectable cupcakes in different flavors. No mess, no fuss, no cutting hundreds of slices of cake. It’s like a grab-and-go dessert table.

We found this super fun non-traditional idea here. And it was created by Sweet n’ Flour.

My favorite aspect of this cake – the purple flowers. Sure there are also some pastel pink flowers in there but I am in love with the lilac roses!

I love wedding cakes with fresh flowers and when those flowers are roses I love it more. But when they’re purple (and pink) roses? It’s all over. I think this could be my new favorite wedding cake.

But let’s look past the beautiful roses in between the layers and let’s talk about the cakes. See those delicate “polka dots”? Well, look closer. Disney fans will recognize that the polka dots are actually tiny hidden Mickeys.

And each tier is accented by very sparkly rings around the bottom of the tiers. Add in that super sparkly monogram cake topper and you have the perfect cake for any season.

You could change the rose color to deep reds for winter, but I’m still a fan of the pastel hues. They could work in any season.

We found this gorgeous cake here.

As I think back to my own wedding cake (12 years ago!) the one element I loved most – other than the heart-shaped tiers – was the use of fresh black magic roses on the cake.

They were the same flowers I carried in my bouquet and their dark red hue was a perfect accent to the beautiful white buttercream icing.

Today’s cake has that same design element.

The gorgeous square tiers are accented with swiss dots which give the cake a little bit of a creative twist. And in between the tiers they’ve used fresh flowers – seasonal, of course – to really make the cake pop.

No matter the season your florist can find beautiful fresh flowers for your wedding cake. And the colors for fall and winter are just stunning.

You can find this cake here.

This gorgeous two-tier wedding cake was created by our friends at Hockleys Cakes and they described it as typical English afternoon tea cake.

I love the elegant simplicity of the cake. The smooth white icing accented on each tier with small pearls lends an air of sophistication to the cake. The tiers are separated by white columns.

My favorite part of the cake has to be the old fashioned style bunting used to decorate each tier. Those are what remind of me an old fashioned festival or carnival. The bunting gives the cake a very vintage feel.

The bunting cake topper announcing “Mr & Mrs” is the perfect topper for this cake. Fun and simple but elegant.

This cake would be ideal for your late summer wedding or for a small, intimate country wedding.

Thanks to Hockleys Cakes for sharing their creation!

Photo credit: Hockleys Cakes

I think today’s cake fits that description.

I give you the “bundt cake wedding cake.”

Now, when I think about bundt cakes I think about birthday cakes with chocolate glaze drizzled on the cake. I have never thought about a bundt wedding cake. Until now.

I love the simplicity of this cake – there’s no muss, no fuss. It just a two-tier bundt cake frosted with simple white icing drizzled down the sides.

This cake would be ideal for an informal reception, a small outdoor wedding, or even a shabby chic themed reception. If you want to keep it simple yet beautiful this is the cake for you.

And since bundt cakes have no middle to speak of I love the use of succulents to fill that hole at the top. I imagine it would also be lovely filled with bright fall flowers, like sunflowers.

We found this great bundt cake here.

It was created by Nothing Bundt Cakes.