We want a 3 tier fruit cake at our wedding, but the cheapest we can find is Marks and Spencer’s for £115. Apart from getting someone to make it for us - which we don’t want to risk in case it looks or tastes bad, is there anywhere else you know of that we can get a cake from?
I recently did a bit research into this and I found that Marks and Spencer were by far the best value wedding cakes around. The problem with rich fruit cake is the cost of the ingredients. Even if you were to make it yourself, you’ll find that the ingredients are quite expensive – especially if you buy quality ingredients.
If you’re happy to think outside the box a bit, then why not try normal fruit cakes. You can often find these in the big stores’ bakery departments. Most of the big supermarkets stock them, including Marks and Spencer. They’ll also come in different sizes, so you could make up three tiers – although they probably won’t be quite as big or as rich as the proper wedding cake.
These types of cakes often have just icing on them, so you’ll need to decorate it yourself. A bit of ribbon and some fresh flowers will do the trick.
Tesco have a large, medium and small Rich Fruit Celebration Cake and the total cost for all three would be £28.81* – but I’ve only seen them on their website, it doesn’t say how big they are and I’ve never tasted them! (That’s quite a big disclaimer). They come on a silver foil cake board, ready to be decorated and they look alright.
Asda also do a wedding cake, similar to Tesco. Again, I’ve not tried it and the guide sizes look small, but it’s worth a try. It’s called ASDA Extra Special wedding cake and it comes in three sizes, totalling £27.94*
Choosing either of these will save you a fortune and you’d still have cash left over to try the cake before you buy it for the wedding. One thing I would say is, the cakes do look small, so think about getting a bit extra that you can cut on the day to make sure you have enough to go around.
Finally, to end on a bit of a funny note, I found a video about a cheap wedding cake the other day (sorry for the language!).
I hope that helps.
*Price checked on 29 February 2008. This may go up as well as down!
Ha ha ha, that really made me laugh, it is so true also. It does appear that everywhere you go, if a word is replaced with wedding the prices seem to triple, so frustrating.
Jul 20, 2010 Rating
Class video by: hina
I noticed no one mentioned the video on your site, I loved it! it is something my fiance would do, hehehe! We are both trying to cut costs for our wedding and with the excellent videos you have uploaded on other pages, you have convinced me to make my cake myself (by that I mean get my mum to make it for me of course!) Thanks!!
Aug 17, 2009 Rating
Budget Wedding Cake by: Lisa
There are numerous wedding cake designers who will make budget ranges of wedding cakes which will easily match those offered by the supermarkets. Do beware that supermarket cakes are not very deep - only 2-2½ inches after icing!
In Hampshire there is a company called Angel Cakes - Hampshire who have a budget range, fab tasting cakes in a variety of gorgeous flavours, professionally stacked for you to decorate yourself. We got them to do our cake and it was wonderful, tasted delicious (especially the Baileys cake!) and much better than the one my friend had from a well-known supermarket.
Jul 15, 2009 Rating
great buy by: Anonymous
Hi,My daughter bought 2 different size white iced fruit cakes from tesco and decorated them herself for her son`s 2 tier christening cake total cost £20. They tasted delicious and plan to do this for a family wedding.
Feb 07, 2009 Rating
Cheap wedding cake by: Alison
contact enquiries@thecakebakecompany.co.uk
I know their Genoa cake is delicious and they did a big cake for my organisation which was the best value we could find anywhere.
They seem to be able to make the size you want
Apr 28, 2008 Rating
Asda Extra Special Fruit Cake by: Chel
I have previously bought one of these cakes and decorated it as a birthday cake and it was very moist and tasty - well worth the money!
Mar 27, 2008 Rating
Tesco cake by: Diana
I have tried the Tesco fruitcake and can highly recommend it - it tastes gorgeous!
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