The Best Wedding Cakes From Vogue

From architectural wonders to vegan options and even a Funfetti confection

In need of wedding cake ideas? We’ve got a few. The ceremonious confection has, after all, been a tradition for millennia: its roots trace back to ancient Rome, where grooms would break a barley cake over their bride’s head to officialize their union. Thousands of years later, Queen Victoria served a royal icing cake to her bridal party for her marriage to Prince Albert—the earliest precedent of the all-white style that’s still so commonplace today—whereas her son, Prince Leopold, is often credited with being the first person to serve a completely edible tiered cake on his wedding day in 1882. (A photograph of the historic cake, which is on display in Kensington Palace, shows it was decorated with putti figures holding bows and arrows.)

Fast forward to modern day, and wedding cakes have become a highly personal matter of preference—and, as we’ve seen in Vogue’s wedding coverage—sometimes even an art form. Take Umber Ahmad s brutalist-inspired cake, or PJ Magerko-Liquorice and Jordan Millington-Liquorice’s ten-foot wedding cake that required sabers to cut. At the culmination of their three-day St. Tropez extravaganza, Sarah Staudinger and Ari Emanuel cut an enormous Tarte Tropézienne, while Babba Canales served a Swedish “princess cake” with a miniature 3-D print of the couple on top.

Below, see some of the best (and most unusual) wedding cakes published in Vogue weddings—perhaps you’ll find inspiration for your own.

Photo: Joseph Rogero

1/18

Anna Mack and Ben Pardee

A creation by Christoph Artisan Chocolatier. There were three flavors in each tier—lavender, espresso, and tres leches. The flowers were made with traditional French chocolate molds.

Photo: Larissa Cleveland

2/18

Umber Ahmad and Ray Crisara

The couple worked on their architectural cake with Heather Anne Leavitt, of Sweet Heather Anne in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Photo: Charla Storey

3/18

Makeda Saggau-Sackey and Thomas Rabioux

Khadija Fouchard of K&Kakes created two cake flavors for the couple; one with red velvet with cream cheese frosting and one vanilla cake with lemon cream. They saved the top layer, which was a combination of both flavors, to celebrate their one-year anniversary.

Photo: Jose Villa

4/18

Chloe Richards and Lee Rubenstein

A berry-topped, tiered confection.

Photo: Johanna Rosenlew

5/18

Babba Canales and Carl Waldekranz

A traditional Swedish “princess cake”—a torte made up of sponge cake and pastry cream—decorated with roses and a miniature 3-D print of the couple on top.

Photo: Maxime Ballesteros

6/18

Camille Charriere and Francois Larpin

This giant St Honoré cake was the biggest the patissier ever made, at 80 cm in diameter.

Photo: Jose Villa

7/18

Ivy Getty and Tobias Engel

The couple’s cake was made by Flour & Bloom.

Photo: Storm Santos

8/18

Alexandra Daddario and Andrew Form

This cake was cookies-and-milk-flavored.

Photo: Robert Fairer

9/18

Sarah Staudinger and Ari Emmanuel

A gigantic Tarte Tropézienne, the one and only dessert of St. Tropez.

Photo: Courtesy of Whitefashion Photographer

10/18

Dasha Muzaleva and Max Aengevelt

This cake was accented with floral garlands and icing made to look like lace.

Photo: Courtesy of Bruce and Rebecca Meissner / Love Made Visible

11/18

Latisha Duarte and Luke Mccoubrey

A tiered lemon crème fraîche cake.

Photo: Courtesy of Robert Fairer

12/18

Caroline Sieber and Fritz von Westenholz

Layers of cake and flowers.

Photo: Courtesy of Brian Dorsey Studios

13/18

Elizabeth Fisch and Michael Dishi

A carrot cake with layers of buttercream and all sorts of berries.

Photo: Courtesy of Hannah Thomson

14/18

Gabriella Campagna and Mario Milana

An Italian-style wedding torta made out of custard and berries.

Photo: Courtesy of Jose Villa

15/18

Nicole Schuetz and Kevin Systrom

The cake complemented the greenery of the Napa vineyard where the wedding was held.

Photo: Courtesy of Hannah Thomson

16/18

Pamela Love and Matthew Nelson

The newlyweds cutting their cake, which included one vegan tier for the groom.

Photo: Courtesy of Robert Fairer

17/18

Sabine Ghanem and Joseph Getty

The couple named their cake “Il Robbiano.” It was inspired by the Florentine sculptor Luca della Robbia. “We loved the meringue, cream, and crown of fresh fruits on the flat cake,” Sabine says.