Small Wedding Cakes with a Big Presence

simple white wedding cake with florals on wooden table — Photo: Kati Rosado

Who says you need to cut into a massive wedding cake at your reception? Small cakes in all of their forms—single-serving minis, petite one-tiers, Bundts, and beyond—can make just as big of an impression as super-sized confections. In fact, your guests might remember these little desserts more than they would the standard three-tier wedding cake.

Ready to commit to the trend? Take personal cakes a step further by creating single-serving minis for each guest. Or, take a note from one of the brides featured here and place assorted one-tiered confections on every table—and then encourage guests to get up and mingle as they try each one. If you're looking for something tiny and nontraditional, try a cake made from hundreds of crepes, stuck together with Nutella. In short: If you have your heart set on something small, you have some amazing options. With gem-toned fondant, fresh flower toppers, playful textures, and more, these little confections prove that bigger isn't always better.

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Pressed Flowers

single tiered floral accented design wedding cake — Kylee Yee

Vanilla + The Bean baked this one-tier confection, with butter yellow patina and pressed wildflowers.

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Abstract Designs

two tier white and blue frosted wedding cake — Anna Peters

Kayla Carey incorporated the bride's favorite color with abstract designs atop buttercream icing. A sprig of lunaria and eucalyptus topped off the cake.

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24 Karat

Small Gold Wedding Cake — Kristin La Voie Photography

Tons of blue thistle flowers bring rich color contrast to this small but mighty gold metallic confection.

20 Spring Wedding Colors for a Beautiful Celebration

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Ripple Effect

The bride's favorite Harlem bakery, Make My Cake, made a one-tiered textured vanilla treat with buttercream frosting topped with real flowers for a fresh, small sweet.

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Quote Cake

Small Wedding Cake with Quote — Jenna Henderson Photography

Turn your cake into a tasty wedding sign by adding a favorite quote or verse.

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Watercolor and Gold

Jewel-tone watercolor and lines of gold studs make this cake by Jacques Fine European Pastries, perfect for a bohemian wedding.

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Cake for a Queen

Small Wedding Cake with Crown — Arte de Vie Photography

This "crowned" wedding cake is fit for the Game of Thrones-obsessed bride.

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Mini Series

Small Wedding Cakes with Flowers — Justine Milton Photography

Topped with oversized peonies and roses, these sweet one- and two-tiered cakes look like they were plucked from a garden.

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Carved Cake

Small Birch Tree Wedding Cake — Kiera Lemonis Photography

This reimagined naked cake has the texture of an evergreen—perfect for "carving" in the lovebirds' initials.

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Stained Glass

Small Wedding Cake with Geometric Details — Alyssa Ence Photography

A matte black narrow (to keep it on the smaller side) three-tier gets a bejeweled-effect thanks to gem-toned fondant and gold lattice work.

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Individual Cakes with Buds

Mini Individual Wedding Cake — The Hendricks Photography

Barely bloomed carnations make these personal wedding cakes even sweeter.

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Naked Cake with Berries

samantha cody wedding naked layer cake with blue and blackberries — Minh Cao for Lauren Fair Photography

Painted Pie created a naked, petite whipped vanilla layer cake topped with blueberries, blackberries, and chamomile for a stunning dessert.

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Vintage Vibes

Small Wedding Cake with Ornate Detail — Elizabeth Fogarty Photography

This tiny two-tier has a bit of vintage charm thanks to an elegant gold and floral crest.

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Baroque

A spray of moody blooms dresses up this ornate gold and sapphire-blue beauty.

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Lightly Gilded

simple, single later wedding cake with small flowers — Erich McVey

The couple kept things simple with a buttercream-frosted one-tier funfetti cake with touches of gold icing. The outside was also dressed with seasonal foliage and flowers.

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Cactus Cake

addie alex wedding cake cacti — Tamara Grüner

This vanilla wedding cake from Addie Cakes is decorated with flowers and cacti, chosen specifically to match this couple's desert wedding décor.

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High Rise

This tiny Ruze Cake House confection, decorated with a modern topper and bright posies, was the perfect compromise for a bride who didn't want a wedding cake. The cake stand—an upside-down basket from Home Goods—gives the tiny cake some height.

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Double-Tiered

jen alan wedding cake by candlelight — Laura Gordon

Villa Le Capanne's catering team baked this small but mighty two-tiered wedding cake dripping in flowers.

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Sugared Fruits

hana olu wedding california cake — Patrick Moyer

Sugared grapes, pears, and figs bring an autumnal touch to this simple buttercream two-tier by Decadence Wedding Cakes.

41 Wedding Cakes With Fruit That Are Full of Color and Flavor

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Flower Wallpaper

With a hand-painted base and paper flowers, this salted-caramel wedding cake is perfect for a small coastal California celebration.

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Tiered Berry Cake

Ringed with sugar flowers, greens, and blackberries, this simple cake brings a little bit of nature to a Washington, D.C., wedding.

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Berryful Beauty

one tier white wedding cake topped with fresh berries — Corbin Gurkin

A single layer classic round cake reaches new heights with loads of berries to top it off.

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Cheese Cake

Interpret "cheesecake" literally and replace the groom's cake with a cheese tower topped with citrus.

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Fall Chocolate Bundt

lori john wedding california cake — Steve Cowell Photography

If you're planning a casual fall fête, opt for a less-formal Bundt cake—like this one, here, drizzled with a cream cheese glaze—adorned with rustic blooms.

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Abstract Jewel Tones

lindsey william wedding dc cake — Abby Jiu Photography

With smudges of red and streaks of magenta, this cake is the perfect fit for a fashion-forward wedding.

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Nutella Crepe

This bride and groom turned a favorite food (Nutella crepes!) into the ultimate breakfast-inspired wedding cake.

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One-Tiered Surprise

The flavor of this one-tier was a surprise not just for the guests, but also for the newlyweds, who waited until the reception to taste the raspberry crème and almond cake for the first time.

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Couture Cake

This two-tiered cake by Classic Cakes and Confections, was inspired by the bride's blush pink Monique Lhuillier gown.

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Momofuku Birthday Cake

These newlyweds encouraged their guests to sample the Momofuku Milk Bar birthday cake and truffles before dinner even started—and to sample the offerings at the other tables, too.

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Art Deco Design

This chocolate-ganache-and-whipped-cream combination shared center stage with two other Art Deco cakes: one carrot cake and the other Nutella hazelnut.

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Minimalist

White buttercream iced two stacked tiers of buttermilk-poppy seed cake with lemon curd, honey-orange mousse, and honey-poached berries — Vicki Grafton Photography

White buttercream iced the two tiers of buttermilk-poppy seed cake with lemon curd, honey-orange mousse, and honey-poached berries in this wedding cake created by Paradox Pastry Café.

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Let Them (All!) Eat Cake

There was already a spread of options available on each table for dinner, so this couple decided to mix up the desserts as well. An all-white single-tiered cake from Lisa Dupar Catering was placed on each table, for those guests to share—the flavors varied from a shaved coconut cream to lemon chiffon and a chocolate mousse ganache.

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Itty-Bitty Buckwheat

Since this couple already served lemongrass cotton cake and peanut cocoa nib meringues to their guests, they decided to make their cutting cake small and single-tiered. The couple went with a simple buckwheat cake with pickled blueberry and lemon cream from the Wythe Hotel caterers. A handful of ranunculus dressed it up.

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Six Small Tiers

Natasja and Rob wedding cake — Elias Kordelakos

Alexandra's Cakes made a tiered naked lemon cake for a small destination wedding that wowed.

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Black and White

To provide guests with options, this couple had both a chocolate and vanilla cake served at their reception. To be considerate of food allergies, both single-tiered treats from BabyCakes were gluten- and dairy-free.

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Tiny Triple-Layer

A paper elephant created by Concarta topped this three-flavor A Touch of Magic dessert, which had layers of chocolate fudge, biscuit, and Baileys-spiked coffee cake.

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Pink Ombré

At a destination wedding in Mexico, ombré ruffles decorated this miniature coconut cake with ganache filling.

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Fresh Flowers

two-tier wedding cake in French vanilla with buttercream icing — Lance Nicoll

This small but striking cake made by Bittersweet Confections is a classic French vanilla with buttercream icing.

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Wildflower Cake

This couple served The Scottish Bakehouse's small coconut cake with vanilla frosting and lemon curd, which was adorned with strawflowers and wild vetch.

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Vanilla and Berry

Since the couple had already served guests their favorite summer treats—including fruit pies and crumbles with local peaches, berries, and apples—they decided to cut into a one-tiered vanilla and berry cake from Le Loup.

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Bitty Brunch Cake

This couple waited until their morning-after farewell brunch to serve their orange blossom honey sponge cake, kumquat-Champagne confit, and vanilla bean Swiss meringue buttercream wedding cake.

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Olive Oil

A one-tier olive oil cake, topped with fresh strawberries and macarons, was the perfect dessert for this couple's intimate backyard wedding.

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Lucky Number 3

Since three is a lucky number in her culture, this bride decided to have a trio of tiny cakes courtesy of Fluffy Thoughts. The assortment featured a white cake with passionfruit curd, another small cake with blackberry meringue buttercream, and a one-tiered almond cake with salted caramel filling.

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Cake with History

This one-tiered chocolate wedding cake from Park City Cakes & Confections was completed with the bride's grandparents' vintage topper. Foliage and a simple swirled icing design adorned the small statement-maker.

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Berry Good Wedding Cake

If you want to have florals and eat them too, take a cue from this sweet Maggie Austin cake, topped with sugar flowers and fresh blackberries.

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Rock Candy

This hexagon-shaped cake from Sweet and Saucy Shop fit right in with the couple's gem-themed wedding in Palm Springs. The simple chocolate cake, covered with vanilla buttercream frosting, was adorned with crushed pink rock candy—and even more gems!

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Extra-Small

Searching for something extra-tiny? Serve each of your guests personal-size cakes like these barrel-style vanilla confections featuring buttercream icing and fresh flowers from Amy Cakes.

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