As the western trend of celebrating marriage ceremonies by cutting a wedding cake has also become quite popular in African Traditional Weddings, cake designers are now putting in a considerable amount of effort in creating beautiful African Wedding Cakes.

Whether it is on the wedding day or the reception, some African couples are going bigger and bolder with their Traditional wedding cakes. 

Some couples may not opt not to have a cake for their Traditional wedding but if you do, choosing a Traditional Wedding cake is one of the most fun parts of the wedding planning process, however, if you decide on a cake, there are more decisions than meets the eye in making sure that it’s exactly what it should be:

Choosing a Baker

With the help of the internet, you can easily find a good wedding cake designer near you, this makes choosing a bakery much easier. Venues and hotels usually have bakeries that they already have relationships with or that they recommend. Choosing these bakers can be a better option since the bakery already knows the venue and the logistics for the day will be easier for all parties involved.

Choosing the Size of your Traditional Wedding Cake

You can go for either a simple design or you can choose a grandeur style cake that gets the ooh’s and aah’s, 5 tier wedding depending on the number of guests as well as your budget.

If you have 300 guests, and a 3 tier cake, your bakery will provide additional sheet cakes to accommodate (since the 3 tier cake alone won’t feed everyone).

Traditional Wedding Cake Design

You probably want to blend your cultural theme into the cake design as well, fortunately, cake designers are creating amazing traditional cake designs to suit specific African cultures:

Your baker will assist you here, but bear in mind the climate, buttercream is better for indoor venues – with air condition. If it’s outside, the wind’s breeze could cause random stuff to stick to the debris and the frosting could even melt in hot weather.

Fondant tends to be more candy-like in flavor, which can work for some.  What you end up with will depend on what design you like. Or, you might want to start with what styles you like (only buttercream) and your baker can suggest certain designs that will work with that.  Your guests will look forward to cake and dessert no matter which direction you go in with the frosting, so don’t stress about it.Fondant is good for either temperature, and it can be kept at room temperature and it’s easier to transport.

In terms of flavor, who doesn’t like rich buttercream? Fondant tends to be more candy-like in flavor, which can work for some.

To simplify your planning load, we bring to you some beautiful wedding cake themes, which you would love to have at your wedding. There are so many amazing cake designs out there, this makes it quite easy to pick out what you like.

Taste the cake

Although it may sound pretty obvious but do try the cake. Its easy to assume the combinations you’ve chosen taste good just because it’s cake and icing.

Also consider including a wide variety of flavours for your guests to pick from, combinations not just you like but combinations you think your crowd would enjoy, you don’t want all chocolate desserts because you love them.

Fondant vs Buttercream, does it even matter? 
Buttercream is the most common frosting and tastes very delicious? Fondant looks like play dough that’s so nicely shaped into different designs and pieces for your cake – it feels gummy.

It works well for flat and smooth surfaces if your cake design is going to be sleek) It doesn’t work well with piping.

Consider a few factors when it comes to the style and design of your Traditional Wedding Cake, and the climate. Keep in mind that buttercream is better for indoor venues (with air condition!). If it’s outside, the wind’s breeze could cause random stuff to stick to the debris and the frosting could even melt in hot weather.

Fondant tends to be more candy-like in flavor, which can work for some.  What you end up with will depend on what design you like. Or, you might want to start with what styles you like (only buttercream) and your baker can suggest certain designs that will work with that.  Your guests will look forward to cake and dessert no matter which direction you go in with the frosting, so don’t stress about it.

Fondant is good for either temperature, and it can be kept at room temperature (and it’s easier to transport). In terms of flavor, who doesn’t like rich buttercream? Fondant tends to be more candy-like in flavor, which can work for some.

When is the right time to order your Traditional Wedding Cake

It’s best to order your Traditional Wedding cake roughly 6 weeks before your Traditional wedding date. You can usually make final tweaks up to 2 weeks before your wedding, but this is an easy item to cross off your to-do list if you decide on it early.

Delivery

Usually the bakery can coordinate with the venue about the cake delivery but be involved right to the last minute to avoid disappointments. When they do deliver the cake, make sure there’s sufficient room for it.  Have the venue set up the cake table in advance, the less transporting the cake around, the better.

180 Beautiful Traditional Wedding Cakes

Tsonga Traditional Wedding Cakes

Zulu Traditional Wedding Cakes

Traditional Zulu wedding cakes are an important part of Zulu wedding celebrations. They come in a variety of flavors and styles, each with its own significance and symbolism. The design and decoration of the cake are also significant, with the cake often reflecting the bride and groom’s cultural heritage and personal preferences. The Zulu wedding cake is not only a sweet treat but also a beautiful symbol of love and commitment.

We take a look at some of the most popular Zulu Traditional Wedding Cakes from top wedding cake designers in South Africa.

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Tswana Traditional Wedding Cakes

Traditional Sotho Wedding Cakes

Traditional Ndebele Wedding Cakes

 Shweshwe Traditional Wedding Cakes

Venda Traditional Wedding Cakes

Swazi Traditional Wedding Cakes

SePedi Traditional Wedding Cakes