47 Small Wedding Cakes with a Big Presence (2024)

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

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

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Abstract Designs

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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

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

Metallic Wedding Ideas That Will Add a Little Shine to Your Big Day

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Ripple Effect

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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

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

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Watercolor and Gold

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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

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

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Mini Series

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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

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

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Stained Glass

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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

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Barely-bloomed carnations make these personal wedding cakes even sweeter.

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Naked Cake with Berries

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

Vintage Vibes

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

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Baroque

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

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Lightly Gilded

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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

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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

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This tiny Ruze Cake House confection, decorated with a modern topper and bright posies, is 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

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

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Sugared Fruits

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

42 Fruit Wedding Cakes That Are Full of Color (and Flavor!)

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Flower Wallpaper

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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

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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

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

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Cheese Cake

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

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Fall Chocolate Bundt

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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

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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

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

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One-Tiered Surprise

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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

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

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Momof*cku Birthday Cake

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These newlyweds encouraged their guests to sample the Momof*cku 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

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Black and White

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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

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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

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

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Fresh Flowers

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

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Wildflower Cake

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.