One of the most special parts of any wedding reception is the cake. Always a showpiece, your cake is the perfect opportunity to express something about yourself or your wedding theme. What could be more lovely for a cake than decorations which mimic the beauty of the great outdoors? These are some wonderful ideas for gorgeous wedding cakes inspired by nature.

Flowers are one of the most traditional decorations for a wedding cake, and they will never go out of style. There are almost as many ways to use flowers as there are types of blossoms! If you prefer a “manicured” style of garden, opt for very neat and symmetrical flower decorations on your cake. One beautiful look is to have a each layer of the cake separated with the space between filled with fresh blossoms such as blue hydrangeas. It is a very beautiful effect and works well with both fondant and buttercream frosting.

Cascades of flowers, either fresh or sugar, are gorgeous when you want to create a more natural design for your wedding cake. The blossoms can be dainty and simple, such as pink rosebuds, or dramatic and elegant, as in handcrafted sugar orchids. Very colorful blossoms are a fantastic way to bring some bright color into your wedding reception in a way that is “safe”. Think multi-colored cascades of pinks, purples, and fuchsias or a sophisticated palette of greens and browns. This is a wonderful way to brighten up your reception while getting your inspiration from nature.

Butterflies are a gorgeous idea for a wedding cake decoration. Their fluttery grace and inherent beauty make them the ideal accent for a bridal cake. You can opt for an understated design with a few yellow butterflies perched daintily on each tier, or go wild with an over-the-top flurry of butterflies in every hue of the rainbow covering the cake. Take your color palette from the rest of your wedding, everything from the flowers to the tablecloths to special handmade wedding jewelry can inform the hues you choose for your butterfly cake. This design works equally well for a wedding with a butterfly theme or one with a special color palette but no particular signature motif.

Forests and trees can also be a wonderful place to get inspired for your wedding cake. Deeper colors in a natural palette work best. This is a good motif for an earthy wedding where the bride wears a non-traditional gown and unique handmade wedding jewelry. A deep rich chocolate cake dragged with a utensil to create a “tree bark” effect would be marvelous for a woodland reception. You can decorate it with fresh flowers in deep colors like purple, or whimsical decorations such as marzipan mushrooms and even tiny fairies. A different approach to a forest inspired cake would be to have the baker handpaint a graceful tree growing up the tiers of the cake. This is an elegant take on the woodsy theme.

There are many more possibilities for a nature inspired wedding cake. You could recreate the nautical beauty of pearlescent seashells for a beach wedding. Paint the cake to resemble a gentle meadow filled with wildflowers or have the frosting swirled to look like ocean waves. Whatever it is in nature that most fills you with joy, use that as your starting point to create a very special wedding cake that you will absolutely adore.

Author Bio: Bridget Mora writes for Silverland Jewelry about weddings, style, and etiquette. At http://silverlandjewelry.com/,we offer an exquisite collection of handmade wedding jewelry for everyone in the bridal party. All jewelry orders over $99 receive free shipping, so visit today!

Category: Marriage
Keywords: handmade wedding jewelry, wedding cakes, nature theme wedding cakes