Wedding cakes can run into hundreds and even thousands of pounds. If you are on a budget but you don’t want the challenge of making a cake yourself from scratch, then why not look at the high street? Depending on the style of cake you want, you should be able to find a decent cake in the high street for the price you have in mind.

Firstly - look at the traditional supermarkets. All of the supermarkets - Morrisons, Asda, Tesco etc. do a range of what they call “special occasion” cakes ranging from a very reasonable £10-20. Now that all of these supermarkets have a ‘finest’ collection, they also tend to do well iced, tasty rich fruit cakes. These are usually available in different sizes too, so you can layer them if you want to create a more traditional tiered cake.

Generally, the supermarket cakes are well presented but come only in plain white, which means that you will need to decorate them yourself. Fortunately, you can do this easily! By browsing eBay or Hobbycraft, you can find tier holders and a selection of glitters, cake gems and foliage at very reasonable prices. For a white cake, rather than going overboard, you could always opt for some very simple green foliage (that is safe to put on a cake!) and a wedding topper - a sugar figurine of a bride and groom or something else that you like.

Waitrose has some high quality cakes that come already iced and decorated. The same goes for Debenhams and John Lewis. These cost a bit more than the standard supermarket cakes, because they look slightly more special and professional, but they cost much less than a completely bespoke cake.

Marks and Spencers is also an excellent choice for cakes - they have a special service where cakes can be made-to-order. You can choose from a whole range of basic cakes, including sponge, fruit, chocolate etc. You can specify the size and the design on the cake and you can leave it white and plain to decorate yourself, or ask them to add some sugar flowers and other decoration. The price is around £150 or so for a 3 tier cake, which compares very well to the prices that wedding cake designers will charge you. Like the other supermarkets, they also have a pre-packed range that you can buy and stack yourself.

At the very top-end of the high street, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols both have exquisite food halls and - not surprisingly - an excellent selection of pre-packed cakes. Selfridges also has a made-to-order service, which can work out very well.

Finally, if you are on a tight budget, don’t dismiss the idea of using good quality cupcakes or chocolate pots arranged in a tiered display that you could serve as dessert or leave on display for guests to help themselves later on in proceedings. You could even bin the idea of “cake” altogether and opt for Krispy Kreme doughnuts (arranged in tiers of course) or for a more continental croquembouche!

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Karen White got married on 5th October 2007. She’s now on a mission to help couples planning their wedding to maximize their wedding budget and achieve the wedding day of their dreams at an affordable price - i.e. without compromising on quality. Visit her website for more great tips for saving money on your Wedding Cake
http://www.SmartWeddingSecrets.co.uk