A modern wedding cake is a thing of beauty, covered in fondant or butter cream icing with doves, cherubs, lace, and flowers galore. It should be placed as the  centerpiece of the room where the reception is held, although it should be in a place well out of the way of boisterous dancers.

It will serve as part of the decoration and as dessert. It’s also the central piece in one of the traditions associated with the wedding: the cutting of the cake, when the bride and groom join hands and cut their first piece of dessert to be enjoyed as husband and wife.

You may want to take as much care in choosing your cake as you did in choosing your dress. Top bakers are booked up months in advance, so if you want the very best, start your cake quest early. Talk with the chef who will be baking your cake about flavors and styles to choose from. The wedding cake, often a tiered affair, is a miracle of modern architecture, or perhaps sculpture, requiring columns, supports, and icing to hold it together.

You certainly want to make sure yours is created  by a professional who knows what she’s doing. Insist on seeing pictures of cakes this person has created before.

Here is a Piece of advice: piece of advice: “You can have it all. You may see an elaborately decorated cake in the bakery window or in the bakery’s portfolio and think it’s a thing of beauty and exactly what you want for your wedding. But if that bakery makes their cakes from mixes or otherwise cuts corners, you and your guests will be disappointed in the taste.

Insist on a taste test. If you are considering different flavors or varieties, taste each one. Beauty and flavor, that’s what it takes to make a superla tive wedding cake.

“Make it a point to observe actual cakes they are delivering that week too, not pictures of cakes they baked last year. Excellent chefs who take pride in their work know they are only as good as the cake they just baked.”