Cascading Sunflowers Wedding Cake (2024)

This Cascading Sunflowers Wedding Cake is perfect for a beautiful, outdoor summer wedding or a rustic fall wedding. The cake was strawberry with cream cheese frosting, and the edible sunflowers were made from gum paste.

I've been in the cake business for 13+ years and I've never made any Sunflower Wedding Cakes. Until this one... and I could not love it more than I do! So, let me share the details with you.

Cascading Sunflowers Wedding Cake

First, it was a solid white wedding cake. It didn't even have a ribbon or border around the bottom of each tier. It was simply decorated with edible flowers and leaves.

Initially, I thought the bride wanted edible frosting flowers, but after our consultation, I realized she wanted sugar flowers and I started looking at sunflower cakes for inspiration.

There were a lot of cakes with fresh flowers, buttercream flowers, and fondant or gum paste flowers... but we nailed down the look she liked and I was SO excited to make it come to life.

Also, this is a small wedding cake. The tier sizes are 4-inch, 6-inch, 8-inch, and 10-inch. I baked all the cakes in my favorite Magic Line pans. Each tier has two layers of a cake and a generous half-inch layer of cream cheese buttercream frosting in between.

The couple invited around 60 guests but they wanted to save the top tier and the bride really wanted an elegant, beautiful cake. After looking at different tier cakes, they decided on 4 tiers and a total of 80 servings.

Speaking of servings - if you want to save HOURS of time when quoting clients, grab a copy of my Cheat Sheets ebook. Read more about it here.

Cheat Sheets for Cake Servings:

Sunflowers Wedding Cake Recipes

If you want the recipes I used for this cake, click the links below:

• Strawberry Cake - I used to avoid baking a strawberry cake for tiered cakes until I started using this recipe. It's sturdy and delicious, and my clients rave over it!
• Cream Cheese Frosting - This stiffer version of cream cheese frosting is perfect for smooth-frosting cakes, piping, and more!

Sugar Sunflowers

While I'd love to take credit for the stunning flowers on this cake, I actually ordered them on Etsy. And they were incredible. I couldn't have loved them more even if they were fresh sunflowers. I had never previously used this shop, but my only complaint was they arrived rather close to my event date.

As many of you know, I never made a ton of sugar flowers, but after my hand surgery, I stopped making them altogether. I can support so many great small businesses by buying them and still get quality sugar flowers.

So, to explain - I ordered the flowers a full month ahead of time and specified when I'd need them. Then I went on vacation and another out-of-state trip, only to realize when I got home they had not been shipped! And it was the Monday before the Saturday wedding. AAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!

I panicked and reached out to the shop owner immediately. She did ship by Wednesday (Express Mail), and they arrived the day before the wedding, but that was cutting it way too close for me.

Other than that hiccup - I could not have been happier with these beautiful flowers. They were so gorgeous, well-made, and affordable. She even included a couple of extras, which I greatly appreciated.

If you're one of those decorators (like me) that needs sunflowers and don't make them yourself, I'd highly recommend CherisSweets on Etsy! Just check on them to ensure they're shipped in time for your event.

On a separate note - I ordered the sunflower leaves separately from Wholesale Sugar Flowers. I order sugar flowers and leaves from there often and I'm always satisfied!

Delivering the Sunflowers Wedding Cake

When I dropped off this beautiful wedding cake, I didn't get to see it fully set up. It was so hot and the clouds were threatening rain so I left it inside the groom's home.

I did catch a glimpse of some sunflower decor and maybe a sunflower wedding cake topper but this is how I left the cake:

Have I told you guys how much I love the Sugarworks Cake Porters? I have 4 of them. Yes, FOUR. Since purchasing them in 2021, I've kicked myself for not buying them years sooner.

They are a lifesaver for someone like me who has to deliver 99% of my wedding cakes 30-60 miles away. And in Mississippi, no less, where it's summertime heat about 9 months out of the year. When I delivered this Sunflowers Wedding Cake, it was over 90°F and 100% humidity when I arrived at the reception location.

Since buying my cake porters, I do my best to finish all wedding cakes the night before (or at least a few hours earlier), chill them, then go straight from the fridge to the box. That way, they stay solid and cold all the way to the venue!

I have a quick video of my hubby unloading the cake below. We place flat ice packs between the insulated inside box and the outside cover and after driving an hour, it still feels like a fridge inside the box when we open it up!

Video:

I transported all of the assembled parts in my Cake Porter boxes.

Before I wrap this up... here are a few common questions about sunflowers and wedding cakes:

FAQ:

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More Rustic Wedding Cakes

• White Wedding Cake with Cascading Fresh Flowers
• Rustic Naked Wedding Cake with Fresh Fruit (and how I almost ruined the wedding - twice!)