14 Yummy (and Cheap!) Wedding Cake Alternatives

Part 1/2

A bride’s wedding cake is one of the most important (and expensive) features of her wedding reception. So what do you do if you don’t even like cake, or just think cake is boring? Or what do you do if you’re shocked to discover the prices at your local bakery? It might be time to consider some wedding cake alternatives.

Remember, this is your wedding, and you don’t have to have a wedding cake if you don’t want one! But your guests will be expecting something, so you should plan for an alternative. Luckily, there are actually a LOT of fun, yummy, and cheap ideas for wedding cake alternatives out there. We’ve scoured the internet and put together a 2-part list of some of our favorite options!

Here are our first 7 options for yummy (and cheap!) wedding cake alternatives:

1. Cupcakes
2. Cookies
3. Rice crispy treats
4. Breakfast sweets
5. Cinnamon rolls
6. Cheesecake
7. CHEESEcake

1. Cupcakes

Obviously, our list of wedding cake alternatives is going to start with cupcakes. Cupcakes are one of the most popular desserts, and we’re not surprised.  

If you’re wanting an alternative to a classic wedding cake that doesn’t veer too far from traditional, cupcakes are the way to go. Cupcakes are cute and can be decorated any way from quirky to elegant to match the tone of your wedding. 

Cupcakes are delicious, adorable, and an easy crowd-pleaser. They streamline the dessert portion of your reception, as they are already individually portioned and easy for your guests to snatch whenever they want. So there is no cake cutting needed, which makes them way less messy and cleanup is a breeze.

Another reason cupcakes are great is because you can serve multiple flavors. Can’t choose between red velvet, almond, or lemon raspberry flavors? Choose them all! This also helps ensure that most of your guests will be able to pick something they like. Believe it or not, not everyone likes chocolate…!? You can divert the funds you would spend on a cake to the main course you offer while still providing plenty of variety to your guests.

2. Cookies

Cookies make cheap, easy, and delicious wedding cake alternatives. The chocolate chip cookie is one of America’s most iconic treats. You almost can’t go wrong with cookies. Serve up various types for guests to grab. Or if you’re wanting something to cut and serve, construct a cake by stacking large cookies layered with cream in between.

3. Rice crispy treats

Sometimes the cheapest wedding cake alternatives can be the most fun. Using rice crispy treats can be playful, yummy, and super cheap. 

Rice crispy treats are easy to make and mold. So you can serve them classically in easy to grab squares, or form a rounded cake (of sorts) drizzled with icing and accented with flowers. Some people prefer to construct a tiered cake with layers of cream. Play up the flavors by adding cereals like Fruity Pebbles or chocolate. 

And if it all sounds too basic, don’t worry. The presentation can make anything even as simple as rice crispy treats look elegant.

4. Breakfast sweets

One of the most unique wedding cake alternatives is to consider waffles and/or pancakes. 

Pancakes are made to be easy to stack, so they are easy to stack as much and as big as you need to in order to create a larger wedding pancake. You can even layer them with spreads like peanut butter, Nutella, or jams to mix it up a little.  Serve it up with multiple syrup flavors and toppings such as chocolate chips and fresh fruit. 

Wedding Waffles as we like to call them can be served similarly, stacked into one large or multiple mini waffle cakes. Have toppings available such as syrup, fruit, chocolate chips, and whipped cream.

5. Cinnamon rolls

Who would have thought you could use cinnamon rolls as a wedding cake alternative!? But you can. As we’ve explored before with other options, you can make a cinnamon roll “cake” with multiple large cinnamon rolls tapering in size stacked on top of each other. Add layers of cream cheese frosting between them and drizzle the whole thing with icing. Can you say YUM!? Your guests certainly will!

Alternately, you can serve lots of mini cinnamon rolls with warm, fresh icing available to dip them in. This makes easy portions and is a lot of fun for your guests. 

6. Cheesecake

If you’re not a fan of regular cake, consider cheesecake as a wedding cake alternative! Multiple flavors can be layered atop each other, or one flavor can be focused on with fillings layered between. Cheesecake is rich in flavor, so a little goes a long way, making it cost-effective.

If you’re wanting to make it more playful, serve the cheesecake as individual squares or cheesecake bites! Cheesecake bites are cute and elegant at the same time. You can also have multiple flavors to please multiple palates. Make them easy to grab with toothpicks or in individual little paper cups.

7. CHEESEcake

No, we are not repeating ourselves here. We already talked about cheesecake. But what about a cheesecake as one of the most surprising wedding cake alternatives to consider? If you don’t have much of a sweet tooth, serve a cheese and fruit dessert option. 

Cheese, but make it cake! Stack wheels of different cheeses at the base and more varieties towards the top. Garnish and decorate with grapes, figs, berries, dried fruits, etc, have crackers available, and voila! You’ve got a charcuterie wedding cake. Just make sure you have plenty of wine and champagne to pair with it!

Be sure to stay tuned and check out Part 2 of this guide of yummy and cheap wedding cake alternatives!

Love this content and want more? Check out our blog for more wedding planning tips!

Still haven’t found a venue? Give us a call to plan a tour and find out why Jennings Trace could be the perfect wedding venue you’ve been looking for.