A lawn, a marquee, a farm paddock or a backyard strung with lights: outdoor weddings are gorgeous, and a wedding cake looks wonderful in the middle of one. They also come with sun, humidity, wind and a very long afternoon, and a cake has opinions about every one of those.
The good news is that a beautiful cake and a hot day get along very well when you plan for it. I've spent decades as a pastry chef, and these days I bake wedding cakes in my Smiths Lake kitchen near Forster and deliver them across NSW. Here is what I'd want every couple planning an outdoor or summer wedding to know.
The short version
For an outdoor or summer wedding, choose fillings and icing that cope with heat, keep the cake cold until it is needed, display it in proper shade and cut it soon after it comes out. The exact timing depends on your cake's ingredients, filling, covering and the weather on the day, so ask your cake maker for display instructions that suit your wedding.
Why Heat Is Tough on a Wedding Cake
Heat softens buttercream and ganache, humidity can leave fondant sticky, and wind dries out cake edges and sends toppers for a wander. Moving a cake from a cold room straight into a hot, humid afternoon can also make it sweat, which is called condensation. That is why a plan matters more than any single trick.
Choose a Cake That Suits the Weather
Your flavour and finish choices make a bigger difference than most couples expect. This is exactly the kind of thing we sort out together in a Cake Consultation.
Fillings: what copes and what needs care
Tends to hold up better
- Fruit conserves
- Firm ganache
- Italian meringue buttercream
Needs more care
- Whipped cream
- Mousse
- Custard
- Fresh-cut fruit
The second list is not off the menu. It just means a shorter time on display, careful cold storage and a chat with your cake maker first. Browse the Flavours, Icings & Fillings page, then bring your favourites to your consultation.
Buttercream, fondant or semi-naked?
Each has strengths. Italian meringue buttercream, like my White Chocolate Italienne Meringue Buttercream, is silky and sturdier than a basic icing-sugar buttercream, though no icing enjoys full sun. Fondant gives a smooth protective shell, but it can turn sticky or sweat in humid weather. A semi-naked finish looks relaxed and pretty, with less covering between the cake and the elements. None of them is bulletproof, so the display plan matters as much as the choice.
Cheesecake wedding cakes
A cheesecake wedding cake is a cold-set dessert, which makes it a dream for dessert lovers and a little more demanding outdoors. It wants the fridge until close to serving and a shorter spell on display. It can be done beautifully: see Hannah & Taylor-Reign's cheesecake wedding cake for one in real life.
Pick the Right Spot for the Cake Table
Where the cake sits matters as much as what is inside it. Walk your venue with these in mind:
Cake table checklist
- Shade for the whole display time. The sun moves, so check where the shade will be at cutting time, not just at set-up.
- Away from BBQs, heaters, hot vehicles and sun-baked walls.
- A sturdy, level table, because grass and gravel can wobble.
- Out of the wind, with decorations that will not take off.
- Away from foot traffic, excited small guests and curious dogs.
Plan the Timing: Display, Cut, Serve
The longer a cake sits out, the harder it has to work. As a rough guide, a smaller cake can be displayed for about an hour before cutting, and a larger three-tiered cake can usually stay out for longer. The right answer depends on the ingredients, filling, covering, the temperature and the weather, so follow your cake maker's instructions, especially at outdoor or hot-weather weddings.
A simple run of events
- The cake stays in cold storage until it is needed.
- It comes out shortly before photos and cutting.
- It is cut soon after, and many couples plan this around the speeches.
- Any leftovers go straight back into the fridge.
Sort Out Cold Storage Before the Day
An established wedding venue usually knows how to receive, store and serve a tiered cake. At a farm, a backyard or a community hall, nobody can assume there is fridge space for one. Check early and measure it. A spare fridge, a caterer's coolroom or a hired mobile coolroom can all work.
At Nat & Elliot's wedding on their private farm in Burrell Creek, the cake went straight into a mobile coolroom and stayed there until it was needed. We also settled four questions well before the day, and they are worth asking at any wedding without a full catering team:
Settle these early
- Who is in charge of the cake on the day?
- Where will it be stored, and is there room?
- When does it go on display, and for how long?
- Who is cutting and serving it?
You can read the whole story in Nat & Elliot's vintage wedding cake.
Flowers, Toppers and Little Extras
Fresh flowers wilt in the heat, so ask your florist to add them as close to display time as they can. Any stems that touch or sit near the cake need to be food-safe and properly barriered, because not every pretty flower is safe to eat from. Delicate sugar pieces can soften in humidity, so choose sturdier decoration for steamy days.
Wet or Windy? Have a Plan B
Summer in NSW loves a surprise storm. Decide where the cake goes if the weather turns (inside, under a solid roof or at least out of the wind) and who will move it. A cake can cope with a lot. There is a real story of one that made it through torrential rain in How Your Wedding Cake Travels Safely to You.
Questions to Ask Your Cake Maker
Bring these to your consultation and you will have the whole plan sorted in one conversation:
Your cake maker question list
- How long can this cake be on display in the weather we are expecting?
- Which fillings and icing would you choose for a hot day?
- Does the cake need to stay refrigerated, and until when?
- What do you need from the venue: table size, shade, cold storage?
- Who is setting the cake up, and who is my contact on the day?
Planning an Outdoor Wedding? Let's Talk Cake Dreams!
Book a Cake Consultation and we will choose flavours, a finish and a display plan that suit your venue, your date and your guests.