01
Bridal shower cake ideas, in four lines
Size, price, timing and finish before the design.
- Size for 18 guests
- One 10-inch roundServes twenty to twenty-five. An 8-inch works with a full dessert table
- What it costs
- $45 to $80Simple bakery buttercream, as a Revelwick estimate. Fondant and sculpted designs cost more
- Order it
- 3 weeks aheadTwo for a supermarket cake. Allow four weeks in spring and summer
- The finish
- ButtercreamSoft, easy to cut and good to eat. Fondant gives sharp edges for a formal look
02
Bridal shower cake ideas by style
Beautiful cake designs for every theme, from classic to modern.
Classic white with fresh flowers
White or ivory frosting with garden roses or peonies on top. Timeless and elegant.
Floral buttercream
Piped sugar flowers in soft pastels, a feminine choice for a garden or spring shower.
Naked cake with berries
Lightly frosted layers with fresh fruit and greenery, perfect for a rustic or boho shower.
Watercolor cake
Soft brushstrokes of color in the shower palette, with a gold leaf accent.
Modern geometric
Clean lines, a hexagon shape or sharp fondant edges for a modern bride.
Vintage piped cake
Heart shaped or round with ruffled piping, bows and cherries, a playful retro look.
Drip cake
A chocolate or colored drip over a smooth frosting, topped with macarons or florals.
Ombre cake
Frosting that fades from white to blush or blue, a bright and cheerful design.
Metallic accents
Gold or silver leaf on a white cake for an elegant, glam shower.
Rosette cake
Piped rosettes covering the cake, easy for a bakery and lovely in photos.
Lemon cake
A lemon cake with lemon slices and white flowers for a citrus themed shower.
Chocolate cake
A chocolate layer cake under a white or blush finish, a crowd pleaser for any celebration.
03
What a bridal shower cake costs, by finish
Revelwick estimates for eighteen guests, by finish. Bakery prices vary by region.
$25
Supermarket, plain, flowers added at home
A plain finished cake plus about eight dollars of fresh flowers put on an hour beforehand.
$45
Bakery buttercream, simple
About two dollars fifty a serving. Good value and good to eat.
$63
Fondant, simple design
Roughly three dollars fifty a serving, for sharp edges and a smooth surface.
$81
Sculpted or carved
Four dollars fifty a serving and upward, for a dress or gift box shaped cake.
$108+
Pre-made commercial
The floor for ordering a designed cake online, running past three hundred and seventy. A large premium for a design somebody else chose.
The cake sits inside a total host bill of about three hundred and forty dollars at eighteen guests, so a two hundred dollar cake is most of the food budget. That is a choice worth making deliberately rather than by scrolling.
$8
Of fresh flowers
Does most of what a cake decorator charges sixty for.
Order a plain cake and add three or four food safe, unsprayed flowers an hour before guests arrive, kept out of the cut portion. A few minutes and a few dollars give the look of a decorated cake.
04
Five bridal shower cake ideas that work, six to skip
Sorted on value, and on whether a cake is as good to eat as it looks.
Worth doing
- Plain buttercream, fresh flowers on topGood value, and it photographs close to the expensive versions.$45 plus $8
- A single ten-inch roundFeeds twenty to twenty-five, which suits a shower of about eighteen.
- One piped line of textA name and a date, piped rather than printed. Cheap, personal, and it is what makes the photo specific to this shower.
- A naked cake with berriesNo fondant, no icing to scrape, and it looks deliberately unfussy rather than cheap.About $50
- A heart or square shapeA shape change costs almost nothing at a bakery and does more for a photograph than an extra tier does.
Skip
- Two tiers for eighteen guestsRoughly forty portions. The second tier is for the photograph and it goes home with the host.
- A sculpted dress-shaped cakeFour dollars fifty a serving and upward, and priced for the look rather than the taste.
- Printed edible photographsThey read flat in a photo, which defeats the purpose, and they taste of paper.
- An ambitious flavorA room with a wide age range is easier to please with vanilla, lemon or chocolate. Save the adventurous flavor for a second small cake.
- Glitter or metallic dustCheck it is food grade, and even then it ends up on eighteen sets of fingers and on the tablecloth.
- Delivery on the morningA Saturday delivery window is one more thing to wait on. Collect it yourself.
05
How to choose a bridal shower cake
Flavors, theme and colors, size, fondant or buttercream, sayings, timing and alternatives.
A bridal shower cake is dessert and a centerpiece for photos with the bride. The best cake suits the bride's favorite flavors, the shower theme and colors, and the number of guests, and it does not need to compete with the wedding cake.
Start with the bride's favorite flavors
Ask the bride what she loves. Vanilla with berries, lemon, chocolate and red velvet with cream cheese frosting suit most guest lists. For a more adventurous flavor, order a small second cake or a tray of cupcakes alongside a classic one.
Match the theme and colors
Bring the shower colors into the frosting, the flowers or a ribbon around the base. A garden shower suits florals, a tea party suits a vintage piped cake, a something blue shower suits a pale blue ombre, and a modern shower suits clean white with gold accents.
Size and servings
A ten-inch round serves twenty to twenty-five guests in dessert portions, which suits a shower of about eighteen. If there is a full dessert table, an eight-inch round is enough. A two tier cake for eighteen guests leaves a lot over.
Buttercream or fondant
Buttercream is soft, easy to cut and good to eat, and a smooth buttercream finish photographs beautifully. Fondant gives sharp edges and sculpted shapes for a formal look and costs more per serving.
Fresh flowers and toppers
Fresh flowers are an easy way to decorate a plain cake: use food safe, unsprayed stems, wrap the ends, and keep them out of the cut portion. A simple acrylic topper with Mrs, the bride's name or a heart is another affordable touch.
Bridal shower cake sayings
Keep it short: Bride to be, Showered with love, From Miss to Mrs, Love is sweet, or the bride's first name and the date. Use her first name if she is not changing her last name.
How shower cakes differ from wedding cakes
Wedding cakes feed a large guest list at the end of an evening and are planned months ahead as a centerpiece. Bridal shower cakes feed a small group in the middle of an afternoon, so a single tier, a sweet and simple design, and a flavor different from the wedding cake are the right options. Planning the two together lets the shower cake feel personal without repeating the wedding.
When to order
Order a custom cake about three weeks ahead, four in spring and summer when bakeries are busy with weddings, and two weeks for a supermarket cake. Confirm the pickup time in writing and collect it yourself.
Cupcakes and other desserts instead
A cupcake tower with a small cutting cake on top, a tiered stand of macarons and mini tarts, or a cookie cake all work instead of a traditional cake, with no slicing or plating needed. See bridal shower desserts for more ideas.
One ten-inch round, buttercream, fresh flowers. Then make it hers.
The cake ruleSize and finish
06
Bridal shower cakes, answered
The questions hosts ask before ordering.
What are good bridal shower cake ideas?
A classic white cake with fresh flowers, a floral buttercream cake, a naked cake with berries, a watercolor or ombre cake, or a vintage piped heart cake.
Match it to the theme and colors.
What size cake do I need for a bridal shower?
A ten-inch round serves twenty to twenty-five guests.
An eight-inch works with a full dessert table.
How much does a bridal shower cake cost?
About $45 to $80 for a simple bakery buttercream cake for eighteen, as a Revelwick estimate.
Fondant and sculpted designs cost more.
What flavor should a bridal shower cake be?
The bride's favorite, or a crowd pleaser such as vanilla with berries, lemon, chocolate or red velvet.
Order a second small cake for an adventurous flavor.
Buttercream or fondant for a bridal shower cake?
Buttercream for taste and value; fondant for sharp edges and a formal look.
Buttercream is easier to cut.
What should a bridal shower cake say?
Bride to be, Showered with love, From Miss to Mrs, or the bride's first name and the date.
Keep it short.
When should I order a bridal shower cake?
About three weeks ahead, four in spring and summer.
Collect it yourself.
Can I use cupcakes instead of a bridal shower cake?
Yes. A cupcake tower with a small cake on top works well.
No slicing needed.
Should the bridal shower cake match the wedding cake?
No. A different flavor and a simpler design keep the wedding cake special.
Borrow a color from the wedding if you like.
07
What to read next
The theme where the food does the decorating, the rest of the room, and what the whole afternoon costs.
08
Where these numbers come from
The per serving prices are Revelwick estimates.
What the figures are
Every cost on this page is a Revelwick editorial estimate for a bridal shower of about eighteen guests. It is a starting point for a budget conversation rather than a quote, and prices move, so check the current price before you book anything.
The prices
Per serving figures are Revelwick editorial estimates for buttercream, fondant and sculpted cakes, converted to eighteen guests. We have not costed cakes city by city, and bakery pricing varies by region, so treat the ladder as a shape rather than a quote.