A Complete Guide to Wedding Cake Shapes

When it comes to deciding on the perfect wedding cake, you'll be making quite a few critical decisions. Selecting the most delicious flavor to serve your guests is at the top of this list, but the design of your cake is just as significant. Do you want to make a bold statement with plenty of color or are you opting for something more subtle? Do you want a tall, towering cake, or a mixture of multiple smaller cakes? It’s also important to think about the shape of your wedding cake.

While a round cake is the most traditional choice, there are plenty of other wedding cake shapes to choose from including square and even hexagonal. But what's the best fit for you? Read on for the ultimate guide to wedding cake shapes, with expert insight from professional wedding cake designers.

Wedding Cake Shape Options

Here are the typical choices you'll have when deciding on your wedding cake shape.

Round Wedding Cake

According to Nicole Redd-McIntosh, owner of Nicole Bakes Cakes, the most popular wedding cake shape is round. A round cake can stand on its own as a single-tiered cake, or you can choose to utilize multiple round layers for a tall, stacked cake. This includes everywhere from six-inch round cakes all the way up to 16-inch round cakes.

Square Wedding Cake

While round cakes are typically the most ordered, square cakes come in second and offer a great option for those looking for something different. According to Jasmine Rae, owner of Jasmine Rae Cakes, square cakes take more time and skill to craft than round cakes. Because of the skill required, with a focus on creating sharp corners, square wedding cakes may be higher in cost depending on your cake baker. A square cake will also feed more guests than a round cake of similar size.

Other Wedding Cake Shapes

It is possible to choose a wedding cake shape that is completely unique. “Hexagon is a great shape as well,” says Redd-McIntosh. Petal-shaped wedding cakes have scalloped edges to make them look like flowers. This shape is becoming more popular, especially as they embrace a complex, regal wedding vibe.

According to Rae, her most common requests are for sculptural wedding cakes. “Often couples come to me wanting something that has the basic graduated profile of a wedding cake, but with curves, slight asymmetry, and deeper movements,” she says.

Additional shapes including oval, heart, octagon, and even bundt cakes are also possible depending on your cake baker.

Mixing Wedding Cake Shapes

If you’d love to display an incredible piece of art at your wedding, it is possible to mix and match different shapes. Redd-McIntosh says she loves when a couple asks for a mixture of square and round tiers to create an interesting cake.

How to Choose the Best Wedding Cake Shape

To find the best wedding cake shape for your big day, consider the overall aesthetic of your wedding, along with how many servings of cake you need. “Square cakes are great for a minimalist, artistic wedding—a wedding that is streamlined and modern,” says Redd-McIntosh. According to Rae, a square cake is also ideal if your cake maker is a painter and needs a large surface to depict their art. Square cakes also offer more servings than a round cake, which is helpful as you determine just how many slices you’ll need. For example, a 10-inch round cake will serve 38 guests, while a 10-inch square cake will serve 50 guests.

A round cake is ideal for those looking for a traditional approach. A mixture of shapes will offer an artistic, unique option and may help to offer additional servings needed for your guests.

As Rae says, overall, it’s all about tuning into how you and your partner want to feel at your wedding. “If it's a formal affair, designing clean, symmetrical, skillful lines would be in alignment with the couple's intention," she says. "If it's a deeply emotional event, or celebratory of the artisanship of the vendors, letting the cake maker decide would achieve the intention.”