Photo: Gia Canali
Choosing a wedding cake design is one of the most fun parts of the planning process (our wedding-cake gallery is full of delicious cake inspiration). One of the prettiest and simplest ways to decorate your cake is with fresh flowers—usually ones that might also have been used in your bridal bouquet and throughout the rest of the wedding. But is it sanitary to decorate your cake with fresh blossoms? Our wedding etiquette experts are here to answer your wedding-cake questions in our daily post.
I love the look of a simple wedding cake decorated with fresh flowers and greenery. But is that sanitary since there might be pesticides and dirt?
Talk to your wedding florist—he or she will be able to tell you which flowers are suitable choices to use as your wedding cake decorations. If you're concerned about the flowers being dirty, don't worry—florists are careful to meticulously clean each bloom that is intended for your cake. If you're decorating the wedding cake yourself (or have assigned that task to a friend or family member) and want to know how to properly clean the flowers, give each bloom a clean snip at the stems and rinse each flower carefully in cool water. You can also use plastic wrap to carefully wrap and cover each stem if it will need to be inserted into the cake. Or, you could ask your cake baker to place tier separators between each layer of cake; then you could decorate the space between the tiers with small arrangements of flowers. This way, the fresh flowers won't come into contact with your dessert.