I love wedding cakes that are plain because I love the look of fresh flowers on wedding cakes. I know that shows like Ace of Cakes have made really fancy, fully edible cakes popular but I still love the look of a simple cake that serves as a canvas for more color from fresh flowers.

However, you should remember (and definitely ask your florist about) there are some guidelines as to what flowers you should and should not use on something that will be consumed. There’s no bigger killjoy than having an ambulance show up at your wedding — even if the single ladies think the paramedics are cute.

In terms of decorating a cake, flowers that have bright, colorful blooms and small stems are very popular. That would include roses and orchids — both of which have a variety of very bright blooms in a huge range of colors. Also, there’s a variety of ways flowers can be used to decorate a cake — in between tiers, inserted into the cake, surrounding the cake. You don’t have to worry too much about flowers in between tiers and around the edge of a cake. However, inserting flowers into a cake is a little bit different.

There are certain popular wedding flowers that should not be used anywhere near food. These are:

• Anthurium
• Calla lily
• Delphinium or larkspur
• Hydrangea
• Sweet pea

These I extracted from a list of non-edible poisonous flowers. I know that a lot of these flowers are quite popular with weddings, so its just an FYI to keep these away from your cake. Sorry if I am ruining your fantasy of a cally lily cake!

There are also some guidelines that should be followed when it comes to using flowers inserted into cakes. I’ve seen roses affixed with piks before they begin inserting them into the cake. I’ve also seen flower stems wrapped in foil, which I honestly think is more sanitary (since I’ve seen how piks are stored). And this goes without saying, but should still be spelled out again — before serving the cake, please remove the flowers.

That said, also be careful about decorating your cake yourself. It is not easy — once you insert a stem into a cake, that’s it — there’s no erasing a hole in frosting. So its probably best to let the florist do it. Don’t even let the cake delivery person do it.

If you want to know more about decorating your cakes, check out this article.