How Much Is a Wedding Cake for 200 Guests? (How To Order)

Do you know how much a wedding cake for 200 guests costs? this is one of the questions our readers ask a lot. Well, we´ve got you covered.

Ordering a wedding cake can be a long and overwhelming albeit exciting process. There are a lot of flavors, ingredients, and sizes to choose from as well as extra customizations and add-ons.

So, how much is a wedding cake for 200 guests? An average 4-tier cake for 200 wedding guests can cost anywhere from $800 to $1000, depending on lots of factors. However, for 200 guests, there are several tier combinations for a wedding cake that you can choose. These depend on the shape (round or square) and can be 3 to 5 tiers in size.

Read on to discover more about wedding cakes for 200 guests. Happy reading!

Table of Contents

What sizes do wedding cakes typically come in?

Wedding cakes usually come in two shapes: round and square. The size of the cake can vary, from 6 inches to a whopping 16 inches. Some cakes can be even bigger.

To serve a large number of people, wedding cakes are created in a tiered formation, with the largest layer at the bottom and the smallest one at the top.

Square cake tiers can serve more people for the same width than round cake ones due to the significant difference in volume.

Here is a list of some common cake sizes and an estimate of the number of people they can serve:

6-inch (round: 12 guests, square: 20 guests)
8-inch (round: 22 guests, square: 32 guests)
10-inch (round: 38 guests, square: 52 guests)
12-inch (round: 56 guests, square: 70 guests)
14-inch (round: 80 guests, square: 98 guests)
16-inch (round: 100 guests, square: 130 guests)

What are some tier combinations for 200 guests?

If you’re choosing a cake for 200 guests at your wedding, there are a number of tier combinations you can consider.

Round cake

Combination 1 (5 tiers): 6-inch, 8-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch, 16-inch = approx. 208 servings

Combination 2 (3 tiers): 16-inch, 14-inch, 10-inch = approx. 218 servings

Square cake

Combination 1 (3 tiers): 10-inch, 12-inch, 14-inch = approx. 220 servings

Combination 2 (4 tiers): 6-inch, 8-inch, 10-inch, 14-inch = approx. 202 servings

How much does a wedding cake for 200 guests cost?

In the US, the average cost of a wedding cake is around $350-400. On the lower end, they can cost as low as $150, while fancy, expensive ones can cost more than $1000!

The cost depends on many factors, including the size of the cake, number of tiers, time, city and area, the ingredients used, decorations, and extras.

In some cases, you may also have to pay to transport the cake from the shop to the wedding venue if it is too big.

As a rough estimate, a 4-tier cake enough for 200 guests can cost anywhere between $800-1000 on average. Again, there are a lot of factors that might affect this price.

How do I order a wedding cake?

Here are a few steps to help you order a cake for a wedding.

Pick the flavors, ingredients, and decorations you want. You should also decide if your cake should be gluten-free or vegan.
Choose the size of your cake and the number of tiers, based on the number of guests that are coming.
You can customize your cake by adding special decorations.
Get in touch with your bakery to work out the best possible delivery date and time.
Take a deep breath and relax!

What are some important things to consider when ordering a wedding cake?

Besides the design of the cake itself, there are a few other important things to consider before ordering one.

Firstly, consider whether you’ll be serving additional desserts at the wedding. If that is the case, you’ll need to order a lot less cake — perhaps as much as 50 percent less.

Secondly, you might want to think about the number of cakes you’ll be having. If you’re having multiple cakes, divide the total required number of slices between them accordingly.

How do I save money on a wedding cake?

Wedding cakes that serve a couple of hundred people tend to cost a lot. It is great then if you can find ways to save money on the cake without being too frugal or ordering significantly less cake than required.

One of the best ways you can save money is by serving smaller slices. Large slices are often too much for some people and may not be completely eaten.

Smaller slices ensure that the cake is not wasted while also reducing your overall cost.

Another way to save costs is to add a couple of tiers of fake cake. These are usually layers of Styrofoam and make your cake look bigger than it is.

This way, the cake looks great in photoshoots and also usually gets completely eaten, instead of some going to waste. A win-win situation.

When should you order a wedding cake?

The best time to order a wedding cake is 4-5 months before the wedding day. This will ensure you have plenty of time to decide the size, number of tiers, flavors, decorations, ingredients, etc.

This also means you’ll have time to make any changes to the cake’s design in case your preferences change.

Moreover, if your guest count increases or decreases due to any reason, you can change the size of your cake easily, instead of doing the same at the eleventh hour.

If you order your cake a few days or hours before the event, you’ll have to deal with a lot of things such as flavors and ingredients availability, delivery times, and increased prices.

So, it’s always a good idea to order your cake in advance to deal with any potential changes and make sure there are no problems on the big day.

Conclusion

Wedding cakes come in lots of flavors and sizes and can be expensive. Besides the size, the cost depends on a number of factors such as the ingredients used and customizations added.

Cakes adequate for about 200 guests usually have 3 to 5 tiers and can approximately cost $800 to $1000 on average.

However, there are a few ways you can save money on your cake, ensuring less of it is wasted.

References

https://www.weddingideasmag.com/wedding-cake-tiers-sizes-servings/

https://www.brides.com/wedding-cake-cost-guide-5071392