Nowadays, lucky brides can choose from among an assortment of wedding cakes in all shapes and sizes, colors and costs, flavors and favorites that the brides of yore would have gone into paroxysms of envy. Why? Because they were stuck with baked goodies, of which the crumbs were showered over their heads for good luck!

Still, if you are dissatisfied with these traditional wedding cakes, you can always add pizzazz to them. Here are three trendy ideas to choose from.

Eat Your Cake and Have It, Too!

It can frustrating when at the end of the wedding day, all you have left of your costly cake are photographs and memories. Of course, there is also the traditional cake slice to be mummified, er, refrigerated to be eaten when the first wedding anniversary rolls around.

So, what do you do when you want to have a 3D memento of your cake? You have them sculpted in porcelain, of course! There are artists who will gladly make an exact replica of wedding cakes that are, of course, miniature versions only.

Since this method of preserving your cake in 3D is expensive, often up to $400 each, you might want to re-think the idea. However, if you have the money and you have the desire, then go for it!

Wedding Cake/Wedding Favors

With this idea, you can kill two birds with one stone. On one hand, you have a unique "wedding cake" that guests can rave about for days to come. On the other hand, you can save on wedding costs because this "wedding cake" doubles as wedding favors!

Here's the idea: Favor boxes are shaped like cake slices, which are then filled with your edible wedding favors like candies, chocolates, almonds and even a slice of cake. These favor boxes are arranged into tiers of "wedding cake", decorated with ornaments of your choice like silk flowers and velvet fruits and wrapped in colorful ribbons. You can then "slice" the cake and give the favors to guests in the traditional manner!

Another idea: You can have favor boxes in similar themes as your edible wedding cake and come up with paper cakes! To take it one step further, you can even have these paper cakes printed with the guests' names and table numbers thereby transforming them into favor boxes cum escort cards.

The best thing about these wedding cakes is that you need not worry about the groom dunking your face into them! Now, that would truly make your day.

Skip the Traditional Wedding Cake

In cases where the traditional wedding cakes hold no appeal for you, how about going the alternative route of serving many types of dessert? This way, you can offer your guests variety while fulfilling your desire for uniqueness.

For example, you can opt for your favorite sweet pastries arranged in artful layers or tiered towers. Either way, you will have dramatic effects similar to the elaborate wedding cakes. Besides, not everybody is into carrot cake with fondant icing.

Indeed, when it comes to wedding cakes, your imagination is limited only by your sweet tooth, strict budget and sentimental side!