Cake Topper Preservation

Lately I've heard from several brides that they had a problem with their bakery breaking their cake topper during the delivery of their wedding cake and/or delivering their wedding cake late. 

Breakage seems to be a very common problem and obviously these toppers are fancy breakables that have special significance to the bride and groom so it's even more heartbreaking.  Some were given as a gift, others the bride and groom chose to match their theme or their personalities.  Depending on where you purchase your topper from you can try these ideas:

IF you are using a breakable topper you might want to be sure it gets to your venue via your day of coordinator or someone in your family you trust (or even give it to your venue coordinator).  These is still no guarantee it won't get broken but you have a little more control over it.  Your other option is to have a back up topper that you're OK with if your topper gets broken so you don't end up with a cheesy plastic bride and groom or have your florist make a floral topper that you can use in case of disaster. (You can also make one yourself using silk flowers)

Can you tell I'm big on back up planning?...Yes I'm that bride that gets wedding insurance with no one even twisting my arm! If you just MUST have a special topper that's not a special order get two of them so if something goes wrong you have a backup--expensive? Temporarily--but depending on the bride and groom worth it.  You can always return the extra after the wedding as long as it's not personlized.  Be sure to check the return policy of the store where you make the puchase about their return policy. Consider the height of your cake topper when you are choosing it.  A shorter topper is less likely to 'tilt' than a taller one.  But if you have your heart set on that tall china topper, having a back up is a good idea.

The other cake problem I've heard a lot about is the TIMING of the delivery of wedding cakes.  Get it in your contract that if it's not delivered on time, there's no cost to you.  Granted it isn't foolproof but I bet yours gets there first over anyone else's! Either that or be sure it is delivered prior to the day of your wedding so if there's a problem you have time to deal with it.  These cakes aren't being baked the morning of your wedding so it gives you time for the driver to get lost. 

I approach wedding potential problems the same way I did filing important documents at work--when I worked in an office with another person who was as poorly organized as I was--we had three copies, one to use, one to lose, and one to keep in our files.  See, I told you I was neurotic! But we ALWAYS had what we needed, when we needed it.  For a wedding day that's even more important. 

I know the one job I WOULD NOT want is wedding cake delivery person! The potential for disaster is too high! I'm afraid I'd dump cakes, get lost, and any number of other disasters...some jobs just aren't a good fit for some people.  So remember you delivery person CAN make mistakes and that Murphy's Law will apply on your wedding day just like every other day--