Let them NOT eat cake...not at my wedding or my birthday!

So Tuesday was my 37th birthday...or as I refer to it, my last birthday as a single lady :)  I went to work, got lots of birthday wishes on facebook, had dinner with my honey, daughter, mom and sister's family and then came home and sat at the computer with the future hubby.  We chatted about wedding stuff and he finally gave in to the idea of not having the money dance.  Then I got him to agree to register for our honeymoon so guests have a reason to give cash gifts and then I started showing him my latest ideas about the cake.

The cake is the one thing I have really been struggling with. I literally have over 70 images saved on my computer of cake samples.  There's something about each that I like, but there isn't one particular image I've found where I've said "that's the one!"  Not even with some slight modifications.  We did finally agree on one cake that we both love...AND the honey even agreed to have it made in our colors of aqua/turquoise and deep cranberry.  The problem is, our cake is included in our catering package and though the baker who makes the cake for the catering company is pretty good, she is also somewhat an amateur and this is a high end difficult cake.  We already know it will be an upgraded charge to us because it will need to be made with a fondant covering (which we aren't thrilled about but will place over a lot of buttercream frosting to be sure it still tastes good) and my honey may have to construct the 'stand' for it to rest on.  It is the first cake in this slideshow followed by some ideas of other cakes we love. 

Remember that our thought regarding the cake is NON-traditional, funky, fun, still beautiful and maybe even 'mad-hatter' style.

I love that first upside down cake!  It's amazing and so different...the guests will be totally surprised and it even somewhat ties in with the circles graphics from our invitations that will be carried through the stationery and such.

I also have lots of ideas for fun or beautiful decoration of the cake table...my tastes are all over on this one from simple to cover it all!  Of course the cake style will help determine this but here are some ideas:

And finally, I am not much of a cake person anyway.  I didn't even have one on my birthday.  I prefer brownies, ice cream and cupcakes, so I tried to convince the honey to do a cupcake tower.  But he wasn't having it.  The more I think about it, the more I love this idea.  You can let your guests serve themselves without having to wait for the cake to be cut and brought out to them.  You can even allow them to decorate their own cupcakes with different toppings.  They can easily choose a flavor and frosting type.  And today, they are very popular and still elegant and fun and gorgeous.  And, if a guest doesn't want cake at the reception, they can easily grab one to take home with them!  Everyone I share this idea with loves it, except for my Johnny :(

What do you think, ladies?  Which do you like?  What are your plans and hopes for your cake?

Photo credits: Unless indicated by web site on image, photos are from flickr.com, google images