7 Most Expensive Wedding Cakes
With Sponge Cake Day coming up, it’s time to highlight the cake that has become the base for every cake imaginable, most especially wedding cakes. Sponge cakes are best known for their versatility, making them a favorite among pastry chefs looking to make the most luxurious of wedding cakes. Here are seven of the most expensive wedding cakes to date:
1. The National Gay Wedding Show Cake - $52 Million
The title of “most expensive wedding cake” currently belongs to the cake showcased at the National Gay Wedding Show in 2013, valued at a whopping $52 million. The cake measures five feet tall and features eight layers of sponge cakes stacked on top of each other. Different designs are also incorporated on each layer. Although the cake is praised for its aesthetic, it’s the 4,000 diamonds that give it its massive price tag.
Cake Chester, a bakery based in Chester, England, is responsible for creating this $52 million cake. The patisserie has been commissioning cakes for nearly decades and boasts an impressive client portfolio including former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, former football star Michael Owen, and television celebrity Jay Hutton.
2. LeNovelle Wedding Cake - $500,000
LeNovelle is an Indonesian-baed patisserie renowned for making luxurious super-sized cakes. It made headlines for designing some of the most beautiful cakes in the world referencing pop culture structures including the Cinderella castle and the Grand Budapest hotel. Wedding cakes are also LeNovelle’s specialty, particularly creating a 16-foot cake taking the design of a 17th century castle. The cake was made for a Jakarta couple and cost $500,000.
LeNovelle began as a small store in 1993, eventually rebranding as LeNovelle Cake in 2004 as operations grew. From simple cakes for family and friends, the business soon grew to designing highly-detailed life-sized creations. Although customers won’t have to spend half a million dollars just to purchase a LeNovelle cake, the pastry shop still charges a minimum of $5,000 for every order.
3. Prince William and Princess Kate - $80,000
When it comes to one of the most expensive cakes and by far the most expensive royal wedding cake in history; nothing comes close to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s magnificent eight-tier wedding cake. Specifically, the cake comes with over 900 floral and leaf accents with the flowers considered to be some of the couple’s favorites, including Irish shamrock, English rose, and sugar lily, among others. Fruit cake is used as the base which is a longstanding tradition among royal couples.
The cake, which measures three feet tall and weighing 200 pounds, is created by Fiona Cairns. She runs her own cake business Fiona Cairns Ltd. which is one of the most notable luxury cake shops in the United Kingdom.
4. Gucci Mane and Keyshia Ka’Oir - $75,000
Much like the royal family, Hollywood celebrities are also known to spend lavishly during weddings. Rapper Gucci Mane and model Keyshia Ka’Oir spent around $1.7 million during their wedding in late 2017 with $75,000 spent on the wedding cake alone.
Despite comprising only four tiers, the cake stands at a behemoth 10 feet which resulted in Mane having to cut the cake using a sword. The height wasn’t only the highlight as the cake was also covered in 2,500 Swarovski crystals. Each tier is made from different flavors: red velvet, amaretto, carrot, banana nut, and Jamaican rum.
5. Joe Manganiello and Sofia Vergara - $50,000
Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”) and Joe Manganiello (“Magic Mike”) tied the knot in 2015 and didn’t hold back in spending during their special day. All in all, they spent $4 million with $1 million spent on flowers and decorations, and $500,000 spent on food. From that $500,000, around $50,000 was spent on the wedding cake.
The five-layer cake is designed by Sylvia Weinstock and features a quilted design. It also features a massive floral arrangement where white and ivory flowers are designed in each tier. Weinstock is one of the most notable pastry chefs in the world, boasting a 40-year career crafting desserts for various celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, and Kim Kardashian, among others.
6. Donald Trump and Melania Knauss - $50,000
Considering he was a business tycoon before running for president, it wasn’t surprising for Donald Trump to go all out during his wedding in 2005 to Slovenian model Melanie Knauss. A total of $1 million was spent on the luxurious wedding with $50,000 spent on a five-foot-tall, 200-pound wedding cake. The cake also featured 3,000 iced roses.
Trump and Knauss married at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida where the former president still spends most of his weekends up to this day. In 2017, California-based auction house Julien’s Auctions sold a leftover cake slice from Trump’s wedding for over $2,000.
7. Prince Charles and Princess Diana - $40,000
Prince Harry’s parents also gave themselves a royal wedding to remember, tying the knot in July 1981 in what is still considered to be the most-watched wedding in television history. Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding garnered 750 million global viewers, the most in any televised wedding, even bigger than their two sons William (60 million viewers) and Harry (29 million viewers). Unsurprisingly, viewers were also tuning in to the royal couple’s wedding cake, eventually unveiled to be a stunning heavily decorated cake costing $40,000.
Then-Royal Naval Cookery School head baker David Avery and renowned pastry chef S.G. Sender designed the cake which measured five feet tall and weighed 200 pounds. Among the decorations included flowers, the family coat of arms, and the couple’s initials. A preserved cake slice from one of Queen Elizabeth II’s (Prince Charles’ mother) former staff made its way into auction and sold for £1,850 ($2,565).
Final Thoughts
Although it isn’t mandatory to spend big on wedding cakes, there’s no stopping the rich and wealthy from splurging on these decadent desserts. For them, it’s either go big or go home.
