Cake Sizes and Servings Guide

This cake sizes and servings guide is designed to help you choose the right size and style of cake for your celebration, based on guest numbers, serving preferences, and budget.

Choosing the right cake size can feel confusing — how many guests will you be feeding? Do you want large slices or small ones?

This guide breaks down portion sizes, servings, and cake size options for weddings and celebrations, so you can confidently choose the right cake for your event and budget.

Choose Your Guide

Cake sizes and portions differ depending on the type of event. Use the guide below that best matches your celebration.

Wedding Cake Sizes & Servings

For weddings, cakes are traditionally served as coffee portions after the main meal, often during the evening reception.

If you’re planning a wedding in Brighton or the surrounding area, you can see examples of my bespoke designs on my Wedding Cakes Brighton page.

Celebration Cake Sizes & Servings

For birthdays, anniversaries and other celebrations, cakes are usually served as dessert portions and cut differently.

Cake Sizes Explained

What is a “Serving”?

Different events traditionally have different serving sizes.

• Coffee portions (traditionally for weddings):
  1 × 1 inch slices — a light finger portion served with coffee.
• Dessert portions (for parties and celebrations):
  2 × 1 inch slices — a more substantial dessert serving.

You don’t have to follow tradition.
Wedding cakes can be served as dessert, and celebration cakes can be cut into smaller portions — this flexibility can help manage both guest numbers and budget.

Wedding Cake Sizes & Servings

The wedding cake-cutting ceremony is one of the few moments enjoyed by all guests, both during the day and in the evening. Traditionally, it takes place in the evening, once all guests have arrived, and helps fuel the celebrations and dancing to come.

How Wedding Cake Size Affects Cost

The number of servings — and therefore the size and number of tiers — is the main factor in determining the overall cost of a wedding cake.

With every wedding cake delivery, I provide a detailed cake size and portion cutting guide, which is usually shared with venue staff to ensure accurate servings.

Sticking to Your Wedding Cake Budget

If you’re working to a budget, you may not need to cater for every guest.

Many couples choose to cater for:

• 90%
• 80%
• or even 70% of guest numbers

This works particularly well for larger weddings (90+ guests), where the cake is primarily for the ceremony and evening celebrations.

How to Make Sure Your Wedding Cake Is Enjoyed

A common reason a wedding cake goes uneaten is simply that guests don’t realise it’s been cut.

Ways to make sure everyone gets to enjoy it:

• Ask the venue to cut the cake immediately after the ceremony and photographs, and display it somewhere visible
• Have catering staff offer slices to guests around the room, similar to canapés

If you’d like a larger cake for visual impact without waste, you could:

• Provide small cake boxes for guests to take a slice home
• Enjoy leftover tiers with friends and family the next day
• Save the top tier for your anniversary
• Serve the cake as dessert instead of coffee

Serving your wedding cake as dessert (for example, with ice cream or berries) ensures every slice is enjoyed and can even reduce overall catering costs.

Note: You’ll need to confirm this option with your venue or caterers.

Wedding Cake Size Guide (Buttercream & Ganache)

Tiers	Servings	Starting From
2-tier	52	£370
3-tier	62	£450
3-tier	85	£590
3-tier	110	£710
4-tier	120	£770
4-tier	154	£1,000

Prices are for standard buttercream or ganache finishes. Final costs may vary depending on design complexity, delivery, and decorative elements.

For a full list of my wedding cake sizes with starting prices, see my pricing page:

Why Wedding Cakes Cost More Than Celebration Cakes?

Wedding cakes are not more expensive due to a “wedding tax”, but because they involve a more complex, full-service process.

They typically require detailed planning, design development, coordination with venues and suppliers, delivery, and setup. Celebration cakes, while made with the same care and quality, involve less administration and logistics, which keeps costs lower.

The Cake Cutting Ceremony

Your cake-cutting photos are often some of the most relaxed and joyful images from the day. Catering for a percentage of guests allows you to manage costs while still enjoying a beautifully designed cake that reflects your style.

I offer tips and advice, and can help with styling your wedding cake on the day.

I’ve also written a helpful blog post on how to make the most of your wedding cake display and cake-cutting ceremony.

Celebration Cake Sizes & Portions

Choosing the Right Size for a Celebration

• Before choosing your cake size, consider:
• Will the cake be served as dessert or alongside other sweets?
• How many guests will it need to serve?
• Are children attending? (They often prefer larger slices.)
• Would you like leftovers to enjoy later?
• Who will be cutting the cake?
• Single-tier cakes are a popular and flexible choice for most celebrations.

Single-Tier Celebration Cake Size Guide

Single Tier Cake Portion Sizes:

Cake Size	Layers	Dessert Servings	Starting From
6 inch	4	12-14	£120
8 inch	3–4	26	£117
10 inch	3	38	£171
12 inch	3	56	£252

Cake Cutting Guide

How Do I Cut the Correct Portions?

Celebration cakes are usually cut into 2 × 1 inch dessert portions.

The way a cake is cut can significantly affect the number of servings, especially if friends or family are cutting the cake rather than trained venue staff.

I’ll always provide clear guidance on how to cut the correct number of servings from your cake. Just let me know how many portions you need when you enquire.

Ordering & Next Steps

If you’re still unsure after using this guide, you’re very welcome to get in touch for personalised advice based on your guest numbers and event plans.

Looking for a fuss-free option?
Try one of my Signature BouCakes for celebrations.

Image credit | Hero Banner & Couple’s Cake Cutting: Stephnaie and Nicole

Image credit | Cake Portions & Celestical Cakes: Yeah Mike Photography

Image credit | Thumbnail: Hopeless Romantic Imagery