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Updated Jul 16, 202415 Heart-Shaped Wedding Cakes That Are Extra-Adorable
Eat your heart out with these cute confections.
Design: Tiana Crispino
If there's one trend we've been fangirling over, heart-shaped wedding cakes are it. The colorful cakes, which have been flooding our Pinterest suggestions and FYPs for months, pull inspiration from vintage desserts and the super-decadent Rococo style of the 18th century. (Rest in peace Marie Antoinette, you would've loved this trend.) With their pastel color palettes, over-the-top flourishes and whimsical shape, heart-shaped cakes are a unique wedding cake idea compared to more traditional designs. You'll need to work with a specialized wedding cake baker to nail this highly detailed look (head over to The Knot Vendor Marketplace to start your search), but the end result is beyond worth it.
In this article:
Heart-Shaped Wedding Cake Ideas
Need ideas? We've got 15 heart-shaped wedding cakes to browse to your heart's content.
1. Pink, Red and White Cake with Glitter Cherries
This type of wedding cake is all about leaning into the maximalist look, so you don't need to worry about holding back on the design. Pile on the details with two-tone piping, latticework and cherries covered with edible glitter.
2. 'Just Married' Red and White Cake
This heart-shaped wedding cake perfectly walks the line between trendy and traditional. Since the heart shape automatically makes it feel of-the-moment, you can opt for a classic black and white color palette with pops of red to counteract the super-trendy look.
3. Pink Cakes with Extra Piping
Why stop at one cake when you can have multiple? Instead of using stacked cake tiers like a typical wedding cake, serve a collection of single-tier heart-shaped cakes to make sure there's enough slices to go around. They'll look amazing when displayed together as a collection on your dessert table.
4. Heart-Shaped Wedding Cake with Roses
Dainty piping looks oh-so-cute with other feminine details, like teeny icing rosettes. On this two-tier heart-shaped cake, the roses match the cherries with their bright red hue, but you could try them in any color depending on the look you want. We even think they'd look pretty in white for a monochromatic effect.
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5. Lover-Inspired Cake
You know we had to include this Taylor Swift-inspired masterpiece. With its ethereal lavender, white, pink and gold color palette, plus the butterflies on top, this heart-shaped cake was tailor-made for a Lover-themed bridal shower or reception.
6. Wedding Date Cake
Add a simple inscription of your wedding date to the top of the cake for instant, one-of-a-kind personalization.
7. Elegant White Cake with Cherries
Tap into a timeless vibe by decorating a two-tiered heart cake with elaborate piped icing and a halo of cherries for a pop of color.
8. Monogrammed Heart-Shaped Cake
Aside from your wedding reception, this adorable dessert would be perfect for an engagement party cake or rehearsal dinner.
9. Wedding Cake and Matching Cupcakes
This heart-shaped wedding cake is decorated with burgundy rosettes that give it a moody, sultry look—and a perfect opportunity to serve matching cupcakes. Decorate the cupcakes with the same type of hand-piped flowers for a coordinating dessert spread.
10. Pink and Red 'Just Married' Cake
With a Barbiecore-inspired color palette of pink and red, this charming cake is serving all the retro vibes. The 'just married' detail is short, sweet and on-point.
11. Simple Heart-Shaped Cake
If your style is more clean and contemporary, you can still join in on the heart-shaped wedding cake trend. Recreate this modern heart-shaped wedding cake by skipping the frilly embellishments and ruffled icing in favor of smooth buttercream and tonal hand-piping on top.
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12. Heart-Shaped Bridal Shower Cake
Surprise the bride-to-be with a custom heart-shaped bridal shower cake made just for her. If she's taking her partner's last name, 'Future Mrs.' is a cute addition to edible pearls or other decorations.
13. Single-Tier Heart-Shaped Wedding Cake
We love the old-school diner vibe of this design. Along with putting the cherries on top, you can add them around the base to spruce up an ordinary cake board.
14. Monochromatic Red Cake
You need this cake if you're planning a Valentine's Day wedding or proposal. Red on red makes a bold statement, but you can add contrast by choosing a vanilla sponge cake and white filling for the inside.
15. Love Quote Cake
Pick a favorite love quote or special phrase that you and your partner always say to each other, then add it to your cake along with your initials or wedding date.
Heart-Shaped Wedding Cake Decorating Tips
Your wedding cake baker will be the expert in all things heart-shaped cakes, but because this type of design is so distinct, it does take a little bit of extra planning. Here are a few tips and tidbits to consider when you're deciding how you want your heart-shaped wedding cake to be decorated.
Choose a baker who's done this before.
No matter what kind of wedding cake you choose, it's important to work with an experienced baker—all wedding cakes need special preparation and construction to make sure they don't crumble at the first slice. But if you're choosing a heart-shaped cake, it's extra-important to find a pro who has plenty of experience. Not only is the shape of the cake different from the average wedding cake, but the decorations are more involved, too. It takes a lot of practice to nail the specific technique of layering the piping and flourishes that make heart-shaped cakes so iconic, so we recommend working with a baker who already knows how to ace the design.
For the design, more is more.
Heart-shaped wedding cake designs usually consist of lots of intricate details and decorations—more than you'd usually find on other wedding cakes. The technique, called overpiping, was created by British baker Joseph Lambeth in the early 20th century. Your baker will use a variety of cake piping tips to create scallops, dots and swirls of icing along the border of the cake, giving it the distinctive look that we love. Don't be afraid to pile on the details (and colors!) because maximalism is the goal here.
Avoid competing desserts.
This type of cake deserves to be the centerpiece of your dessert table. It will make a statement all on its own, but if you do decide to serve other desserts, try not to have them outshine the star of the show: your heart-shaped cake. Keep the rest of the sweets relatively simple and complementary, like matching cupcakes or cookies.
Finish with a custom message on top.
Heart-shaped wedding cakes have more surface area on the top tier compared to other wedding cakes, which gives you the perfect opportunity to add customization, like a hand-piped monogram, a short love quote or your wedding date.
