The average cost of weddings in the United States is around $30,000 at the time of writing. Most professional bakers charge around $500 to $600 for the grand cake, which would make up about 2% of the typical wedding budget. Your union may last forever, but your cake should be mostly cleared out by the end of the night. If you’re on a tight budget, you can find a pretty affordable wedding cake in some unexpected places, but there’s one service that might not be as sweet of a deal as it seems (in its U.S. locations, at least).
Krispy Kreme’s catering service offers a Celebration Bundle designed for weddings, baby showers, and other special events, and a Doughnut Wall Bundle designed to be used on those Pinterest-perfect donut walls. Here’s the catch: They’re the same exact product, and neither one offers anything wedding-specific at all. The fine print reads, “Doughnut wall not included. Sorry, we don’t offer utensils and we cannot accommodate special requests.”
That’s right — no special flavors, frosting, or event favors — just a standard pack of chocolate and glazed donuts big enough to feed 48 guests. While the U.S. locations tend to be lacking on the celebration front, Krispy Kreme U.K. has some rather cute pastry decoration and unique flavors such as White Marble Chocolatta and Strawberry Sundae. There also seems to be a multi-tier wedding donut tower that feeds up to 216 guests, according to the U.K. website.
Krispy Kreme donuts still have a place at weddings
There are some major pros to offering donuts instead of a large cake for guests. One of the biggest cake mistakes people make with their weddings is forgetting to properly refrigerate the cake. No omen is more foreboding than an expensive, melting food mess on the big day. If you’re having an outdoor wedding, donut boxes are compact enough to keep in coolers until the reception.
Krispy Kreme donuts will also be cheaper than a fancy cake on average. If you still want a cake slice, you can get a single tier for you and your spouse and save the donuts for your attendees. It’s easier to grab a pastry with tongs than worry about cutting pristine cake slices for everyone. And some fun facts about Krispy Kreme if you are considering using the company for catering: Multiple locations are certified Kosher, and stores in the U.K. and Australia have vegan options to serve guests of different diets.
By doing a little DIY (or sending a crafty friend or family member to do it), you can build a crowd-pleasing dessert menu with complete creative control — any flavor of frosting with a design that fits your wedding vision. There are some sturdy dessert towers on Amazon, such as the Hayley Cherie 5-Tier Acrylic Cupcake Stand, that you can spray paint to match your color scheme or reuse for other celebrations. Who said you can’t have your donuts and eat them too?
