It seems like the wedding cake topper is either something brides and grooms do not think about or they just have no idea what they want. I find this totally understandable because there are SO many overwhelming options to choose from! Some are beautiful and fun and some are way too corny or far too expensive. I believe that your cake topper can be broken up into six different categories!
The Bride and Groom
The Bride and Groom cake toppers have come a long way from the porcelain bride and groom that stand comfortably too straight without a smile on their faces. After paroozing through the magazine section of Borders, I came across Weddingstar. This magazine and website has some great unique Bride and Groom cake toppers. They have everything from military, to sports players, to brides wearing the pants. If you are looking for something comical and something that relates to you this would be a great place to check out cake toppers.
{Images from Weddingstar.com}
Customized Bride and Groom
Choosing a customized Bride and Groom is a great way to bring personality to your wedding cake. There are so many amazing artists that create customized cake toppers just from a picture. A fantastic website to find these amazing toppers is Etsy. If you do not know what Etsy is already, it is a great website where people buy and sell handmade items. I explored Etsy and searched "Customized Wedding Cake Topper" and here are a couple of shops I really liked!
{Images to left Hildoom shop, top right The Enchanted Cupboard shop, middle right danelionland shop, bottom right Star House shop}
Vintage
Vintage themes at weddings seems be to be a current trend. This trend can continue on to your wedding cake! If you are lucky enough to have your grandparents or even parents wedding cake topper it would be so amazing to use it on your wedding cake. But if you are not one of the lucky people who possess a vintage cake topper, you can find so many beautiful ones online! I found this fantastic website Fancy Flours. This website has vintage cake toppers from as far back as the 1920's. Here are some examples of different toppers found on their website.
{Images from Fancy Flours}
Totally Customized
For a totally customized look for your wedding cake you pick a place or object and either make it yourself or possibly find a model maker to create it for you! This topper could be the place where you got engaged, a car you both love, or the place you met. This is actually what I chose to do for my own wedding. Lucky enough my husband is an architectural engineer and loves building models. We got engaged at Spring Point Lighthouse in South Portland, Maine. Jay (my husband) spent hours buidling this beautiful light house including a working beacon light! It was a great addition to our wedding cake and it totally personalized it.
{Image from Clare Norton Photography}
Love Birds
Birds is a very common cake topper - the whole "Love Bird" thing! I ventured back to Etsy and found some great original and unique bird wedding cake toppers.
{Images top left Little Vale, middle left Savage Art Work, bottom left Red Light Studio, top right Rain's End, and bottom right Goody Devi}
Flowers and Ribbon
Using flowers and ribbon is a traditional cake topper most brides and grooms choose to use for their cake. It is a great way to keep your reception cohesive and use the beautiful flowers you have chosen for your special day. When it comes to the flowers, you can work with your florist who can create a beautiful topper for your cake or with our baker. Personally, I have done many flower cake toppers for wedding cakes I have created. Also instead of using real flowers you can also use sugar flowers. Any flower can be created using fondant or gum paste that will create a beautiful edible topper! A ribbon bow is also a great way to top your wedding cake. This bow can be made from fabric ribbon or out of fondant or gum paste.
{Images by yours truly!}
Hopefully these sights and images help you in your decision for cake toppers!