Wedding Cakes in New York City

Start with the shape of your day, because it decides almost everything else. A City Hall ceremony followed by lunch for a handful of people calls for a small cake you can carry, cut at the table and photograph. An intimate dinner at a restaurant might suit a single-tier cake or a sheet cake the kitchen serves, as long as the restaurant agrees to it. A full reception usually means a tiered cake, or a small cake for the cutting moment backed up by extra servings, plus a bakery that delivers and sets up.

The cutting itself is still something many couples want. The Knot's 2025 study press release reported cake cutting at 77% of Gen Z couples' weddings and 67% of millennials'. You can keep the tradition with a six-inch cake just as well as with four tiers.

NYC bakeries price in three common ways: a set price per cake size, a starting price per serving, or a custom quote. These examples were read on September 28, 2026, and each bakery's current menu and contract decide the real number.

• Win Son Bakery, Brooklyn and Manhattan: six-inch cake for 16 to 20 servings, $105; eight-inch for 20 to 24, $125; ten-inch for 30, $180; quarter sheet for 24, $150; half sheet for 48, $300; two-tier display cake for about 40, $350; cupcakes, $7 each (pricing PDF).
• Jojo Cakes, Brooklyn: six-inch cake serving 12 to 15 from $75 and eight-inch serving 18 to 22 from $98, both plus delivery; tiered wedding cakes from $10 per serving (custom cakes page).
• Crumb Craft: single-tier cakes from $10 per portion ($12 for premium flavors), multiple tiers from $12 per portion ($14 premium), with an $800 minimum for tiered and double-barrel cakes and $1,200 for cake bars (weddings page).

For comparison, The Knot reports a $540 national average from 10,474 US couples married in 2025, with $300 at the lower quartile, $480 at the median and $840 at the upper quartile. It is useful as a sense of scale, not as a price you should expect in Manhattan or Brooklyn.

Remember that the cake price is rarely the whole bill. Delivery, a stand rental, the venue's cutting fee, tax and any service charge sit on top, and they are covered in the sections below.

Count your guests first, then match the cake to the number of people who will actually eat it. Win Son's published sizes make a useful yardstick, since each one lists its servings:

Serving counts differ between bakeries, so ask each one how many portions a size gives and how large a portion is. Jojo Cakes, for instance, lists its six-inch cake as serving 12 to 15, fewer than Win Son's figure for the same diameter.

For a larger party, a common approach is a small cutting cake for the display and the moment, plus a sheet cake cut in the kitchen. A six-inch cutting cake and a half sheet at Win Son would come to $405 for roughly 64 to 68 servings on those published prices. Ask your venue first whether its kitchen will plate a sheet cake, because not every restaurant will.

Each format solves a different problem, and the right one depends on your guest count, how much the cutting tradition matters to you, how the desserts will be served and how far they have to travel.

A tiered cake gives you the classic look and the cutting moment in one piece. It needs the most planning: bakeries like Jojo Cakes ask for at least 10 weeks, and a tall cake needs careful delivery and setup at the venue.

A cutting cake with sheet cake keeps the display small and the cost per serving lower, and it travels more easily. It works best when the venue's kitchen will cut and serve the sheet cake.

Cupcakes need no cutting or plating, which helps at a venue without much staff. Win Son lists them at $7 each, and some bakeries offer a small cake on top of a cupcake display so you still have something to cut.

A dessert table or cake bar lets guests choose. Bruno's Bakery lists options such as cupcakes, mini pastries, macarons, donuts, cannoli, cake pops, brownies, tarts, bomboloni, churros, madeleines and dessert towers, and asks for wedding orders one month ahead; ask for a quote, since the page lists no prices. Crumb Craft's cake bars start at a $1,200 minimum, and its miniature cakes and desserts are priced by inquiry.

Tastings vary more than most couples expect. Win Son offers three mini cakes for $90. Crumb Craft runs 45-minute virtual tastings at $75 for three cakes or $125 for five, and takes the tasting fee off the final cake. Gateau du Ciel offers tastings for wedding cakes serving 75 or more guests, with three weeks' notice and a $50 fee that can be credited toward an order under its conditions. The Evercake arranges wedding cakes by email and does not offer tastings or in-person consultations. Ask whether the fee is credited, and whether the tasting is in person, virtual or a sample box.

Lead times run from days to months. The Evercake prefers at least four days for signature cakes and one and a half to two weeks for custom cakes, while Jojo Cakes asks for at least 10 weeks for tiered wedding cakes. If you want a detailed design, book toward the longer end.

Deposits follow the same pattern of one bakery, one policy. Bread Plus asks for 50% or more to reserve an event order, with the balance due no later than seven days before the event and pickup at its Brooklyn bakery. Whatever you sign decides the deposit, the balance date, and what happens if you cancel or postpone, so read those lines before you pay.

Delivery depends on the bakery, the order size and the distance. Win Son delivers orders over $350, with fees starting at $75 based on availability. Crumb Craft's delivery starts at $75 based on distance, and it rents cake stands for $25 to $50 with a refundable $50 to $100 deposit. The Evercake charges $25 in Manhattan and from $45 to Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and New Jersey. Knead Love delivers to Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., with order cutoffs for certain days.

That delivery window matters. If your ceremony is at 4 p.m. and the bakery's window is 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., someone at the venue has to be there to receive the cake. Before the order is final, give the bakery the exact address, the loading entrance, the venue's receiving hours and a day-of contact, and confirm who sets up the cake, who supplies the stand, and whether the bakery or the venue provides refrigeration.

Ask your venue about the cake before you sign with a bakery. Some venues allow outside cake and charge to cut it, some limit outside food, and some include a cake in a package. Archer New York allows outside cakes with a $5 per person cutting fee, as read on September 28, 2026. Westside Grill's banquet information, priced as of March 13, 2025, lists a $2 per person cutting fee and its own chocolate cake or New York cheesecake at $6 per person, with tax and a 20% service charge added; confirm the current figures with the restaurant before booking.

On 80 guests, a $5 per person fee is $400 before tax, which can be more than the cake itself. Get these answers in writing:

• Is outside cake permitted, and does the bakery need to send any documents?
• Is the fee charged per guest, per slice or per cake?
• Does it cover cutting, plating, serving and cleanup?
• Is it waived for a bakery on the venue's approved list?
• Can the kitchen serve a sheet cake?
• Is there refrigeration for the cake, and when can it be dropped off?
• Does the venue supply a cake stand and knife?
• Are tax, a service charge or an administrative fee added?

If the venue has no stand or knife, a cake knife and server set or a simple cake stand sized to your cake's diameter is a small purchase that solves the problem.

A dietary label means something specific at each bakery, so ask about the exact cake and the kitchen that makes it. Knead Love lists an eight-inch gluten-free, vegan, organic cake at $178 and identifies it as OK Kosher Certified. Sans Bakery says all its products are gluten-free, and that they may contain casein, nuts or soy lecithin. Flourish Baking Company describes a kitchen free from eggs, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and soy, with gluten-free options for most flavors; larger tiered and custom cakes are priced by inquiry. Here For Cakes does not currently make vegan or gluten-free cakes and says its kitchen is not allergen-free.

You do not have to make the whole cake to one requirement. Lulu Cake Boutique's 2023 brochure lists a vegan or gluten-free side cake serving 12 to 15 from $75, and vegan or gluten-free tiered cakes from $10 per serving with a 50-serving minimum; it also says the facility is not certified nut-free. Those prices come from an older brochure, so confirm the current ones.

For kosher, pareve or halal cakes, confirm the certification for the exact product and the facility. Baked by Warda describes its desserts as halal; ask for wedding pricing directly. For a guest with a serious allergy, ask whether the cake is made in a dedicated facility and whether cross-contact is possible.

Some couples choose a dessert that comes from their families: cannoli and Italian pastries, Taiwanese-inspired flavors, Latin American pastries, Middle Eastern sweets or Caribbean desserts. A dessert like that can be the main event, the cutting moment or a table beside a small cake. Ask the bakery for a quote, and check the venue's outside-food rules the same way you would for a cake.

City Hall days move quickly, and the cake has to wait somewhere. NYC rules do not allow food or drink in a City Clerk chapel or chapel waiting room, so the cake belongs at the restaurant, hotel or home where you celebrate afterward. Book that place ahead and ask whether it will hold the cake in its refrigerator until dessert.

Make the bakery pickup your last errand if you can. Keep the cake in its box, level on a flat surface, ideally the floor of an air-conditioned car rather than a seat, and drive slowly without sharp turns or sudden stops. Keep it out of direct sun and heat, and never leave it in a hot car. For a walk or subway ride, a cake carrier with a rigid, non-slip base, a locking lid and enough height for the decorations is worth having, and an insulated bag with ice packs that don't touch the box helps on a warm day.

Follow your bakery's storage advice, because it depends on the cake. Here For Cakes recommends refrigerating after pickup and bringing the cake to room temperature before serving. Baked by Warda recommends refrigeration until one to three hours before serving. Hani's recommends keeping buttercream cakes at 68°F to 72°F unless refrigeration is needed. If you would rather collect the cake the day before, ask the bakery whether it allows that and how to store it overnight. For places to go after the ceremony, see the guide Where to Eat or Celebrate After a City Hall Wedding.

A few more answers that come up once the basics are settled.

Once you know your guest count, your format and what your venue allows, you are ready to ask bakeries for quotes. Browse the cake bakers in the directory's Cakes category, send each one your date, servings, venue address and any dietary needs, and compare the full totals side by side before you pay a deposit.