What is the best wedding cake size for 250 guests?
Best wedding cake size for 250 guests
We advise a wedding cake with 6 tiers. The tier sizes are 16″, 12″, 10″, 8″, 6″ and 4″.
This size has the following advantages:
1 - A presentation of a tall wedding cake with 6 layers is more impressive than, for example, a 5 or 4 layer wedding cake with a larger radius.
2 - In the US, it is estimated that about 10% of people have a food allergy.
Most common food allergies are cow milk, eggs, tree nuts and peanuts.
When inviting 250 people, one can expect about 25 guests with food
allergies. The third tier from the top could be specially prepared for guests with such food allergies.
3 - A romantic way to look back at the wedding day, is to take off the 4″ top tier of the wedding cake and save it in the freezer for a year.
On the first wedding anniversary, the couple can enjoy this piece of the wedding cake with some close family or friends while, for example, looking back at the wonderful wedding pictures.
Please note that without the top tier, this cake will give about 238 servings (mostly not a problem if you have a dessert table as not all 250 guest will have the cake or else cut some pieces in half, for example for children).
The average price of such a cake will be between $950 and $1,000 for US in 2022.
Are you living in highly populated metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles or New York? Then you need to add at least 25% on top of the average price. On the other hand, in less densely populated regions prices will be lower.
Other wedding cakes for 250 people
Below are two alternatives that are also suitable for a wedding with about 250 guests.
Wedding Cake with 5 tiers that are 6″ high
- Tier 1 (16″): 100 portions
- Tier 2 (14″): 79 portions
- Tier 3 (10″): 36 portions
- Tier 4 (8″): 28 portions
- Tier 5 (6″): 14 portions
In total 257 portions.
The average price of such a cake in 2022 will be between $950 and $1,000. This results in $3.80 - $4.00 per person.
Wedding Cake with 4 tiers that are 6″ high
- Tier 1 (16″): 100 portions
- Tier 2 (14″): 79 portions
- Tier 3 (12″): 64 portions
- Tier 4 (8″): 28 portions
In total 271 portions.
The average price of such a cake in 2022 will be between $900 and $950. This results in $3.60 - $3.80 per person.
Other wedding cake sizes
The current page contains a full guide for 250 guests. We also have a full guide for these guest count:
Want to see more wedding cakes? Use the wedding cake calculator
Enter the number of guests and the Wedding Cake Calculator will show you the wedding cakes found along with the average cost. You'll also get more information, such as handy infographics with wedding cake cutting charts.
We also explain what the wedding cake costs depends on and what you should pay attention to when ordering.
How do you pick the perfect wedding cake for 250 guests?
Wedding cakes come in all sorts, sizes, tastes and colors. Because there are so many options, it can be difficult to make the right choice. Couples often look for some inspiration online, by looking at pictures of wedding cakes, and then find something like that.
Another approach is to start by deciding what's most important to you, and then find something that suits your ideas. For example, do you want your cake to look a specific way? Or do you have a budget in mind?
Which things you find important, and which things don't really matter is up to you. To help you find out what you find important, and what kind of cake you might like, here, are three kinds of choices you'll have to make.
A - Practical choices
The main practical choice is probably the size of your wedding cake, which depends on the number of guests you'll have. Other practical choices are where you want to order your cake, how long it takes to deliver the cake, and the costs of your cake.
B - Taste choices
Wedding cakes come in many tastes, ranging from a traditional vanille cake to something exotic such as rum cakes. The taste is determined by the cake, the cake filling and the topping.
C - Presentation choices
The presentation of your wedding cake isn't only affected by what the cake itself looks like (colors, form, size, decoration), but also by where it is in the room. Other presentation choices to consider are how and when you want to cut the cake. For a multi-tiered wedding cake, it is customary for the couple to cut the first piece of cake from the bottom tier. For this cake, you may need some guidance to do so.
Infographic Wedding Cake for 250 guests
The serving chart for this wedding cake
Below are 6 high resolution charts showing how to cut each cake tier into portions. You can open a chart in a new browser tab, make a print out and use it as a template for cutting the cake.
- Tier 1 (16″): 100 servings
- Tier 2 (14″): 64 servings
- Tier 3 (12″): 36 servings
- Tier 4 (10″): 28 servings
- Tier 5 (8″): 14 servings
- Tier 6 (4″): 6 servings
In total 248 servings.
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