Top Moments from Wedding Cake Championship, Season 1
Relive the extravagant cake toppers, over-the-top wedding cake and high-stakes drama from Season 1 of Wedding Cake Championship.
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Photo By: Anders Krusberg
Haute Hosts
The Wedding Cake Championship is all about over-the-top cakes, so who better to host it than two over-the-top and fabulous friends, Olympians Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir.
Say Yes to Angelina
To ring in the competition, Randy Fenoli, star of Say Yes to the Dress, brought along one of his dresses, Angelina, to inspire the baking duos in their first cake topper challenge.
60-Minute Showdown
The baking teams were given 60 minutes to make a cake topper inspired by Randy's wedding dress, with the winning team getting a special advantage in the next challenge.
High Stakes, High Fashion
Mother and son baking duo Van and Estella wanted their cake topper to represent avant-garde fashion. "I don't want to be the typical, small little topper," Van said. "I want to make a nice, big grand entrance."
Rich with Ruffles
Sabrina and Regina represented their hip and girly style in their cake topper with layers and layers of dramatic, gold rimmed fondant ruffles. "I've done ruffles out of fondant a billion times," Sabrina said. "I can do them blindfolded. Don't challenge me to do that though."
Steampunk Showboys
Stephen and Jared's cake topper was a mix of art deco and steampunk, covered in cogs and machine parts, but also covered in ruffles and, of course, glitter.
Lots of Layers
Vegas moms Holly and Kaylinn mirrored the layers of their personalities with the many ruffles on the base of their cake topper. "It's kind of subdued, but it's got a little crazy in it," Holly said.
Va Va Va Vintage
Viki and Reva combined their clean and quirky styles to create their vintage inspired cake topper. "A little bit of class and a little bit of sass" is how Reva described their style.
Set Selfie
Before judging the cake toppers, Randy got in a quick selfie with the judges.
Mummified
Sharon and Dawn were going for an haute couture, bandage-style dress for their cake topper, but time got the best of them, and an accidently cut dowel didn’t allow the dress to maintain its intended shape. "It starts off looking like a bandage dress," Maneet said, "but it ends up looking like a mummy."
Too Over-the-Top?
"I knew we had to go big and take some risks," Van said when describing his cake topper to the judges. The judges appreciated their avant-garde style, but some issues just could not be overlooked.
Sized Up
"The biggest challenge I have is the scale," Kimberly critiqued. "It's not in proportion with the cake, the platform, I can see wood planks under it." "The platform is just too big for the size of the cake," Randy said in agreement.
Winning Wedding Dress
"I know who this bride is," Randy said of Viki and Reva's cake topper. "She's understated and simple, I love that you put it on a hanger. I love it. I really do."
Super Couple
With the first cake topper challenge behind them, it was time for the main event. The bakers were given five hours to make a superhero themed wedding cake for engaged couple, Meilani and Kevin. As the winners of the cake topper challenge, Viki and Reva received a secret piece of information about what Kevin and Meilani want on their cake.
Bust a Move
What's a wedding without a little dancing?
Slip 'n' Slide Cake
Stephen and Jared's original plan was to make a reverse-tier, upside down cake, "because when you meet your love, your world turns upside down," Stephen said. But once they started stacking their cake layers, all of their designs began sliding and smearing. "The only solution that I'm seeing at this point, is to turn this cake right side up," Stephen said.
Superhero Busts
To represent the couple, Stephan and Jared made cake busts of Meilani and Kevin covered in a marbled fondant.
Struggling for Support
To redeem themselves from the cake topper challenge, Sharon and Dawn wanted to really impress Meilani, Kevin and the judges by making their cake lean! Unfortunately, they didn't properly measure the height of their cake layers, so their internal structure wasn't able to support the cake layers.
Stressed Sharon
"This was the dramatic element of our cake," Sharon said. "At this point, this is the nail in the coffin for the superhero cake." After time ran out, Sharon left the set to compose herself.
Delicious Disaster
After a difficult baking round, Dawn and Sharon came back together to present their cake to the judges. "I understand the concept," David said, "but the fact that it's leaning far, far too over, is a structural issue, obviously." Despite the structural issues with their cake, the judges as well as Meilani and Kevin all loved the taste. "I want to eat that whole cake," David said.
Caketastrophe
Between the end of the challenge and the presentation, Stephan and Jared's bust of Meilani took a tumble off the cake. "The head falling was a situation of the heat in the kitchen while it was sitting here waiting to be judged, " Stephen said.
Busted Busts
Meilani's bust wasn't the only one to roll off the top of Stephen and Jared's cake. During their presentation to the judges, their bust of Kevin tumbled off the cake.
Let Them Eat Cake
"It's giving me so many Antoinette vibes," Johnny said.
Logo of Love
After winning the cake topper challenge, Viki and Reva got a secret piece of information about what Meilani and Kevin wanted on their cake — their initials in a superhero logo. "Seeing our initials on a logo on top of a wedding cake was just everything I ever dreamed of," Kevin said. "It's us. It's us," Meilani said through tears of joy.
Tearful Tiers
Thanks in part to the secret advantage, Meilani and Kevin chose Viki and Reva's cake as their favorite, giving another win to the baking duo. Unfortunately for Sharon and Dawn, their time at the Wedding Cake Championship had come to an end.
24-Karat Taco
Week two of the competition welcomed Bryce and Josette, a couple with a love of everything Mexico. "We're getting married in Mexico, we're honeymooning in Mexico. We're not messing around when we say Mexican-themed," Josette said. "We love the culture, we love the food, so I felt it necessary that when I proposed, that I should do it with a taco ring," Bryce said.
Spilled Sweet Potatoes
Even though Bruce and Josette were very specific about their desire for Mexican flavors in their cake, Van and Estella opted to go in a different direction — sweet potato. "I know I'm taking a risk making this sweet potato cake," Van said. Between worrying about the design and getting the cakes in the oven, Van lost control of his batter and had to start over from scratch.
Bust a Move
What's a wedding without some dancing?
Splitting at the Seams
Holly and Kaylinn used edible ink on wafer paper to mimic a Mexican inspired fabric for the bottom layer of their cake. The longer the cake sat out in the California heat, it began to soften and separate the different sheets of wafer paper. For a quick fix, Holly and Kaylinn covered the seams with black strips of fondant. "At least we attempted to cover it," Kaylinn said.
Vegas Takes Mexico
They may have lost their heads during week one, but Jared and Stephen redeemed themselves by serving up Bryce and Josette's ultimate Mexican-themed wedding cake.
Four-Legged Friend
Week three of the competition started off with a very special guest — Tara's dog, Dublin. The first challenge this week was to make a cake topper inspired by a precocious pet.
Love is in the Air
Viki and Reva were inspired by the magic of wedding and the love it represents, so they decided to make a cake topper of love birds.
Love Birds vs Love Birds
Viki and Reva weren't the only baking duo feeling love fluttering through the air. Sabrina and Regina also made love birds for their pet-inspired cake topper.
Hiding Pup
Holly and Kaylinn won the cake topper challenge with their shaggy hair dog cake topper, giving them the secret advantage to impress this week's couple — they got a sneak peek at pictured of their precious pup. Their initial plan was to have the dog's head peeking out from the bottom of the cake, but the judges advised it was feature the dog more prominently.
Urban Country Cake
Despite Holly and Kaylinn's advantage, Viki and Reva pulled out another win by artfully combining the couple's urban and country personalities.
Tara & Todd
For the final week of competition, the bakers had two very special clients — Tara and her husband, Todd. They challenged the bakers to make a cake for their first anniversary party, inspired by their honeymoon in Italy and their first year of marriage.
Final Topper
For the final cake topper challenge, the bakers had to make a topper that would sit on top of their finished anniversary cake. The team with the best topper would get a 5-minute chat with Tara and Todd to learn some secret elements they wanted to see on their cake.
Bike to the Finish
Sabrina and Regina impressed the judges with their bicycle cake topper. It was constructed with wire, covered in modeling chocolate and painted gold.
There's Something About Birdy
During their meeting with Tara and Todd, Sabrina and Regina learned their favorite part of their Italian honeymoon was taking boat rides along the coast. Tara also told them about her love for hydrangeas and roses and Todd mentioned his nickname for Tara — Birdy.
Victory for Viki & Reva
Despite their mega advantage, Sabrina and Regina weren't able to capture the feeling of Italy with their cake, but Tara, Todd and the judges fell in love with Viki and Reva's cake inspired by old-world Italy.
