Wedding cake toppers

The wedding topper appears in more photographs than any other decoration of the day. It stands exactly where every camera points during the cut.

A printable wedding cake topper carries both first names, joined by a symbol, with the wedding date below. Print on white 100 lb cover cardstock (270 gsm), cut with scissors, and mount it on two skewers rather than one so the wider topper cannot rotate.

What goes on it, in this order

1. The two first names. Not surnames: they are long and nobody reads them in a photograph.
2. A joining mark. An ampersand, a heart, or a small "and". It sits smaller and centred between the names, never at the same size.
3. The date. Small, underneath. It is what turns a decoration into something kept afterwards.
4. Nothing else. "Congratulations" belongs on the card. On a cake, the shortest text always wins.

Match the style to the icing, not the theme

A common mistake is choosing the topper to match the wedding theme rather than the cake. What actually decides it is the surface it stands on.

Wedding designs to print

Names and date can be typed into any of them.

Rustic Barn Wedding Romantic Balloons Sky Wedding Floral Gold

Two skewers, not one

A wedding topper is wider than a birthday one because it carries two names. On a single central skewer it swivels at the slightest touch and ends up at an angle in the photographs. Two skewers, set about a third of the width in from each side, hold it straight and facing the camera.

On a tiered cake, measure the top tier

This is the sizing mistake that shows up in almost every wedding photograph where the topper looks wrong. The instinct is to size the topper to the cake, and on a tiered cake "the cake" means the base — which is two or three times wider than the tier the topper actually stands on.

A topper sized to a 30 cm base and stood on a 15 cm top tier overhangs the edge on both sides. It is perfectly stable and it still looks precarious, which is worse.

Make it early, and get it there flat

A wedding topper is made days before the wedding and then has to survive a car journey, which is where most of them are damaged. Not at the venue — in transit.

1. Make it two or three days ahead

   Not the night before. Printing goes wrong at exactly the moment you have no time left, and cardstock is not something most people have spare.

   Print two identical copies while the file is open and the printer is loaded. The second costs pennies and removes the entire category of disaster.

2. Let the ink cure properly

   Give inkjet output a full day before it is handled or stacked. Ink that feels dry after ten minutes will still transfer onto whatever it is pressed against overnight.

3. Transport it flat, between two sheets of card

   Not in a bag, not standing in a box. Two pieces of stiff card and a clip, laid flat in the boot. A topper that arrives with a soft crease across the lettering cannot be repaired.

4. Carry the skewers separately and assemble on site

   Taped skewers turn the topper into a lever during transport. Tape them on once the cake is in position.

5. Put it in the cake last

   After the cake is assembled and in its final place. Never before the cake moves, because the cake will move.

Keeping it afterwards

This is the quiet advantage printed cardstock has over every edible option: it still exists on Monday. Couples keep the topper far more often than they expect to, usually alongside the invitation.

• Take it out before the cake is cut, not while. It is the single most common moment for one to be broken.
• Wipe the skewer ends and let it dry before storing, so nothing sugary is sealed in with it.
• Press it flat under a book overnight if it picked up any curl from the room.
• Store it with the invitation, not in the kitchen. Paper in a kitchen drawer yellows and absorbs smells.

Last updated 25 September 2026