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Consider the Alternatives

Perhaps traditional tiers aren’t your cup of tea. Today’s couples have delicious and delightful alternatives to choose from—like cupcake towers. “People are going to more individualized, specialized desserts,” says Slade Grove, owner of Phoenix’s Wicked Bakery. “We are still adding a traditional twist to it [by] putting a six- to eight-inch round cupcake on the tower so they have a ceremonial cake to cut. But the guests get an [individual] cupcake or a dessert.”

Recently Grove, who has been sweetening the Valley for four years, whipped up 200 fabulous pistachio cakettes, with white-chocolate ganache and passion-fruit mousse, and stacked them in a tower formation. (He notes that most brides and grooms who don’t go the traditional route still opt for cake-based creations—unique but familiar.) “Even though they have the glitz and glamour of a full-blown formal wedding, they are trying to break out of the mold and make it a little more memorable,” he says.