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The classic bride is one whose personal style is understated, polished and timeless. Whose ideal wedding is traditional and filled with beautifully crafted, fine details and accents. The reception venue is, perhaps, an elegant country club or a traditional marquee set in a beautifully landscaped garden.

A superb choice of wedding cake decor, one that would suit a classic wedding perfectly, is the sweetly sophisticated swiss dot. We love the hint of nostalgia that a swiss dot cake evokes. There's something so romantic about it too. Yet, as shown in the picture, right, swiss dots can also be used in a way that is sleek, minimalist and contemporary. (We love that tiered, square cake by Collette Foley.)

Whilst a creamy white icing is the most traditional colour for a swiss dot cake, we have seen some gorgeous pastel confections too, with the icing in one colour and the dots in a contrasting hue.

For a bit of swiss dot eye candy, click on the gallery below.

If you're having a very small and intimate wedding and want to thoroughly spoil and indulge your guests, then here's a way to go all out and treat them to something extra-special. A fabulous cheesecake favor from Elegant Cheesecakes.

We love the classy presentation boxes and are crazy about these gorgeous, little cakes. They look almost too beautiful to eat. There are plenty of unique flavour combinations to choose from, such as:

• Triple chocolate -- bittersweet, milk, and white chocolate cheesecake on a macadamia nut crust
• White chocolate and zesty lemon swirl on a lemon hazelnut crust
• Vanilla cheesecake with lemon and orange zest on a butter cookie crust

The cakes are enveloped in Belgian chocolate and then decorated. They don't come cheap, so unless your budget is the size of North America, it's best suited to a small gathering. (They'd make fabulous favors for a bridal shower.)

Prices start at $150 for 6 mini cheesecakes, including the presentation box. Additional cakes cost $45.

Melody Brandon, from My Sweet and Saucy, was on her way to becoming a teacher when she had a sudden change of heart and courageously set out to follow her passion for creating delicious desserts .

Swapping dusty chalkboards and school text books for a Kitchenaide mixer and pastry bags, Melody went on to study at the California School of Culinary Art and graduated as a Cordon Bleu Pastry Chef.

We are so impressed by her fabulous desserts, cookies and cakes that we simply HAD to have a chat with her and see what drives the creator of these scrumptious confections.

We've written about cupcakes as traditional wedding cake alternatives before and there really is something so deliciously appealing about tiers and tiers of scrumptious-looking cupcakes. But what do you do if you want something more a little more sophisticated than that?

The solution could be to have mini cakes. Either beautifully iced and decorated, displayed on an elegant tiered cake stand, or lots of individually wrapped cake parcels such as those from UK cake designer, Linda Fripp.

We love the super-chic and visually stunning presentation. It's stylish and eye-catching and, as an added bonus, both of these cake alternatives make serving your wedding cake so much easier.

Browse through our image gallery for a visual cake feast of mini cakes from Maisie Fantaisie and Linda Fripp.

One of South Africa's best known pastry chefs, Wade van der Merwe, refers to his cakes as 'Castles of Cuisine'. We can see why. This confectionary specialist has spent over 15 years perfecting his craft and has won bronze, silver and gold medals as part of the South African Culinary Olympic Team.

If you're tempted by the idea of a South African destination wedding (and with such a weak local currency it's a good option for a getaway wedding) then keep Cakes by Wade in mind. Wade is passionate about his work, hugely creative and absolutely committed to making his cakes a highlight of the day.

We love this exquisite 'tower' of creamy white chocolate and delicate red flowers. Elegant, sophisticated and unique.

In the last few years, brides have moved away from a demure, all-white wedding and explored almost every colour in the palette. Gone are the sweet and soft traditional wedding pastels and in their place there are funky brights, elegant 3-colour combinations of black, white and green, or navy, gold and cream, sometimes even a crisp, nautical red, white and blue.

The wheel is turning, though, and there's a slow swing back to a more sophisticated, all-white wedding. It's as if we've seen how far we can push the limits and are now returning to elegant restraint.

An all-white palette is a perfect wedding theme, bringing to mind crisp, new beginnings, and a fresh canvas onto which we can imagine painting a vivid new picture - the newly-wedded life.

Whereas colourful wedding cakes will always have their place, an all-white cake makes a stunning statement in the move towards white chic. Although too much detail can look fussy and overdone in multi-colours, it's the opposite when it comes to white. A variety of decorative textures and embellishments add interest and variety and keep the look visually appealing.

We've picked out some of our favourite all-white wedding cakes to inspire you. Click through our gallery below for a visual feast.

Canadian brides in the Toronto area who are looking for a super-special, unique and melt-in-your-mouth wedding cake should pay a visit to Flour Confections. Owned by the hugely creative and talented Lisa, these are cakes to swoon over.

We love her designs, which range from smart and elegant to artistic and funky. We also love the fantastic variety of cake flavours too. Just reading about what goes into one of those cakes is enough to have you drooling over your keyboard.

There's Vanilla Orchid, a vanilla scented cake layered with Madagascar bourbon vanilla buttercream. Or Bananarama, a moist banana cake paired with hot buttered rum buttercream. Mmmm. And the Provencal, a lemon & lavender scented cake layered with Cassis buttercream.

And if you're a chocoholic, then how about Gianduja, a rich chocolate cake layered with praline buttercream. Hasn't that got you in the mood for a spot of cake tasting? The choice goes on. Midnight Chocolate, Pink Lemonade, Calypso Coconut, Limoncello. And if your favorite filling isn't on the list, then just ask!

For some of our favourite designs, click on the gallery below, or visit Flour Confections for even more temptation, and check out the funky cake toppers too.

Not all brides want a traditional wedding cake. Especially not a cake which consists of rich, heavy fruitcake covered with a fondant icing. There are loads of alternative fillings and frostings available these days and it has become so much easier to find something that tastes as good as it looks, which is what a cake should be all about.

But what it you don't want any kind of cake at all? What do you do when you want to have something really different to a standard tiered cake?

We absolutely love the exquisite cakes and desserts available at Zucchero. The company is owned by award-winning, Italian-born Massimo Bishop-Scotti, who has a passion for fine patisserie. His love of contemporary, cutting edge cakes and desserts has led him to design bespoke desserts for the likes of Elton John and to develop recipes for manufacturers that supply the luxurious London store, Harrods.

Although of course they do make the most gorgeous wedding cakes, we particularly like their take on the delicious French wedding cake, the croquembouche, and their divine, individual mini cakes. They are sensational!

Luxurious chocolate brown combined with soft pink is a sophisticated, contemporary and very trendy colour theme. It oozes warmth and richness yet is wonderfully offset with the most traditional of wedding colours, pretty pink.

It's very easy to reflect these colours in your wedding cake as well. Imagine the sexy decadence of scrumptious Belgian chocolate enhanced by the fresh, plump strawberries, delicate vanilla mousse or, simply, pure smooth chocolate decorated with beautiful, hand painted pink roses .

Or what about the delicious combination of a featherlight hazelnut chiffon cake layered with silky chocolate mousse and juicy raspberries? Hmmm. Or layers of chocolate cake covered with poured chocolate ganache and decorated with handcrafted, sugared pink gerberas?

It's YOUR wedding day, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spoil yourself with your favourite treats, and nothing beats the mouthwatering, lip-smacking indulgence of a slice of sinful chocolate cake!

Summer is the most beautiful time of the year to get married and the perfect time to have your reception outdoors. Garden weddings tend to be a lot more casual and unstructured than formal, indoor affairs but nonetheless you're still going to be paying attention to detail and may well want a gorgeous wedding cake and not just a simple, unadorned one-tier cake.

Summery, garden weddings call for loads of pretty, colourful flowers. You could keep it light and fresh by using pastel fondant icing with just a few floral embellishments or go for something brighter, decorated with a riot of sugary blossoms. You are definitely not restricted to iced cakes only - have a look at this delicious chocolate cake decorated with colourful gerberas.

Whatever you do, make sure that your cake is kept out of direct sunshine, especially if you opt for a buttercream icing, or you could end up with a molten multi-coloured mess! (Fondant copes better with warm weather.)

Have a browse through our gallery for fresh, summery inspiration.

I know that choosing your wedding cake is a big deal and that it's also a highly personal thing. You know what I mean. A cake I consider fantastic might leave you cold. I do wonder sometimes how we're supposed to make a choice with all the wonderful options available, and believe you me, wedding cakes have evolved massively in recent years.

Whereas once a bride was more or less confined to something white, and could perhaps choose the shape and the number of tiers, and then stick on the topper of her choice, now there's a mind boggling array of confectionery to drool over.

It can't be easy. I should know. As I do research for the posts I write, I get to see hundreds of wedding cakes. Some of them take my breath away, some make me smile, some are little works of art, some of them make me wrinkle up my nose in distaste and some of them are so darn ugly I wonder who in their right mind would be able to dream up something so awful. But then, as I said, it's a personal thing.

So, here for you to pick over, are some of my recent favourites. Enjoy. Or not.