Going to a specialty baker to craft your dream wedding cake can cost you more than $1,000.

Or you can order a few half sheet cakes from Costco for about $30 each.

"We love Costco, first of all," said Anna Holleran, who got married in California's Bay Area this year — and, yes, picked up her wedding cake from the grocery wholesaler.

"Their cakes are so good," she said. "How can you go wrong?"

Weddings are one of the most expensive days in many people's lives, costing on average about $36,000, according to the wedding-planning website Zola. The Bank of America Institute reports wedding spending among its customers was up 8.5% in May from a year earlier.

Some of that is by choice, with couples deciding to splurge on the venue or chasing the latest TikTok reception trend. But there are less controllable economic factors too, from inflation driving up the price of suits and catering to tariffs bumping up the cost of imported flowers and bridal gowns.

And according to Emily Forrest, head of communications at Zola, one place where couples are willing to trim costs is the cake. About a third of couples surveyed by Zola said they'd consider spending less on cake and dessert.

"When it comes to a wedding, every couple always has to sit down and say, 'Where are we going to save, and where are we going to splurge?'" said Forrest. "And cakes just don't seem to rise to the splurge occasion for a lot of couples."

What couples aren't willing to do is ditch the cake tradition entirely.

"You can't skip the cake!" said Lily Alana Stewart, who got married last year in central Alabama. "Everybody looks forward to a cake at a wedding."

To save money, she ordered her cake from Publix, a grocery chain in the South.

Stewart used baby's breath for decorating the venue, and Publix incorporated that into the cake design. Her co-workers who attended were surprised to learn where the cake came from. "They said, 'Wait, wait, wait. Your wedding cake was from Publix?'" Stewart said. "And they were still mind blown."

While the average wedding cake costs about $5.50 a slice, according to Zola, a slice of Publix cake is about $1.50 cheaper, while still pulling off that classic three-tiered, white-frosted wedding cake look. The chain also offers couples a tasting flight, so they can sample four flavors — including red velvet and carrot — before they order.

The wedding cake business has grown at Publix. The stores around Birmingham, Ala., sell about 50% more than they did before 2020, according to Jeff Brancato, a Publix retail improvement specialist. A chocolate cake with fondant that can serve 94 people costs $388, according to the price guide for the Birmingham area.

"There is definitely big savings when it comes to it," Brancato said.

Still, you do get what you pay for in a grocery store cake, including fewer options than what a specialty baker might offer — like more flavors or more customized decorations. While Publix touts its wedding cake business, Costco doesn't even list its half sheet as a wedding cake. It works out to about 70 cents per slice. (Costco did not return NPR's request for an interview.)

Holleran's priority was saving money where she could. Her wedding was near her home in California wine country — a region that's a destination spot for other couples and where venues are expensive.

Holleran said the culinary details of her cake weren't what mattered. "The real point is that you're sharing a dessert for the first time with somebody that you love," she said. "It's kind of symbolic of all the sweet moments that you're supposed to share in a marriage."

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