As you prepare to choose your wedding cake, it is useful to collect pictures of wedding cakes that you like. It doesn't matter if the cake in the picture is too big, too fancy, too expensive looking, too pink... if there is something about it that catches your eye, save that picture. As time goes on you will have sufficient pictures to start seeing trends in your choices.

Perhaps you like very a traditional cake design -- you find that pictures of three-tier white cakes, with little models of a bride and groom on top, are spread across your coffee table. Such classic taste makes your decision process very simple as you start looking for a cake designer. All but the most avant-garde designers and bakeries will be thrilled to bake you a beautiful version of this timeless classic, so you simply need to arrange some tasting sessions to find the most scrumptious wedding cake.

On the other hand, your growing collection of wedding cake pictures may reveal a taste for contemporary cake design. Now your imagination can really take flight. Modern cake designers can bake cakes in any shape or color that takes your fancy, from stacks of wedding presents to models of the Empire State Building complete with a marzipan King Kong. You wonder if white is wussy? Perhaps you prefer purple? Then sort through those clippings, choose the wildest wedding cake design pictures you can find, and hightail it to the trendiest bakery in town to set a new trend.

The likelihood is that you probably fall somewhere in the middle; you're looking for a traditional cake, with a contemporary twist. Fortunately, there are great resources available to you, so do a little research. Try searching for the terms "wedding cake" or "wedding cake design" in Google. Once you have the page of results, click the link at the top that says "Images" and you'll be greeted with dozens of pictures that you can use to narrow down your choices. Currently, asymetrical shapes and the use of fresh flowers are popular trends in cake design; pictures of these kinds of cakes are widely available.

When you meet with your cake designer, take these pictures with you and discuss them with the designer. If you've already made choices about your gown, bridesmaid dresses, flowers, and other visual elements of your wedding, try and take swatches and pictures of these with you too. All of these design clues will enable your wedding cake designer to come up with a cake that will complement the other aspects of your wedding, yet will still make a statement.