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This week's topics: wedding cake servings, kitchen cakes, wedding cake flavors, cake tastings, statement wedding cakes, sugar flowers, wedding cake design, pastry chef training, reception décor, wedding dessert trends, Nebraska weddings
In this episode of Wedding Day Podcast, Iron Diamond Media owner Sonja Babich sits down with Kelsey Ryder, the talent behind Omaha, Nebraska-based Love More Sweets, to talk about her journey from the Midwest to New York City and back again, the artistry behind her remarkably realistic sugar flowers and why couples should expect their wedding cake to taste every bit as incredible as it looks.
Ryder’s approach to wedding cake design is rooted in both formal pastry training and a lifelong love of sweets. Born and raised in Omaha, she explored culinary arts while still in high school before spending time in corporate America and eventually pursuing a longtime dream of moving to New York City. With the support of her husband, Anthony, Ryder attended the Institute of Culinary Education and sought out opportunities that would help distinguish her work when she returned to the Midwest. That experience exposed her to chefs from around the world and introduced her to the intricate art of handmade sugar flowers—a skill that has since become a defining element of her designs. Today, that ambition has taken on even greater meaning as Ryder balances entrepreneurship with motherhood, with her young daughter, Annie Rose, getting a front-row seat to watching her mom build a business around something she loves.
Although Ryder creates visually striking wedding cakes, she considers herself a pastry chef first and a cake designer second—and that distinction is important. Flavor is the starting point for every Love More Sweets wedding cake, with Ryder drawing on her culinary education to create combinations that go beyond traditional offerings. One example is her Brazilian-inspired carrot cake, a carrot-forward variation paired with chocolate-honey ganache for richness and balance. When couples begin the wedding cake process with Ryder, they choose from a tasting menu featuring roughly 15 to 20 carefully tested cake and filling combinations. She continues experimenting, testing and gathering feedback as she develops new flavors, all with the goal of creating desserts with complexity and depth. As Ryder explains during the conversation, a cake can be beautiful, but its appearance means little if the flavor doesn’t live up to it.
That pastry background also gives Ryder plenty of room to rethink familiar favorites. Her mocha tiramisu cake translates the beloved Italian dessert into a tiered wedding cake, while special requests can lead her into even more intricate territory, including a mille-feuille made with layers of laminated puff pastry and pastry cream. Ryder also offers some useful behind-the-scenes cake knowledge for couples: properly wrapped cake can hold up remarkably well in the freezer and retain its moisture, while refrigeration can actually dry it out. But flavor is only half of the equation. Her handmade sugar flowers can require days of work as individual petals are thinned, textured, veined, dried, colored and assembled. Peonies are among her favorites, and Ryder frequently studies real flowers—including those growing in her own garden—to capture the details that make her edible versions look remarkably lifelike.
For couples planning their wedding reception, Ryder also makes a compelling case for treating the wedding cake as part of the event design rather than simply dessert. During the episode, she shares an example of a wedding featuring several cakes arranged across pedestals, transforming dessert into an artistic installation. Ryder knows firsthand how easy it is to underestimate the cake’s visual impact: looking back on her own wedding 13 years ago, she says she would approach her cake very differently today rather than placing it off in a corner. For larger celebrations, couples can pair a statement wedding cake with Ryder’s “kitchen cakes,” which feature the same three layers of cake and two layers of filling as the displayed cake without the decorative exterior. They can be cut behind the scenes by the catering team, allowing couples to serve enough dessert for their guest count without sacrificing the impact of their centerpiece cake.
And for anyone wondering what a pastry chef and cake designer chooses when she gets to play favorites, Ryder offers plenty of inspiration. She prefers fondant over buttercream, loves recreating ranunculus and sweet peas in sugar and chooses chocolate over fruit filling. Roses are among the most challenging flowers to replicate because their recognizable structure leaves little room for error, while croissants earn the title of favorite pastry. One of Ryder’s favorite wedding cake flavors brings together toasted coconut sponge, chocolate ganache, sticky coconut filling and silky German buttercream made with pastry cream. It’s an appropriately decadent combination from a pastry chef whose work makes the case that couples shouldn’t have to choose between a wedding cake that becomes a centerpiece and a dessert their guests genuinely want to eat. With Love More Sweets, Ryder brings together her New York culinary training, Midwest roots and meticulous eye for detail to create wedding cakes designed to be remembered long after the final slice is served.
This episode is powered by Dan Riggs Films, Love More Sweets and Nebraska Wedding Day.
