Guide
Labelling wedding cakes and PPDS
Wedding cakes are often designed after a detailed customer order, which can place them outside classic “packed before anonymous selection” PPDS patterns — but allergen information must still be accurate. Display cakes boxed for general sale are a different story and are usually PPDS.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
Bespoke ordered cakes
When a couple specifies the cake and you bake and box that cake for them, you are usually providing food against a known order. Give clear allergen information in writing at quote and at handover. Many bakers still attach a full ingredients list to the box as best practice.
Display and ‘ready to take’ cakes
Cakes already made and boxed for anyone to buy from your counter are typically PPDS — label them with name and full emphasised ingredients.
Decoration traps
- Marzipan (tree nuts / almonds)
- Chocolate collars and ganache (milk, soya lecithin)
- Fresh flower wires vs edible petals
- Sponges soaked in liqueur (declare ingredients; alcohol rules may also apply)
Agree in writing
Put allergens in the order confirmation. Handover day is too late for surprises.
Questions
Do I need a PPDS label on every wedding tier?
What if the venue re-plates the cake?
Official sources
Everything on this page traces back to these. Where they and we disagree, they are right — tell us and we'll fix it.
- Introduction to allergen labelling for PPDS foodFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- Labelling guidance for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food productsFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- Food allergen labelling and information requirements technical guidanceFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
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