- The standard bride and groom cake topper is always acceptable, but try something unexpected to set your special day apart. Consider toppers that suit your ethnicity. You can put African American, Asian, Hispanic, Indian, interracial and gay couple cake toppers on your cake.
- Choose religion-specific toppers for first communions, confirmations, bar/bat mitzvahs and weddings. Cake toppers can be purchased that show the bride and groom under a huppah, a girl or boy praying at the alter, or holding a Torah scroll. Or, try an open Bible cake topper or Torah scroll toppers. Cake kits are available for cake decorations and toppers.
- Choose toppers that express a favorite sports interest of the bride and groom. If there's a shared beloved alma mater, choose a topper that includes its colors or logo. Custom-order a small topper of a football helmet or a baseball hat with the home team logo, or put toy bowling pins and bowling balls on the cake, near the bride and groom topper. Choose military toppers for soldiers and other military personnel, or if the bride and groom share a profession such as law, medicine or if they both work for the fire department, you can have your toppers custom-made to suit.
- Buy fondant and roll it out like cookie dough. Create shapes in the theme of your event. For example, if it's a basketball team party, use food coloring to dye the fondant orange, and roll out a basketball shape. Use edible ink to draw on the basketball seam lines, and put it on the top of the cake. Do the same with a football, using chocolate fondant. Consider putting cake or cream filling in the center. For a Christmas theme, shape a red fondant Santa Claus figure or a snowman for cake toppers.
- For your preteen, order a sheet cake and purchase a topper image of Hannah Montana. Remove an edible image from a clear sheet and apply it to the top of your cake. The picture melts into the cake frosting within minutes. For younger children, choose familiar characters such as Curious George, Caillou or movie themes they'll like.
- You can accessorize the top of your cake with ribbons, bells, pearls and sprinklings of tiny candies suitable to the theme of your event. Choose tiny leaves in fall colors for a fall wedding, or butterflies for spring. Select dinosaur sprinkles for a child's birthday, and stars and stripes for the Fourth of July. Cover the cake in tiny pumpkins for Halloween, shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day and little red hearts for Valentine's Day.
