A Wedding Cake Flower Safety Guide — with Shannon Turner Cakes
WRITTEN BY Shannon Turner, Shannon Turner Cakes | FEATURED PHOTO BY Tags Photography
It’s 11 p.m. and you’re scrolling through Pinterest, building your dream wedding board. You’ve found it: the perfect cake adorned with blush peonies, garden roses straight out of a Cotswolds cottage garden and delicate lily of the valley cascading down three tiers. The vision is stunning. You can already see it at your reception! But here’s what most couples scrolling at night don’t know: lily of the valley is genuinely dangerous. Not just mild stomach-ache dangerous; we’re talking cardiac glycosides that can affect heart function. And it’s far from the only gorgeous wedding flower that should never come into contact with a cake.
The stakes aren’t small. Guest safety is paramount, and the last thing anyone wants is a medical emergency at their reception (though serious reactions are uncommon with proper handling and the right precautions). The good news is that fresh flowers can absolutely be used safely on wedding cakes when you work with knowledgeable professionals and understand the basics yourself.
THE PROBLEM WITH PINTEREST-PERFECT FLOWERS
Most people assume that if a flower is beautiful and common in wedding photos, it must be safe for cakes. Unfortunately, that’s not true. Toxic compounds can leach into frosting through direct contact, especially as a cake sits at room temperature for hours. Moisture from flowers transfers toxins. Pollen drifts onto frosting. The severity depends on the specific flower, amount of contact and individual sensitivity, but the risk is real enough to take seriously.
Another misconception is that “edible” means “safe.” When it comes to flowers, “edible” often just means “safe to eat if properly grown and prepared.” It doesn’t account for pesticides, how flowers were stored or whether they came into contact with non-edible varieties.
For starters, the following flowers are genuinely dangerous and should never come in contact with your cake: Lily of the valley, oleander, foxglove, wisteria, daffodils, calla lilies and many true lilies. On the other hand, these beauties can safely adorn your cake when handled properly: Roses, chamomile, lavender, sunflowers, lisianthus and culinary herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary).
Then there are the in-between blooms — hydrangeas, peonies, and baby’s breath — where safety information conflicts. When expert guidance isn’t consistent, it’s best to avoid them altogether.
UNDERSTANDING FLOWER SAFETY
Professional cake artists evaluate flower safety using two critical factors:
- Botanical Toxicity: Is the plant itself poisonous? Some flowers contain compounds that are dangerous, like cardiac glycosides that affect heart function. Others cause mild reactions, such as mouth tingling or skin irritation. Your cake designer needs to know which flowers fall into which category.
- Chemical Treatments: What’s been sprayed on the flower? Most flowers from florists have been treated with pesticides and fungicides. That’s standard industry practice for keeping flowers fresh and pest-free during transport and storage. But these chemicals aren’t meant for food contact, which is why proper barrier methods matter for every flower on your cake, not just the obviously toxic ones.
Your cake designer should create complete physical barriers preventing stems, sap and moisture from contacting your cake. The goal isn’t finding pesticide-free flowers for every wedding (though if available, wonderful!). The goal is to ensure botanically safe flowers are handled safely despite commercial treatment.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
Don’t be shy about asking direct questions. Your vendors should have confident answers to these:
Ask Your Cake Designer:
- How do you ensure flower safety on cakes?
- How do you prevent flowers from touching the cake?
- Will you coordinate directly with my florist about flower varieties?
- What happens if I request a flower that isn’t safe?
Ask Your Florist:
- Which flowers in my floral plan are non-toxic and safe for my cake?
- Can you provide the botanical names for flowers going on the cake?
- Will you be coordinating with my cake designer about timing and varieties?
Important: For utmost safety, your cake designer should be the only person placing flowers on your cake. A knowledgeable cake designer will take full responsibility for flower safety by coordinating with your florist about which flowers they need and how to implement proper barrier methods.
This protects everyone’s liability while also ensuring your guests’ safety.
WHEN YOU’RE UNSURE ABOUT A SPECIFIC FLOWER
If you’ve fallen in love with a particular flower and aren’t sure if it’s safe, ask your cake designer. As the pro, they should be researching both common and botanical names in toxicology databases, poison control listings and university resources. If they find conflicting information or can’t confirm safety, they should treat it as unsafe and suggest gorgeous alternatives.
THE SAFEST SLICE
Fresh flowers on wedding cakes aren’t going away, and they don’t need to. With professionals who know which flowers are safe, use proper barrier methods and coordinate effectively, you can have the floral-laden cake you’ve been dreaming about. Great cake designers will guide you toward safe choices, offer sugar-flower substitutes for toxic varieties or suggest safe look-alike varieties. For best results, start these conversations during your initial cake consultation, not a week before your wedding!
A wedding cake can be both beautiful and safe. When your cake designer treats flower safety as a standard practice, your florist selects specific, approved varieties and everyone involved aligns on proper handling, that’s when you get the showstopping cake you envisioned without any of the risk.
About the Author
Shannon Turner is an award-winning wedding cake artist based in Woodstock, Georgia and serving couples throughout Metro Atlanta. Specializing in custom designs that balance beauty with food safety, Shannon has become a trusted authority on flower safety protocols in the wedding industry. When she’s not creating cakes, Shannon shares more industry insights on her blog, The Sweet Edit.
