There are more pressing items to consider when planning a wedding, but few decisions are as much fun – or taste as good – as the selection of the cake.

“Everybody loves the cake part,” said Tena Parish, owner of TLCakes in Brentwood. “It’s one of the best parts of planning a wedding.”

Trends this year include not only the traditional tiered cakes with accompanying accouterments, but interesting variations such as cupcakes, cake pops and parfaits.

“Dessert bars are getting very popular,” said Parish. “Couples are opting for a variety of choices for their guests, and this is a fun way to do it. There are a lot of ways to do things for roughly the same price as a regular wedding cake.”

For traditionalists looking to add a touch of whimsy to their sweets; color and shape is one way to do it. Square cakes are edging out their rounder cousins, and colors – purple as well as black and white – continue to be top picks.

When it comes to flavors and fillings, however, the sky is still the limit. Popular choices include lemon cake with lemon curd and vanilla buttercream frosting, banana cake and chocolate buttercream frosting, yellow butter cake with chocolate buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache and devil’s food cake with vanilla buttercream, to name a few.

Lately, due to the troubled economy, couples are scaling back in favor of less ornate cakes. “We’re seeing smaller wedding cakes and even sheet cakes for large groups,” said Parish. “We’re also seeing a lot of single-tiered cakes for the cutting ceremony and then a cake bar for everyone else.”

And with wedding season just around the corner, the time for prospective couples to start thinking about their selections is now. “I would definitely recommend that couples start looking at cakes now,” said Parish. “I know that we like to get orders a few months ahead of time, and at that this time of year we start booking up for June and July very quickly. The sooner the better.”

TLCakes is located at 7710 Brentwood Blvd. For more information, visit www.tlcakes.com.