Anniversary cakes are different from wedding cakes. They are smaller, more personal, and the audience is fewer people who know the couple better.
5th — paper anniversary. Subtle paper-themed decoration (a hand-piped origami flower, a small paper card detail in edible print). Flavour: whatever they had at the wedding, sized down.
10th — tin or aluminium. Metallic finishes work — silver gilt on a single-tier buttercream cake.
25th — silver. Sugar pearls, silver gilt detail, sometimes a small two-tier. We have a couple of regular customers who repeat their wedding cake at a smaller scale for the 25th — same design, half the size.
50th — gold. Gold leaf, deeper colours, almost always a sit-down family event with extended family present. Sizes step up to 2 kg or more.
Design steering. We avoid red roses on a chocolate cake (clichéd), avoid 'I love you' lettering (too generic), avoid heart shapes (most couples want to feel celebrated as themselves, not as a Valentine's archetype).
What works: a single-tier cake with the city skyline of where they got married, the latitude and longitude of the venue piped on the side, the date in Roman numerals on top. These get the strongest emotional reactions.
Lead time: 4 to 7 days for design + bake. Less if the design is simple.