We had a cheese cake for our autumn wedding - and by cheese cake - we picked out 3 of our favorite cheese rounds and stacked them decorating with wheat, leaves, concord grapes and figs. It was a surprise to everyone, but was enjoyed with the wine and light crackers/wafers we had to the side.

Keep in mind that people who are gluten intolerant are often times lactose intolerant as well

maybe something like this: http://nourishedkitchen.com/coconut-flour-cake/ I mean you can make it very fancy with some nice decorations - fruit, flowers..

A flourless chocolate cake, perhaps? That definitely says decadent winter dessert to me.

carvel ice cream cake? that is what we did and it was both awesome and a huge hit with our guests.

You could do a big meringue (which is really just whipped egg whites and sugar, then baked) and serve it with fresh fruit. It's kind of 1950s, but that's kind of what makes that awesome too. I made my own gluten-free cupcakes for my wedding (red velvet and lemon), but it was really small and I could manage it myself. But now I'm jealous about the meringue idea!

I was going to suggest Hazelnut Brown Butter Cake, from the cookbook Sunday Suppers at Lucques (and found for free at Smitten Kitchen's website). It has a very small amount of flour, 1/3 of a cup, and people have made it gluten free by substituting rice flour or another gluten free flour for the all-purpose flour. The cookbook says that the author served it as her wedding cake! It is incredibly delicious.

There's a restaurant in Raleigh, NC called The Pit that serves a pumpkin cornbread with their meals. I don't have the recipe, but it was sweet enough (almost pumpkin-pie like) to satisfy a more desert application. Maybe serve it with some cinnamon spiked whipped cream or something similar. It would be fairly easy to make it gluten free, and probably dairy free as well if that was necessary.

Those of you claiming "it's easy to make it gluten free" must not have tried it. It is not easy in baking to sub things out, certainly not for a big showpiece like a wedding cake. There are some good blogs out there dedicated to gluten/grain free. Some of the best ingredients for good cake texture/taste and gluten free are squashes, and nuts/nutbutters (be careful with peanuts though, or at least warn guests, as peanut allergies can be fatal). As to dairy intolerance, sometimes goat and sheeps milks are more easily tolerated, so could be subbed for either the dairy in a cake, or for the cheese cake idea, which I happen to love.

We made our own wedding cake, which was a carrot cake with goat cheese frosting, but we made the top layer gluten free for my husband's father. The layers were all on separate plates on a plate stand instead of touching, for ease of slicing and to prevent contamination of the GF cake. We just used a gluten-free flour mix from a box and used the same recipe as our regular cake, and people ended up liking the GF cake better. I'd definitely recommend a test cake.

The flour we used: http://www.glutino.com/our-products/gluten-free-pantry/beths-all-purpose-gf-baking-flour-us/

This flourless chocolate chipotle cake is outstanding,and of course, gluten-free: http://localkitchenblog.com/2011/04/02/flourless-chocolate-chipotle-cake/

I've also modified it to mint chocolate cupcakes, served with red currant preserves: fancy enough for a wedding, I think: http://localkitchenblog.com/2012/07/24/mint-chocolate-cupcakes-with-red-currant-preserves/

I'm thinking of something like an olive oil polenta cake? Those are often not too sweet... I'm not a GF expert, but I'm pretty sure gluten-free polenta is available from Bob's Red Mill (at least).

http://www.babbonyc.com/dolci-olive_oil_polenta_cake.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/04/david-lebovitzs-polenta-cake-with-olive-oil-rosemary-recipe.html

i recently went to 2 gluten-free weddings!

here's one in portland: http://theactorsdiet.com/2011/09/05/rachels-getting-married/

and the other in los angeles: http://theactorsdiet.com/2012/05/28/feeling-peck-ish/

Not sure where you're located, but there's a great place in MA that does gluten-free baked goods. They did cupcakes for my friend's baby shower & they were delicious! http://auntiecathies.com/3cafe/3cafe-dessert/ I'm sure you could find somewhere near you that does gluten-free baking...

Whenever I hear "gluten free dessert," my mind always goes to french macarons. Not really sure how you would "cut" it, but I could see doing a croquembouche with those. om nom nom. Now I want one.

Seconding the macaron idea, you can make 3 giant macarons filled with different fruits : 1 raspberry, 1 passion fruit, 1 chocolate; with whipped cream or lemon curd. My best friend did one for one of her birthdays, probably one the best cakes I ever had ! And I've tasted a lot !!!

An almond flour based cake. Any kind.
Texture will be closest to a "real" cake, there's TONS of tried and true tested recipes out there, it tastes great and you don't have to delve into the weird wild world of gluten free baking and all the flour substitutions.

If it were me, I'd do a real, flour based wedding cake/cupcakes/whatever and just have the top tier for the couple gluten free to cut. Speaking as a former cake decorator, I can tell you just because you're gluten free doesn't mean your guests are and no matter how much they love you, you'll likely get more than a few polite but upturned noses if you say the whole cake is gluten free or only have a gluten free option. Just something to keep in mind.

We did a cupcake tree and wanted a small cake at the top to cut. We have a few gluten intolerant friends, so we wanted one of the cupcake options to be gluten free. When we went to the tasting to pick out the favors for the cupcakes and our little top cake, we liked the gluten free option the best! So our wedding cake was an almond cake with lemon curd filling. Soo good!!!

I also make the clementine cake a lot in the winter. My dad isn't into sweets, and it's his favorite cake.

Seconding almond cake - I made one for my wedding and it was pretty tasty! I can't recommend the recipe I wound up using because it had a bit of wheat flour in it, but I also tested ones that were almond only that came out tasty, just a bit denser than a traditional white wedding cake. There are lots of almond cake recipes out there, and the fun part was that recipe testing and selection was an excuse for a pre-wedding party with friends.

Some really great ideas in the comments!

I did a wedding awhile back where the B&G weren't gluten free, but did want savory instead of sweet as the "cake" and what I did was just gluten free anyway.

They had 4 savory "cheesecakes" (crustless) that we stacked and decorated with grapes and apples, fresh herbs and dried fruits.
They were meant for use as a dip or spread, and we served huge platters of crackers and breads, fruits and veggies, smoked meats and fish, dried fruits and nuts and some cornbreads.
The four flavors were spinach, roasted red pepper, smoked salmon and dill, butternut squash curry.

Served on a cake stand w/varying heights and surrounded underneath by the platters of things to spread them on/eat with, plus fall fruits and veggies and bundles of fragrant herbs and fall flowers, it was very pretty.

We also served a semi-sweet creamy maple and black pepper polenta-walnut cake that was vegan, and went well with the other edibles.

The B&G did not want traditional cake, and rarely ate sweets, so this stood in as the centerpiece. It also eliminated the need for a sit-down meal as there were enough nibbles to fill everyone up at their own pace.

Hope the asker comes back to tell us what was served!!

I don't know if this is appropriate but I have celiac so during the holiday I use Pamela's mix and just make homemade frosting. Everyone loves it!

what about an ice cream bar instead? provide a few types of ice cream, whip cream, fruit, caramel, chocolate syrup, candy, nuts, etc. the couple can scoop ice cream together, and guests and fancy them up as they wish!

My father is also gluten-free. At my wedding, we did a traditional layered cake, but one layer was rice krispie treat, for him. Everyone loved it--it was the first thing to disappear!

Anything on this woman's blog:

http://www.roostblog.com/

If you live in the Los Angeles area, this gal makes awesome Artificial Free, Gluten Free & Vegan cakes that she can also customize to fit your specific dietary needs (I need in addition soy, corn & pea free for example). Me and my friends have been using her for two years now; weddings, birthdays, showers...rainy days lol. And they taste much better than Babycakes or anything I've attempted making!

www.cupmycakez.com