Wedding Cake Traditions
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The wedding cake
has been an important part
of the wedding celebration
since Roman times when a
thin wheat cake,
representing bounty, was
crumbled over the bride's
head to ensure her
fertility.
Nowadays we are much too
civilized to crumble cake
over the bride's head.
Instead, the bride and
groom cut the cake
together and take
beautiful photos...and
then, in some cases, the
groom lovingly smashes the
cake in the glowing
bride's face - not too
civilized after all are
we?
Anyway, two traditions
have become standard in
most wedding celebrations:
cutting the cake and
saving the cake top for
the 1st anniversary.
Cutting The Cake
The cutting of the cake is
a tradition that occurs
during the reception. The
bride and groom cut the
cake together and the
groom feeds a piece to the
bride and then the bride
feeds the groom. After
this little ceremony, the
guests are served.
When Do We Cut The Cake?
You should cut the cake
just before dessert at a
luncheon or dinner
reception and just after
the guests have been
greeted at a tea or
cocktail reception.
How Do We Cut The Cake?
The groom should place his
right hand over the
bride's right hand, and
together you cut into the
bottom layer.
How Do We Feed Each Other?
Please don't smash the
cake into each other's
faces. Instead, the groom
should feed the bride her
first bite and the bride
should feed him. This
taste of the first slice
serves as a symbol of the
bride and groom's
willingness to share a
household.
Who Gets Cake Next?
After the bride and groom
have completed their cake
cutting ceremony. The
bride should cut pieces
for her parents and serve
them. The groom should
follow by cutting pieces
for his parents and then
serving them. The rest of
the cake is cut by the
catering staff or friend
designated in advance and
served to all of the
wedding guests. The
superstitious believe that
it is bad luck for a guest
to leave the reception
without tasting the cake.
Saving The Cake Top
Another wedding cake
tradition is to have the
top layer of the cake made
out of fruit cake. This
layer is saved and frozen
for the bride and groom to
eat on their first
anniversary. Many couples
do this, but it really
doesn't taste very good a
year later. Oh well - it's
tradition!
How Can We Keep It Fresh?
Seriously, no matter what
you do, a one year old
piece of cake is not going
to taste good. If you just
have to follow this
tradition, your best bet
will be to wrap the top of
the cake very carefully so
that it is airtight before
you freeze it.
New Twists On This
Tradition
Since this tradition is
really a celebration of
the first year of
marriage, many brides have
decided to celebrate a
little differently. One of
my friends decided to eat
the cake top on her one
month anniversary instead
so that the cake would
still taste decent - I
think she just may have
just been hungry... At any
rate, you could always try
this and make a small
replica of your wedding
cake on your one year
anniversary.
Wedding Cake Under A
Pillow?
A piece of the bride's
cake under a single
person's pillow will lead
to " dreams of a future
spouse", according to
tradition. So, if you
don't want to save the
cake top, you could have
the caterer pack slices in
decorative boxes to send
home with guests with
small paper inserts
describing the tradition.
(My guess is that most
single people don't know
about this cake under the
pillow tradition.
