 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) |
