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)
