The Wedding Cake
No wedding can be without the wedding cake - it is essential!!
Traditionally, the wedding cake is usually a white cake with elaborate white icing. Many cakes are adorned with pastel iced flowers or even real flowers. Many brides get creative with their cakes, but the traditional cake is a round or square tiered or stacked cake topped with anything from flowers to plastic dolls.
You will find that cakes these days are very elaborate. Many cakes are no longer simply vanilla flavored. Butter Cream and Cheesecake are very popular - and so are the many variations of chocolate. In addition, many cakes are filled with fruits, custards, and mousses. The icing on today's cakes can also be very different. Many choose to have the icing match their wedding colors.
As for today's cake designs - it seems that anything goes. Stacked cakes still seem to be the way to go, but designs are quite creative.
The wedding cake should be displayed on its own table at a vantage point from which it can be admired by all of the guests.
The Groom's Cake
The tradition of the Groom's cake began in the South. While the Bride's cake is a symbol of fertility, the Groom's cake was originally a symbol of the couple's sweet life together.
The Groom's cake really serves as a way for the groom to have his own special moment during the reception. The cake often hints at some aspect of the groom's personality.
The Bride usually orders the Groom's cake from the same baker who is creating the wedding cake. The Bride usually keeps the design of the cake a secret until the wedding day.
Some Grooms prefer to order the Groom's cake themselves, keeping it a secret from the Bride. Either way, the Groom's cake can be a fun part of the reception.
The Groom's cake is often a rich chocolate cake. There is no limit to the design and there is nothing really traditional about it. Some couples choose to serve it at the Rehearsal Dinner as a dessert because it is often a "less serious" cake than the wedding cake.
Wedding Cake Traditions
Cutting the Cake
The cutting of the cake is a tradition that occurs during the reception. The bride and the 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.
Saving the Top Layer
One 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.
