Wedding Cake Traditions

by Melissa Morgan, Posted May 24th 2010 5:00PM

Did you know that the wedding cake is a symbol of fertility? Or that wedding guests used to break pieces of bread over the couple's heads to bring them good luck? There are a variety of wedding cake traditions you can include in your wedding. Learn more about the history of the wedding cake in our gallery of traditions below:

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Wedding Cake Traditions from Around the World

Over time, wedding cakes became more like ... cake. The bride's friends and family baked sweet buns and brought them to the wedding. The size of the pile of buns was seen as a reflection of the bride's popularity. The higher the pile, the more friends she had. Later, the individual buns were replaced by a single large cake, elaborately frosted in white, which was associated with purity (this is also why a bride's dress is often white).

Wedding Cake Traditions from Around the World

Today, the custom of breaking the loaves over the bride's head has been replaced by the couple "breaking" their own bread: They cut the cake together, his hand over hers, symbolizing their new life together.

Wedding Cake Traditions from Around the World

In ancient Rome, rich families served a special cake reserved only for wedding ceremonies. It was believed that if an unmarried woman slept with a slice of this cake under her pillow, she would dream of her future husband. This tradition has carried over to modern-day weddings.

Wedding Cake Traditions from Around the World

The tradition of the groom's cake can be traced back to the Victorian era in England. In addition to the wedding cake, there was also a groom's cake. The groom's cake eventually became popular in America, especially in the South. It is intended to be a gift from the bride to the groom and is usually "masculine" in design: Chocolate frosting, for example, and no rosettes or flowers. The groom's cake is often served alongside the wedding cake, though sometimes it is boxed and taken home by the guests as favors.

Wedding Cake Traditions from Around the World

This also dates back to the Victorian era. It is sometimes referred to as "ribbon pulling," and usually takes place at the bridesmaids' luncheon. Each guest pulls a ribbon from the cake to find a charm dangling from the end. Charms might include a heart for true love, a coin for good luck or a telephone for good news.

Wedding Cake Traditions from Around the World

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Tags: grooms cake, wedding cake, wedding cakes, wedding traditions

Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

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5-28-2010 @10:21AM

krs said...

My husband's neice suggested we keep the cake to be eaten on our one year anniversary. ICK! She is now on her third husband, we just celebrated our 20th. Sometimes traditions just need to slowly die away.
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5-28-2010 @10:23AM

JustMe said...

Lots of people do that. We did with the top layer of the cake, just put it in the deep freezer, well wrapped. It tasted just as fresh as our wedding day. And we've been married 25 years this week so I doubt it was the cake that caused her divorces, lol.
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5-28-2010 @1:03PM

Carolyn said...

Like the silly, idiotic notion of marriage itself, it all needs to fade away. Use the $$$$$$$$$$$$ it costs for the inane, symbolic, "all for show" display, to pay for a round the world cruise and take the time to figure out why we "buy into" all of this crap anyway, because in the end, it doesn't really matter!
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5-28-2010 @11:26AM

Marie said...

I thought everyone did that, it's an old tradition. As justme said you just freeze that top layer with the bride and groom on it for a year. Also what about that old tradition of guests taking a piece of cake home and putting it under their pillow that night?
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5-28-2010 @3:54PM

Raejean French said...

My understanding of the saving the top tier tradition is/was that, if you thawed it and ate it on your anniversary, how it tasted when thawed predicted the prospects for longevity in your marriage. Ours was still very fresh-tasting (which surprised me), and so far, it's been 23 years.

I was amused by the story's comment about wedding dresses "often being white". They were TRADITIONALLY white to signify virginity, and traditionally blue for a second marriage. However, we can see from our own observations, including very pregnant and very mature brides in white that most women just do and wear what they please, regardless.

Finally, it seems truly ridiculous for brides to be "given away". This is a remnant of a society long past when women were chattels or under the protection and sponsorship of their fathers so the dowry could be collected by him. There is no reason for a bride to have an attendant unless she is physically challenged and needs the help.
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5-28-2010 @5:36PM

Donna said...

The real reason most wedding dresses are white is because Queen Victoria wore a white gown when she got married to Prince Albert. Prior to that women wore colored gowns.
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5-28-2010 @8:19PM

Judith said...

No, the wedding dress was NOT white as a symbol of purity originally. The tradition began centuries ago, when most people didn't wear white because it was too hard to keep clean. Rich brides wore white to show that they could afford a dress that they could only wear for one day.