Wedding Cake Traditions Gone Wrong
I was cleaning out some boxes when I came across this picture from my dad’s wedding a few years back. Oh, who am I kidding? A few decades back. There I am, charging toward the cake with a passion usually reserved for Garbage Pail Kids, Snoopy Sno Cone Machines, and Hubba-Bubba. And yes, I threw in a hyperlink on that last one because you’re probably so young you have no idea what Hubba-Bubba is.
The wedding cake. It’s iconic and all-important. The question is… why?
It used to symbolize a bride’s virginity. Back in ye olde Roman days, a groom would break a wedding cake over his young bride’s head as a symbol of their new, ahem, “togetherness”. This tradition disappeared in the 19th century, which is probably a good thing given that less than half of modern American girls are virgins when they get married. I can just imagine Chris grabbing the cake, holding it over my head and then saying
“psyche!” Plus, seriously, who wants buttercream frosting on a recently shelacked up-do? Yuck.
It used to be a great way to get a date. Dating back as early as the 17th century, female wedding guests were known to take pieces of the nuptial cake and put it under their pillows in the hopes that their sweet dreams would lure in their future husbands. I am picturing this in a cockroach-infested building in New York and the results are not pretty.
It used to symbolize the first joint task performed by the newly-minted husband and wife. This tradition used to be followed by the bride handing out pieces of cake to all of the guests, symbolizing her first task as a wife. Given that most modern weddings have one hundred or more guests, this tradition now includes the wife handing the task off to the catering staff.
The question is… what does a wedding cake symbolize in the year 2009? Is it worth a thousand bucks to keep it in the reception rotation? I’m leaning towards no… especially after spending a few hours last week finding the world’s most ridiculous wedding cake toppers. Convince me otherwise. I’m ready.
Tags: wedding cake, wedding traditions, what do wedding traditions mean
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Well, here’s your first vote for the cake. I like the symbolism of you both cutting the piece together- it’s just very sentimental and cool.
Ok, so we had a pretty small cake and then gave everyone a cupcake with it. Then we ate the entire cake together, just matt and me. It wasn’t that big and it symbolized something very important to us.
I say no on the cake. There are better things to make symbolic. Save your cash.
We thought the idea of putting the top tier in the freezer for a year sounded silly. So we took it on our road trip Honeymoon and ate it the whole week. It was more fun and probably tasted better than if we’d had it a year later. What we did with our whole wedding was that we did what we wanted. There is absolutely nothing I would change about it. Happy planning.
Just get the cake that you want and you’ll like it more. Sounds simple, but it’s true.
What I meant is… the cake that tastes good to you and looks like you.
The best cake I ever had at a wedding was yellow cake with chocolate frosting. YUM!!
I will cut you if there’s not cake. Just kidding. But I loooove wedding cake, when it’s good. I need to put it under my pillow, ok? I just hope the tooth fairy doesn’t come by mistake.
Kindra- thanks! I love the eating the wedding cake on the road idea- only- we’re getting married after the road trip, so we’ll have to eat low-carb air for the drive and save the cake-noshing for our drive home from the wedding. Janet- remember the ants! Jacey- your comment is making me hungry.
a. That picture of you is hilarious
b. wedding cakes are the best goddamn part of a wedding for everyone except you and your parents and maybe a best friend/sibling, so yes, you better shell out $10 Gs for a good one