Wedding Cake Traditions – Tracing the History of Wedding Cakes

The history and tradition of wedding cakes go back a long way. You will be quite surprised to know that the first wedding cakes were recorded as far back as during the time of the Roman Empire. It is believed that in Roman weddings, the groom would eat part of the cake and break the rest over the head of his newly wed wife. This was obviously a deeply chauvinistic tradition as it signified that the man was the head of the house and had dominion over his wife. It is no wonder that this tradition died down with time, even though a variation of this was seen in Scotland, where a basket of bread used to be emptied on a bride’s head. This was also a sign of fertility.

In England, the tradition of making “Bride’s pies” preceded the practice of wedding cakes. These pies were mutton or sweet pies and this tradition started in the 17^th century and continued till the 19^th century. The tradition of proper wedding cakes became popular and prevalent in the late 19^th century when the cutting of the cake became customary as a centerpiece of attraction in the wedding reception after the church ceremony.

Wedding cake traditions also demand that the cake be mostly white as it is indicative and symbolic of purity. Cakes were generally called ‘bride cakes’ and the color white would denote the chastity and purity of the newly wed bride. Initially, the bride would cut the cake herself for distribution among the guests, but later tradition changed where the groom would also help his bride to cut the cake into slices, in a symbolic gesture of the union of two souls. After the couple had cut some slices of the cake, the rest would be cut by waiters and served to the guests.