The Sweetest Moment or About the Wedding Cake

Some may argue that the ‘sweetest’ moment is that unforgettable kiss right after “You may now kiss the bride”. But I’d rather call that one the ‘most romantic’. To me the sweetest moment in a wedding is when the wedding cake is presented, cut and tasted. And it’s not just and only because the cake itself is sweet. ‘Sweet’ is the tradition itself, ‘sweet’ are those funny little figurines on top of it, ‘sweet’ is the childish smearing of the soft cream on the lips…

All that said, it’s a fact that the wedding cake is one of the most important centerpieces and main ‘attractions’ of a wedding reception. And while no advice can be offered as far as taste and flavour is concerned, have a look at the examples below – they may give you a good idea of how your wedding cake may look like. Of course, you could always discuss it with the pastry chef, but some ideas might well be helpful.

The cake itself may be indeed spectacular, but the entire ‘ceremony’ related to it, is no less important.

Funny how the tradition of the wedding cake has developed from back in time when in ancient Rome it was all about some crumbs of bread broken over the bride’s head to bring fertility and good fortune to the couple. Later, a French pastry chef, after witnessing a wedding tradition in Medieval England of piling sweet rolls between the bride and groom (which they would attempt to kiss over without knocking them all down), went back to France and piled sweet rolls up into a tower to make the first croquembouche. And so on, and so on, through time and through many ‘sweet’ love stories, the once modest ‘pie’ came to be the gorgeous wedding cake of our modern days’ tradition.

Speaking of traditions…. here are some tips.

We all know about the ‘big’ one – the joint cutting of the cake by the bride and the groom and giving each other the first pieces… Not to ruin the sweetness of this moment, be sure not to shove large pieces of cake in each other’s faces. It may look funny to the audience, but would it be that “funny” for you, too? (especially for the bride!) Since this act is supposed to symbolize a commitment to provide for one another and show love and affection, you can smear a little bit of the piece of the cake onto your partner’s lips and “clean” that away by a “hungry” loving kiss. The crowd will go crazy watching this, and the loud applauses, laugh and smiles (and tears, perhaps!) are guaranteed!

Traditionally, the top decoration of a wedding cake would be those cute little figurines of a bride and a groom. Depending on you (and on the mastery of the pastry chef), these can be made so as to allow you to keep them. Tradition is to keep the entire top tier of the cake, but …Seriously?! The whole thing?! Instead, you can keep the figurines only, and have them as ‘special’ witnesses at the first anniversary of your wedding. (if still OK, you can eat them then!)

You may however also consider the idea of decorating the top of your wedding cake with chocolate (or sugar) hearts. And as your parents will be the first ones after you to taste the cake, why not give each one a ‘heart’ to so share with them your love and joy and show your deep appreciation, love and respect for them?!

And here are some ideas of how to make this ‘sweet’ moment truly unforgettable for your guests, too.

One of the traditions in the past suggests to place a glass ring in one of the layers of the cake; the pieces from this layer are then distributed among the unmarried young women, and the maiden who finds the ring will be the next to marry (similar to the tradition of catching the bride’s bouquet). So, why not try it! It’d be fun!

Another tradition of old times is to attach ribbons from the top of the cake into its bottom layer. Out of all the ribbons, only one has a ring attached to it, and whoever gets the charm will be the next person to marry.

A similar idea would be to place ‘charms’ in (or on) all the pieces of the wedding cake – each with a unique ‘luck’ for everyone.

The wedding cake symbolizes happiness and good life to the newlywed couple, and it is therefore believed that eating the crumbs of the wedding cake would give the wedding guests good luck, too! So, why not offer to your guests a funny “competition” of getting as much of those crumbs as they can?! No forks or spoons allowed!

Finally, a couple of somewhat unconventional ideas about your wedding cake.

Don’t have a cake! Instead, replace it with a chocolate fountain! Surely, the ‘cutting of the cake’ tradition shall then have to be somehow altered, but we’ll leave this to your imagination.

Have two cakes! One of the bride, and one of the groom. In fact, to have two separate cakes is quite an old tradition, now forgotten. Having two cakes, can give you the advantage of not only having two different flavours, but also of decorating each one accordingly and in two different styles, as well as to think of various funny ways to feed them to your darling spouse and your guests.

Well, I hope you have the sweetest moment of your life with your wedding cake!

Enjoy every piece and crumb of it!

This post was brought to you by my dearest friend Rossitsa Yankova. Thank you!

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