Wedding Invitations

Wedding cakes have been a part of weddings for just about as long as brides, grooms, and even wedding etiquette. Did you know, for instance, that many hundreds of years ago, wedding guests each brought a small cake, which were stacked on the table in levels and layers. This wasn’t just potluck dessert: if the bride and groom were able to kiss over the top of the stack it was considered good luck.

Nowadays, it’s not unusual to find a second cake at a wedding reception: the groom’s cake. The groom’s cake can serve many purposes, from dessert at the rehearsal dinner, to an alternative choice to the wedding cake at a reception. It’s customary for the groom’s cake to be displayed next to the bride’s cake, and later cut and put into boxes for guests to take home. Legend says that single women are supposed to sleep with a slice under their pillow the same night they receive it — and if they do, they will dream of their future husband. Boxed slices of groom’s cake can also serve as wedding favors.

While wedding etiquette doesn’t specify who may cut the groom’s cake, you and your groom may decide to honor the groom’s cake as they do the wedding cake, and cut the first piece together.  It’s up to you if you want to be nice when feeding eachother the cake or if you’ll be a little more mischievious and get a little frosting on one anothers’ faces.

Wedding cakes have been a part of weddings for just about as long as brides, grooms, and even wedding etiquette. Did you know, for instance, that many hundreds of years ago, wedding guests each brought a small cake, which were stacked on the table in levels and layers. This wasn’t just potluck dessert: if the bride and groom were able to kiss over the top of the stack it was considered good luck.

Nowadays, it’s not unusual to find a second cake at a wedding reception: the groom’s cake. The groom’s cake can serve many purposes, from dessert at the rehearsal dinner, to an alternative choice to the wedding cake at a reception. It’s customary for the groom’s cake to be displayed next to the bride’s cake, and later cut and put into boxes for guests to take home. Legend says that single women are supposed to sleep with a slice under their pillow the same night they receive it — and if they do, they will dream of their future husband. Boxed slices of groom’s cake can also serve as wedding favors.

While wedding etiquette doesn’t specify who may cut the groom’s cake, you and your groom may decide to honor the groom’s cake as they do the wedding cake, and cut the first piece together.  It’s up to you if you want to be nice when feeding eachother the cake or if you’ll be a little more mischievious and get a little frosting on one anothers’ faces.

Wedding cakes have been a part of weddings for just about as long as brides, grooms, and even wedding etiquette.  Did you know, for instance, that many hundreds of years ago, wedding guests each brought a small cake, which were stacked on the table in levels and layers.  This wasn’t just potluck dessert:  if the bride and groom were able to kiss over the top of the stack it was considered good luck.

Nowadays, it’s not unusual to find a second cake at a wedding reception: the groom’s cake.  The groom’s cake can serve many purposes, from dessert at the rehearsal dinner, to an alternative choice to the bride’s cake at the wedding. It’s customary for the groom’s cake to be displayed next to the bride’s cake, and later cut and put into boxes for guests to take home. Legend says that single women are supposed to sleep with a slice under their pillow the same night they receive it — and if they do, they will dream of their future husband. Boxed slices of groom’s cake can also serve as your wedding favors.  While etiquette doesn’t specify who may cut the groom’s cake, you and your groom may decide to honor the groom’s cake as they do the wedding cake, and cut the first piece together.
Don’t forget, there’s one time during wedding planning when you will have an abundance of volunteers offering to help make decisions:  cake-tasting time at the bakery.  Whether he likes chocolate, white, yellow, or red velvet cake for your wedding, your groom is almost guaranteed to be willing to go and have a taste of each choice that’s available.

Wedding cake designers/makers are constantly being put to the test with creative, extreme and sometimes bizarre demands for cakes. If you’ve ever seen those cake making contests they show on TV, then you have an idea how much work it takes to make a simple cake let alone one with a lot of detail. But can you imagine a life sized
look-a-like wedding cake of the bride?

That’s what happened for Chidi Ogbuta at her wedding. Her cake was a 6 layered, 5 foot tall masterpiece created in her own image and made of butterscotch and polymer clay. I wonder how long something like that would take to make. I also wonder how much something like that would cost to make.

Another amazing thing is that this wedding was actually simply to renew their vows for their 10th wedding anniversary. Can you imagine going through all that again to renew vows. Wow, hats off to them.

This story inspired some wedding etiquette courtesy tips that I think are important to share.  Next time you pre-order a cake and they can’t promise it to you as soon as you’d like, before getting mad, take into consideration the fact that they might have a huge order like this one. Therefore order well in advance. Also keep the lines of communication open and consider the preparation and time it will take to make your cake.

Good news pizza lovers. You can now have a wedding pizza as your wedding cake. That is of course if you live near Coshocton, Ohio.

Karen McMillen, owner of “East of Chicago Pizza” has recently become known for her wedding pizza. The bottom layer of the three-tiered pizza is made of pepperoni, ham, black olives and peppers. The second layer has a “flower” made out of tomatoes, peppers and black olives. The third layer includes a ring of pepperoni around the edge. To give it that wedding feel, the entire pizza is adorned with flowers. Once it’s cooled, the bride and groom figures will be placed on top.

I have to wonder, is it going to be served cold or is she going to wait to throw it in the oven just prior to the cake/pizza cutting? I’d have to wonder how they’d keep it warm. Perhaps they have a specialized warmer they can keep it in. Or maybe they’ll include a microwave near the cake so people can warm their slices.

I do know one thing for sure. Any parents bringing children will have to give them a quick wedding etiquette 101 class before going. I can see the kids very excited about this wedding pizza but I can also visualize little fingers plucking the pieces of pepperoni off. A big wedding etiquette must is keep the kids away from the wedding cake or wedding pizza. Every wedding I’ve been to there’s always that one kid that starts picking off the cake or swiping a chunk of icing off of it.

Did you know there is actually more to choosing a wedding cake than meets the eye?

For those of us who are domestically challenged, we don’t realize how “challenged” we truly are until we have to choose something like a wedding cake. Many of us think “how hard can it be? What’s there to think about?” We choose our flavors, colors and decorations we want on it and boom we’re done.  If you’re lucky you will have someone to stop you and probe a little bit to assure you avoid a cake catastrophe. 

For example…
One thing many people don’t think about is that you should choose your wedding cake based on the environment the cake will be exposed to at the wedding dinner (a.k.a. reception)? The kind of environment I’m talking about is the temperature and moisture factor.  You need the right type of icing for the right environment.  Here are some tips:

• Fondant and Marzipan are recommended if you are going to have the cake out for more than an hour on hot humid days.
• If refrigerated, fondant and marzipan may form condensation droplets on the cake when brought out to warmer air. If refrigerated, let it gradually arm up in an air conditioned room for a few hours to reduce condensation, before displaying it.
• Butter cream frosting is not recommended for hot environments, as the frosting will simply melt right off the cake.

There are also certain types if fillings that are temperature sensitive, so be sure to ask your cake maker about the options.

Well that wraps up today’s wedding etiquette tip. Make it a good day!