While wedding guests all anxiously await the appearance of the beautiful bride at the ceremony, once they head to the reception, most are excited to get a look at the fabulous wedding cake. Whether you opt to have a gigantic cake full of edible decorations, a simpler cake with a beautiful wedding cake topper, or a dessert station with lots of sweet treats, dessert will definitely be a focal point at your wedding reception.
October 10 is National Cake Decorating Day, so WhereBridesGo.com decided to look into the history of how wedding cakes became a must-have for most brides, as well as the reason that couples started picking out gorgeous wedding cake tops to decorate the featured dessert with. Here is what we found out.
Wedding Cake History
The wedding cake we know today wasn't how they originated. Rather than a sweet cake, ancient Romans baked whole wheat flour bread "cakes." These were broken over the bride's head (believe it or not!) and the guests ate the small pieces left over for good luck.
In the late 17th century, wedding pies were more common. Couples often served mince pies made of sweet breads to their guests for dessert. A glass ring was baked into it, and the lady that found the ring would be the next to get married.
It wasn't until 1655 that sweet wedding cakes became the popular thing to serve. At this time, the popular flavor was the Banbury cake. It is a flat, oval-shaped, spiced pastry which is currant-filled and traditionally eaten with a cup of tea. In 1840, Queen Victoria, who just happened to make the white wedding dress a popular trend too, was the first bride to have pure white icing used on her wedding cake. Apparently, that's where it got the name "royal" icing.
Wedding Cake Tops
According to the history we discovered about wedding cake tops, they were invented by a bride's father. The story that has been passed down claims that a baker's daughter was to be married and she asked her father to create a symbol of the love between herself and the groom that everyone could see at the wedding.
The baker tried several different things and eventually came up with the idea to surprise the couple by placing two figurines on top of the wedding cake that resembled the bride and groom. On the wedding day, the bride was overjoyed, and the topper on the cake was well-received and loved by all of the wedding guests as well.
The Dessert Station
Many couples now prefer to offer their wedding guests a variety of desserts to choose from. There may still be a small wedding cake to cut, but some choose to skip it altogether. Even if you choose to go the dessert station route at your reception, WhereBridesGo.com has a wonderful variety of wedding cake tops that look just as wonderful on the table as a decoration as they do atop a cake. After the wedding, you will still have that beautiful cake topper to display in your home as a reminder of your special day.
In addition to the best wedding cake tops online in a wide variety of styles, you will also find cake serving sets, toasting glasses, personalized napkins, and many more accessories to use for your reception from our online wedding store. WhereBridesGo.com is a wonderful place to visit for wedding inspiration and to find nearly everything you need to make your special day happen beautifully.
~ The WhereBridesGo.com Team
Post by Deanna Powell, Certified Bridal Consultant