The Wedding Cake has become an integral part of the wedding ceremony. It almost always has its own dedicated time slot at the reception. Everyone usually looks forward to the moment the newlywed couple cuts the cake and feeds each other a piece of this beautiful work of art. Will they be respectful of each other or will they have fun mashing it into the face of their other half? It is a moment we all love to see and remember. All brought to you with regards of the edible masterpiece.
One of the first questions that newly engaged couples get asked is “What kind of cake are you going to have?” I know this from very recent experience. It is usually asked right after “Where are you going to have it?”. That may give us an idea of how important the wedding cake is to those attending. I’ve been lucky. I come from a long line of bakers, so I am having my sister and mother make the wedding cakes. In case you are not that lucky, you will need to look around and interview a number of cake artists. You need to make sure you are comfortable with the previous work of the baker. Don’t be afraid to ask for their portfolio. Once you find someone you feel you can trust, you might consult them to assist you in some ideas for your cake. Of course, if you already know what you want then you have one less thing to consider.
In deciding on on what kind of cake you want to have for the big day, tradition and convention can go out the windows these days. It has become just as proper to have a unique wedding cake that reflects your own personal style as to have the more traditional multi-tiered white cake. In all reality, the white cake doesn’t have the same tradition as the white wedding dress which is meant to symbolize the bride’s purity – even this tradition is becoming less and less standard as more and more brides are choosing colored dresses. The tradition behind the white cake is based on a time when only the affluent could afford the highly refined sugar to make the white icing. It was more of a status symbol than anything else. By all means, if you want an ice cream cake (and the climate you are in approves) then go for it.
Something else you should think about when choosing your cake is the venue for the reception. If you are having it indoors then you shouldn’t have to be concerned with the climate and your cake. If you, however are planning an outside ceremony and reception make sure you take the weather into account. An ice cream cake in Texas in July might just be a poor idea!
Wedding Cake Toppers
With the importance of wedding cakes solidly ingrained in the ceremonial process, it is time to take a look at the crown of these delights. The one thing that adorns the very crest of the the all important celebratory dessert, the wedding cake topper. It gives the soon to be wed couple one more thing to show their own personal flavor in the ceremony and possibly another thing to have a heated discussion over. OK maybe not a heated discussion, but you would be amazed at how something like a wedding cake topper can quickly descend into a Hatfield versus McCoy situation. So let’s take some time to discuss the many different hats your cake can wear on your wedding day.
Today the perspective bride and groom have a plethora of choices for their toppers. It wasn’t always this way. These molds representing the bride and groom reached their height of popularity in America during the 1950s. Although, I might like to argue this point to some degree, considering that one search engine reports these little figurines are searched for on the Internet roughly 40,000 time a month. I would have to think that is pretty popular. Back int eh 1950s they were a symbol of togetherness, similar to the lighting of the unity candle. During this time the majority of these symbols were of a bride and groom in formal wedding attire. While you can, of course, still get the traditional symbolic bride and groom for the top of your cake, it has become by far more en vogue to express some shared activity or hobby with them. And there is no shortage of wedding cake topper designs to choose from these days. Everything from collegiate mascots to poker playing (yes even strip poker designs for the more risqué among you) couples are available for you. Almost nothing appears to be taboo these days in wedding customization.
Another emerging trend among couples to be, is using the wedding cake toppers as a sort of history or future of the couple. I was at a wedding for some friends not too long ago where they were both very focused on building a business together so they found a topper that reflected a business transaction, of course, it also kind of looked like he was paying her to marry him, which I have to believe was the case. Talk about marrying out of your league, but I digress. Also, some couples will find a symbol to denote the historical struggles they have had to overcome to get to that day. My fiancee says that we need one of the groom running away for our wedding later this year.
So the choice is yours, with a rich history to back up the modern day wedding cake toppers and future that appears to be on the rise for unique ideas and implementation, for the symbol you wish to represent the two of you.