Buying a Wedding Cake

A wedding cake is a traditional cake served to the guests at a wedding reception. It is usually a large cake with multiple tiers and heavily decorated with marzipan and icing. It is also common to add flowers which match the bride’s bouquet along with gold rings, doves and horseshoes, which signify luck.

It is general tradition that the bride and groom take the first cut of the cake. In some traditions the bride and groom then feed the first bites of the cake to each other. It is then that other guests may have a portion of the cake with the champagne and speeches and a toast. Old tradition says that if a bridesmaid sleeps with a piece of cake under her pillow, then she may dream of her future husband.

It is tradition in some parts of the world that the top tier of the cake or a portion of cake be stored away for the bride and groom’s first wedding anniversary or the christening of their first child. A wedding cake is usually a fruit cake which can be stored for a considerable amount of time or the cake may be frozen.

It is not necessary, of course, to have a multiple tier wedding cake. A single layer cake is sufficient. However you choose to have your wedding cake, it will reflect your personality in it, from only a single ornament or flower, to intricate icing. Remember that even the simplest wedding cake can look effective when sitting at centre stage.

Some people choose not to have a wedding cake made of fruit. It is not to everyone’s liking. Some couples choose to have a plain sponge cake or chocolate cake covered in the traditional marzipan and icing, or take a different approach and have a butter-cream icing, topped with the decoration of their choice.

Many things need to be taken into consideration when choosing a wedding cake. Listed below are some things to remember.
Choosing a wedding cake isn’t just about the design and flavour, it is something that will reflect your personality and ultimately match the rest of your wedding decorations, for example, wedding dress, flowers, colors etc.

A unique and well made wedding cake doesn’t come cheap. Choosing a sponge cake rather than fruit would make it cheaper. And also having one layer instead of multiple layers would also keep the cost down. You could even opt to have one fruit layer and one sponge layer, which will also satisfy the different tastes of your guests.
It is also important to know how many guests will be attending your wedding in order to be able to judge the size of the cake.

And the most important factor that most people tend to forget is the allergy factor. If you have guests that have nut or gluten allergies, then you could ask your cake maker to adapt to these allergies when making your wedding cake.
The final piece of crucial advice is that you order your wedding cake at least six months prior to your wedding day, especially if you are ordering a fruit cake, in order to give it time to mature and, of course, cake decorations take time to prepare.


By Yolanda Nash

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