sweet & joy

Today's post is about the sweetness of weddings.

And not precisely talking about the LOVE and ROMANCE,

but about the wedding cake!!!!

I have read and heard lots of stories regarding the wedding cake, but do we really know where thsi tradition came from?

Well according to my WBW Book for Wedding Planners the history of the wedding cake goes back as far as the Roman Empire, of course by this time icing was not even on the mind of the bakers.

The groom would eat part of a loaf of barley bread baked especially for the nuptials and break the rest over his bride's head. History tells us that breaking the bread symbolized the breaking of the bride's virginal state and the subsequent dominance of the groom over her. Talk about "macho" ego.

The tradition disappeared fairly quickly in some places, we all can see why that lasted so little. If I'm a bride there´s no way I'm letting my man break the cake on my head, after all the time it took for me to look GORGEOUS... but there were still reports of breaking an oatcake or other breakable cakes over the bride's head in Scotland, in the 19th century. It's reported that in Northern Scotland, friends of the bride would put a napkin over her head and then proceed to pour a basket of bread over her. We are all glad this tradition is over.

I also read on the web that during Medieval England, there was a custom involving stacking small sweet buns in a large pile in front of the newlyweds. The couple would attempt to kiss over the pile. Success in the process was a sign that there would be many children in their future... I guess in those days they would still have many children even if they could not succeed in kissing over the pile of sweet buns...

And then we have the appereance of the BRIDE'S PIE. This was somewhere in the middle of the17th century and well into the early 19th century. Oh how I love pies!! Ok this pie was filled with sweet breads, a mince pie, or maybe just a mutton pie. The main "ingredient" of this pie was a glass ring.

The myth says that the lady who found the ring would be the next to be married. You didn't exactly find these pies at weddings but they where in almost every event. *** great idea for your bachelorette party lets see who the next in line is ???

But wedding cakes became really popular by the late 19th century, they where simple and usually plum cakes.

Legend has it that sleepers will dream of their future spouses if a piece of wedding cake is under their pillow. In the late 18th century this notion led to the curious tradition in which brides would pass tiny crumbs of cake through their rings and then distribute them to guests who could, in turn, place them under their pillows. The notion of sleeping with a piece of cake underneath one's pillow dates back as far as the 17th century and quite probably forms the basis for today's tradition of giving cake as a "gift." After a while brides started to get superstitious about taking off their wedding rings so this tradition just kind of ended too.

FIRST WEDDING CAKES WHERE WHITE.

White icing required the use of only the finest refined sugar, so the whiter the cake, the more affluent the families appeared. It was due to this fact that a white wedding cake became an outward symbol of affluence. (we get that now but not only with the cake but with the ring too) Previous to Victorian times, most wedding cakes were also white, but not because of the symbolism. Using the color white for icing had a more pragmatic basis. Ingredients were very difficult to come by, especially those required for icing.

THE CUTTING OF THE CAKE REPRESENTS THE FIRST TASK THE BRIDE AND GROOM DO TOGETHER AS A NEW FAMILY. It takes place on the center stage so every body can be a part of this moment.

And for sure this is one tradition that most of us have witnessed many times. The first piece of cake is cut by the bride with the "help" of the groom. So cutting the cake becomes a joint project. After the cake cutting ceremony, the couple proceed to feed one other from the first slice. This provides another lovely piece of symbolism, and one I really love: the mutual commitment of bride and groom to provide for one another. (till death do us part)

On my wedding planners course with the WBW I learned about the Groom's Cake, not every culture has this tradition.

Now a days it's a tradition that has prevailed in the South part of USA, but I have seen amazing Grooms cakes they usually symbolize something that the groom really enjoys doing in his life, fishing, gambling, play station, hahaha they are made with a lot of color and fondant details that really make them a fun part of the wedding.

We have evolved into a most sophisticated form of wedding cake with top tiers that are to cut the cake and bottom tiers made with decorated mini muffins. Also the tree tire cake evolves in to first and second layer being fake and only bottom one is to give the guests. And yes the SWEETS and DESSERTS buffet tables have also help bride and grooms decide into a much smaller version of their wedding cake and give guests the option of several deserts at wedding.

Which ever your selection remember to choose wisely, cutting the cake is your first task as husband and wife so you want the cake to shine.

Have a great weekend and take care,

remember sweetness in life is also JOY!!!!