Why do we have Wedding Cake?

The tradition of the wedding cake began long ago in ancient Rome. During the wedding ceremony the bride and groom were fed morsels of a wheat biscuit or roll. Symbolizing fertility, the biscuit was then crumbled over the bride’s head
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The concept caught on, passed through the centuries, and was adopted by various cultures of the Western world. By the time it reached Elizabethan England, the wheat cake, a symbol of sharing and fertility had become more than just tradition.

The Elizabethans stacked the rolls high and placed them on their reception tables as centrepieces, for all their guests to admire and enjoy.

But it took those effervescent, pastry-loving French to envision that those simple wheat-biscuit centrepieces could be held together with sugar frosting (the forerunner of the tiered wedding cake). and OOOH! LA! LA! What they did to those rolls!

The French, just like the princess who kissed the frog, “kicked up” the course wheat rolls and turned them into succulent, fine textured cream-filled puffs, stacking them high while holding them in place with sticky, sweet caramel. Later, they used the heavenly wispiness of spun sugar to decorate the sumptuous, shiny, golden pastries.

In France, a bride and groom may still request the croquembouche (translation: crunchy mouthful) for their wedding cake, a remnant of seventeenth-century tradition.
The wedding cake embodies a sense of history, of happiness, fertility, plenty and good luck. It is tradition. Give it the respect it deserves.

American Academy of Wedding Professionals™