Wedding Cake
As far as back as ancient Roman times simple cakes made of wheat or barley had a place in wedding traditions when it was broken over the bride’s head. This was a symbol of breaking the bride’s virginal state or in some beliefs to ensure her future fertility.
Once the bread had been broken, the guests would gather small crumbs for themselves as it was considered lucky and would bring good fortune to those who were lucky enough to get some. This is where the custom of sharing the wedding cake sprang from.
Thankfully nowadays wedding cakes are made big enough to ensure all guests can be certain they will be given a portion!
During the medieval times the ‘wedding cake’ was used as a symbol of fertility and prosperity. A flour based food with no sweetening was baked into a type of bread and this was used in all celebrations, not just weddings.
The beginning of the ‘wedding cake’ came about when guests would all bring a small bun and they were stacked into one large pile in-between the newly married couple. If the bride and groom managed to kiss over the buns it was considered good luck with a lifetime of prosperity.
The cutting of the cake was considered the couples first task as man and wife and tradition used to dictate the bride serve portions of the cake to the groom’s family which was a symbolic transfer of her household from her family to the groom’s family her household.
The tradition of the bride and groom feeding each other a piece of the cake after they have cut it is to show the joining in bonding of the new family they have become, replacing the parent-child union.
Modern wedding cakes vary from country to country from rich fruit cakes to light sponges, each with their own traditions and beliefs and no wedding would be complete without one.
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