If you do a Google search for wedding traditions you will find a million ideas pop up:

• Wearing your wedding ring on the 4th finger of your left hand
• White wedding dress
• Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
• Tossing rice as the bride and groom exit
• Bouquet/Garter toss

The list goes on and on. But have your ever stopped to think about where these traditions came from or why we do them? Is it okay to break away from tradition and do you own thing? In a new blog series I will be looking at some basic wedding traditions and breaking down the history behind them.

In this post we will be looking at the tradition of…

 

The wedding cake!

It’s a staple part of every wedding reception, and usually the guest’s favorite part. I have see everything from stunning traditional tiered cakes, to cupcakes and cake pops. Some have been elaborate works of art, while others have been a sweet and simple creation by a family friend. Either way you slice it, the wedding cake is a tradition that isn’t going anywhere soon.

So where did this tradition start, and why do we have it?

It is stated that the wedding cake tradition started with the Romans. The Groom would break a piece of bread over the bride’s head. This was a symbol of both her virginity along with prosperity and fortune for the couple and their future children. Guests would rush to collect the crumbs as they believed it would also bring them good fortune.

In Medieval England cakes were stacked as high as possible while the couple tried to kiss over the cakes without knocking them over. The higher the stack was, the more blessed your marriage would be.

Then, there was the tradition of the bride’s pie. The bride would bake a pie and place a glass ring in the middle. Guests were expected to eat the pie, as it was a sign of bad luck not to. The maiden who found the glass ring in her slice of pie was said to the be the next one to get married, much like the current bouquet toss.

Over time, these traditions transformed into the wedding cake we commonly see today.

We no longer break bread over the bride’s head or stack cakes to the ceiling, but it’s still one of the most honored wedding traditions.

It is typically one of the first acts the bride and groom perform as man and wife after the ceremony. It is also an unspoken sign for older guests that they are welcome to leave is necessary.

Just because a wedding cake is a traditional part of a wedding ceremony, doesn’t mean it has to be boring.

I have seen some gorgeous traditional tiered wedding cakes, but I have also seen some really fun and creative cakes and cake alternatives.

If you and your groom aren’t traditional people, or you just don’t love cake then feel free to get creative. One of the great things about these wedding traditions is that its ok to stray from the norm and make a new tradition that’s all yours.

If you are interested in checking out the other posts in this blog series click the links below:

Bridal Sessions

Brial Bouquet

 

 

 

 

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*Kendra Swalls is the photographer behind Paisley Layne Photography, and is a boutique portrait and wedding photographer in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She specializes in, beauty, senior and boudoir portraits as well as wedding photography. Kendra’s style is fun and personality-driven while still retaining the timeless features of photography that create family heirlooms. She currently lives in Justin,TX  with her family: a husband that is great at building a fire on a cold day,  a four year old daughter whose favorite Christmas gift was her Frozen castle and a new baby girl.  Kendra is currently booking 2016 & 2017 Portrait Sessions and Weddings in Dallas, Ft. Worth, Denton, Flower Mound, Southlake, Keller, Lewisville, Argyle and all of the North Texas area.