All about Wedding Cakes!!!

The History of Wedding Cakes :

The history of wedding cakes is a fascinating one, a story that starts with the celebration of nuptials as far back as ancient Roman times when a simple cake of wheat or barley would be broken over the bride's head in order to ensure her future fertility. Guests would scramble to obtain a crumb for themselves, a custom that has led to the sharing of the modern traditional wedding cake. The cake evolved in both size and decoration until breaking it over the bride's head became impractical, if not impossible.

The bride and groom would traditionally try to kiss over the top of the tower without knocking the cake down. If successful, prosperity and health await the lucky couple. The small cakes were eventually frosted together with sugar.

Thanks to a visiting French chef during the mid-1600s, wedding cake design took a distinct turn towards the style of cake we're familiar with today. The Frenchman's aversion to cakes falling to the floor prompted him to design an alternative tiered and frosted cake, a wedding cake design that quickly caught on and that has since held its popularity.

The history of wedding cakes then started on its last leg before reaching the traditional wedding cakes that we have today, mostly due to brides striving to outdo each other. The more admiration a wedding cake design received, the greater was the chance of that marriage being in good fortune and peace.

Earlier to the Victorian era, only the rich could afford the very finest sugars needed to make pure white icing,thus resulting in the white wedding cake design becoming a symbol of wealth rather than purity, as is often believed.

The Second World War forced brides to be imaginative to

have a beautiful wedding cake using limited ingredients. As sugar was rationed and scarce, cakes began to reduce in size and,served inside a box decorated with plaster of Paris.

Whenever we see a bride and groom cutting the wedding cake, we're witnessing a very old tradition of the bride vowing to help her groom wherever possible, and when they proceed to feed one another from that first slice they're committing to provide for one another for the rest of their lives.

Choosing a wedding cake:

While the bride and her dress play the central roles in the wedding,but when it comes to the wedding breakfast table, all eyes will be on the cake.

It's for this reason that most brides would like a unique wedding cake that looks fabulous and tastes exquisite and will be admired and remembered by every guest

Choosing a wedding cake isn't just about design and flavour; several other factors need to be taken into consideration while deciding on the wedding cake design that best suits our needs.

Personalization For Cakes:

Personalize a cake table with:

Heirloom lace and linen

A special tablecloth

A family cake knife and a lifter

A favorite cake plate or a pedestal

Family photos

Mom and Dad's wedding portrait

A personalized cake topper

An engraved cake knife and a lifter

Champagne flutes from your registry

Crystal, ceramic, porcelain or silver collectibles from the registry

Cake Budget:

Most brides end up spending between $3 to $6 per slice on the cake, and most cake designers will require us to plunk down between 25% to 50% as a deposit.

Few Cake Budget tips

1. Double Duty: Find out if the hired caterer works as a baker, too. Many hotels, country clubs and larger catering companies have a pastry chef on staff. Often, if we use the staff pastry chef versus a designer from an outside bakery, we can avoid cake cutting fees, service fees, additional tips and delivery costs.

2. Something For Everyone: Order several cakes in different flavors, and serve them together on a dessert table. By sparing the cake designer major assembly and decoration time, not only will we cut costs tremendously, we'll get a bite of tiramisu and cherry chocolate cheesecake.

3. Flower Power: Not only are flowers one of the most beautiful ways to decorate a cake, they are also least expensive. To cut costs more, adopt the"less is more" motto, keeping sugar decorations to a minimum and letting our blooms take center stage.

4. Square Edges: Boxy cakes are modern, but they are difficult to build and frost. It takes time and patience to even out all those edges - so if money's an issue, go for more traditional, round layers.

5. Something Borrowed: We could always use knives, china or such small accessories from ur mom or grandma's weddings, we might just find another way to honor brides of the past, revive the life of an heirloom -- and save money while we're at it!

How many guests will be attending the reception

If the wedding's small, a two tier cake at 10" and 8" will give up to 30 servings, while a three-tier wedding cake at 16", 12" and 8" or four-tiers at 14", 10", 8" and 6" will serve up to 100 for a larger wedding. However, if we're inviting up to 500 guests, we may need five or six tiers.

Allergies:

Do any of the guests have a serious allergy that would leave them unable to enjoy their slice of the wedding cake Gluten and nut allergies are the most common and can easily be worked around by asking the wedding cake supplier to make one gluten or nut free tier.

Always remember that the wedding cake should be chosen and ordered at least six months before the date of wedding as the cake will need time to mature and elaborate decoration takes time to be properly executed. And do remember to order the cake boxes!