Why Wedding Cake?

Modern Wedding Cake & Traditional Croquembouche


Have you ever wondered why we have wedding cakes? Why we spend so much money on a dessert that many of your guests won't eat? But there it sits on display for all to admire.
A wedding cake is the traditional cake served to the guests at a wedding reception (or in parts of England, at a wedding breakfast) after a wedding. In modern Western culture, it is usually a large cake, multi-layered or tiered, and heavily decorated with icing, usually over a layer of marzipan or fondant. Achieving a dense, strong cake that can support the decorations while remaining edible can be considered the epitome of the baker's art and skill.

Symbolism: The wedding cake is a tradition that began back in the Roman Empire. At the time, it was a loaf of bread that the groom broke over the bride's head as a symbol of his dominance in the marriage and over her. (The pieces that fell to the floor were scooped up by guests & placed under their pillows while they slept, to ensure good luck from the couples joining. This is where the tradition of wedding favors come from) The color of the cake is typically white to symbolize purity. The action of the bride and groom cutting the cake is meant to symbolize their first joint task in married life. The gesture of feeding cake to one another is a symbol of the commitment the bride and groom are making.

One of the earliest forms of the wedding cake is the French Croquembouche. The legend of this cake says that a pastry chef, visiting medieval England, witnessed their tradition of piling sweet rolls between the bride and groom which they would attempt to kiss over without knocking them all down. The pastry chef then went back to France and piled sweet rolls up into a tower to make the first Croquembouche.

Why Toppers?: Wedding cake toppers are small models that sit on top of the cake, normally a representation of a bride and groom in formal wedding attire. This custom was dominant in US weddings in the 1950s where it represented the concept of togetherness. Wedding toppers today are often figures that indicate shared hobbies or other passions, if they are used at all.

Wedding Cake Topper Take the Cake!

Wedding cake toppers have a rich cultural history, which can be traced back to the late 19th century. While toppers became wildly popular in the mid-20th century, most cultural historians agree that they first hit the social scene in the late 19th century.

Original wedding cake toppers featured a bride and groom in various poses. These were removed and saved as treasured mementos of the wedding ceremony by the bride and groom. As cake toppers became more en vogue in the 1900s, variations on the bride and groom theme began to expand. Options that became widely acceptable were silver bells, love birds, doves, cherubs, cupids, etc. As varied as the style, the materials from which wedding cake toppers are made run the gamut.

Nowadays, couples have a range of options from which to choose. The variety of custom and personalized wedding cake toppers is simply astounding. They come in every theme, shape, size and color imaginable.

3 Ideas for Selecting Unique Wedding Cake Toppers:

So, how do you choose a unique topper?
1) Think about the couple getting married. Are they sports fanatics?
Choose a wedding cake topper with the bride and groom dressed in baseball attire - instead of the traditional wedding dress and tuxedo.

2) Another way to choose unique wedding cake toppers is to highlight a couple's future plans.
For example, do they have a dream of sailing around the world? Cake toppers of sailboats and sea maps would illustrate this dream perfectly.

3) Many couples often overcome difficulty before getting married.
Choosing unique wedding cake toppers that highlight the adversity a couple has overcome can not only add to the festivities, but remind the couple of what brought them to this point.

Whatever you choose to grace the top of your cake, make sure it's a reflection of you as a couple. After all, you'll be keeping it forever right?

UNIQUE WEDDING CAKE TOPPERS, MADE FROM YOUR PHOTOS IN YOUR LIKENESS!

WEDDING CAKE TOPPERS THAT ARE ONE OF A KIND!

When the party is over and the cake is gone you can have a keepsake to treasure and display for the years to come. These cake toppers are works of art that are a lasting reminder of your very special day. You can have a cake topper that is uniquely yours, made from your photographs to not only resemble you but capture your uniqueness as a couple. Let it reflect your humor, hobbies, interests, and career. From comical to sophisticated, traditional to outrageous...

Each figurine is hand sculpted with great attention to detail from photos provided by the customer and can be customized for a topper that is truly one of a kind. Cake topper figurines will normally be about 7.5" tall and are made of polymer clay.

The figurines are made of colored clay though some items are painted such as the eyes, lips and some clothing details. Some embellishments are used that are not clay such as Swarovski rhinestones, antique pearls, and sheer cloth for the bridal veil. Figures are mounted on a wooden base and come with a beautiful glass display dome.
Visit www.thumbprintkids.com to view their impressive gallery.

Paper Wedding Cake Toppers!

These wedding cake toppers are handmade from paper- yes, paper! -
By Concarta of Los Angeles. Each one can be custom made for you, with specific flower colors, suit colors, or dress styles. I personally love simplicity of the all-white one, but be sure to visit her shop to see all of the options! How would you look as a couple translated into paper?

Custom paper sculpture cake toppers start at $100. Prices vary according to level of detail and complexity. Wedding dresses can be copied. Skin and hair can be monochrome or made to match a variety of skin and hair colors.
Visit www.etsy.com/shop/concarta