What does wedding etiquette say about cutting the cake?

Luckily, wedding etiquette for cutting the cake has changed over the centuries. In ancient Rome, the wedding cake was more like bread and it was broken over the bride’s head.

That continued even after the bread actually became small cakes. Later, as cakes became larger, wedding etiquette evolved so that it is cut now instead of broken.

Originally, once cutting the cake became the norm for wedding etiquette, the bride cut it alone and served her guests as her first act as a wife. That was when wedding cakes were still only a single layer and had little to no icing since icing didn’t exist until the Victorian era.

Weddings were also small intimate affairs with few guests. As weddings grew, so did the cake. The multi-layered wedding cake became popular but in order for the top layers to be supported, the icing had to be hardened.

This brought about the wedding etiquette of the groom helping his bride cut the wedding cake. It literally was a two-person job back then. However, now it remains a symbol of the first task the couple has to accomplish together.

The cake should be prominently displayed near the main table since it is now a symbolic extension of the bride herself. We can see this through history as the breaking of the break symbolized the breaking of her maidenhood and the white icing symbolized purity.

Wedding etiquette for the cake suggests that the cake be on a table to itself that is suitable decorated and supplied with a decorative cake knife.

When does wedding etiquette prescribe that the wedding cake be cut? It depends on the type of ceremony you have. If it is an informal wedding and reception with no dinner being served, the cake should be cut after everyone has been received, toasts have been made, and guests have been served their drinks.

If a lunch or dinner is being served, then the cutting of the cake is done at proper dessert time after the meal but before dancing has begun.

How should the cake be cut? According to wedding etiquette for the cake cutting, the groom gently places his right hand over the bride’s as they guide the knife through the bottom layer of the wedding cake. Once they have placed the slice on a plate, they cut it into two small pieces to feed each other.

This symbol of providing for one another starts with the groom feeding his new bride first and she returning the favor. The cake is then distributed to the guests by the serving staff.

Save that top layer. Wedding etiquette for cake cutting has us save the top layer by freezing it to be eaten on the first anniversary. This tradition began when babies quickly followed weddings.

Since cakes were so expensive, the top layer was saved as a christening cake, which was usually needed by the end of the first year of marriage. Now that we space our children out somewhat, that tradition evolved into saving it for the first anniversary instead.