There are so many different options and choices available to us today. We can contact people by traditional phone, smart phone, regular cell phone, email, or regular mail. If we want to get somewhere we can drive a car, take a bus, ride a bike, or stroll along. Given all the options available to us today, it’s only natural that this variety should work its way into one of our most cherished traditions…that of the wedding cake. Selecting the flavor of the cake and the color of the icing is just getting started. You will need to take some time to choose the best wedding cake topper for your special cake. In this article we will be examining the world of the wedding cake, providing some background details on the tradition, and working on up to the selection process of the perfect topper for that very special wedding cake.
The wedding cake is often proudly and strategically placed during the wedding reception. Often towering way up into the heavens, it can compete with the bride as the “center of attention” on her big day. This delicious work of art establishes a focal point that the other aspects of the reception can revolve around. For those who prefer a flare for the dramatic, the wedding cake can be wheeled into the room at the end of the reception, providing a “grand entrance” for everyone to see. To many people this grand entrance will perhaps trigger memories of the bride who walked down the aisle earlier in the day.
For Starters
The wedding cake has certainly evolved over the years. It started off as a simple symbol of fertility, but has transformed itself into an artistic tradition that can have many different interpretations. For many ancient peoples wheat was a symbol of both fertility and a bountiful harvest. The Ancient Romans used to throw grains of wheat at the bride and groom in a “wish of fertility” to the new couple during their union. This custom evolved into bringing little cakes made from wheat to the wedding banquet. They would then crumble this cake over the head of the bride to wish them “many children”, and the guests would then eat the crumbs as a symbol of sharing in the couple’s good fortune.
Did you know that this “crumbling of the cake” over the bride’s head might have evolved into another wedding day tradition? Do you know what that tradition is? In order to shield the hapless bride from the shower that is to come, bridesmaids eventually draped a cloth over her head before the “crumbling tradition” took place. Many believe that this simple cloth evolved into the modern day wedding veil.
The Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages buns or sweet rolls had replaced the original wheat cakes, but it was still very customary for guests to bring these tasty treats to the wedding. Placed in a huge pile between the bride and groom, if the happy couple was able to kiss over this huge stack of wheat, it was believed that they would be blessed with many children.
Many believe that the next step in the evolution of the traditional cake was performed in the 17th century by a French pastry chef. While on a trip to London he happened to observe this “cake piling” ceremony. Upon his subsequent return to France he coated the stack of buns with sugar, and thereby “cemented” them together into one very tasty art form. This was to become the first rendition of the tiered and frosted wedding cake, and a mere forerunner as to what was to come in the years ahead.
The Classic
Are you familiar with the classic style of the modern day wedding cake? You know, the one with the distinctive design of smaller tiers as the cake builds vertically? It is believed that this model was inspired by the spire of the 14th century Saint Bride’s church in London. How’s that for a bit of trivia for you?
Victorian England has brought us many of today’s valued wedding traditions. For example, Queen Victoria herself is said to have had a cake that weighed in at 300 lbs. As confectioners and bakers became more daring and skillful, their creations became even more daring and elaborate. When England’s Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were married back in 1947, their wedding cake weighed in at a whopping 500 lbs, and was 9 feet tall.
The Version of Today
In today’s world the elaborate wedding cake is no longer reserved for the rich and famous. Every couple can share in the tradition of having a wedding cake added to their big day. The wedding cake specialists of today’s world have taken their art to towering heights (pardon the pun). Long gone are those bland days when you were limited to a white cake with white frosting. Although a white cake will probably always be the most popular due to its traditional meaning, today’s couple is limited only by the limits of their imagination (and budget) when it comes to their wedding cake.
Why The White Color?
Why is white is the customary color of a wedding cake? Do you know? As the story goes, back in Victorian times the finer ingredients of a wedding cake were expensive and scarce and very hard to come by. If the cake had a white icing on the other hand, this revealed the fact that only the best (and most expensive) white sugar was being used in the baking process. Brown sugar was much more common at the time, and therefore much less expensive. So, logically speaking, the more white the cake, the richer the people who created the cake were.
Be Prepared…Plan Ahead
The most important thing to remember when choosing that special cake for your big day is to not leave it till the last minute. Whether you choose a talented family member, the local baker, or a pastry chef who specializes in these tasty masterpieces, if you plan well in advance you will be able to navigate the difficult waters of whatever obstacles might come your way. Although some bakers require only a minimum notice, many are booked far in advance. It’s a shame to have that perfect cake of your imagination be “canned” due to the fact you cannot allocate a baker’s time.
So, you have no idea who will be baking your wedding cake? If you don’t have a particular baker in mind just yet, you have a bit of homework ahead of you. Shop around and get some great recommendations from family and friends. Be sure to browse the internet and yellow pages as they are both valuable informational sources. If you happen to be surfing the web you may see that many bakers today are posting photos of some of their wedding cake masterpieces. As a sort of masterpiece cake gallery, they showcase what they are capable of creating. This will spike your imagination as to what you would like your own wedding cake to look like.
Don’t Forget Your Budget
Be sure to be mindful of your budget before you let your imagination get the best of you. You want your wedding day to be one of celebration, not the day that you started your journey into debt. Many people are surprised at the cost of a wedding cake these days. Keep in mind that you are asking an artisan to create a colorful masterpiece for you, and this can often be reflected in the price that he/she will be asking. The cost of labor is often the largest expense in the creation of a wedding cake, but also keep in mind the simple fact that fondant is more expensive than buttercream.
The next step in the process is to determine the staging of your tasty masterpiece. Be sure to take the wedding cake stand into consideration during your planning. While some cakes are simply placed on flat boards that will not be seen by the general public, others are elaborately displayed on beautiful stands for all to see. Keep in mind the simple fact that actual size of the cake table must be in proportion to the size of your cake. A table that is too small will make the cake look too big, while a table that is too large will make it look like a cupcake. Your cake table will need a beautiful covering to compliment its strategic location at the wedding reception. Oh, don’t forget the cake knife and cake server. There needs to be a place on the table for these two items as well.
The Topper For The Wedding Cake
The topper “tops off” your special wedding cake. The “wedding cake topper” is the name for the elegant decoration or figure that sits atop a wedding cake. While it is true that some couples prefer to have the simple style of an unadorned cake, many prefer to have that final “crowning touch”, the wedding cake topper, sitting on top of the upper layer of the cake. In today’s world the simple plastic “bride and groom” of yesteryear has more likely been replaced by the classic porcelain figurine of today.
Do you know all the various types of toppers that are available? Many and varied is the correct answer. Toppers can range from the classic poses to figurines depicting some of the potentially “humorous” aspects of the wedding ceremony. How about a bride dragging the hapless groom back to the wedding altar. Personalized wedding cake toppers are popular these days, while niche toppers such as a “marine marriage” have their followers as well.
In Conclusion
There is only so much detail that one can go into in a simple article, and we have much more to say and relay. If you would like to learn more about wedding cakes, and wedding cake toppers to be more specific, please come and visit us on our blog.
Sue Toliver has two web sites: (1) special customized cake topper and (2) dining set review if you would like more info on how to “jazz” up your wedding.