Friday, February 8, 2013

OK, I was a history major....so here's a brief history of wedding cakes and toppers...

We look to ancient Rome where the custom of breaking bread cakes over the bride’s head was thought to bring good fortune to the married couple.  It was also believed that the crumbs from these cakes were considered symbols of good luck and fertility for their wedding guests!







In Medieval England sweet bun type cakes were stacked as high as possible for the bride and groom to kiss over, if they successfully kissed over the stack they were guaranteed a prosperous life together.  

During the mid-17th century to the beginning of the 19th century, the “bride's pie” was served at most weddings. Guests were expected to have a piece out of politeness; it was considered very rude and bad luck not to eat the bride’s pie.  

Bride’s pie eventually developed into the bride’s cake.   The bride cake was traditionally a plum or fruit cake, the myth that eating the pie would bring good luck was still common. Fruit cakes were a sign of fertility and prosperity which helped them gain popularity because all married men wanted to have plenty of children.

The bride’s cake eventually transformed into the modern wedding cake that we know today.  In the 17th century, two cakes were made, one for the bride and one for the groom. The groom's cake eventually died out and the brides cake turned into the main cake for the event. When the two cakes were served together, the groom's cake was typically the darker colored, rich fruit cake and generally much smaller than the bride's cake. The bride’s cake was usually a simple pound cake with white icing because white was a sign of virginity and purity.   

In the early 19th century, when the bride’s cake’s were becoming more popular, sugar was coincidentally becoming easier to obtain. The more refined and whiter sugars were still very expensive therefore only the wealthy families could afford to have a very pure white frosting, this showed the wealth and the social status of the family. 

Next time...Queen Victoria and her impact on wedding traditions as we know them.... 

No comments:

Post a Comment