Wedding traditions with the wedding cake
The wedding cake has changed shape many times.
The wedding cake has changed shape many times. It began as bread and a dry, spiced fruit cake and became the iced, tiered centrepiece of British and American weddings. Other countries have their own cakes, and some have no cake at all.
British and American cakes
The Roman custom of breaking barley bread over the bride's head is an ancestor. Medieval guests piled small cakes in a heap, and the couple were said to kiss across the pile. The white iced tiered cake grew in the nineteenth century, and Queen Victoria's cake of 1840 was famous. The top tier was kept for a christening or the first anniversary, and the cutting by the couple is a symbol of their first task together.
Cakes elsewhere
The French croquembouche is a tower of choux buns bound in caramel. The Scandinavian kransekage is an almond ring tower. In Germany the Baumkuchen, a layered cake made on a spit, is served, and in Italy the millefoglie is a layered pastry. In Japan the cake cutting is a Western borrowing, and in the Philippines, Nigeria and India, multi-tier cakes have become standard. In Ireland a fruit cake is still common.
Written by the EveryShaadi desk with AI assistance. Background on The wedding cake (symbol). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark and 2 moreKransekakekransekage
A towering almond ring cake central to Scandinavian wedding and holiday traditions.Feast custom · Reception, dance and gifts
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 morePolterabend
The evening before the wedding when guests break porcelain to bring luck and test the couple's teamwork.Blessing · The eve
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreWedding breakfast
The post-ceremony feast served to the couple and their guests in British English usage.Feast custom · The ceremony
🇸🇪 SwedenKrokan
A multi-tiered almond pastry tower joined by caramel and decorated with marzipan roses, served at Swedish weddings.Feast custom · The wedding feast
🇭🇺 HungaryVőfély
The Hungarian wedding host who guides the couple through rites, speeches, and traditions.Family role · Finding a match
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreWhite wedding
A formal Western ceremony marked by a white bridal gown and traditional Christian rituals.Attire · Engagement and betrothal
🇮🇸 IcelandIcelandic weddings
A blend of church ceremony and multi-day feasting that marks the union of two people in Iceland.Feast custom · The ceremony
🇩🇪 GermanyLandshut WeddingLandshuter Hochzeit
A four-year historical pageant in Bavaria re-enacting the 1475 royal marriage of George and Hedwig.Setting · Engagement and betrothal
🇵🇱 Poland and 3 moreŚmigus-Dyngus
The Easter Monday water splashing and willow whipping tradition of Central EuropeRite · The weeks before
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Śmigus-Dyngus: Nationwide Specialty Co., Arlington, Texas -- In Buffalo, N.Y., Stanle, CC BY 3.0, source
- Polterabend: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Landshut Wedding: Oktobersonne, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Interfaith marriage in Christianity: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Wedding breakfast: Arpingstone, Public domain, source
- Kransekake: Kjetil Ree, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Krokan: Hansgustavsson, Public domain, source