WEDDING LORE and TRADITIONS

• Your Reception Just Wouldn't Be the Same Without a Wedding Cake!
• The Tiered Wedding Cake
• Sharing the First Piece of Wedding Cake
• Groom's Cake
• The Wedding Ring
• The Bridal Veil
• Bridesmaids
• The Best Man
• Bride on Groom's Left
• Giving Away the Bride
• The Wedding Bouquet
• Tossing the Bouquet
• Something Old, Something New...
• Dowries
• The Bridal Shower
• Saving the Top Layer of Your Wedding Cake

The ancient Romans used to make a cake of barley or wheat and then break it over the bride's head as a sign of fertility. The wheat from which it was made symbolized fertility and the guests eagerly picked up the crumbs as good luck charms. It also became customary to pile several small cakes to create one large tier. The bride and groom would then try to kiss over the tower of cakes without knocking it over. If they succeeded, it was a sign that their marriage would be long and prosperous. Later, a clever baker decided to amass all these small cakes together, covering them with frosting. Thus, the modern tied cake was born.

The origin of the tiered wedding cake also lies in Anglo-Saxon times. Guests would bring small cakes to the wedding and stack them on top of each other. Later, a clever French baker created a cake in the shape of the small cakes and covered it in frosting.

is a wedding tradition with Romans roots.

The Romans believed that by eating the wedding cake together a special bond was created between the couple. The wheat used to bake the cake was symbolic of fertility and a "fruitful union", while the cake's sweetness was thought to bring sweetness to all areas of the couple's new life.

The Groom's Cake has its roots in Southern traditions and has been making a fashionable comeback. A groom's cake was originally sliced and boxed for the unmarried girls attending the wedding, to take home and place under their pillows to dream of their future husband.

It is a personal choice when to serve the cake - either at the rehearsal dinner, as an additional dessert with the wedding cake, or as a late night dessert for the wedding party. Obviously, being named "Groom's Cake", it should be a flavor and theme that the groom enjoys.

The cake can either be ordered by the bride, as a surprise for her groom, the groom himself, or the bridal couple. Most importantly, if the Groom's cake is to be displayed near the wedding cake, its design and presence should not compete with the wedding cake. The wedding cake should always have top priority in design and place of honor.

It is not a requirement to have a groom's cake but it definitely adds a special and memorable touch to a wedding. If you choose to have a groom's cake and to follow the original tradition, the Groom's Cake should be cut, placed in a pillow box, and then placed on a table for the guests.

The wedding ring has been worn on the third finger of the left hand since Roman Times. Romans believed that the vein in that finger runs directly to the heart. The wedding ring is a never-ending circle, which symbolizes everlasting love.

The bridal veil has long been a symbol of youth, modesty, and virginity and was used to ward off evil.

Eleanor Custis, Martha Washington's granddaughter, wore the first white wedding veil in 1799. She was inspired by her fiance, who had told her how beautiful her face looked through a lace window curtain!

The bridal party is a tradition that has been established for many centuries. For a long time the purpose of the bridal party was to fool evil spirits. The bride's friends dressed similarly to her in order to confuse any virulent presences that might be lurking about. Today bridesmaids are there to support the bride in the stressful times during the wedding.

In ancient times, men sometimes captured women to make them their brides. A man would take along his strongest and most trusted friend to help him fight resistance from the woman's family. This friend, therefore, was considered the best man among his friends. In England, the best man accompanied the groom up the aisle to help defend the bride.

Because grooms in Anglo-Saxon England often had to defend their brides, the bride would stand to the left of her groom so that his sword arm was free.

The tradition of the father giving away his daughter has its roots in the days of arranged marriages. Daughters in those times were considered to be their father's property. It was the father's right to give his daughter to the groom, usually for a price. Today a father giving away his daughter is a symbol of his blessing of the marriage.

Flowers are incorporated into the wedding ceremony as a symbol of fertility. The first bouquets consisted of herbs and, later, orange blossoms.

Tossing the bouquet is a tradition that stems from England. Women used to try to rip pieces of the bride's dress and flowers in order to obtain some of her good luck. To escape from the crowd the bride would toss her bouquet and run away. Today the bouquet is tossed to single women with the belief that whoever catches it will be the next to marry.

"Something old" represents the bride's link to her family and the past. The bride may choose to wear a piece of family jewelry or her mother or grandmother's wedding gown.

"Something new" represents hope for good fortune and success in the future. The bride often chooses the wedding gown to represent the new item.

"Something borrowed" usually comes from a happily married woman and is thought to lend some of her good fortune and joy to the new bride.

"Something blue" is a symbol of love, fidelity, and purity of the bride.

A sixpence (the sum of six pennies) in her shoe is to wish the bride wealth in her future life.

The joining of money and marriage

A dowry - the money or property a bride brings to her husband at marriage - was common throughout much of the ancient world, and also flourished in medieval Europe.

In many places around the world, weddings were formal occasions, accompanied by much gift giving and ritual. The practice of dowries apparently originated when a bride's parents gave her presents. As time went on, the dowry developed various functions. A dowry of household goods often helped the newly weds set up their own home. A dowry of property or jewelry would help the wife support herself if her husband died. Generally, the husband returned the dowry to his in-laws if he and his wife divorced or if his wife died childless.

Sometimes, the groom's family paid for the bride, often to compensate her family for the money spent raising her. If the bride had been a valuable worker, her family was sometimes compensated for the loss of her economic support.

Romans, having complicated traditions governing marriages, had specific dowry laws. Traditional Chinese and Hindu engagements and weddings were also governed by specific rules and considerable ritual.

Tradition says that the first bridal shower was given to a poor couple in Holland who was denied the bridal dowry because of the groom's lowly miller status. The miller's friends showered the bride with gifts to help them set up housekeeping.

Ask a responsible person to take your top tier home and without wrapping it, put it into the freezer immediately to harden the icing and its beautiful decorations. Allow it to remain for only a couple hours until frozen. Remove cake and loosely wrap in saran wrap until the cake is well encircled many times with saran. Place in cake box, wrap in freezer paper and return to freezer. When removing cake from freezer, immediately remove wrapping and thaw. Your cake will be as beautiful as the day of your wedding. Another important hint for preserving your cake for a year is to never keep it in a frost-free freezer. The constant defrosting to keep frost from accumulating in the freezer will draw all the moisture out of your cake and leave you with a dry, tasteless confection.

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