The bride’s cake, symbolic of abundance and fertility, was traditionally a three-tiered white sponge cake, frosted in white royal or buttercream icing. Tradition, however, has crumbled. Brides are now choosing cakes of  just about any flavour;  German chocolate, Italian rum, strawberry, carrot, yellow or marble. Icings can be fondant, buttercream or completely without any at all.

In other words, you may accommodate your own sweet tooth.

Choose your baker by sampling their cakes, if possible and looking over their album of cake designs and styles. You will find cakes that are designed as multi-tiered and sheet cakes or single to multi-layers.  Your fantasy becomes reality with a creative baker.

Select your baker at least four months in advance, be prepared to describe your wedding, the number of guests, location and time. A deposit of 25-30 percent is customarily given at the time you place your order. Request a receipt describing the type of cake you ordered, its filling, icing style and colour of decorations.

The decoration on the top of your cake can be as unique as the cake itself. Statues of the bride and groom are traditional, and renderings are available representing a variety of nationalities, hair colours and styles of dress designs. If you’d like something more contemporary, choose fresh flowers, a “bling” monogram of your initials, a delicate glass blown top decoration or modern rendition of a bridal couple. There are many to choose from and some brides opt for something different and untraditional. century.

Your baker will give you cutting instructions. Remember, when you make the first cut, hold the knife in your right hand. The groom’s hand closes over the bride’s together cutting a slice, then sharing it. This tradition evolves from an ancient Greek custom where a couple shared a sesame seed cake to ensure their marriage would be fruitful.

The top layer  or a couple of slices of your wedding cake is generally wrapped and frozen to await the celebration of your first anniversary.

Your own mini-dessert buffet might include dozens of different finger pastries and is commonly seen at Old World style, Greek, Italian, and Polish weddings. This option gives guests a chance to sample an array of tarts, cakes, cake pops, cupcakes, confections brownies, donuts and more. Include some fruit and sugarless treats for guests on restricted diets.

While a sweet table doesn’t replace your wedding cake, you may opt for a smaller version. Guests will want to save room for sampling, lingering near the table as they mull over their choices.

The area where you set up your wedding cake is one of the most photographed areas during your reception, second to your first dance. Remember to keep the area clear so that your photos don’t show an unflattering back wall of your venue.