Dos, Don'ts, Answers and Advice Series - "The Groom's Cake"

Part of my job as a planner, is to give advice to my clients about wedding dos and don'ts.  I decided to create a new series for our blog to help answer some of the sommon questions that we get.  I hope you enjoy. 

When doing cake consultations with a brides-to-be, I often hear the question.... "What is a groom's cake?"  and "Is it tradition to get the groom a cake?"

Well, I have heard many different answers so I decided to do some research.  Here is what I found out.  The groom's cake is part of an old southern tradition. It was tradition for the bride to surprise the groom by buying him a cake as a gift - "the groom's cake".  Usually the groom's cake is chocolate or some other dark flavored cake and/or soaked with liquor.  However, today's groom's cake can be any flavor the couple desires.

The cake can be cut and put in gift boxes for guest to take home or served as an alternative flavor in addition to the wedding cake at the reception.  It can also be used to serve to the wedding party and close family as a late night reception snack.  Another good idea (the one I like the most) is to have the groom's cake at the rehearsal dinner. The bride can surprise her groom to be with the cake during the dinner.

Crazy groom's cake legend:  it used to be said that the groom's cake should be cut and given to single women who attend the wedding to take home.  Once they get it home, they are instructed to put it under their pillow as they sleep.  Legend has it that this will cause them to dream about their future groom-to-be.

See below for some really cool groom's cake examples.  Now a days the cake is usually fashioned after the groom's favorite things, hobbies and interest.  But please keep in mind...the groom's cake is an option not a must have. It is also usually much cheaper than the wedding cake...especially if ordered from the same bakery as the wedding cake.

In the picture below, the bride had a really good idea to incorporate the groom's cake with the wedding cake.

All pictures are from the www.pinkcakebox.com site.. this lady is awesome...I use this site alot for cake inspiration for my clients. Other sources: The Wedding Channel and The Cake Channel