To Save or Not to Save?...That is the Question - Wedding Compass

Should you save the top of the wedding cake?

Author: Patti Stafford

photography by: Michael Jonathan Studios

The tradition is to save the top tier of your wedding cake and serve it on your first year anniversary. It’s relatively a new tradition if you think about it.  It hasn’t been that long since we’ve been able to preserve foods in a freezer.  The tradition before that was for the groom to break part of the wedding cake over the brides head. This tradition remained popular up until the 19th century most likely after electricity became popular this tradition ended.

 

photography by: Michael Jonathan Studios

photography by: Michael Jonathan Studios

The real reason to keep the top layer of the wedding cake was to serve for the birth of the first child, or the child’s christening. It was expected that a baby would soon follow the wedding ceremony, so the cake was saved for that event. As more and more couples choose to wait for several years to have children, it’s became traditional for them to share the top layer of cake on their one year anniversary.

Many couples still save the top layer because it is tradition and traditions are fun and whimsical. But most couples rarely eat the cake.  They thaw it out, and some even taste it, but that’s about as far as most couples go.

Should you save the top layer of your wedding cake?  It’s strictly a personal decision and how you feel about celebrating a tradition that’s been passed down through the years.  It also depends on whether you have freezer space or a family member close by that will keep it in their freezer.

photography by: Michael Jonathan Studios

Some couples save it to keep the celebration alive and share it with close friends a few days after the wedding, or after the honeymoon.

Serving the cake a year later can also be a fun way to celebrate your anniversary and as a reminder of your special day.  Simply remove the cake from the freezer, snap a few photos, maybe even have a bite of the cake.  Life is about making memories and this is one more memory to add to your scrapbook.

It’s simply up to the couple if they want to keep with tradition or start their own.

Images by Michael Jonathan Photography