by Tie The Knot Catering | March 16, 2023 | Trends
It’s the age-old question every bride and groom-to-be must ask themselves: to cake or not to cake? Wedding cake dates back to Roman times and is a long-standing tradition, however times are changing and with so much choice, and costs ever spiralling should you even have a wedding cake? We love a wedding cake, and everything it stands for, however that doesn’t mean you can’t mix it up a bit and put a modern twist on how it is cut and served..
History of Wedding Cakes: the Evolution of a Sweet Tradition
Wedding cakes began in Ancient Rome, when marriage ceremonies ended with a scone-like wheat or barley cake broken over the bride’s head for luck and fertility. The new husband and wife would eat a few crumbs together as one of their first unified acts as a married couple. Once the newlyweds had their share, wedding guests would scoop up the leftover crumbs for good luck.
The Romans brought their bread-breaking wedding tradition with them when they conquered Britain in 43 CE. We took the tradition one step further, throwing the bread at the bride to show her fertility.
By the medieval days, the English elaborated on the wheat cake and started stacking spiced buns, scones, and cookies as high as possible— the beginning of the tiered cakes we see today. The bride and groom would try to kiss over it, and legend said if they smooched successfully without letting the whole thing topple over, they’d have good fortune.
Today, having a wedding cake as part of your day is completely personal choice, there are no hard and fast rules about it. While some couples opt for a simple cake with just a few layers, others go all out with towering multi-tiered cakes adorned with everything from flowers to fondant figures. Whatever you choose, make sure it reflects your personal style as a couple.
Our Take on Cutting the Cake
Traditionally, the wedding cake is cut after the wedding breakfast and speeches; it signals the last formal part of the wedding reception. The bride and groom cut the first slice together, and if you follow tradition, feed each other the slice of cake. The rest of the cake is then cut and served to the guests, keeping the top tier cake for the christening of the couple’s first baby. The cutting of the cake was also taken as a sign that older guests may leave if they wish.
As lovely and traditional as this all sounds, what normally happens is… everyone has had a few drinks and are keen to get on the dancefloor. Ties and hats may have been removed and not everyone is as interested as they might have been a few hours ago. Therefore, we propose a new model… why not cut the cake before everyone sits down for the meal?
Hear us out, everyone is engaged and relatively sober (including yourselves we hope), and it is a good way to gather everyone ready to sit down for the meal. It makes for a much slicker movement to the dining area as everyone naturally gathers to see you cut the cake. It also gives caterers (like us) more time to prepare the cake and have it out ready on your coffee and tea station. Also, on those hot sweaty days it ensures the cake is looking at its best -especially those heavy icing cakes.
Different Ideas for Serving Cake During Wedding Receptions
There are many differing opinions on how and when the wedding cake should be served. Some believe that it is a timeless tradition that should be respected, while others see it as an outdated custom that could be replaced or updated. The other factor to consider is whether you want your cake primarily as a centrepiece or whether you lean more towards its primary function of being something to eat and enjoy.
If you’re undecided on what to do, consider some of these different ideas for serving cake during your wedding reception:
- Serve cake as the traditional dessert after the meal has been completed. This is a classic option that will please everyone. If you are serving the cake instead of dessert, we serve this with berries and cream to enhance the presentation and make it more of a dessert.
- If you like the idea of the photo opportunity or want to maintain some of the tradition, make it light-hearted and go for a novelty cake such as a Colin the Caterpillar who has seen somewhat of a spike in wedding cake turnout.
- If you have a budding baker in your family, they could perhaps provide individual cupcakes for people to take home or to be served with the tea and coffee
- Forgo wedding cake altogether and spend the money on enhancing the wedding breakfast.
Whatever you decide with your wedding cake, we hope we have given you some food for thought and new ideas on how you might incorporate your wedding cake into your special day.
Image credit: The Unscripted
by Tie The Knot Catering | February 18, 2021 | Wedding Catering, Wedding Insights, Wedding venues
It’s 2021 and we’re feeling hopeful for what’s to come. If we’ve all learnt anything in the past year it’s that, no matter what is thrown in its way, love will always win.
Whilst, ordinarily we work 18 months in advance of your day, with so many of our wonderful 2020 couples looking to postpone to this year or even next, we are now offering bookings late into 2022 and have even seen some thoughts turn to the 2023.
We want to support our clients, our venues and our industry as we all navigate our way through the landscape ahead, so whilst it may seem daunting to plan so far in advance, we strongly believe that the best way to ensure this is to plan well and be transparent from the very beginning.
If you got engaged over Christmas or the Valentines weekend and are looking to book your date for 2022 or 2023, we’d love to chat with you as we begin to fill our calendar for the seasons ahead.
We work in so many beautiful venues across Sussex and the Home Counties, and can also cater to private properties or in venues that allow external caterers. You can find out more about our venues here https://www.tietheknotcatering.co.uk/wedding-venues/
We work on a first-come, first, serve basis and cater for a max of 2 weddings a day. This means we can guarantee our twice award-winning service, providing you with the expertise and experience of our core team, and our undivided attention.
Our menus are second to none. We offer traditional 3 or 4-course dining, relaxed sharing board style menus or, for the socially distanced gatherings, elegant bowl food receptions. In 2019 we launched a hearty and delicious vegan menu which, over 2020, has been expanded to excite and satisfy even the hardiest of meat-eaters.
Also debuting in 2021, is an entirely new range of seasonal menus, capturing ingredients at the height of their flavour and vibrancy in dishes that complement both our style of modern British cuisine, and our sustainability agenda.
Drop us an email at [email protected] and let’s begin planning your dream menu today!
by Tie The Knot Catering | August 12, 2020 | Sustainability, Trends, Wedding Catering, Wedding Insights
We consider ourselves to be connoisseurs of the perfectly balanced menu. Starters to get the conversation flowing, mains to wow even the most traditional of Aunts and desserts so good that your cousin Steve will be gesticulating about them at family BBQs for years to come
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by Tie The Knot Catering | June 1, 2020 | Sustainability, Trends, Wedding Catering, Wedding Insights
Well 2020, what a crazy first six months you’ve been! If 2020 was the year you were supposed to be saying ‘I do’, and now your wedding has changed season or even year, let’s all agree on this:
The world has understandably and irrevocably changed in such a short time. You’ve lived through a scary and traumatic six months that has completely thrown all your plans out the window. But, once this is all over you are going to marry the love of your life, surrounded by all the people who love you most. The world around you will be brighter, and you will love and laugh that much harder, and treasure every moment of your incredible day, for everything that has happened.
It is definitely okay to feel sad for the day that you haven’t been able to have, but it is also okay to be excited again – for the celebration that lies ahead, whenever it happens. Now is an excellent time to do some regrouping. Getting married in a different season to the one you had planned doesn’t have to feel daunting.
So, if your Spring nuptials have become Autumn/Winter ones, here are our top tips on what to do when your wedding has changed season, and how you can make the very best of the situation.
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by Tie The Knot Catering | February 21, 2020 | Sustainability, Trends, Wedding Catering, Wedding Insights
Not all good ideas get the opportunity to fulfil their potential. The ones that do, are often characterised by a group of passionate people, and slow and steady growth.
Over the last four years Tie The Knot has had the benefit of both benefactors, which is why we’ve taken the opportunity to have a little reflection on the things we have learned and how they have helped us progress as a business.
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by Tie The Knot Catering | January 30, 2020 | Charity Partnership, Sustainability, Wedding Catering
An important part of running a small to medium business is the opportunities it presents to really make a difference in our local community. We are not tied to suppliers, or organisations in the way large corporations are, and this gives us the freedom to make decisions based on the good they will do, for us, and those around us.
Over the years this has become a priority for us. We buy our produce locally, understanding the positive impact this has on the local economy, and the environment, lowering our carbon footprint and helping to develop relationships between Sussex suppliers as we go.
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