In keeping with our Cake Week theme, we figured we would feature a “What’s Up With That?!” post about cake. Let’s take a look at cake charms and the ever-so-popular groom’s cakes:

Cake Charms:

 If you’re a girl who loves legends and old world traditions, consider doing a “Cake Pull” at your wedding reception. This event dates back to Victorian times, and it’s a way to get your wedding party and possibly your guests involved in the festivities.

During the wedding reception, female attendants, usually single ones, stand around the cake and pull a ribbon that is attached to a charm inside of the wedding cake. The charm that they pull can tell them about their future, give them advice, or it may just have a special meaning.

One website that features the charms is WeddingCakeCharms.com. They have a great selection, and they have the meaning of the charm listed as well. You can purchase each charm individually, or you can buy a premade set. Most of the charms look to be about the size of a dime.

Here’s what you do:

1. Find a baker who knows the tradition. This is very important because he or she needs to know how to insert the cake charms.
2. Then, pick out small cake charms (one for each person in your bridal party, or however many you want) to be inserted into the cake. Each charm will be pulled out of the cake by a ribbon. You can pick out the cake charms based on meaning or theme. Make a small piece of paper to hand to the guests that are participating that has the meaning of each charm.
3. At the reception, have every participant gather around the cake and choose a ribbon to pull. You can have them pull the charms one at a time or all at once after a grand countdown.

So what do I do with the charms after they are pulled out of the cake???
Good question! There are several different ideas:

1. If you are doing the Cake Pull exclusively with bridesmaids, you can buy them each a charm bracelet, and they can have the cake charm be the first one on the bracelet.
2. After the guests find out the meaning of their charm, they can give them back to you, and you can put them on your own charm bracelet to commemorate the day.
3. If there are a lot of guests, they can keep their own charm as a memento and start their own charm bracelets or make a necklace out of it.

Groom’s Cakes:

We know the wedding is all about the bride, but letting the groom have a little slice of the action doesn’t hurt. The bride typically gets her way with an elegant wedding cake filled with luscious layers. But what about the groom? He can have his own personalized, funky cake!

Believe it or not, the groom’s cake originated right here in the southern United States. It was intended to be a gift from the bride to the groom on their wedding day.

The groom’s cake is usually “masculine” and features darker colors; however, in the past few years, grooms’ cakes have taken the shape of their hobbies and interests…maybe even an odd obsession. I recently attended a wedding, and the groom’s cake was an aardvark. Random? Yes. Meaningful? Apparently!

There’s a fun legend that goes along with this cake:
Supposedly, if you’re a single woman at the wedding reception, you take home a slice of the groom’s cake and sleep with it under your pillow. That night, you’ll dream of the man you’re meant to marry. Now, aside from this being totally messy, it’s a pretty neat legend.

So now you know what’s up with the groom’s cake!

Stacy
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN

We all know that when your boyfriend gets down on one knee and ultimately becomes your fiance, he places a ring on your finger to symbolize this commitment. But which finger does the ring go on? Why, the ring finger, of course!

Any ring that implies a marriage or a commitment to marry should be worn on the left hand ring finger (you know, the one next to your pinky). You start with your engagement ring, then, when you are married, you can modify the engagement ring and it can become your wedding ring, or you can purchase another ring and wear it on top of the engagement ring. This implies the idea “the more diamonds (or stone of choice), the better!”

Now that you know what the ring finger is, it’s important to know how it originated. It’s very simple, and it started it Egypt. It was believed that a vital blood vessel ran from your heart to the ring finger on your left hand. Wearing a ring on your left hand symbolized true love. This particular vein was given the romantic name vena amore which translates to “vein of love.”

However, modern science has proven that there is no “vein of love” but it’s still a fun little tidbit.

So now you know what’s up with the ring finger!
Stacy

We’re starting a new series on our blog: What’s Up With That?!

In this series, we’re going to explore some wedding traditions and events that make you go “well, what’s up with that?!”

Our first entry is going to be about the famous garter toss. 

Supposedly, the removal of the garter began around the 14th century and it was very popular in France.  Back then, it was considered good luck to get  a piece of the bride’s dress. Some guests would go as far as ripping a piece of fabric from the dress. You could say that the bride was treated a little bit differently than she is now.

After years of having their beautiful wedding gowns ripped apart, brides found an alternative: throwing personal articles of clothing, like the garter! The bride would throw her garter to keep the drunken men away. Unfortunately, some of the men tried to remove the garter beforehand during the reception, so the groom stepped up to save his bride and he tossed the garter.

There is also another version of how the garter toss came about.  During the medieval period, wedding guests would accompany the newly married couple back to their bedchamber. They would pick up discarded stockings and try to hit the bride and groom in the nose with the socks. The person who hit them in the nose first would be the next to marry. Needless to say, this “stocking throwing” tradition was discontinued. We sure are glad!!

So now you know, what is up with that garter toss.

Stacy