Wedding Cake Toppers

Wedding Cake Toppers - history

Wedding Cake Toppers are as an essential part of your wedding cake as the frosting, yet surprisingly little is known of their history. In the 1950s it was customary in the USA for the cake to be topped by small figures dressed in formal wedding clothes to represent the happy couple, or with a lucky horseshoe, or doves representing peace, but now anything goes. Cake toppers now come in all shapes and sizes, but you won’t regret it if you put a bit of thought into what you want sitting at the top of your wedding cake.

The cake itself and the Wedding Cake Toppershave undergone many transformations over the centuries, starting in medieval Europe as wedding gifts in the form of small cakes that would be piled up together to form a pyramid. Through the ages, this developed into a single cake baked especially for the wedding, and the traditional tiered cake is said to have been inspired by the shape of St. Bride’s Church in London, designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1675. A Fleet Street baker had the idea of reproducing its tiered structure in confectionary, and the tradition was born. Although the church was partially destroyed during the blitz, the idea of the tiered cake caught on and is now the accepted form of wedding cake in western civilizations.

Wedding Cake Toppers - choices

The wedding cake became progressively more elaborately decorated and adorned over the years until today, when Wedding Cake Toppers can be as distinctive as the cake itself. They are frequently chosen as the centerpiece of the cake and can be either decorative or representative of such aspects of the couple as their love for each other, their employment or even their shared interests. A common wedding cake topper for keen anglers, for example, is the bride or groom reeling in their other half on the end of a fishing line.

The fact that Wedding Cake Toppers sit at the top of the cake renders them conspicuous, so your choice should be a deliberate one, and not just made as an afterthought. For many couples the cake topper is an extremely important part of the wedding or reception, and statement either of their love or, in some cases, their wealth. It is not unknown for families to try to outdo each other in their cake toppers, and diamond encrusted figurines are not unknown. In some cases they appear to be a statement of the status of the parents, with the married couple almost secondary.

Wedding Cake Toppers - tradition

Most couples, however, prefer something simpler for Wedding Cake Toppers, and perhaps humorous such as a ball and chain, or the groom standing on the bride’s train stopping her from escaping. Neanderthal figures depicting the groom holding a big club are popular. Floral arrangements are also very attractive, and the couple’s entwined initials in bright silver also provide a very attractive finish to a cake top. Toppers can be of silver, fabric, flowers, porcelain, glass, crystal, paper and many other materials, and even clear hard acrylic can look very attractive.

If you prefer the traditional representation of a couple, there are many styles of Wedding Cake Toppers available. They can be professionally made for you in porcelain, or in a transparent material that can be lit up with a battery and bulb, or even musical, rotating on the top of the cake to Mendelssohn’s Wedding March. Entwined hearts or interlinked infinity rings are very appropriate for a wedding, but to many the most wonderful of all wedding cake toppers are beautiful glass or crystal fairy tale castles that twinkle in the reflected light of the candles or chandeliers in the ballroom.

Wedding Cake Toppers - personality

Most of these, however, are impersonal but decorative. Many couples want Wedding Cake Toppers that means something to them, such as an ornament or memento purchased from the place where they first met, or even their first gifts to each other if appropriate. Some prefer beautifully framed photographs of each other, often the first they ever had taken together. None of these need be expensive, and personal items such as these are not only very appropriate for a wedding but also a good choice if you are on a tight budget.

Wedding Cake Toppers should be your own personal choice, made between the both of you, and not someone else’s choice. You will see it at the top of your cake every time you look at your wedding photographs, so choose well and make it be what you want it to be. It is going to be seen by a lot of people so make sure that you are both happy with your choice. It is your wedding, so get what you are happy with, and that goes for every other aspect of your wedding – including the one you marry!










Wedding Cake Toppers

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