This afternoon Bettina and I were preparing packages for artists about Bec and Ruben as well as brief histories of the traditions their work in the wedding relates to. Below is a sample of what I gathered about the cake ceremony. We look forward to what Karen Lofgren does, our artist relegated to cake.

LET THEM EAT CAKE

Nowadays we might get excited about seeing a groom shove a sliver of cake in his new wife’s face, but if we were around during ancient Roman times the spectacle would have been much greater. The whole tradition of wedding cakes began as a way of sealing the deal so to speak; it was a symbol of the man’s new dominance over his wife, and the breaking of her virginal state.

The ritual of cake over time has lost its aggressive tone and taken on a new air of prestige. Instead of destroying the cake, we put it on display and even eat it. As sugar became more refined, cake icing got whiter, and as a status symbol couples would invest in the making their cake as white as possible.

The cake cutting ceremony can symbolize children and reproduction or the sexual union of the couple, with the use of a phallic symbol (knife) inserted into the cake. In the Middle Ages the wedding guests threw small sweet cakes instead, which preempted the large wedding cake of today.

No accounts tell of a special type of cake appearing at wedding ceremonies. There are, however, stories of a custom involving stacking small sweet buns in a large pile in front of the newlyweds. The couple would attempt to kiss over the pile. Success in the process was a sign that there would be many children in their future.

First appearing in the middle of the17th century and well into the early 19th century was a popular dish called the bride's pie. The pie was filled with sweet breads, a mince pie, or may have been merely a simple mutton pie. A main "ingredient" was a glass ring. An old adage claimed that the lady who found the ring would be the next to be married. Bride’s pies were by no means universally found at weddings, but there are accounts of these pies being made into the main centerpiece at less affluent ceremonies. The name "bride cakes" emphasized that the bride was the focal point of the wedding.

The notion of sleeping with a piece of cake underneath one's pillow dates back as far as the 17th century and quite probably forms the basis for today's tradition of giving cake as a gift. Legend has it that sleepers will dream of their future spouses if a piece of wedding cake is under their pillow. In the late 18th century this notion led to the curious tradition in which brides would pass tiny crumbs of cake through their rings and then distribute them to guests who could, in turn, place them under their pillows. The custom was curtailed when brides began to get superstitious about taking their rings off after the ceremony.