When did/will you cut the cake?

[ladyciel]

Before dinner? Immediately after dinner? A hour or more into dancing? Why did you chose the time you did? Thanks!

 

[Skippy123]

We did it after dinner and dancing to give people some time to want cake.

 

[Fancy605]

We did it right after dinner and our first dance/father daughter dance. It worked out pretty well for us because then we could dance and mingle the rest of the night without having to worry about anything else scheduled (aside from tossing the bouquet at the very end).

 

[kathyinjapan]

Right after our morning ceremony.

Separate to the reception which was in the evening

 

[neatfreak]

We did it right after lunch. We had a little 3 year old at the reception that was literally staring at our cupcake tower for 1/2 an hour, so we wanted to put her out of her misery!

 

[karasue91]

I think we''re going to do it right after dinner, then over to the first dance so people can just all be in the same place and take pictures at once. Not saying we WANT everyone to take pictures, it''s just inevitable so we might as well make it as easy as possible for them!! We will probably have the kitchen not put it out until about half and hour or 45 minutes later. We got enough cake that we want to put it out early enough so that the older folks and families can get some before they take off.

 

[Gypsy]

Right after dinner. I''ve been to weddings where they''ve done it at different times and this always seemed like the most logical for me.

 

[Pandora II]

My timeline is:

3.30pm - 4.00pm: Ceremony
4.00pm - 6.00pm: Cocktails
6.00pm - 8.30pm: Reception & Speeches
8.30pm - midnight: Evening Reception

We''re doing the first dance at the beginning of the evening reception, and cutting the cake at 10.00pm so that people can have some time to find room after dinner. We''re serving an Italian dessert wine with it.

 

[ladyciel]

Thanks for your replies, everyone! Has anyone else seen it done before dinner? The last couple of weddings I''ve been to did it then, and our reception hall is hinting that we should do it that way ourselves. I think their reasoning is that way the cake doesn''t sit too long and get hard to deal with (soft icing and filling sliding around), and they can cut it up while everyone eats to serve it immediately after dinner. I see two potential problems with this - 1) It''s just the complete opposite of tradition (where the cake cutting is the signal that it''s safe to leave), and 2) Everyone might be way too full for cake right away. Is it possible the pros outweigh the cons?

 

[mimzy]

lady,

at my cousins wedding that i went to a few weeks ago they cut the cake right after they made their entrance. it seemed a little bit weird, but it''s not like it really affected anything. if i remember correctly, after they cut the cake they took it away and the cake pieces didn''t reappear for a good three hours, which is probably when they would normally cut it. cakes have been sitting out for generations....unless your venue is especially humid or something, you could probably wait until at least right after dinner, then have it served an hour or so later??



tangent: did you ever figure out what you were going to do for your hair?

 

[Courtneylub]

Date: 6/5/2008 9:14:22 AM
Author: ladyciel
Thanks for your replies, everyone! Has anyone else seen it done before dinner? The last couple of weddings I''ve been to did it then, and our reception hall is hinting that we should do it that way ourselves. I think their reasoning is that way the cake doesn''t sit too long and get hard to deal with (soft icing and filling sliding around), and they can cut it up while everyone eats to serve it immediately after dinner. I see two potential problems with this - 1) It''s just the complete opposite of tradition (where the cake cutting is the signal that it''s safe to leave), and 2) Everyone might be way too full for cake right away. Is it possible the pros outweigh the cons?

Lady, I''ve never heard of that, but it makes sense. If that''s the case then I don''t want to cut it until after a lot of dancing!!

 

[newbie124]

Just adding my two cents...

I would think that if you paid several hundred dollars for a nicely decorated cake, it would kind of be a shame to cut into it right as everyone is walking in for dinner. There'd barely be anytime for people to admire all that work you paid for!

Plus, the cake would be better preserved in its whole state w/ the icing covering the cake layers (unless of course you chose buttercream and it ends up being 100 degrees outside (assuming you're outdoors)). If they cut too early and let the pieces sit out waiting to be served, the crumb tends to get kind of stale and dried out.

 

[ladyciel]

There will be a cocktail hour (in the same room) before dinner starts, so if we cut it just before or after dinner people will have had SOME chance to look at the cake. It''s buttercream icing, but we''ll be inside. Our baker''s contract says to serve it within 3-4 hours of delivery, so say if it''s set up an hour before the guests are supposed to arrive, that puts it at 3 hours out as dinner is ending...

Another complication I just thought of, and probably a reason the venue wants to serve it as people are still sitting at their seats from dinner, is that they serve it with a house dessert (we get to choose, it''ll probably be gelato or mousse). I imagine they find it easier if everyone is in their seats...

Mimzy, I have another hair trial scheduled (with the same woman) for July 1. That was the soonest she could do, but I loved my makeup from her so much that I really wanted to give her a second shot.

 

[Vote4PedroToo]

We''re getting married on a yacht. The ceremony is upstairs and then the cocktail hour is immediately after, down stairs. We''re cutting the cake during the cocktail hour.
My cake is going to be really simple. 5 tiers and covered with shaved coconut. I agree somewhat with Newbie, if it''s an elaborate expensive cake, I''d want it hanging out for a while.
But for me, the reason we are cutting it early, is lighting. The Yacht is floor to ceiling windows all the way around, and I really want to utilize the natural light as opposed to a flash. They, of course won''t serve the cake until after dinner.

 

[Dreamgirl]

Date: 6/5/2008 9:49:42 AM
Author: Courtneylub

Date: 6/5/2008 9:14:22 AM

Author: ladyciel

Thanks for your replies, everyone! Has anyone else seen it done before dinner? The last couple of weddings I''ve been to did it then, and our reception hall is hinting that we should do it that way ourselves. I think their reasoning is that way the cake doesn''t sit too long and get hard to deal with (soft icing and filling sliding around), and they can cut it up while everyone eats to serve it immediately after dinner. I see two potential problems with this - 1) It''s just the complete opposite of tradition (where the cake cutting is the signal that it''s safe to leave), and 2) Everyone might be way too full for cake right away. Is it possible the pros outweigh the cons?

Lady, I''ve never heard of that, but it makes sense. If that''s the case then I don''t want to cut it until after a lot of dancing!!

This happened at a wedding I went to last summer. Everyone left after the cake. So many people left even before the bouquet toss. Then again, they didn''t keep the crowd very entertained either so maybe everyone was waiting for cake and then chose to leave because literally, NOTHING was going on. lol

 

[zoebartlett]

It makes sense to me to have cake right after dinner, while everyone is still seated. I''ve seen it done after dinner and after some amount of time dancing, but I prefer it after dinner.

I have heard that cutting the cake is the last (or one of the last) events during a reception.