What is the point of a groom''s cake?

[Prana]

...and did you have one?

I''m asking because I truly don''t know. I never really knew about them until I started planning my wedding. Is it so the groom has his stamp on the day? Or is it to offer a different type of cake?

Someone please enlighten me!

 

[RaiKai]

I did not have one (but did not have a wedding cake either!),

Usually I see the groom's cake as being a little more "fun" with a little more personality than the wedding cake itself. I usually see them in chocolate or something and in the shape of something (like golf clubs, beer cans, I saw a "pig" once on television that was filled with strawberry cake and jelly filling).

Traditionally the wedding cake is more "fluffy and white" and the groom's cake more fun and casual. I think customarily the groom's cake was a fruitcake of some sort..and I think this is where the tradition of single women sleeping with a piece under their pillow to dream of your future love came from too. They would take home a piece of the groom's cake and put THAT under their pillow.

 

[Haven]

This is a quaint little tidbit about groom''s cakes.

We had one. It''s just a tradition that some people incorporate. It originated in the South, I believe.

Have you seen the movie Steel Magnolias? Best groom''s cake ever.

If you haven''t seen it, by the way, you really should.

I put a picture of our hideous cakes and the back story on how they got that way here. I can laugh about it now.

 

[sillyberry]

Definitely cultural. I''m from Texas and just assumed everyone had a groom''s cake, having always seen them. My boyfriend from Chicago had never heard of them. I think they can be really fun, but totally unnecessary if they don''t fit your budget or style of wedding.

On the plus side - more cake!

 

[vc10um]

My officemate is having a groom''s cake as a gift to her man. He knows he''s getting one, but doesn''t know what it''s going to be.

She is sending a piece of it home with every single lady at the wedding in a little to go box with the story about putting it under your pillow attached.

 

[Laila619]

It''s a big tradition in the south. I think it''s cultural.

 

[ArtistJess]

My MIL paid for the groom''s cake. It''s kind of a tradition here in Louisiana. In fact, I can''t remember a wedding that I''ve been to that didn''t have one.. which I''m happy about because most couple''s pick a chocolate groom''s cake and I happen to like chocolate.

 

[Prana]

Ah Ha! Thanks for filling me in! I''m from the northeast, and groom''s cakes are not seen very often here. I would have never guessed that it was actually a cultural thing. Very cool indeed!

 

[ArtistJess]

It must be right up there with the ''money dance''.. which is a tradition in which I will not be partaking

 

[elrohwen]

We didn''t have one, but our regular wedding cake was actually 3 cheesecakes, not a traditional cake.

I didn''t know they existed until recently and I was told they were more of a southern tradition. Typically the wedding cake is a light cake with fruit and things, so the groom''s cake would be chocolate. I''m all for making the regular cake chocolate though!

So do it if it''s tradition and you want to, but if no one you know has had one don''t worry about it.

 

[brown_eyes]

We''re not doing a grooms cake. My sister is making my cake and it will already have two flavors (strawberry and chocolate

) so instead of doing another cake we''re doing coke/root beer floats. I''m really excited about them.

 

[kittybean]

Date: 4/29/2010 12:31:01 PM
Author:girlface

Is it so the groom has his stamp on the day? Or is it to offer a different type of cake?

I think both of these are correct. As I recall, groom''s cakes are usually chocolate, whereas the traditional wedding cake is a white cake.

My groom loved the idea of a groom''s cake. Ours had his college colors and logo on it, and it was tiramisu-flavored. He is a huge, huge college sports fan, and he is obsessed with his school''s teams, so it was a fun way to include that in the reception without actually decking the place out in school colors and miniature mascots (I had to exercise the veto power on both of these suggestions).

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 4/29/2010 3:31:51 PM
Author: kittybean

Date: 4/29/2010 12:31:01 PM
Author:girlface

Is it so the groom has his stamp on the day? Or is it to offer a different type of cake?

I think both of these are correct. As I recall, groom''s cakes are usually chocolate, whereas the traditional wedding cake is a white cake.

My groom loved the idea of a groom''s cake. Ours had his college colors and logo on it, and it was tiramisu-flavored. He is a huge, huge college sports fan, and he is obsessed with his school''s teams, so it was a fun way to include that in the reception without actually decking the place out in school colors and miniature mascots (I had to exercise the veto power on both of these suggestions).

What, you couldn''t make your wedding colors the same as his school colors?

We had a blue and orange wedding - DH was on board because it was Syracuse colors

Honestly though, I think that''s a super cute idea for a groom''s cake. And tiramisu cake sounds awesome!

 

[Amanda.Rx]

We did not have one, and nobody seems to notice. We thought about having one at the rehearsal dinner, but then decided to go with finger desserts instead. I''m glad we didn''t have one at the wedding. My guests only ate 1 out of 3 layers of our wedding cake (so a groom''s cake would have been WAY too much cake).

 

[ArtistJess]

DF went back and forth from wanting a NOLA Saints cake (who dat!) to a more traditional groom''s cake. In the end, he settled on something very similar to this one, only with two tiers.

 

[FutureMrsMRS]

Very cool Artistjess!

I think it''s regional also. I''m from the upper midwest and had never heard of it until I went to a wedding in GA.

We''ll probably skip the grooms cake

 

[Prana]

Date: 4/29/2010 2:25:18 PM
Author: ArtistJess
It must be right up there with the ''money dance''.. which is a tradition in which I will not be partaking

Ooooh money dances. So much tackiness. This was a tradition that I never heard of either, until recently.








(P.S. I meant no harm to anyone who had a money dance by calling it tacky. Don''t shoot!)

 

[brown_eyes]

I do not come from a culture that does the money dance. But someone who does it at their wedding probably has alot of guests expecting it which makes it not tacky in my book. I know it''s not for everyone, but I have been to weddings where people were paying hundreds of dollars to dance with the bride. They knew it was coming, they came prepared with cash, and at the end of the night the bride and groom had a good amount of cash in the bank.

 

[PumpkinPie]

we didn''t have one - and I didn''t know about the single-girls-under-the-pillow tradition either. Oh, PS, you teach me so much

most groom''s cakes tend to be casual and funny and representative of the man''s personality as far as I understand it. I think they can be fun!

 

[zoebartlett]

I'm glad to read this thread because I had no idea why groom's cakes existed. The only thing I knew was that they supposedly originated in the south. I'm from the northeast and I've never seen a groom's cake before at any of the weddings I've attended.

 

[doodle]

I''m from Georgia, so I didn''t know until PS that groom''s cakes weren''t everywhere as I''ve never attended a wedding without one. Our wedding cake was red velvet and the groom''s cake chocolate (shaped like a record player with a New Order album on it because that''s DH''s favorite band). I grew up hearing about the under the pillow superstition, but I''ve never known of anyone actually doing it. Seems messy!

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

I''d love to do a groom''s cake, but FI doesn''t even like cake so it would be kind pointless. I''m from the Midwest so they''re not really traditional, but people have them occasionally.

The other day I said to FI, "If I was going to get you a groom''s cake, I''d have it look like a stack of poker chips and surprise you at the wedding." He said "oh, that would be SOOOO cool!" Suddenly the guy who doesn''t like desserts is all about a poker themed cake. Oh well, maybe someday for his birthday when he''s long forgotten I ever mentioned a poker cake.....

 

[lulu]

The point of a groom''s cake is to have more cake! Don''t you get it?

Signed, Marie Antoinette