What Is It
The cake symbolically displayed at a wedding and which will be served to the guests at the reception is popularly known as the “Wedding Cake”. In England, the tradition is to serve the wedding cake at breakfast. It is a ceremonial cake like the Christmas cake though loaded with more significance than the latter. The wedding cake in the modern western culture is structured usually large (for prominence and visibility) having many layers each decorated. Such decorations on the layers are the proverbial “icing on the cake”. The cake is very often topped with symbolic statues or replicas.

History
The tradition of the wedding cake was first conceived during the medieval period. At those times, the guests were supposed to bring cakes at a wedding that were to be kept stacked at the table in a layered manner. Modern day multi-level one single large wedding cake evolved from this concept. In fact the large cakes had already been in use towards the end of the medieval period becoming dominant in England during Renaissance. The idea of a tiered design was derived from the tiered spires of Saint Bride’s Church, a church in medieval London. During the era of the King Henry VII, a law limiting use of sugar in a cake was enacted by him possibly with the dual purpose of controlling consumption of sugar and earning revenues through tax for the State. In Great Britain during the Second World War, sugar became scarce as the War affected its resources and production. This rationing of sugar led to the reduction in size of the wedding cake by not having the “icing on the cake”. However the cake makers in their bid to make the cakes look still big served them inside large boxes made of Plaster of Paris.

Modifications
Some modern weddings have replaced tiered cakes with cupcakes which are arranged in tiers to maintain the traditional shape.

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