1. The most expensive wedding cake ever commissioned cost $30 million.
The confection was made by Buddy Valastro (better known as Cake Boss from the famed TLC cake show) at the request of NYC socialite Devorah Rose for her diamond gala event. According to reports, $30 million worth of jewels — including sapphires, emeralds, rubies and diamonds — adorned the cake.
2. Queen Victoria was one of the first to have pure white icing on her wedding cake.
That’s why it’s called “royal icing.”
3. The groom’s cake has been around since the 17th century.
In the 17th century, there were two confections: the bride’s and the groom’s cake. The groom’s cake was usually a fruitcake and symbolized fertility.
4. It used to be bridal pie, not wedding cake.
The “bride’s pie” (not cake) was served at most weddings up until the early 19th century.
5. One of the largest-ever wedding cakes used 10,000 pounds of cake batter and 4,810 pounds of frosting.
One of the largest wedding cakes ever made in the US was built for the Mohegan Sun casino at 17 feet tall and 15,032 pounds. The bakers used 10,000 pounds of cake batter and 4,810 pounds of frosting to create the towering confection.
6. White cakes symbolize purity and virginity.
The bride’s cake was usually a white pound cake covered with white frosting.
7. Forget the bouquet toss, the next person to marry will pull a charm out of the cake.
In some parts of the US, it was tradition for single women to pull ribbons out from the bottom layer of the wedding cake. One of the ribbons would be attached to a charm, and whoever pulled out the charm would be the next to marry.
8. Single bridesmaids put a slice of cake beneath their pillows.
Similarly, in some parts of the US, single bridesmaids would take a piece of wedding cake home. It was said that if they placed it under their pillow, they’d dream of their future husband.
9. The first wedding cakes were actually loaves of bread.
One of the first wedding cakes wasn’t actually cake at all — it was bread. In ancient Rome, bread was broken over the bride’s head to symbolize good fortune and fertility to the couple.
10. One of the tallest ever cakes was almost 26 feet tall.
The tallest cake ever made (on record) was 25.65 feet tall. The towering confection consisted of 850 sponge cakes, shaped like cake bricks, glued together with caramel. Unfortunately for its creators, the cake didn’t last long, as it started to lean and eventually fell.
11. The first sweet wedding cake appeared in 1655.
Breads and rolls were commonly broken at weddings up until about 1655, when the earliest-known sweet wedding cake became popular: Banbury cake. The flat pastry is a spiced, currant-filled oval-shaped cake traditionally paired with tea.
12. Cake toppers weren’t popular until the 50s.
Cake toppers didn’t become popular until the 1950s, when couples in the US started using them on their wedding cakes.
