If I say wedding cake topper, what do you picture? It might
be a miniature bride and groom, wedding bells or some other similar ornamentation
with a wedding theme. While the history
of wedding cakes dates back to the Roman Empire, it was nothing like
wedding cakes as we know them today. Instead they were unsweetened loaves of
bread which were crumbled over the bride for good luck. And wedding cake toppers as we know them haven't been around all that long either. They became a growing trend with
middle class and affluent American families before the American Civil War. By
the 1890s, they were quite common.
Those original wedding cake toppers weren't anything extravagant.
Cakes were decorated with things like flowers, bells, or other small objects
related to the bride and groom. Often these toppers were handmade by a family
member or a professional wedding cake baker using frosting, icing, or
non-edible materials like plaster of Paris.
Wedding cake toppers popular after World War I
Decorative cake toppers grew more popular after World War I.
It was in the Roaring 20s that High Society in the U.S. adopted the custom of
using figurines of the bride and groom atop the wedding cake. Popularity of
this tradition grew quickly after Emily Post, American etiquette expert,
mentioned them in her 1922 best seller that
said, "wedding cake is an essential of every wedding reception," and
went on to comment on the placement of the bride and groom figurines in the
description of a beautifully decorated cake. In the early 1900s wedding cake
toppers were made from glass, paper, or wood until they started being
commercially made.
First commercially made wedding cake toppers
Along with this, American retailers like Sears & Roebuck
started to market and sell cake toppers showcasing a bride and groom. By 1924
you could find an assortment of two-inch tall bride and groom toppers made from
wax and featuring differences like groom without a hat or wearing a top hat.
The bride could be purchased without a veil
or wearing a cloth veil. By 1927, the Sears catalog had an entire page devoted
to wedding cake ornaments.
With their growing popularity, wedding cake toppers started
to be mass produced commercially in the U.S., Europe and Asia. They were
available in the usual bride and groom side-by-side pose along with a selection
of alternative poses. And during or following the War, the groom was sometimes depicted
wearing a military uniform. Along with this, groom figurines could also be
purchased a wearing police or fireman uniform, too.
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| Sparkling Love Cake Topper |
Aside from bride and groom figurines, today we have toppers like
cupids, hearts, love birds and sometimes even a framed picture of the couple. The tradition of adding a decorative ornament topper to the wedding cake has been joined with the tradition of removing and saving the memento as well as freezing the top
layer of the cake to be eaten by the bride and groom on their first
anniversary.Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.
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Photo credits: Vintage Wedding Cake Topper, Fancy Flowers, futuremrsbeede
