🍰How to Expertly Cut Your Wedding Cake

How to Expertly Cut Your Wedding Cake

Knowing how to cut the wedding cake at your reception probably sounds like a simple task to tackle. After all, you've been eating your entire life and have surely cut into a cake or two in that time. 

Why You Cut the Cake

First, it might interest you to know why this is a wedding tradition in the first place. It is meant to represent the first activity that you do together as a married couple. (It will take some good teamwork to do this in a way that doesn't look awkward!)   

As for the tradition of feeding each other a bite of cake, that is meant to be a sweet interaction between the two of you symbolizing your commitment to providing for each other.

This involves teamwork in a way also. Be sure to make your wishes known beforehand if you definitely do not want that bite of cake "smashed" into your face. 

How to Cut the Cake

Cutting a cake sounds easy, but when you're trying to do this together, it can take some coordination. Your photographer can most likely position you for the best photos of this moment.

Traditionally, the bride stands closest to the cake with the groom either behind or beside her. The bride's hand is directly on the cake knife and the groom's hand is placed over hers. 

You only need a small piece of cake cut right now, just the size of about two bites. (You can come back for a full piece later.) If you plan to save the top tier to freeze and eat on your 1st anniversary, let your baker know ahead of time so they can provide a box to store it in.

(Side note for freezing the cake: The day after the wedding you will want to wrap that tier with multiple layers of plastic to avoid freezer burn. Then put it back into the box and wrap the box with more plastic wrap.) 

When to Cut the Cake

You can cut the cake during your wedding reception at any point that makes the most sense with the rest of your reception plans. Keep in mind that some older guests that don't plan to stay until the end of the party will wait for the cake-cutting as their sign that the scheduled activities are over.  

So you see, while cutting your cake is not necessarily hard to do, it will take some coordination and teamwork. Once you decide what type of cake you'll be cutting with your baker, head on over to our online wedding store to find the perfect wedding cake top for it.