History of the Groom's Cake Tradition

The tradition of the groom's cake can be traced back to the Victorian era in England, when, in addition to the main wedding cake, there was also a groom's cake and a smaller bride's cake. At the end of the wedding, the two cakes were sliced and served to the groomsmen and bridesmaids.

The grooms cake tradition has become popular in the United States and seems to be growing in popularity. Many couples like the tradition because it gives the groom something special of his own when most of the attention of the day is focused on the bride. Often the groom’s cake reflects a hobby or passion of the groom.

The groom's cakes are usually made of dark chocolate and often contain fruit and liqueur. The earliest groom's cakes, however, were fruitcakes. When processed flour and baking soda were introduced in the eighteenth century, the wedding cake as we know it came into existence.

The tradition is that the groom's cake is not served at the wedding. We recommend doing whatever you like though! If your wedding cake is a single flavor a groom’s cake gives the guests a second option. The original tradition was to slice the groom’s cake and box individual slices for all the single women at the wedding. The legend was that if an unmarried woman sleeps with a slice of the groom's cake under her pillow, she will dream of her future husband. That seems a little archaic, so our advice is to use the groom’s cake to highlight your partners passion, hobby or simply their favorite flavor. It is fun and gives guests more options for dessert.