Wedding cakes are more than a fancy desert

Wedding cakes have always been a staple of marriage ceremonies. But why? Does the cake serve a much greater purpose than being a fancy desert?

We find the word cake in the Old Testament of the Bible. It was a small, usually round, baked lump of dough. Sugar only became prevalent in the late 18^th century. So for thousands of years it was more like bread than today’s confectionary art. Adding fancy icing and stacking it high came even later.

Even if the couple marrying only be ruling their own household, a marriage also affects the families of both for life. Mothers and Fathers of the couple also add to their names the title Mother-in-Law and Father-in-Law. Children not born to them now are becoming their own children by reason of law—marriage covenant law. Most often the union leads also to future generations of children in whom the flesh’s encoded attributes, DNA, of both mother and father are found. 

For these reasons, there is a ceremony where friends and family of the bride and groom will be present, because the union affects them. This is a life-changing event, for better or for worse, whether they include that phrase in their vows or not.

Oaths of Wedding

In this ceremony, the marriage couple will stand before the witnesses and speak their vows. They are exchanging solemn Oaths of Wedding. The definition of the word wedding is to bind by close or lasting ties, attach firmly together. The vows are one way of cementing the relationship. There is next an even more poignant way during the ceremony to signify that the two are now coming together as one. A cake or cakes of bread are made for the occasion. A cake is cut, and the two new partners in life will eat from the same piece of cake. Later, all the attendees will also eat of the cake. Next, they will partake together of a single source of drink, usually red wine. This of course, is also shared with all of the guests.

Cake, body. Wine, blood.

It is very much like a Christian church service when all present are there to partake of Communion. In church the bread will represent the covenant maker’s body. The wine will represent the maker’s blood. In the wedding’s ceremonial meal the cake represents the body of the groom and bride. The wine will represent the blood of the couple. They eat from the same cake and drink the same wine to symbolize they are giving their bodies and their blood to one another thus becoming one. The guests will eat and drink to signify they are witnesses to this joining.

This is all to be part of a lasting memory and witnessed event. There is a life-changing blood covenant being cut. Today the cake is often layered as tall and as highly decorated as the budget will allow. It would be good, after admiring its beauty, to remember the more important reason why the cake is there. Whether people know it or not, eating these cakes are part of sealing a sacred blood covenant. This is the most important reason we should be partaking of wedding cakes at wedding ceremonies.

Photo by David Holifield on Unsplash