When do we cut our wedding cake?

Cutting the cake is often the last ceremonial event celebrated at a wedding

Cutting the wedding cake is traditionally a highly anticipated moment during the reception. It symbolises the first time the couple break bread as husband and wife. The ceremony fell out of favour slightly during the early 2000s, with couples opting for faddy alternatives: cheese stacks, pork pies, donut walls and so on. But it’s well and truly back. According to the Knot, some 76% of couples in the UK who married last year opted to have a wedding cake. I think it’s because so many couples are opting for a buttercream wedding cake and they look so irresistibly gorgeous that guests CANNOT WAIT to tuck in, but some commentators say it’s something to do with Prince Harry and Meghan (who had a buttercream cake.)

A very tall cake will take staff a while to cut. Each tier has to be separated, halved horizontally, and cut into a grid of neat finger portions. Supporting dowels will have to be removed carefully so that they don’t rip through the cake and leave messy holes.

Historically, the cake was cut late in the evening; signifying to guests that it was ok for them to head off home. Now it’s more usual to schedule it toward the end of the meal, after the speeches, to signify the end of the ceremonial elements of the day, and the beginning of the dancing, with a bit of a hurrah that is impossible to create with a pile of cheese. So any elderly guests can leave before things get messy without missing any of the formalities. The cake can then be cut and served to guests later in the evening.

Cut your cake where it feels most comfortable. It doesn’t matter which tier you cut

If you want to serve your cake as a dessert, straight after the main course, bear in mind that it will take kitchen staff a while to cut it neatly and plate it up, so maybe cut it before the meal itself. Most of my couples opt for a self-service cake table so guests can take a piece when they fancy during the evening. It really doesn’t matter. Like it really doesn’t matter how you cut it: top tier, bottom tier of one in the middle, just avoid reaching up too high or stooping too low. Think about when you’d like to punctuate the proceedings and steer the crowd into a party mindset. While speeches will always yield an applause, the cutting of the cake tends to arouse an ecstatic and heartfelt cheer that you’d be mad to miss.