Look, Don’t Eat
By: Vlady Peters
If we were quite candid, despite all the hoop la surrounding the wedding cake, there’s a lot of people out there who hate the taste and the texture of the traditional wedding cake. But it’s like everything else, if everyone has a wedding cake, then we can’t go against the grain and not have a wedding cake. I mean, what would people say. It’s the done thing. Everyone has a wedding cake so, of course, we, who hate the cake, and won’t be eating it, will, nonetheless, have a cake at our wedding.
I remember seeing one of the episodes from ‘Dad’s Army’ where wonder of wonders, amidst all the deprivation and scarcity of the war effort, one of the couple’s getting married produced quite an elaborate, traditional wedding cake. Yes, it was only one layer, but would you have a look at the decoration. Absolutely covered with white icing, it was magnificent. For a moment one felt that a blunder had occurred by the director or the producer of the episode. It was totally unreasonable for such a cake to be produced at such a time.
And then came the moment of truth. The happy bride and groom, knife in hand, were about to do the cutting bit. And it was at that moment that the icing was picked up with the hand, to reveal that it was just an artificial covering hiding underneath just a plain old cake.
It seems, that other people, apart from me, have seen this episode, and have decided to adopt the same strategy for their own wedding. Instead of spending a fortune on a cake they don’t like, and most of whose guests won’t eat, they actually have a structure constructed out of foam – or whatever – to look an honest to goodness elegant and traditional wedding cake, but at the fraction of the cost.
While all the guests ooh and ahh at its decorative value, no one is actually forced to eat it. And the very best part is that the photographer takes just as many photographs of the cake being cut, as would normally be taken. Couple and guests have all the experience of seeing and admiring the cake, without the misery of having to pretend to like to eat it.
Vlady Peters is an Australian Civil Marriage Celebrant authorized to perform marriages in Australia. She also performs general ceremonies such as Baby Naming, Renewal of Vows and Commitment Ceremonies. To learn more about Vlady, visit her at http://www.weddings-celebrant.com.