Weddingbee Blog

One reader commented in her Weddingbee feedback that she didn’t know the point of a groom’s cake. To be honest, I didn’t know what the point was, either! My first exposure to a groom’s cake was watching the movie “Steel Magnolias” as a child and seeing Dylan McDermott’s (Julia Roberts’ husband in the movie) hideous, but hilarious, gray armadillo groom’s cake made of red velvet cake on the inside…so it looked like a poor animal was being hacked to pieces when slices of cake were being cut!

The tradition of a groom’s cake originated in the South. Originally, a groom’s cake was sliced and boxed for unmarried girls at the wedding to take home and put under their pillows. The legend was that the girl would dream of their future husband. The groom’s cakes were also likely to juxtapose the wedding cake. Traditional wedding cakes used to be only white, so the groom’s cake was usually chocolate.

Currently, groom’s cakes tend to reflect the interests of the groom — profession, hobbies, favorite sports, alma mater, etc. They can be as “traditional” as being made from real cake, or as unique as being a croquembouche or a stack of Krispy Kreme donuts! Some people still serve the groom’s cake as a wedding favor. One easy way to do this is to package the cake in a Chinese food takeout box (which can be purchased relatively cheaply from warehouse/bulk stores like Smart and Final). Others serve the cake at the reception. Another popular option that people take is serving the groom’s cake at the rehearsal dinner, since most guests will be full from dinner and cake at the reception.

Here are some examples of groom’s cakes:

Traditional groom’s cakes:

Customized groom’s cakes: