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The wedding cake has long been the focus of attention at the reception and for many years now it has been customary to have a three tiered white wedding cake which is elaborately decorated and which includes one of a number of traditional wedding cake toppers such as statue depicting the bride and groom, a pair of doves, a pair of gold rings or a horseshoe.
In medieval times guests would each bring a small piece of cake to a wedding and these would be stacked together to form a tower or pyramid. The newly married couple would then kiss over the top of the cake if they could to bring good luck to their marriage or, more often than not, would end up falling into the stack of cake much to the amusement of everyone present.
Over time the tower or pyramid formed from individual pieces of cake evolved into a single cake and the tiered design is thought to have been based upon the unusual tiered spire of the medieval church of St Bride's in London.
It was also customary for cakes to be made from fruit which was readily available and to be covered in a layer of fat and sugar to preserve the cake in the days before refrigeration.
Nowadays it is traditional for the bride and groom to cut their wedding cake together and often to feed each other with the first bites of the cake as a symbol of the establishment of their new family unit. A section of the wedding cake (typically the top tier) is then often removed and stored so that it can be used at the christening of the couple's first child.
While many people today still follow the well established pattern when it comes to planning their wedding, a growing number of couples are choosing to depart from tradition and, in particular, to look for ways in which they can make their wedding day truly unique and memorable for their guests.
As a result it is common today to not only see wedding cakes in a variety of different shapes, sizes, colors and flavors but also for couples to use wedding cake toppers as a central focal point for their cake.
Today wedding cake toppers come in all shapes and sizes and can range from exquisite and unique works of art which are specially commissioned by the bride and groom to statues depicting the couple in various hilarious poses which can be purchased quite cheaply from any one of a large number of suppliers.
As couples strive more and more to make their wedding day stand apart from the crowd we will continue to see attention focused upon the design of wedding cakes and, in particular, upon the development of increasingly unique wedding cake toppers.