The Groom’s Cake — a Toothsome Tribute to Your New Other Half
Almost every day, someone asks me about the groom's cake. What is it? Where did the tradition start, and why do today's couples keep it going? Should the groom's cake show up at the rehearsal dinner, or the wedding? Is it supposed to be made of chocolate?
When many people think of the groom's cake, they picture that quirky red velvet armadillo from "Steel Magnolias." Often, their second thought is, "why would I want that my wedding?" In reality, though, the groom's cake is a deeply-rooted Southern custom, every bit as traditional as the explosion of wedding cookies you find at many Western Pennsylvania weddings — and it doesn't have to be an armadillo.
According to superstition, any single woman at a wedding should go home with a slice of groom's cake and sleep with it under her pillow. That night, according to legend, she'll dream of her future husband. Whether or not the folklore holds true, it seems that the old Southern tradition of the groom's cake is making a comeback — not only in the South but in metropolitan areas all over the nation, where designers are whipping up elaborate confections that reflect the groom's interests in a dramatic and memorable way.
At Jody's Pantry, we've seen the groom honored in cake form with requests ranging from a whimsical farm, complete with cows and John Deere tractors, to an intricate scale of justice architected with marbelized fondant — for a lawyer, of course. More common requests include cakes that resemble tuxedos, complete with lapels, bow tie and a small boutonniere made of fondant. Also popular this year are realistic "gift baskets," complete with grapevine or fondant handles, and fresh fruit or chocolate-dipped strawberries that spill out from the center. Sports themes also make a frequent showing: footballs and basketballs are popular, and so are cakes in the shape of baseball caps.
As for when to serve this tempting tribute to the other half? There's no right or wrong answer — the rehearsal dinner is perfectly appropriate, as is the wedding reception itself. Either way, guests and groom alike are sure to enjoy this chance to see the groom's interests or hobbies reflected in this once-in-a-lifetime form.
Still, there are guidelines involved, based on when you serve it. If serving the groom's cake at the rehearsal dinner, make sure the cake is whatever flavor the groom likes best — carrot cake, coconut cream, red velvet — whatever he loves.
But if you're serving the groom's cake at the wedding, this is a great opportunity to choose something rich and chocolate that offsets the traditional white wedding cake, such as a chocolate fudge torte with a decadent raspberry or chocolate mousse filling, or perhaps a peanut or almond creme. Seasonal factors play a role too. For example, many couples opt for a cream cheese-frosted, pecan-filled carrot cake for a fall wedding.
How much does a groom's cake cost? Just as with any other "occasion" cake, the pricing depends on the complexity of your design, the type of cake you choose, and any flavorings or fillings you desire. Basic buttercream designs start at around $1.25 per serving, and hit $8 a serving and up for the more intricate fondant designs. This is just a general guideline, though, as pricing differs widely from city to city, not to mention the variation between home-based bakers and licensed designers with storefronts. As always, if you want to make sure the finished result is a total delight, ask ahead of time for a taste test, customer referrals, and a Department of Agriculture license.
Now you've got the fine print out of the way, it's time to get creative. From beer kegs to briefcases and race cars to reptiles, a talented baker can replicate just about anything in cake that your imagination can dream up. So honor your groom — and his vocation or favorite hobby — with a cake to remember, while adding a little whimsy to your reception. Who knows? Maybe even your single friends will benefit from your creative groom's cake, and enjoy some remarkable "sweet dreams."
I am getting married in April and my fiance is a huge deer hunter. Are there any designs that you have seen that incorporate deer hunting into the grooms cake??? I have been looking but have only found duck hunting, apparently these are very different! Thanks:)
laura,
here ya go!!
*pics
*camo wedding
I’m getting married June 5th, 2010. And the world cup starts on the 11th. My fiance is a huge soccer fan. And is trying to plan our honeymoon around it. LOL But wanted to give him a grooms cake. Or incorparate soccer into our wedding cake. Just dont know how. Any ideas? I’m looking for a cake that looks like a soccer cake.
kimberly,
*soccer cake
I am getting married in April and my Fiance is a HUGE duck hunter. Can anyone give me some ideas for a grooms cake and/or table. I have seen one cake that had strawberries all around some ducks and i didn’t like that since he is allergic to strawberries. lol any suggestions are welcome! THANKS!
I am doing a wedding cake for the groom on July 18, 2009. I am putting the hunt is over on it. Then i am going to have rows of shotguns shells. You can clean the used ones and put the on the cake. I may use strawberrys but you can opt out cause his allergies. Send me an email at frenz_2001@yahoo.com and i will send you pictures. Jess
Did he grow up playing Nintendo? How about a “Duck Hunt” game theme?
Its retro and on theme at the same time.
Jessica if you are in the nyc area… go to Sugar Coated in brooklyn. THis girl is amazing and can make you anything you want .. she has a website too .. good luck
I’m looking for a golf themed groom’s cake idea…. anyone?
peggy,
just go here for lots of pics.
*cake ideas
*golf themed groom cake
Hi! I really love all of the great groom cake ideas on here. I’m getting married next year and was wondering if anybody had any ideas for what I could do for my future husband - he is an aspiring rapper and spends all of his spare time writing songs and recording them at home. He also loves the NY Yankees. I was thinking of a way to incorporate both..maybe something to do with a microphone. IDK what else! lol HELP! :) thanks
fallon, i might have found something that could work!! i ran across some ny yankee bling and thought it would work well with the cake i am posting. of course you could play it up like the pic or play it down with the money etc. i thought it would be neat to have the bling in place of the other chain with the money and $ symbol. thought i would take a shot at sending ya this, hope ya like it!!
Fallon… what about a big Microphone and on the handle NY yankees symbol?
This sounds great! I would love to do this but can’t seem to find a microphone cake topper thingy (lol) anywhere!
so i just found out what grooms cakes were and i want ideas for one. im going to be married in 6 months and i need ideas. he really likes music..
mia,
great idea!! google image music cake you will see lots of neat pics for cakes. i love the musical notes!! what a way to establish his love for music with just notes it covers it all!! another idea is to take his fave band have someone design the album cover or band logo. another idea is to have round cake in shape and look of a record ( great for a vintage wedding).
A MOG wrote that the bride’s family should pay for the grooms cake. I am planning to have a groom cake at the rehearsal dinner that I am planning for my son and his wife to be and guest. I feel that its our job to pay for everthing.
My husband to be is a huge plane fanatic as well as nascar. He knows every jet that flys over every event before they show it on tv. How can I incorporate both Nascar and the jets on a cake? Any ideas?!! Thanks so much ladies! (and gents)
Lauren, that is gonna be hard. unless you make it whimsical have a large cake with both a race track and a airplane runway parallel to each other. and make it look like they are about to race. have a racing number on the plane too. i hope that dont sound silly. but why not have a airplane cake… and for your wedding topper surprise him with this( i love this!!)…
*NASCAR Wedding Cake Topper
another idea is have a sheet cake, have like a road down middle, on both sides of road have a line of different planes and on other side have a lineup of nascars. it would look like a showcase of a hobby collection.
one more idea: you know how thunderbirds fly over nascar? well why not have the nascar race track, and have planes flying over the track? it would be super amazing!! I think he would be astounded! i have posted a pic of a cake that could easily be done this way!! maybe it will inspire!
How about a sheet cake decorated as a Nascar track on the table, with a cake stand or two with jet-shaped cakes on them. It would give the illusion of elevation. You could drape a blue or cloud fabric behind the cakes and decorate the table cloth to look like earth.
My daughter got married 07/07/2007. SEVEN was used throughout. Got married at 7:00 and 7 bells rang at 7:00 PM; 7 attendendants, 7 helped register, 7 aunts helped serve cake, etc. There were over 500 people there. Brides cake had 7 layers with 22 dozen roses between the layers. It was beautiful. Groom is an Elvis Fan…his cake was a huge shaped guitar that really looked real. The table decorations for his cake were a replica of Elvis’ house “Graceland” and a replica “Pink Cadillac”. People are still talking about her 7 layer cake and his Elvis table. The wedding was black and white with red roses and silver touches. Italian food was served at the wedding reception. My husband and sons went out in the woods and cut down trees over 20 feet tall (as she requested) and put them in boxes around the dance floor with little lights and black and silver balls. They left in a helicopter from the church parking lot. The rehearsal dinner was in another area at the church. BBQ was catered with a “Blue Hawaiian Theme” using Elvis and Hawaiian decorations. My daughter and I made “hotel” thank you bags for all the family and friends that stayed at hotels. I bought large gift bags and had all types of snacks with little notes from the newly weds inside. Examples for thank you gift bags were microwave popcorn with a label “Heather and Jason are so excited, they could just pop”; chocolate Hugs and Kisses “Hugs and Kisses from the Mr. and Mrs.”, etc. Now my youngest son is getting married in November 2009. My daughter and I are trying to come up with ideas for his wedding rehearsal dinner and cake for the wedding. He loves to hunt and fish. If anyone has any unique ideas, please share them.
To Nichole… That’s exactly what I made for my nephew’s groom’s cake. He’s a computer guru for a large company in Charleston, SC. They got married at the beach in NC (closer to home). The lap top computer cake even had a Google screen showing his and his fiance’s nick names on it and the Googles search was “Love”. He was flabbergasted, to say the least, and extremely impressed. I’m sure your hubby-to-be will love a computer cake, especially if that’s his passion/obsession.
Best wishes to you!
“Camo” brings to mind green and for whatever the reason, green cake doesn’t cut it for me. Recently I became more aware that many of our soldiers wear “desert camo” that is shades of brown and tan — no green at all. That said, I can easily picture a yummy cake with shades of brown — actually chocolate — in patches and swirls that could be very pretty (and yummy). I realize you said the groom was into deer hunting so the difference in color might not work for you. In any case, enjoy and good luck to you both.
Sonya:
My best friend Ashley had a chocolate cake with a browning emblem on it made for her groom and they had like an old fashioned wash tub and put bottled cokes in it and had mints in the shape of leaves. Hope this helps…
Im looking to do my wedding with some camo stuff he is a huge fan of deer hunting any ideas on a grooms cake?
Our son is also a hunter. I will have a chocolate mousse rectangle with a “shot gun shell” on top. Done in half round.
Its fun. Since Chocolate and peanut better is favorite, we will have a Reese cup Choc. mousse.
Good luck Carole j
Sweet Home Alabama! I like it. I tend to agree the black frosting might discolor teeth — even if for only a short time. Chocolate icing is pretty close. Ask your baker if he could use dark chocolate and get a similiar effect. But please — consider involving the bride in the planning of the “groom’s cake.” By tradition, it is supposed to be from her (not the groom’s family) and this would be no time to steal her thunder so to speak! Have fun and enjoy!
:-? HI!
MY BROTHER’S WEDDING IS NEXT MARCH AND MY FAMILY IS TRYING TO DESIGN HIS GROOM’S CAKE. WE HAD THE IDEA TO DO ALABAMA AND DO HOUNDSTOOTH, BUT THE PLACE WHERE WE WENT TO GO GET A PRICE SAID THAT THE BLACK HOUNDSTOOTH ICING WILL TURN PEOPLE’S MOUTH BLACK. ANY SUGGESTIONS?
Marlene -
Grapes? That’s a new one on me. There was “tradition” that included chocolate in so much as the groom’s cake was not to take away from the actual wedding cake (which was usually white in color) but that’s the only one I am familiar with. These days I think one can comfortably say “anything goes” (within taste, of course!)
Good luck and enjoy!
Does a classic groom’s cake have to have grapes on or around it?
Good news, Larry - The groom’s cake doesn’t have to be chocolate. The original idea was that it should look different from the wedding cake. Whereas traditionally wedding cakes were white (vanilla) the opposite being chocolate became a natural. Now a days, the sky is the limit.
By John Deere I assume you mean the tractor company? Check out their website for pictures. Match Box also manufactures mini versions as toys that could be incorporated into something for you as well. Just be sure (in this new age of awareness) they are lead free if you use them on the cake itself. Have fun creating!
Hi, need ideas or pictures of a groom’s John Deere cake, and does the groom’s cake always have to be chocolate? As long as you put chocolate strawberries or peanuts or something on the table?
Sorry, Paul — traditionally the “grooms cake” is a token from the bride and not the groom’s family. That said, the bride (or her family) should be paying for it. It’s sometimes hard for the groom’s family not to feel left out but have fun with your one true assignment — the rehearsal dinner — and choose a theme that reflects your son’s personality (country/western, sports, music — you name it) in much the same way you had thought of with the cake. Good luck and enjoy!
Cheryl - recently went to a wedding where the “cake” was actually a tower of assorted cup cakes. It worked and worked well.
As for the “cake table,” I assume you mean grooms cake — what about a sheet cake that is made to look like an apron? You could have cooking utensils coming out of the pocket (real or frosting). Course, the chef’s hat works for me, too.
Good luck and have fun!
I am getting married in June of 2008 and my husband to be loves Nascar. I am wanting to do a Bristol Motor Speedway cake or something similar. Any suggestions??
I am also looking for ideas for a Nascar theme cake. Do you have any ideas to share?
belinda,
google image nascar cake also nascar wedding cake then nascar grooms cake. i thought the checkered flag cakes with the fave driver number was great!! good luck!!
belinda, here is the site with the kit.
*bakeshop
my son is getting married in August and one of the things that I was looking forward to was getting him a custom made grooms cake (nothing inappropriate) that reflects his personality. We told the bride that, and she said fine and now we have found out that she has ordered the grooms cake without consulting us, but expect us to pay for it. Who decorates the grooms table at the reception? The bride informed us that she was, does the grooms family get to do anything other than host the rehearsel dinner?
HELP!!!! Getting married in July ‘08. My soon to be husband does not want a cake…instead he wants cup cakes. I guess this is fine, but what would I do for his cake table? He’s a chef, and I honestly don’t know what to use other than a chef’s hat…. any suggestions.
Oh Lisa I can picture something really fun here. This would be a whimsical spin off on duck hunting since I hate the idea of death at a wedding. (Forgive my Bambi Complex). Any way — what about a cake — sheet, round, or otherwise, decorated to look like a pond (or woods) and use rubber duckies? Oriental Trading Co. (mail order via internet or mail) has literally every imaginable themed rubber duckies — Christmas to luau and everything in between. They come in various sizes (the small ones are adorable). Check it out and see if something along those lines might tickle your fancy.
(I am not connected to the Oriental Trading Co in any way other than a customer!) :O)
Good luck and have fun.
Any ideas on duck hunting?
Wow Jessica — that’s a lot to express with one cake. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. A collage might work. Some bakeries can also reproduce pictures onto the top. This sounds strange but I have seen it done and it was quite effective. Perhaps tiers would be another approach. Each one respresenting one of your ideas. If you are talking LSU (as in the university) maybe you could express that portion using the colors or mascot. (The design on the football field — the close up of the tigetr’s eye — is great!)
By “shots” do you mean shots of liquor? If so, I’ve never seen that done before. But then again, why not? It’s all in what you want to make it and what would be meaningful to you and your groom.
I want to combine fleur de lis, lsu, army, and golf for the groom’s cake. any ideas? i thought of maybe a collage. and then I thought it would be fun to surround the cake with shots for each of the groomsmen to take. have any ideas on how i should make the cake?
Emily -
History holds that the GROOM’S CAKE wasn’t served at all but rather pieces were sent home in little boxes with the unmarried female guests to put under their pillows so that they might met the man of their dreams. That traditon is not followed much these days and it is usually served at the rehearsal party or reception. To order the size right for you, consult your baker. Describe to him/her what you have in mind and I am sure they will set you on the right track. Have fun!
Donna - What about a cake in the shape of a car? Or a 2-3 layer chocolate cake (more or less traditional looking) with a model car as the topper?
How big do you order a groom’s cake typically? If we were having a wedding reception of 150 people and ordered the Wedding Cake to be enough for that many, would we half the size and make the groom’s cake for 75 also? Or is the groom’s cake just really for the groom and therefore pretty small? Thanks!!
How big do you order a groom’s cake typically? If we were having a wedding reception of 150 people and ordered the Wedding Cake to be enough for that many, would we half the size and make the groom’s cake for 75 also? Or is the groom’s cake just really for the groom and therefore pretty small? Thanks!
My finance loves tigers and cars (specifically the old Porsche and Corvette’s). Any ideas or pictures of cakes that follow that theme?
Brittany –
A fishing theme seems to be a natural. What about a fish itself — either serious or whimsical? If it is fly fishing, I can see a wicker basket with fish or gear. Geez — the sky’s the limit here. Have fun!
My husband to be is a major hunter/fisherman. They are both his passion and I want one of those to be his groom’s cake. But I want it to still look good. If you can help me with some ideas and possibly some pics that will help greatly. Thanks
Hunting theme, egh? Well, since we are talking a wedding here, I would avoid anything “death” related and go to the humorous side. What about something using cammo? Or maybe a hunting dog? Something associated with the sport but on an upbeat note.
Good luck.
Robin: try …
http://www.cakesetcetera.co.uk/uploadedimages/5584a.jpg
http://www.cakesbyyvonne.com/shotgunshells.JPG
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-7919480820973_1962_3754159
http://bethsbakeshoppe.com/page134104557.aspx
http://www.pohlmanscakes.com/images/cakes/groom3deer.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandascakes/622453065/
My fiance is a huge deer hunter. Can you give me some ideas of a deer hunting grooms cake? I would like to see some pics if you have any. Thanks.
Mandy - you may have answered your own question if it was along the lines that the BRIDE comes up with the idea for the GROOM’S CAKE. History holds that it wasn’t served at all but rather pieces were sent home in little boxes with the unmarried female guests to put under their pillows so that they might met the man of their dreams.
Although style-wise the sky’s the limit, tradition holds that is it different than the wedding cake (as in chocolate frosting rather than white). In this day and age it seems the GROOM’S CAKE is a time for something whimsical and reflective of the groom’s personality or interests (i.e. boating might mean a nautical theme).
Have fun !
Alright I just really looked at the above words and answerd my own question
I would also like to know when the cake should be served and is it the bride that gets it done? please advise
thanks
For the fireman’s groom cake: the obvious would be a fire truck. But what about something with a dalmatian on it? Or a cake in the shape of a dog (dalmation)?
My future son-in-law is a fireman. Any ideas or suggestions for a fireman theme groom’s cake?
The wedding cake is costing so much the B+G are shying away from a groom’s cake. Before reading this site, I had never heard of it being served at other than the reception. (Course, I am originally from NYS where we never did one “in my day!”) I think it is such a wonderful — and personal — addition to the wedding, I am hoping they might consider it for the rehearsal dinner. Is this truly appropriate and “done” so to speak?
Thanks for your advice. kitty c (MOG)
My son is getting married in July back in Boston, what do you have for a soccer player going to grad school to be an attorney?
I am the mother of the groom. I am starting to plan the rehearsal dinner and would like to include a sort of grooms cake. Would this be appropriate or should I maybe have 2 cakes, one to depick his likes,etc. and for her.
If the grooms cake is not served at the wedding, but the rehursal dinner, whose responsibility is the cost.
do you make chef cakes?? my daughters furture husband is
a chef and she would like a groom’s cake… do you have any picrures of these?
thanks
audrey
Jody did a really wonderful Pittsburgh Penquins Hockey Puck groom’s cake for my fiance at our recent wedding– and he LOVED it. A total surprise he has talked more about that cake, than any other aspect of the reception!
Please send me info on Grooms table and cases that are related to deer hunting or John deere tractors, Thanks
This is fabulous info - I’ve been looking for a really great source on the meaning of the groom’s cake and when to serve it. Thanks!