Wedding cake

Would someone explain the wedding fruit cake tradition to me?

I've asked Jon what kind of cake he wants for the wedding and he said it's up to me (as is the ENTIRE wedding. He even had the nerve to admit he's glad he's in the UK to avoid all this crap... geez) He said that fruit cake is the traditional cake in the UK for weddings but couldn't say what they did to it... something like it was kept for the first anniversary or baby or something like that.

I'm going to get a normal good ole American cake for the wedding, but I was thinking of doing the fruit cake for the hell of it.

I have no idea - don't understand the fruitcake thing at all.  I let my husband eat almost all of it.

But I can recommend having both an American style and British style wedding cake.  Both my and my husband's family and friends enjoyed trying the "foreign" custom.

Additionally, we had an extra anniversary layer for the second year--the fruitcake, naturally, as it was well laced with brandy, make that drenched.

Ashley, forgive me if you've already said, but are you having the wedding here or in the US?  Are you having a big do or a little one?

The reason is, yes most wedding cakes here are fruit cakes, iced with marzipan and are really very nice.  Different, but nice.  I know that people here have found bakers to do a more American style cake, but most places just do the fruit cake.  It is somewhat in the fashion of the US Christmas fruit cakes, but honestly, it is better.  I love them and hate US fruitcake, so there ya go!

We had fruitcake because we had a small wedding in Scotland with just my sister and his immediate family attending.  

The tradition seems to be that for people who can't make it to wedding, you mail a small square of the cake to them.  There are even special little boxes that are made for this purpose.  

The other part of the tradition is that you save the top of the cake for the first born child.  I'm not sure if the parents or the child are supposed to eat it, but it is definately for the birth of the firstborn.  I've heard some people say it was for the firstborn's first birthday as well so I expect across the UK the tradition may be slightly different depending on the area you're in.

Anyway, that's what I know, which ain't much, but oh well!

I must admit that I balked at the thought of fruit cake for my wedding and didn't even consider it a possiblity at the time.  I had a very small wedding with a 10 inch square sponge cake with the marzipan frosting.  By the time we had eaten a 4 course dinner including dessert, I could have been serving a dirt cake and no one would have noticed, every one was that full.  I have had UK fruit cake and I have to say that it is actually pretty good.  I never thought I would say that, but one or two pieces a year is quite nice.

We're getting married in the States. I blush everytime I tell people this, but it'll be a Vegas wedding. Nothing tacky though, it's going to be at the Paris hotel. That way I can say I was married in Paris and he can say he was married in Vegas.  

And it's really only my family that's going to be at the wedding, he doesn't want his family there.  Needless to say, it's going to be a small wedding.

f it's only going to be your family at the wedding, skip the fruitcake.  You'll have plenty of opportunities to try it later if you haven't yet.  The UK wedding cake is the same as Christmas Cake and I know quite a few people who prefer it for their birthday cake too.  While I lived in the UK, my mum-in-law made one every few months and we always had one in the house for my husband.  It is VERY rich and a serving is a tiny little piece compared to a standard serving of an American style sponge cake.

My husband is allergic to citric acid and so no fruit cake for us.  However I didn't realise how horrible the frosting was (royal icing...ick) until the day.  Was too great a day to ruin it tho and David and I spent some time later laughing over our cake.  We had our handfasting later in the year and his Aunt made us a lovely two layer cake, lower portion alcholic fruit cake (yum) and top layer devil's food cake (my sis sent the mix over from the states...this was before Tesco's started stocking Betty Crocker) for my chocolate luving hubby.  Much better than the first cake and devoured quickly by hordes of hungry rellies.  
wench