Hi Granny, Nana here. I'm a MOB next summer. As I have been living on the net the last few weeks since this wedding thing came about, I read quite a bit about the bride picking out the grooms cake as a surprise to him - the theme, how it's decorated, etc. Does FDIL want to be included in this? My DD wants her groom's cake to be in the shape of a shirt and decorated like in a tropical theme. The theme for their reception is Jimmy Buffet, Margaritaville (I swear that kid dances to her own tune!) and since her FH is a big Buffet fan, that's how she wants to surprise him.
What hobbies or special interests does your son have?

Now that is the wedding I wish they'd have! Sounds like more fun and less stress! LOL.....my son love tatoos! I hate them so won't go there with the cake! My FDIL doesn't want anything else to stress over....the cake she is leaving up to me! I just wanted something funny to say on the top......good luck with your wedding plans...glad ours are just about over.....this Sunday, the 15th YeeHaw!!!!!!

Vikki~~

I wanted to surprise my hubby with his groom's cake at our wedding. My first idea for a cake: a large football with his nickname and old football number on it--he loves sports--and then take some pictures of when he was younger and put them in matching frames and place them around the cake. When it came down to the time to get the pictures, I couldn't get ahold of any so I just went with a large sheet cake with a green background, large brown football in the middle and his nickname and football number on it. The cake was chocolate on the inside......It turned out so much better than what I had thought---we got a lot of compliments on it.

There were several people at our wedding that told us they had never seen a groom's cake!!??!! I thought that was part of tradition.

Goodluck...Springbride04

I had never heard of a Groom's cake until I starting researching for DS up-coming wedding. I believe it's a southern tradition????? I love the way the web has opened up a whole new world for sharing new ideas!

~Wendy

Groom's cakes are indeed a southern tradition. The original groom's cakes were fruit cake. The cake was cut in small squares and guests were given a piece in a tiny box to take home. Single men and women were to put the cake under their pillow, then they would dream of the person that they would marry. Sounds messy to me. Today, groom's cakes are quite common as a fun way to stretch the amount of cake needed without adding an additional layer to the wedding cake. Most often they are chocolate unless you find a very traditional southern bride who still wants fruit cake.

I had never heard of a groom's cake either. So I brought the groom's parents to our wedding cake baker to plan what they wanted. Their southern family tradition was to decorate the cake with their coat of arms, and they had a picture of his cousin's groom's cake as a sample idea. That cake was awful looking, and you could tell that the groom's parents wanted something that was nicer looking. Our baker did a splendid job, and they used the 3 tiered chocolate groom's cake as the dessert for the rehearsal dinner the night before. It was displayed as the center of attention for the dinner aboard a party yacht sailing the harbor on a summer's night. Everyone was happy with the beautiful cake decorated with chocolate sea shells, "sand," and a chocolate placque of the family coat of arms. I see many grooms cakes in our region these days, but they are all rather formal affairs as a rule, though a few will have a sports or career theme.

That sounds lovely, as does the rehearsal dinner.