Preserving the top of your wedding cake and defrosting it on your one-year wedding anniversary has been a time-honored wedding tradition, meaning good luck and prosperity for newlyweds. The preserving and defrosting of the cake dates back to the early 19th Century when couples would save the top of their cakes for the christening of their first child. Over time as couples decide to have children later in life or maybe not at all, the tradition remains but has changed to honor and celebrate one year of marriage bliss.

How do you preserve the top of your wedding cake?

• Depending on the size of your freezer, you will need to dedicate a shelf or large space to accommodate the top of your wedding cake.
• Start by wrapping the cake in plastic wrap… like the entire role. You will want to make sure that it is air tight. Once you get the layers started it will start to get easier as you wrap the cake.
• Finally, finish wrapping the cake with at least two layers of heavy duty foil.
• Optional: We purchased a plastic cake box to set the cake inside. Did this take up an entire section of our freezer for a year… yes it did. BUT it was worth it. After I defrosted our cake it tasted like we were at our wedding day. I can’t contribute the quality of the taste to this factor, but I would recommend it because it just adds an additional layer between the cake and the freezer.
• Add this to your wedding day “to do” list. Make sure you have assigned “preserving the top of your wedding cake” to someone in your bridal party. Preferably the bridesmaid who always shows up and is detail ordiented.

How to Defrost the Top of Your Wedding Cake

I had to phone a friend for the answer to this one. In fact, I asked my friend and wedding photographer for her expert advice on the best way to defrost the top of my wedding cake. Here is what she had to say:

• Take the cake out of the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge two to three days before you are going to slice into the cake and enjoy it on your anniversary.
• DO NOT leave the cake out on the counter to defrost. This can make the cake soggy and mushy, you want to leave it in the fridge to slowly defrost.

In addition to saving the top of the cake, I decided that I wanted to recreate our wedding day and set up a commemorative photoshoot at The Light Room, a local photography studio in my community. I worked with my wedding photographer and florist to recreate our special day and I even included a few elements from our wedding. The photos used in this story are photos of the top of our actual wedding cake and I’m swooning over every tiny little detail.

In everything I do, there is a story that goes along with every picture…

• The champagne I poped in the bridal suite that almost resulted in setting off the sprinkle system in the hotel.
• The beautiful cake knive and server gifted to us by Mike’s grandmother, which we cherish now even more after her passing.
• The champagne glasses that my aunt gifted to us when she found out she wouldn’t be able to make it to our wedding due to the pandemic.
• The mint green car that appeared in many of our detail photos and symbolized the way Mike and I met and fell in love. A road trip.