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Cake Cutting- When to do this?

MKM2014MKM2014 member
First Anniversary First Comment
edited August 2014 in Wedding Customs & Traditions Forum

Hi,

My fiancé and I are getting married on Saturday (yep, throwing together the last details lol)

Our DJ suggested that we do the cake cutting right after getting introduced, then go into dinner. This way, the venue gets to cut the cake while the guests are getting their dinner and its ready to go when they would like a slice. It's also kind of nice because our photographer isn't going to hang around all night but if we did it first thing we could get some pictures of it :)

We aren't doing the first dance until after dinner- we want to keep it with the mother/son father/daughter dances but not delay dinner too badly- we figure guests will be hungry and dinner already won't start until between 6:30 and 7:00. TBH though I feel kind of awkward about being in front of everyone dancing & I'd rather have pictures of the cake cutting than the dance!

Our original plan, however, was to start dinner after introductions then do the dances and then the cake cutting. Although I see the benefits it does seem like weird timing to do the cake cutting first thing- but I am probably only basing this on the 2 other weddings I've been to where there was a cake cutting.

What do you think? Have you seen it done this early?


*EDIT* we did end up cutting the cake as soon as we got there & It worked really well. We cut the cake, then dinner was served, and the venue cut the rest of the cake. We had a buffet and went through first, then started visiting tables. The venue staff went around offering plated cake to guests & we only ended up with about 10 pieces left, which was awesome because we actually had a cake that had a few more servings than # of guests we had. Everyone was still seated at their tables so that helped. We did our first dance & parent dances after that and then the dance floor opened up, bouquet and garter tosses didn't happen for at least an hour and a half after that. From our point of view it went pretty smoothly :) we didn't get any comments about cutting the cake early or anything lol
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Re: Cake Cutting- When to do this?

  • emmyg65emmyg65 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    We cut and served our cake after dinner, because that's just when it made sense to us. And then we opened up the dancing with our first dance.

    The cake cutting traditionally symbolizes that all the "official" stuff is done and guests can leave, so I wouldn't do it too early in your reception.
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  • manateehuggermanateehugger member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    We cut it as soon as we walked in because our caterer said she needed to cut and plate it. Ask your venue if they have a preference. 

    I had never heard the"can't leave until the cake is cut" idea before TK. And if a guest wants to leave during dinner because they just feel the need to leave once the cake it cut, that's on them. 
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  • Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    At my sisters wedding they cut the cake as soon as they walked in.

    And yeah, the whole not leaving until the cake is cut thing is just weird.  People can leave whenever they heck they want to and most people have enough brains to realize that if the cake is cut first thing that that doesn't signify that the reception is coming to a close.

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  • StitelMEStitelME member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper

    Reading these comments, I'm wondering about my day's schedule. We get introduced, Dad does a welcome speech, we do the first dance, everyone eats dinner, we cut cake, do two parent dances while cake is cut, eat cake and start dancing.

    Is that weird? Now i'm nervous...

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  • Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    StitelME said:

    Reading these comments, I'm wondering about my day's schedule. We get introduced, Dad does a welcome speech, we do the first dance, everyone eats dinner, we cut cake, do two parent dances while cake is cut, eat cake and start dancing.

    Is that weird? Now i'm nervous...

    No I think that is fine.

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  • StitelMEStitelME member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    Maggie0829 said:
    StitelME said:

    Reading these comments, I'm wondering about my day's schedule. We get introduced, Dad does a welcome speech, we do the first dance, everyone eats dinner, we cut cake, do two parent dances while cake is cut, eat cake and start dancing.

    Is that weird? Now i'm nervous...

    No I think that is fine.
    Okay good. My major stressor right now has been seating charts and the day-of schedule. I'm normally a pretty organized person who plans pretty well but it's overwhelming. I want to be able to smoothly transition into major events but how smooth can you transition into "watch me and my now H dance in a circle while you nibble on salad and wait for the buffet?"

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  • Marzipan13Marzipan13 member
    First Comment 5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper
    StitelME said:

    Reading these comments, I'm wondering about my day's schedule. We get introduced, Dad does a welcome speech, we do the first dance, everyone eats dinner, we cut cake, do two parent dances while cake is cut, eat cake and start dancing.

    Is that weird? Now i'm nervous...



    That's what we're doing too, I didn't think it felt weird.  Our venue said the timing would be fine, anyway.
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  • southernbelle0915southernbelle0915 mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    We cut the cake after dinner. 
    *********************************************************************************

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  • SenecafSenecaf member
    5 Love Its First Comment First Anniversary First Answer
    I think anytime you cut it is fine really. We will cut the cake after dinner. The catering staff will cut the while we do first and parent dances. That is typically plenty of time to cut and plate a medium sized cake.
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  • Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Maggie0829 said:
    At my sisters wedding they cut the cake as soon as they walked in.

    And yeah, the whole not leaving until the cake is cut thing is just weird.  People can leave whenever they heck they want to and most people have enough brains to realize that if the cake is cut first thing that that doesn't signify that the reception is coming to a close.
    If people can leave whenever they want, then it really doesn't matter if the cake is cut right away or after dinner.  I think most people expect it to be cut after dinner as a signal that this is the last of the wedding festivities for the day.
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  • ashleyepashleyep member
    First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Anniversary
    StitelME said:

    Reading these comments, I'm wondering about my day's schedule. We get introduced, Dad does a welcome speech, we do the first dance, everyone eats dinner, we cut cake, do two parent dances while cake is cut, eat cake and start dancing.

    Is that weird? Now i'm nervous...

    This is almost exactly what we did. Except dad did a toast during the salad course when the MOH and Best Man did theirs.
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  • Knottie45547263Knottie45547263 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    Usually, the cutting of the cake signals to your guests that they may leave. We cut ours 30 minutes before the end of the reception after our guests had dessert (which was bread pudding and cheesecake). Guests took cake favor slices home. 
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  • JMS62415JMS62415 member
    Name Dropper 5 Love Its First Comment First Anniversary
    We're cutting the cake right after dinner. We're doing sheet cakes so it'll already be cut and ready to go. 
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