Wedding cake. I am not going to say the cliched thing that I am a wedding photographer because “I am in it for the cake”…but it definitely doesn’t hurt. Doesn’t hurt one bit.

Wedding cake has a very interesting history. Like most things, it started in Ancient Greece. The tradition went through a phase as a social status where the bigger the cake meant the higher the social standing of the couple and their families. During the seventeenth century, it was customary for their to be a bride’s cake and a groom’s cake; the bride’s cake started as white frosted virginal pound cake while the groom’s was a darker fruit cake. What we know today in western societies is the evolution of that old school bride’s cake. That pound cake has simply become rounder with more layers and a lot more marzipan.

With that said, one of the things I love most about wedding cakes is not the eating of it. I love how even now, today, that bride’s cake has evolved into another way that couples express themselves. No longer is it always tiers covered in fondant and frosting flowers (even though that’s tasty, too). There isn’t always a plastic bride and groom perched at the top. Heck, they’re not even just cupcakes anymore.

Wedding cakes these days are just as much of an expression of the couple as they are a dessert. The tradition is still there, as many couples still cut a cake, but the presentation has changed. I find myself always so excited to see how the cake looks—if it is a cake at all. As weddings reinvent traditions and couples write their own rules, it is always fun to see what they choose for their big day treats.

Here are a few of the sweetest KLP memories to date…

Kayla Lee is a Minnesota-based wedding and elopement photographer who provides services to elegant, authentic, sentimental couples who not only choose their own adventures, but also live them to the fullest.