The multi-tiered wedding cake was not always part of the Western culture  with its relatively recent origin traced back to England less than 150 years ago.

The earliest recipe recorded from Britain for a dish specifically for a wedding is in fact a pie, writes Charsley, an anthropologist at the University of Glasgow.

The wedding cake as we know it today--with its successively smaller layers, supporting pillars, fancy frosting and festoons--had its origins some hundred years later, in a confection that commemorated the marriage of one of Queen Victoria's daughters in 1859.

Even then, a few refinements were missing: only the base tier was actually cake (the rest were pure sugar), and the layers were stacked like hat boxes.

It would take the wedding of Prince Leopold in 1882 before guests could enjoy an entirely "cake" wedding cake, and another 20 years before the tiers were separated by columns (usually disguised pieces of a broom handle).

The bride's cake was not always a cake. In fact, the tradition began with grains of wheat which were thrown at her as part of the wedding ceremony and this was thought to be a symbol of fertility.

Roman bakers, around 100 B.C.E. began making the wedding wheat into small cakes to be eaten. However, this did not always happen and people were still often tempted to throw these cakes at the bride. So a compromise was made where the wheat cakes could be crumbled over the head of the bride. As a further symbol of fertility, the couple had to eat the crumbs, an act known as confarreatio or "eating together." This word translates into "confetti" which is still traditional today, however rice or paper has replaced the wheat or wheat cakes.

Throughout the British Isles, a tradition developed to pile the wheat cakes into an enormous pile, the higher the pile, the more prosperous the families being united. A French chef visiting London in the 1800's was appalled at the haphazard manner in which the stacked cakes were presented since the stack often fell over and he came up with the new idea to make full-sized cakes which were then stacked and iced.

The tradition of the stacked cake is still popular today, however, at most weddings, the cake is not longer thrown at the bride.

There are two different traditions of the groom's cake still enjoyed today.

One is the custom of giving each guest a piece of wrapped fruitcake. The couple would either walk around and hand a piece to each guest while thanking them for coming to the wedding or alternatively, place a basket of wrapped cake at the exit and departing guests could take a piece on their way out.

Single ladies would place the piece of cake under their pillow and dream of their "Mr. Right."

The second tradition of the groom's cake comes to us from the Southern U.S. where a single layer chocolate cake is decorated to reflect some interest of the groom. This would be cut up and served to guests who preferred chocolate cake. Who could forget the amazing armadillo cake in the movie "Steel Magnolias?"