I was recently asked the question of whose responsibility it is to cut the wedding cake if a cake was being hand-made as a gift to the bride and groom.

My response to this is that, regardless of whether or not the wedding reception is catered, the decision of who cuts and serves the wedding cake is the Bride and Groom’s. It is important that both of you feel comfortable and happy on your special day.

It is not unusual for the guest who has made the cake to assist with its cutting and/or serving. The catering staff will usually offer this service if required as part of their package but if you prefer them not to then this should be confirmed with them well in advance so as to avoid confusion on the day.

After you both make the first cut of the cake it is usually taken away by a family member, friend or the catering staff to be cut. The cutting is not usually done in front of the guests. The usual wedding protocol is to have catering staff serve the cut cake to guests but again it is your decision. I would advise that the friend or family member who you designate to cut the wedding cake has a trial run with a knife and cake in advance. A lot of wedding cakes are usually decorated with intricate designs and they might need assistance to remove tiers etc.

You should ensure that the person who is making the cake for you feels comfortable with cutting and serving the cake. If you have a large number of guests at your wedding this might well be quite a time consuming task and they may not want to spend time doing both slicing and serving. Discuss this with the person involved in making your cake and offer the option of cutting the cake and/or serving it. If you are afraid that they might not get recognition for their efforts in making the cake if they are not involved with the cutting and serving, perhaps you or your fiancé could make a point of mentioning them in your pre-cake cutting speech so that they will be sure to receive compliments directly from your guests.