Order of Events -cake First?

I would maybe do it towards the end of dinner? Doing it 1st thing just seems weird to me.

I planned weddings for 2 1/2 years and in that time, only had one couple do it. It was an ode to the brides family. Her dad always had them eat dessert first at family dinners "because life is too short to wait for dessert". I really like saying that quote as a sort of explainer as to why. You could always say something cutesy like that before serving if you're looking for a way to explain it.

The thing with serving it first however, is a lot of people use that as their cue to leave. So then you run the risk of people leaving right after dinner.

HOWEVER you could do a small cake cutting and have the cupcakes on the table so they double as decor. Just have a cake small enough for you two or you two/your bridal party

I worked in hotel catering for years. It’s common to do the cake cutting before dinner is served If the cake is being plated for a dessert course.

That's our plan.
It's fairly common in our area.
You have already commanded the attention. And sometimes people don't wait til the cake is cut to take cupcakes. (Rude but it happens.) I dont want our cake cutting photos to happen on a bare table.

My aunt suggested the same thing to me, and we are going to do it. But... we won’t be having a seated dinner - that’s not really a thing where we’re getting married. Not sure if that changes things. I just would prefer to finish the staged photos (like with the cake) at the beginning and not have to worry about stopping everything To cut it.

Generally the rule of thumb for older guests is they stay until the cake cutting, then peace out. This is really more of a rule that older guests follow because at that point in the night it turns in to more of a party. Traditionally anyways! I know a lot of people do things differently. But traditionally, I think if you cut the cake before dinner your older guests would be confused and not know when an appropriate time to leave would be. We are doing the cake cutting after dinner. My stepsister to be did their cake cutting as soon as the were announced and I kind of thought it was weird 😬 who knows maybe I’m an old person on the inside!

I was just at a destination wedding and couple was supposed to cut the cake after the first dance...... well Sound system whent wrong had to wait till DJ got the right song.... and when finally the cake cutting was announced and about to happen the fireworks display started!! Needless to say we never had the cake!

I agree with you...spending that much on cake ., it should be enjoyed.

Naw, even if it takes a while, do cake cutting after dinner (or even after first dances). Nobody is starving and antsy after dinner.

Our wedding coordinator suggested the same thing and I found it so weird! We picked and planned a beautiful cake/cupcakes and I want them on display for atleast a little bit! We will be cutting the cake almost as soon as dinner is done!

Thanks for posting this. I was just thinking about this myself. I think I want to just wait until after dinner but I am still on the fence. I wish I had a crystal ball and could see how long dinner is going to take!! LOL

Due to budget, we will only have 3 hours with our photographer so we are planning to cut our cake and do first dance earlier in the reception so that we can have professional pictures of it.

If you're doing a cutting cake with cupcakes I'm not sure it matters, does it? The staff will not need to take the cake to the kitchen and cut slices to serve guests. We are doing a cutting cake and cupcakes as well and will be doing the cake cutting after the salad course is served and guests can just walk up to the cupcakes and pick whichever cupcakes they want after that.

In addition to several of the comments above...

It would feel a bit odd to me - especially coping so soon after a cocktail hour (if that's your plan). Unless you have a specific reason for doing so (such as worried people will indulge earlier, needing the staged photos, etc.). I love the 'life's too short' line. That's adorable, and I can get behind that.

Personally, I wouldn't like that. We are doing ours right after dinner. We are also doing a small cake to cut and having cupcakes. I know a lot of people associate it with the que to leave but I think doing it early enough let's those who plan to leave early have their dessert and head out rather than feel like they need to hang around until you finally cut the cake. I don't think anyone will really eat the cupcakes before dinner anyways.

We are planning to do our cake cutting as soon as we finish eating but while a lot of the guests are still eating. I view it as more of s photo op for us and less of something guests will be interested in watching. That being said, our cake we are serving is a sheet cake that will already be in the back and sliced/ plated, so we don’t have to worry about the time the caterers will need to do that so as soon as we do our cutting, cake can be served immediately

I've been to a few weddings and haven't seen it done right then and there. Normally its towards the end of dinner or even after dinner but to each their own. We are doing a Donut Bar so everyone makes their own donuts and it will be set up during dinner and for an hour or 2 after.

We're doing ours towards the end of dinner, right before we open the dancefloor. I think you have a good idea though. I don't think it really matters too much, but we decided on the time we did because of the first dance being before dinner, so we're trying to break up the Attention grabbing moments

I personally find it weird to do cake cutting before dinner but that’s just me. It is common to do this since fake cutting takes a while. I did mine after speeches and before first dance.

I wouldn’t do it that early... May be a bit confusing to guests to do it before dinner. Also people often leave right after cake so I wouldn’t want to encourage cake being over sooner’

My venue suggested this and I shot it right down. I've been to about a trillion weddings and have NEVER seen this done. We are putting all this time and effort into the cake, which is typically one of the focal points of the wedding reception. I want it to exist as the beautiful specimen it will be throughout dinner. In fact, now that we're having this discussion, I almost want to email them to confirm again that we will NOT be cutting cake before dinner!