The wedding cake is one of the most extraordinary of the familiar objects of the Western world. In this unique contribution to the anthropology of food, Simon Charsley traces its fascinating history, from late medieval feasts and rites, through the Victorian wedding breakfast and into the present. He shows that the wedding cake provides a vivid illustration of the traditions and traditional values inherent in all food and demonstrates the part that material culture plays in the process of change. This book should be of interest to undergraduates, postgraduates and academics in the fields of anthropology, cultural history and sociology.