The history of the wedding cake began with bread that was broken over the head of the bride for a plentiful life and years of happiness.
Guests scrambled for the crumbs eagerly as they were assumed to be tokens of good luck. Later, the cakes were made into one with icing over them and thus the tiered wedding cake custom began.
In the minds of most people, wedding cakes are "supposed to be" white.The symbolism attached to the color white, makes explaining this tradition rather simple. White has always denoted purity, a notion as it relates to white wedding cake icing that first appeared in Victorian times.
Another way in which a white wedding cake relates to the symbol of purity, has its basis in the fact that the wedding cake was originally referred to as the bride's cake. This not only highlighted the bride as the central figure of the wedding, but also created a visual link between the bride and the cake. Today, that link is being further strengthened as more contemporary brides have their wedding cakes coordinated with their wedding gown color, even if it's not white!