Cake Pulls: The Charming Southern Wedding Tradition You Might Like to Do for Your Bridesmaids

By Carrie Denny Whitcraft· 9/10/2014, 11:47 a.m.

A cake from the Cake Art Studio in Paoli, with cake pulls ready to go.

Love when I learn about a wedding tradition I’d never heard of before!

This lesson comes from Paoli baker Eileen Gray of the Cake Art Studio, who posted the above intriguing picture on Facebook. It features cake pulls!

Apparently, neither Eileen nor the bride herself from this wedding had heard of cake pulls before, but one of the bridesmaids, who is from New Orleans, gave them to the bride, and she decided to go for it. Eileen directs us to this post from Southern Weddings that explains the tradition: different charms, each with their own meaning, are placed into the cake, and then the single girls at the wedding pull them out—so it’s as if the bride is wishing them whatever it is that the charm they get denotes—in a ceremony just before the cake cutting.

So, I think this is really cute—charming, even (HA!)—but I don’t like it for single girls. I barely even see bouquet tosses anymore at weddings, so the calling out of the single girls at weddings is kind of a sentiment gone by, I think—but I do think it’d be a sweet thing to do for your wedding party. You could do it for both the bridesmaids and groomsmen, or just your ladies, but either way, could be a sweet and fun little addition to your reception.

According to the article, these are the meanings of the common charms:

Hot Air Balloon or Eiffel Tower – A life full of adventure and travel
Claddagh – Friendship, Love, & Loyalty
Butterfly – Eternal Beauty
Star – Your wish will come true!
Anchor – Adventure is around the corner.
Four Leaf Clover – Good luck!
Flower – Blossoming love.
Heart – New Love!
Fleur-de-Lis – Love and Prosperity.
Kite- Something fun is about to happen.
Wishbone – Success!
Ring (similar to catching the bouquet)- Next to get married!

To get them in there, Eileen simply pushed them each into the cake before adding the finishing fondant ribbon along the bottom (see the photos, below)—and voila! Ready to be pulled. (Also: Eileen agrees about the single-girls thing, and that all your bridesmaids would enjoy this.)