Today, wedding cakes are often works of art worthy of their own Insta galleries (see Tortik Annushka's IG account for proof), but back in Roman times, bread was served at nuptials and broken over the bride's head because wheat symbolised fertility. Sweet breads were not served until 1655 when a spiced, oval-shaped, currant-filled pastry known as the Banbury cake became popular to serve at weddings.
You can thank Queen Victoria (yes, once again) and Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, for our modern wedding cake. In addition to a white dress, Queen Victoria had white icing on her royal cake in 1840 (thus gaining a new title , "royal icing"). Four decades later, Prince Leopold had the first completely edible tiered cake by using very dense icing between each layer that would harden and keep the tiers in place. It was revolutionary at the time and represented both prosperity and the couple's wealth.