Terms of UseHow to Freeze a Wedding Cake Explore this Article parts 1 Maintaining Your Cake at the Ceremony 2 Packing up Your Cake for the Freezer 3 Thawing and Enjoying Your Cake Other Sections Tips and Warnings Things You'll Need Related Articles References Co-authored by wikiHow Staff
Last Updated: December 6, 2025
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This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 7,284 times.
While saving the top tier of your wedding cake for your one-year anniversary will require some diligence, it is a fun, traditional way to celebrate your one-year with your partner. You can experience this special moment on your anniversary by maintaining your cake at the ceremony, properly packing up your cake for freezing, and thawing and enjoying your cake at the end of the year.
Steps
Part 1 Part 1 of 3:
Maintaining Your Cake at the Ceremony
1 Choose a custard, fondant, or chocolate cake for better freezing results. While the best cakes for freezing are old-timey fruit cakes, nowadays cakes made with custard or fondant icing preserve better than most modern cakes.[1]XResearch source As far as flavors go, chocolate cake will save better than vanilla cake.[2]XResearch source
The tradition of saving your wedding cake originated in England, where wedding cakes were typically made of fruit and soaked in alcohol.[3]XResearch source
2 Keep the cake out of the sun on your wedding day, if possible. If your ceremony is outside in a park, have someone take the cake out of the sun and into an air conditioned area as soon as the cake is no longer needed. When the ceremony is over, the cake should be taken home as soon as possible.[4]XResearch source Advertisement
3 Place the top-tier of the cake in the freezer for 1-2 hours after the ceremony. Remove any of the non-edible decorations, and leave the cake in the freezer unwrapped for 1-2 hours to harden the icing. Set a timer so you don’t forget, and take the cake out after 2 hours have passed or as soon as the icing is hard. Advertisement
Part 2 Part 2 of 3:
Packing up Your Cake for the Freezer
1 Wrap your cake airtight in cling wrap. Now that the icing is hard from being in the freezer, you can wrap the cake tightly in cling wrap. Simply tear off sheets of cling wrap and wrap them around the cake, overlapping for full coverage and repeating until the cake is covered with multiple layers. As you wrap, cover the edges and corners and smooth out bubbles.[5]XResearch source
You can put up to 5-6 layers on the cake to prevent freezer burn.
Because the icing is hardened, you can wrap tightly to the cake, without mushing it.
2 Wrap the cake in an extra layer of tinfoil. After wrapping in cling wrap, cover the entire cake in tinfoil for extra protection from cold temperatures. You won’t be able to cover the cake in one go, so tear off pieces of tinfoil and overlap them around the cake until you can no longer see cling wrap.
3 Place the cake in an airtight, labeled tupperware container. Place a piece of tape on the tupperware lid and label it with a sharpie to avoid it being unwrapped before your anniversary. Airtight tupperware will protect the cake from any moisture that can hamper the cake’s preservation. It can also protect the cake from knocking and jostling in the freezer.[6]XResearch source
4 Place the tupperware in back of the freezer. Take any items out of your freezer so you can slide the cake all the way to the back. Since you won’t need to get the cake out for a year, it is best to keep the tupperware in the back of the freezer, where it won’t get knocked around or get in the way of finding other items in your freezer.
If you have multiple freezers in your house, put it in the one that gets the least amount of use.
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Part 3 Part 3 of 3:
Thawing and Enjoying Your Cake
1 Move the cake to the refrigerator 1-2 days before your anniversary. Leave the cake in its wrapping and tupperware, simply transferring it over to the fridge. This will allow the cake to begin the thawing process after being in a state of deep freeze for a year.[7]XResearch source
2 Thaw the cake on the counter for 1 hour before eating. On the day of your anniversary, take the cake out of the fridge and carefully remove it from its tupperware container and the aluminum foil. You can leave the cling wrap on, and let it thaw on the counter for about an hour, until it reaches room temperature.[8]XResearch source
3 Unwrap the cling wrap, serve, and enjoy. Once the hour has passed, unwrap the cling wrap and transfer the cake onto a serving plate. Share the cake with your partner and revel in the romantic moment of reaching one year together. For extra fun, share memories about your wedding day. Happy one-year anniversary!
After enjoying, it’s better to throw away or compost whatever is left than to try to save again. While saving your wedding cake is an awesome one-year tradition, it’s not a great idea to try to save it for much longer.
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Tips
While the most common tradition nowadays is waiting until your anniversary, the English used to take their cake out to christen the birth of their first child.[9]XResearch source If you wanted to, you could save the cake for this special moment as well. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
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Warnings
Don’t try to eat the cake much longer than a year past your wedding. You could be at risk for food poisoning, as these cakes really aren’t made to last that long, even in the freezer.[10]XResearch sourceThanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
By properly preparing your cake and freezing it, you can avoid some of the woes of freezer burn and food poisoning, but your cake will not taste the same as it did on your wedding day. This can still be a super fun tradition, but if you want a cake that tastes as good as that first cake, consider ordering a new cake to celebrate your anniversary :) Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
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Things You’ll Need
cling wrap
aluminum foil
freezer
large tupperware container
refrigerator
wedding cake
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Co-authored by: wikiHow Staff wikiHow Staff Writer This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 7,284 times. 5 votes - 64% Co-authors: 3 Updated: December 6, 2025 Views: 7,284 
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495 
1 Choose a custard, fondant, or chocolate cake for better freezing results. While the best cakes for freezing are old-timey fruit cakes, nowadays cakes made with custard or fondant icing preserve better than most modern cakes.[1] As far as flavors go, chocolate cake will save better than vanilla cake.[2] 
2 Keep the cake out of the sun on your wedding day, if possible. If your ceremony is outside in a park, have someone take the cake out of the sun and into an air conditioned area as soon as the cake is no longer needed. When the ceremony is over, the cake should be taken home as soon as possible.[4] Advertisement 
3 Place the top-tier of the cake in the freezer for 1-2 hours after the ceremony. Remove any of the non-edible decorations, and leave the cake in the freezer unwrapped for 1-2 hours to harden the icing. Set a timer so you don’t forget, and take the cake out after 2 hours have passed or as soon as the icing is hard. Advertisement 
1 Wrap your cake airtight in cling wrap. Now that the icing is hard from being in the freezer, you can wrap the cake tightly in cling wrap. Simply tear off sheets of cling wrap and wrap them around the cake, overlapping for full coverage and repeating until the cake is covered with multiple layers. As you wrap, cover the edges and corners and smooth out bubbles.[5] 
2 Wrap the cake in an extra layer of tinfoil. After wrapping in cling wrap, cover the entire cake in tinfoil for extra protection from cold temperatures. You won’t be able to cover the cake in one go, so tear off pieces of tinfoil and overlap them around the cake until you can no longer see cling wrap. 
3 Place the cake in an airtight, labeled tupperware container. Place a piece of tape on the tupperware lid and label it with a sharpie to avoid it being unwrapped before your anniversary. Airtight tupperware will protect the cake from any moisture that can hamper the cake’s preservation. It can also protect the cake from knocking and jostling in the freezer.[6] 
4 Place the tupperware in back of the freezer. Take any items out of your freezer so you can slide the cake all the way to the back. Since you won’t need to get the cake out for a year, it is best to keep the tupperware in the back of the freezer, where it won’t get knocked around or get in the way of finding other items in your freezer. 
1 Move the cake to the refrigerator 1-2 days before your anniversary. Leave the cake in its wrapping and tupperware, simply transferring it over to the fridge. This will allow the cake to begin the thawing process after being in a state of deep freeze for a year.[7] 
2 Thaw the cake on the counter for 1 hour before eating. On the day of your anniversary, take the cake out of the fridge and carefully remove it from its tupperware container and the aluminum foil. You can leave the cling wrap on, and let it thaw on the counter for about an hour, until it reaches room temperature.[8] 
3 Unwrap the cling wrap, serve, and enjoy. Once the hour has passed, unwrap the cling wrap and transfer the cake onto a serving plate. Share the cake with your partner and revel in the romantic moment of reaching one year together. For extra fun, share memories about your wedding day. Happy one-year anniversary!