The groom’s cake is one way to give the man of the day some special recognition. Typically designed by the bride as a surprise for her husband-to-be and displayed next to the wedding cake, the groom’s cake tends to be playful and personalized, depicting a favorite hobby or sport.

“They’ve been around forever in the South, but they started to get more creative after the movie Steel Magnolias came out, with its armadillo groom’s cake,” explains Liz Kane of Cakes by Liz in Vineyard Haven. “This [past] year, I’ve made more grooms’ cakes than ever before, including a couple of fish, a football, a Harley Davidson motorcycle jacket, and a butcher’s block with veggies for a chef.”

“I think the groom’s cake lets you be creative and show who you are,” says Jennifer McConnell, who married Shawn Sullivan on-Island in September. She worked with Liz Kane to design a double-tiered chocolate layer cake that included logos for the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. No groom’s cake would be complete without Shawn’s favorite player, Jennifer says, so they topped off the confection with a Tom Brady bobble-head figure.

Emily Laursen, born and raised on the Vineyard, married Dominick Biocchi here last May. Their reception included a groom’s cake (made by a family friend who is a retired baker) in the shape of a green Tyrannosaurus rex attired in a white dinner jacket. “In one of those can’t-remember-how-it-came-about instances, he’s always been dinosaur-Dom and I’ve been elephant-Emily,” she says. “The dinosaur cake was a surprise for Dom – a peanut butter and jelly cake, his dream dessert. It worked out great!"