Real-Life Southern Couples Are Serving the Armadillo Groom's Cake From 'Steel Magnolias'

More than 30 years since audiences first watched Ouiser cut into Jackson's "repulsive" armadillo-shaped groom's cake, Southern couples are paying tribute to Steel Magnolias by serving the unusual confection on their own wedding days—red velvet blood and all.

That's right y'all. The armadillo cake lives on!

We recently learned of the trend from a Wide Open Eats article in which writer Josie Rhodes Cook explains how the quirky cake jumped from the big screen and onto real-life dessert tables.

For the unacquainted, Steel Magnolias is a 1989 comedy-drama starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts. A beloved tale of Southern sisterhood, the film features a wedding between Roberts' character, Shelby, and her fiancé Jackson.

Much to the horror of Shelby and rest of the women in her life, a red-velvet groom's cake shaped like an armadillo is served at the wedding.

"Jackson wanted a cake in the shape of an armadillo," Shelby explains to an incredulous Truvy (Parton). "He's got an aunt that makes them."

In one of the movie's more memorable scenes, Ouiser has the privilege of serving the cake's hindquarters to Shelby's father.

As iconic as the Steel Magnolias armadillo cake is, people have other reasons for serving them on their big day.

According to Love to Know, many Texans embrace the armadillo as a mascot since it is the state small mammal of Texas. It's also a popular school mascot.

Last but not least, groom's cakes are traditionally funny. And what could be funnier than serving a well-dressed crowd slices of armadillo cake?