في المأدبة طعام، بما في ذلك كعكة الزفاف.

It can literally mean in the banquet, but in natural English this is usually translated as at the banquet.

The preposition في often means in, but with events and places it can also correspond to English at. So في المأدبة is best understood here as at the banquet / at the feast.

Arabic often begins a sentence with a place or time phrase to set the scene first. So في المأدبة طعام is literally something like At the banquet, food exists.

This word order is very natural in Arabic, especially when introducing something that is present somewhere.

In the present tense, Arabic often leaves out a verb like is/are. A sentence such as في المأدبة طعام is a normal nominal sentence and naturally means There is food at the banquet.

If you want, you could also say يوجد طعام في المأدبة, which more explicitly means There is food at the banquet. But the version without يوجد is very common and elegant.

Because the sentence is introducing the existence of food in general, not pointing to a specific already-known dish. طعام here means food or some food.

This is very common in Arabic existential-style sentences:

• في البيت رجل = There is a man in the house
• في المأدبة طعام = There is food at the banquet

بما في ذلك is a set expression meaning including.

Learners often try to translate it word by word, but it is better to learn it as one chunk. It is commonly used in formal Arabic to introduce an example or item that is part of a larger group:

• طعام، بما في ذلك كعكة الزفاف = food, including the wedding cake

This is an iḍāfa construction, often called a possessive or genitive construction. كعكة الزفاف literally means cake of the wedding, which in English becomes the wedding cake.

In an iḍāfa:

• the first noun usually does not take ال
• the second noun can be definite

So:

• كعكة الزفاف = the wedding cake
• not الكعكة الزفاف

Yes. الزفاف usually refers to the wedding celebration or wedding ceremony, while الزواج means marriage more generally.

So كعكة الزفاف is the natural phrase for wedding cake. It refers to the cake associated with the wedding event, not the abstract concept of marriage.

Not exactly. المأدبة means banquet, feast, or a formal meal gathering. It strongly suggests food.

By contrast:

• حفلة = party or celebration
• وليمة = feast or banquet, often a celebratory meal
• مأدبة = a more formal banquet/feast

So in this sentence, المأدبة is a good choice because the sentence is specifically talking about food being served.

It is pronounced az-zifāf, not al-zifāf.

That is because ز is a sun letter. With sun letters, the ل of ال is not pronounced; instead, the following consonant is doubled in pronunciation. The spelling stays the same, but the sound changes:

• الزفاف → az-zifāf

Yes. Arabic allows several natural alternatives. For example:

• في المأدبة طعام، بما في ذلك كعكة الزفاف.
• يوجد طعام في المأدبة، بما في ذلك كعكة الزفاف.

Both are correct. The original version sounds a bit more literary or stylistically smooth, while the version with يوجد is more explicit for learners.