'Yes, We Paid for This': Unconventional Wedding Cake Baffles Internet

A bride and groom found a unique way to turn heads at their wedding with their choice of cake.

Everyone wants their wedding to be memorable for the right reasons. That can sometimes mean striving to do things a little differently.

Stepping away from tradition might seem controversial to some, but it affords an opportunity to create a wedding cast in the image of the happy couple and serve as a reflection of their personalities and happy union together.

In the past, this has manifested itself in weddings featuring elaborate choreography for the bride and bridesmaids as well as nuptials where the groom's dog acted as the best man.

Now Liana, an American woman who married an Englishman and moved to the U.K. is garnering attention after sharing several pictures of the wedding cake served up on their big day.

Though plenty of traditions have fallen by the wayside, the time-honored practice of serving cake as part of the day's festivities remains popular.

A survey, conducted by wedding website The Knot, of 12,000 Americans who got married in 2022, 74 percent of respondents said they considered the cake-cutting ceremony to be a key part of their wedding.

The same study also highlighted how 79 percent of newlyweds hired outside catering to make their cake. Liana always had a very specific idea in mind for their cake.

"My husband isn't a big dessert person," she told Newsweek. "But we can both agree that a cinnamon bun is good. This is why we decided we wanted a cinnamon bun cake."

Liana said they initially struggled to find someone to make a wedding cake-sized cinnamon bun. "We weren't really sure where to find one or how to make it happen. We originally thought of just buying cases of individual buns," she said. "But at the last second, someone I followed on Instagram posted about having lunch out at a café right across from our ceremony venue."

They contacted the bakery and organized to have two cinnamon bun cakes delivered the night before their wedding. "We added the Lego topper," Liana said. "I wasn't really bothered that it didn't look fancy or anything. I mean, I never grew up having a dream about what my cake would look like. Too many other things to worry about."

The cake proved divisive on their big day. "My mom thought it was a little weird that we chose something she considers a breakfast food as a wedding cake," Liana said. "Everyone else loved it and thought it was unique."

It certainly delivered what was expected for the bride and groom. "It was really soft, doughy, flaky, and the cream cheese frosting had a nice sour bite that paired well with the cinnamon swirl," Liana said. "It was definitely one of the highlights."

But if the cake proved relatively controversial among close family members, it was nothing compared to the response generated after a picture of it was shared to Reddit along with the caption: "My wedding cake (yes, we paid for this)."

"This is the worst I have ever seen before! I would have asked for my money back," one Redditor wrote in response to the post. A second said: "There's a few ways of making good-looking icing, this isn't any of them." A third added: "It looks like something a school student would bake!"

Some struck a more sympathetic tone though, with one user commenting: "Honestly no one remembers what the cake looked like anyways. They just remember if it tasted good."

Ultimately Liana has not been affected by the critical response. "It looked questionable, but tasted great," she said. "I'm surprised that so many people have so many different opinions about it. I was just thinking 'oh someone's gonna say it looks like there's a bit to be desired' not 'oh it's melted and it must've been warm outside' and all this other stuff."

It's not the first time a wedding cake has sparked debate online. In September 2022, a video surfaced online of a last-minute wedding cake cobbled together after the baker hired by the happy couple forgot to make it.

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