An Ask Reddit post may close the debate on whether it’s a good idea to smash wedding cake into your new spouse’s face at the reception. Long a subject of viral videos, this newlywed prank could predict future divorce, if the comments are any indicator.
Although the headline may draw divorced people more than those who are happily married, the strong majority of responses suggest that the cake smash prank is a bad idea.
One man broke his spouse’s nose smashing wedding cake in her face
After a Reddit user invited cake face smashers and their victims to a post on May 11, 2025, over 3,700 commenters came forward to answer the question “how is your relationship and marriage now?”
While some remain happily married, especially if the couple agreed to the prank beforehand, the most common answer is “over.”
“His dad goaded him into smashing a cake into my face at a restaurant. It wasn’t even a wedding,” said u/iloura. “I never got one, we just had a ceremony by justice of the peace and I was heavily pregnant.”
“We did not last long after that.”
Some former spouses took the prank way too far, to the point of injury.
“I pleaded with him not to, and he did anyway – and broke my nose doing it,” wrote u/Outrageous_Space_364. “I had to wait 12 months to file for divorce; filed on our first anniversary.”
The violation of boundaries for the sake of pleasing a crowd might even be a predictor of future behavior.
“I remember my step-dad doing this to my mom at their wedding. I could tell she was upset. I was 10,” recalled u/ThePrimCrow. “He was predictably a horrible person. She stayed with him way too long but the universe took care of things by ushering him off the mortal coil via a big fat heart attack.”
A symbol of trust, broken for laughs
A highlighted response to the Ask Reddit post summarizes why so many cake smashers seem to end up divorced. To this user, the tradition of feeding each other cake symbolizes a bond of trust between the couple—a promise to care for each other.
“How can I trust a person to take care of me and provide for me (and I them,) if they can’t even pretend to, symbolically, immediately after committing officially?” u/IdEstTheyGotAlCapone asked.
“It wasn’t about money or makeup or my dress, it was about trust. Trusting someone to take care of you appropriately, if/when needed, in sickness or in health. To not throw it in your face, or rub your face in it.”
According to Reader’s Digest, the tradition of newlyweds feeding each other began in Ancient Rome. Eating just a few crumbs together, if not a whole slice of cake, was meant to be “one of their first unified acts as a married couple.”
Throwing that away for laughs doesn’t seem like a good sign.
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