When you get married, it's usually to somebody you want to spend the rest of your life with. And while it might not always work out, most couples will at least look back fondly on their wedding day as one of the happiest days of their lives.
But one bride doesn't have happy memories of her big day, as she revealed she asked for a divorce the day after she tied the knot because of a disrespectful and "violating" stunt her husband pulled that ruined the entire day.
The woman explained that the only "hard rule" she had before the wedding was that she didn't want the groom to rub the wedding cake in her face at the reception - but instead of listening to her, the bloke went one step further and grabbed her by the head, pushing her into the cake.
In a message sent to Slate's Dear Prudence advice column, the bride said: "I got married just before Christmas and am hoping to be divorced or annulled by the end of January.
"I never cared about getting married, but I wasn't opposed to it. So when my boyfriend proposed in 2020, we decided to go for it. We each took on about half the responsibility for organising the wedding, but I think I was pretty reasonable about compromise when he really wanted something. My only hard-and-fast rule was that he would not rub cake in my face at the reception.
"Being a reasonable man who knows me well, he didn't. Instead, he grabbed me by the back of the head and shoved my head down into it. It was planned since the cake was destroyed, and he had a bunch of cupcakes as a backup."
Horrified and embarrassed by what had happened, the bride told her new husband she was "done" with him, but she's since been bombarded with calls from family members who think she's wrong for ending the marriage so soon.
She added: "I left. The next day I told him we were done. I am standing by that. The thing is that over the holidays everyone has gotten together to tell me I should give him a second chance.
"They say I am overreacting because of my issues because I am very claustrophobic after a car accident years ago, and I absolutely panicked at being shoved into a cake and held there.
"They also keep telling me I love him - even though right now I don't feel that at all - and that he loves me, and that means not giving up at the first hurdle. I don't want to, but everyone is so united and confident in their assurance I am making a terrible mistake that I wonder if they are right."
In response, Prudence told the bride to push on with the divorce despite pleas to call it off - because her husband's actions were a "red flag".
They wrote back: "Everyone's sure you're making a mistake, but they're not the ones who have to wake up every day with a man whose behaviour massively turns them off. You are. So you only have to listen to yourself.
"I think what he did was a red flag about not respecting you and your wishes. Make a mental note about which of your loved ones don't seem to value your happiness, and continue with your divorce."
The post was later shared on Reddit's Wedding Shaming forum, where people were stunned by the groom's actions.
One person wrote: "It's not even a cutesy splat of cake on the nose, he slammed her head into it and humiliated her."
While another said: "He didn't just not respect her only boundary, he found the worst, most aggressive way possible to violate it."
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