TikTokers Angry After Bride Was Served Wrong Cake at Her Wedding

• A woman has corralled anger and sympathy after sharing her wedding cake saga on TikTok earlier this month.
• Celeste Geren was given the wrong cake despite writing her last name and the reservation time on her order.
• Geren told Insider she’s been comforted by the commenters sharing their personal wedding tragedies.

Celeste Geren’s wedding in early June was going well until the very end of her celebratory dinner at a local restaurant — when it was time for the wedding cake to be served.

Geren and her husband had gone outside to have a moment together, she explained in a TikTok recap, when her mother-in-law came out and said the restaurant had served them the wrong cake. It bore the name “Jackie,” and Geren’s wedding cake could not be found.

Geren, a hospital worker from Arizona, captured the immediate aftermath of the cake mishap in a teary TikTok video that has been viewed over a million times. She’s shared a series of follow-up videos to offer viewers more information about how the mix-up happened, including a final update where she heard from Jackie herself.

Geren told Insider this week that the restaurant responsible for the mistake has since reached out to her with an apology. They also subtracted the cost of serving the cake from her total bill that evening.

While she has mostly moved on from the incident, she said, TikTokers, who have been veraciously angry on Geren’s behalf, insist that the restaurant did not do enough to rectify this.

‘My life is a tragicomedy’: How Geren’s wedding cake was given to the wrong party

In one of her follow-up videos, Geren explained that she and her partner traveled from Arizona to Washington for the wedding, which she described as a “destination slash elopement”-style ceremony, with only their immediate family members.

She said her mother-in-law helped with almost every aspect of the wedding planning, including sending them cake samples so they could do a private tasting. They chose an “absolutely gorgeous” raspberry-vanilla flavored cake that even her husband, who usually doesn’t like cake, she said in a video, was excited about.

On the day of the wedding, Geren and her mother-in-law dropped the cake off at the restaurant and wrote their last name and reservation time on it so it wouldn’t be misplaced.

Geren said the first red flag when they arrived at the restaurant after the ceremony was that employees couldn’t immediately find her reservation. While waiting for their table to be set up, Geren said she saw an employee cut into a cake that she later learned was hers.

“I didn’t recognize that it was my wedding cake because the flowers weren’t on top of it, mainly,” she said on TikTok.

Geren said while the rest of the meal was enjoyable, discovering that her party was served the wrong cake was a “very devastating moment” for her.

“[My husband]’s family ended up calling me Jackie for, like, the rest of the night,” she said.

She also noted the cake they got tasted “disgusting.”

The restaurant — whose name Geren disclosed to Insider but that she asked not to publish to protect them from harassment— ended up subtracting the cost of the cake from their final bill.

In a final follow-up video posted mid-June, Geren said that the person who received her wedding cake, the real Jackie, found her and reached out to her. Geren said Jackie told her that that cake was made for her surprise birthday party, and only one person knew what the cake looked like. Jackie’s group realized the cakes had been mixed up in the next couple of days, and contacted the restaurant, which confirmed the mishap.

In a final follow-up video posted mid-June, Geren said that the proper recipient of that cake, the real Jackie, had reached out to her. Geren said she spoke with Jackie, who told her that that cake was supposed to be for Jackie’s surprise birthday party and only one of her friends knew what the cake looked like. Jackie and her friends apparently did not realize they were served the wrong cake until several days later.

“My life is a tragicomedy,” Geren wrote in on-screen text.

Geren said she was again devastated when she scrolled through photos of Jackie’s surprise party on her Facebook page and saw her wedding cake in them.

“All of my pink roses, beautiful gold, naked look,” she said in the video. “Guess I get a picture after all, just not with me and my husband.”

Geren has moved on, but commenters felt the restaurant should have done more to right this mistake

Viewers who have followed the saga closely have responded passionately and angrily on Geren behalf. Many believe the restaurant should have comped the whole meal.

“You need to hold the restaurant responsible, they need to pay you in damages and full price for what you paid for it including delivery,” reads a top comment under her first follow-up video on June 8.

“Absolutely not, they should have covered your entire bill completely AND given you cash or visa gift card with the entire cost of the cake on it,” another added.

Some commenters even suggested she should sue the restaurant in small claims court for “such a big mistake” on her wedding day.

Geren told Insider she personally wouldn’t “act out” in ways people suggested she should, adding that it feels “extreme.” She has, on the other hand, greatly appreciated the condolences from people who said they’ve experienced something similar. Multiple commenters said they, too, have been served the wrong couple’s cake, or accidentally left their cake at the venue overnight.

“It kind of made me feel a little bit better knowing, hey, it happens, but you move on and you now have a funny story,” she said.

Despite all the frustration at the time, Geren said she has not thought much about her wedding cake. “It sucks, but I think my husband and I are still so much in the honeymoon phase and enjoying being married right now,” she said. “It doesn’t seem as big of a deal.”

Insider has reached out to the restaurant for comment.