Out with the cut, in with the candles: Why some couples are ditching decades-old wedding tradition

For decades, the tiered cake has been considered a wedding staple; but it's a time-honoured tradition that couples appear to be leaving in the past.

The cake-cutting ceremony is viewed as an integral part of post-wedding festivities, signifying the couple's trust and devotion to one another through their very first collaborative effort as newlyweds.

But there are some who are flouting this tradition, opting for a newer, "more meaningful" format.

Watch the video above.

Today, a ritual typically associated with birthday celebrations is being repackaged for wedding receptions across Australia.

Sydney newlyweds Amna and Michael Khoury embraced a concept currently gaining traction on Pinterest and social media alike; swapping out cake-cutting for a more playful candle-blowing celebration.

The premise is simple: in lieu of a tiered cake, a long, single or double-layer cake is positioned with strategically-placed candles atop.

The newlyweds then begin extinguishing these candles at either end, before meeting in the middle to share a kiss.

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Speaking to Nine.com.au, Amna reflected on the moment she'd decided to break from tradition and embrace this a more unconventional, "personalised" approach.

"I first started seeing [the trend] online through wedding content on TikTok and Instagram," she recalled.

"More and more brides seemed to be moving away from the idea that weddings have to follow a strict formula, and instead were choosing elements that actually reflected them as a couple.

"What appealed to me most was how personal and intentional it felt," Khoury recalled.

She admitted that while she'd faced external pressure to stick to the norms where her big day was concerned, she'd ultimately tuned out the noise to create a day that felt right for her and her partner.

"Weddings can sometimes become more about ticking boxes and meeting expectations, rather than creating a day that genuinely feels authentic to you," she said.

"I loved the idea of making choices based on what felt meaningful and enjoyable for us."

She admitted that though age-old wedding rituals "can still be beautiful," the best weddings were usually the ones that felt authentic to the couple rather than "overly scripted."

And she predicts this will become a wider trend across many different components of a wedding; not just the cake-cutting portion.

"It definitely opened my eyes to how much weddings are evolving."

According to data obtained from visual search engine Pinterest, searches for "long wedding cake" were up by 526 per cent this year, while searches for "candle cake" were up by approximately 196 per cent country-wide.

Per the 2026 Pinterest Wedding Trend Report, 'Quirky Cakes' was also identified as a major trend alongside 'sensory styling' and romantic maximalism.

Speaking on this topic, Head of Content Partnerships at Pinterest Australia Jace Molan says that the emerging 'long cake' trend "reflects that shift perfectly."

"They create a mood rather than simply acting as a decorative centrepiece."

"What's driving this trend is the growing desire for weddings to feel more personal, interactive and emotionally expressive," he revealed.

Molan added that couples are increasingly moving away from one-size-fits-all traditions and instead seeking to create more intimate, personalised moments.

"It's a move away from highly polished, formal weddings toward celebrations that feel more personal and emotionally expressive."