NEED TO KNOW
- A man hid an engagement ring in a cupcake to surprise his fiancée when popping the question
- Then, things took a dramatic turn
- He detailed the ‘engagement fail’ in a post on Reddit
A man is recounting how his well-intentioned proposal went awry.
He explained in a post on Reddit that he planned a “cute surprise proposal” for his fiancée that involved hiding the engagement ring in a cupcake.
“I thought it was romantic and fun. I was wrong. Very wrong,” he wrote, before detailing how the proposal took a dramatic turn.
“She took a bite, smiled, and I was about to tell her how special this was… when she almost swallowed the ring,” the Redditor continued. “I screamed. She screamed. The waiter screamed.”
Amid the commotion, he said, “people at nearby tables were looking at us like we’d lost our minds.”
Man proposing (stock image).
Getty
The man recalled that she managed to fish the ring out “without a disaster.” A near-choking incident averted, the relieved couple then “both burst into hysterical laughter.”
Later, however, a friend called out the Redditor for “laughing so hard while she was panicking.”
“But come on… it was a completely ridiculous moment,” he argued. “I tried to be romantic, and instead, we nearly had a wedding horror story before even getting married.”
The man concluded his post by asking fellow Reddit users if he was an “a——” for laughing — or if “this just one of those moments you have to laugh at?”
Reacting to his story in the comments, readers assured the man that since his fiancée also laughed off the incident (after her initial panic), he was indeed “not the a——.”
One person pointed out that “there is nothing wrong with using humor as a coping strategy,” but added: “Though a sincere apology and maybe a gift is in order — a non-edible gift!”
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Others agreed that while the proposal fail was obviously unfortunate in the moment, it will make for an amusing story for the couple to share with their loved ones.
“I hope for you and your fiancée that you’re telling this story to your grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” one commenter wrote.

