There is a certain drama that weddings evoke, big emotions, tears, joy, and memories. But this also means that the bad is that much worse, from weather disasters to drunken, angry outbursts.
Someone asked people who have seen or experienced ruined weddings to share their stories. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites, and be sure to share your own experiences in the comments section. We also got in touch with Jhona Yellin, editor at Bespoke Bride to learn more about wedding stories.
More info: Bespoke-Bride.com
#1
My sister is the bride of all brides…nothing fazed her.
The day before her wedding she went to pick up her dress where it was being hemmed and the tailor ruined it. It was unwearable and she had to grab an off the rack dress that mostly fit her.
Then during the pictures my 3 month old son had diarrhea all down my bridesmaids dress, down my stockings and into my shoes. It was 10 minutes before the ceremony. We had to wash out and iron dry the dress, I had planned to nurse the baby before the ceremony but he was whisked off to be changed so I basically milked myself into the sink while the other bridesmaids were cleaning my shoes and the priest was making an announcement about the delay and my poor sister was just waiting to see what else would happen.
Then during the wedding my milk came in and stained the front of my dress so I held my flowers across my chest for the whole ceremony.
It was a total disaster and yet my sister was so serene and smiling and laughing about it.
Now we have great stories and I totally admire her for being the complete opposite of a bridezilla.
Image source: SundayScoop, Emma Bauso/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#2
My mom ruined my wedding (she ruined my brother’s wedding, too, but that’s another story). She loved my fiancé until we got engaged, and then suddenly he wasn’t ‘successful’ enough. I wanted to get married at the yacht club because an uncle on my dads side could offer a huge discount. She shot that idea down because she didn’t want it to look like my dads side paid for it (they’re divorced). She tried to book the wedding at the same country club where her brother’s recently failed marriage took place. She shot down every single one of my choices from dress, to food, to colors and flowers. It got to the point where I hated thinking about my own wedding, and my husband finally suggested we just elope. So we booked a date with a judge, got married in secret, and asked our families to meet us for dinner, where we told everyone what we’d just done. My mom couldn’t be angry about it in front of everyone without looking like a nutcase. 12 years later, no regrets. It’s not about the wedding, it’s about the marriage.
Image source: Pibbles4Lyfe, Nathan Cowley/Pexels (no the actual photo)
#3
My husband and I got pregnant while planning our wedding. My parents found out and moved the ceremony date closer. Two weeks before the wedding we lost our child. Not only was that hard enough my mother took it upon herself to cancel our wedding. Catering, music, venue, guests. Even SOLD MY DRESS. We still kept our date. My parents refused to come to our impromptu wedding because, in their minds, we were only getting married because we were pregnant. Also, my Aunt (fathers sister) decided to tell my father that my husband threatened my mother. My aunt was mad because we moved our wedding date before my cousins wedding. (B**ch’s marriage ended 9 months later.) So my wedding was canceled, parents didn’t come to my wedding. We had the nice intimate wedding we wanted with my husbands family and our close friends. We had an amazing picnic reception and a kick a*s after party. Stress aside we had our perfect day in the long run.
Image source: begra23, JESSICA TICOZZELLI/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#4
A coworker of my husband’s (whom he had known for a week) accused him of sexually assaulting her a MONTH TO THE DAY before my wedding. After my wedding was cancelled by my family, thousands down the drain in wedding prep and lawyer bills, and trust issues arising between my now-husband and I (who had to settle for a court house wedding), she confessed to being in love with my husband and had to stop him from making a mistake. I’ve never wished so much pain on a person before.
Image source: aerialsinthepi, Leah Kelley/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#5
The wedding wasn’t ruined, but we narrowly avoided a minor disaster. It wasn’t a guest, but our ring bearer who dropped and lost our rings shortly before the ceremony. Thankfully the rings were found and recovered in time. We can’t place too much blame on him though, since he was only an 8-year old and a Pomeranian.
Image source: cptstupendous, Pixabay/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#6
I once Dj’d a half black, half white racist wedding.
The groom was a skinny white nerdy looking guy and the bride was a larger african american woman, both in there early 20’s. From the start, I could feel a weird tension and hostility in the room, but thought “Ok, maybe something just happened at the ceremony that I missed”, and shook it off.
The night went on with a rather silent crowd, until it got to the speeches. First to go was the best man, who gave a warm hearted, nice guy roast about the groom. Then the maid of honour with an average “I don’t do speeches, “love, laughter, happily ever after” cheers and escape.
Then came the parents of the bride… they both march up to the podium and the father takes the mic. “I love my daughter, and I know her to be a smart woman. I do not approve of this mixed s**t.” Done. walks back to seat. My mouth is wide open at this point, while I hear major chatter from the crowd. The bride and groom must have been used to it, cuz they just smiled at each other and looked on for the next onslaught.
Father of the groom gets up to the podium. “so as most of you all know, my boy went off to university like a big shot for 4 years. 2 years in, he calls me and says “Dad, I’ve met a girl that I might marry.” I say that’s great son! when can I meet her? he brings her home for a weekend back in November, and all I can remember is sitting in the kitchen. He walks in, and she get’s in behind him, and I’m like BAM! what the hell is that?! Didn’t see this s**t coming. F**k it, cheers” Drinks his wine and sits back down.
As soon as the dinner and speeches were done, everybody but the bridal party left, so I said “you’ve got a hall, all the booze you can drink, all your best friends, your new husband/wife, and a dj, might as well celebrate!” So I set up karaoke and we all sang and got smashed for the rest of the night. Best wedding ever, despite the ignorant people.
Image source: AdamOfEarth, Maurício Mascaro/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#7
50% of the people who RSVPed didn’t come.
My brother-in-law who volunteered to DJ didn’t actually bring any DJ equipment, so our reception was powered by Pandora. He also said he would video the ceremony and highlights of the reception but didn’t bring his video camera.
The florist forgot to deliver about 50% of the flowers.
The reception venue took everything we discussed and then decided to do the opposite (Not enough tables, big weird glass centerpieces, no dance floor…) and when we tried to get it fixed, the man who was sent to change out the tables stood outside the window of the reception hall angrily smoking cigarettes. I later spoke with a friend who has worked with that man who explained that that sort of behavior happens pretty much any time he is asked to do anything, so…
We made a CD of music for my brother-in-law to play before the ceremony began. He insisted that he had something better. It was two songs played on repeat for about an hour.
My immediate family was late to the wedding, including my sister who was a bridesmaid, and my mother and father. They had originally offered to help set up everything that morning, but I guess they just got a late start.
My veil got lost the night before the wedding. It still has not resurfaced.
After everyone was done eating and the cake had been cut, I dimmed the lights in the reception hall to change the atmosphere to a more fun, party vibe and get people dancing. Everyone got up and left.
It didn’t go great, but my husband and I ended up married and we’re still very happy together, and that’s the most important thing. Still, I wish I’d saved the money from the whole thing and gotten married at the county clerk instead.
Image source: WholesaleBees, Natasha Fernandez/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#8
Not me but my wife’s sister… Her new mother-in-law dropped dead of a brain aneurysm during the best man’s toast. It was one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced. They served food for those who wanted to stay but it pretty much ended there. Sadly they never got a proper wedding reception.
Image source: froggyjamboree, Helena Lopes/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#9
I worked as a wedding decorator for 5 years, and while this is not my own wedding, its still pretty bad. Two years ago we did the decor for a really pretty ceremony, and halfway through the day we found out it was a “surprise wedding”. Basically, they were not engaged, but the bride planned the whole thing and the groom showed up at the golf course thinking he was just playing a regular round of golf. Nope. He walked into his own wedding, saw her standing at the altar, and peaced the f**k out. As he should have.
I’ve also seen weddings where fist fights break out and we’ve had to call the cops. There was another where one of the guests was smoking inside and caused a fire, causing the entire wedding to evacuate into the rainy parking lot. Those, and countless glasses of wine spilled on wedding dresses. That happens…a lot.
Image source: pretendparades, MunozPhoto_/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#10
My aunt had a very fancy formal wedding, being four, adorable and related – I was the obvious choice for the flower girl. Here is the thing, it’s a long day for the wedding party, between hair, makeup, photos and long winded baptist vows, even the most attentive adult will get tired and bored. So here we are, standing lined up by the alter and the preacher finally asks for objections.. At that moment, I yawned as loud as my little lungs would allow. The once silent room filled with 200 friends and family erupted into laughter. That is when I noticed that 200 people were watching me and I got scared and did what many scared 4 year olds do, peed, cried and tried to run away. So here I am a piss soak 4 year old in a pink taffeta dress running about a church while my mother (the maid of honour) tries in vain to catch me (running in heels and a ball gown is not easy). I still haven’t lived it down 30 years later.
Image source: [deleted], Jose Alvarez/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#11
My (now ex) husband was stung by a bee. The morning of the ceremony. On his top lip.
Wedding photos were great.
Image source: comedic-meltdown, darren hughes/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#12
At my mom and step-dad’s wedding, my stepdad’s father had a heart attack during the reception and passed away on the way to the hospital. Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” was playing. It was terrible.
Image source: grooviesmoothie, Mikhail Nilov/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#13
Not my own wedding but I attended good friends’ wedding who were upstaged by the DJ, lovely gentleman that he was, who interrupted the reception to propose to his own girlfriend, a waitress at the wedding venue. Made a big deal about it over the microphone, getting everyone’s attention for a very special announcement. He didn’t check with the bride or groom, just figured a captive audience of strangers was the best place to make a fool of himself.
Image source: OverEasyGoing, RDNE Stock project/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#14
The only mishap at my wedding was a friend videotaped the whole thing, but accidentally used the night vision feature. The video is pretty surreal, with everything super overexposed. With my pale skin, I ended up looking like one of the aliens from Cocoon.
Image source: hwarang_, spemone/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#15
My MIL stood up at our reception and declared “This marriage between H and What’s Her Name will never last”.
We’ve been happily married for 13 years.
Image source: jn29, Jeremy Wong/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#16
My cousin made it her announcement party. Told every one she is having twins. Made it about her.
Image source: lokeruper, Irina Iriser/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#17
This was not my wedding, but I was the flower girl (I know awhile wgo but remember like it was yesterday). So bride and company show up at the wedding. Bride had her gown, flower girl (me) had her little dress, and the seamstress was delivering the bridesmaids dresses to the wedding venue. Of course wedding party got there far in advance, long story short, seamstress never showed up with the bridesmaid dresses. Nobody knew what to do, total panic. While 7 year old me sat in the corner, wasnt quite sure what the ruckkas was about…. So I tugged on the bride and said, “they could wear those dresses.” Pointing to the chior robes in the corner closent. Her eyes got wide. And they did. Wedding saved! Lol
TL;DR – bridesmaids gowns didn’t show. 7 year old me asks the bride if they could wear chior gowns, they did. Wedding saved
Image source: karmar13, Maria Lindsey Content Creator/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#18
One of our guests became a grandfather during our wedding reception. He quietly and politely mentioned it to us and being super excited for him we announced it… it’s really not difficult to do these things in a way that doesn’t scream “look at me, f**k your wedding its my day!”
Image source: HoChiWaWa, Vinícius Estevão/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#19
Bride had a miscarriage during ceremony and spent the night in the hospital. Made for a very awkward reception afterwards, as they still insisted on doing the speeches, first dance, cake cutting without bride and groom there.
Image source: Rhodnius, Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#20
Not a personal experience, but Dad played in a band at a wedding where the bride’s uncle dropped dead in her arms on the dance floor. Talk about bringing the party to a halt.
Image source: fresnel-rebop, Danik Prihodko/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#21
I briefly owned a photobooth business that was hired mainly for weddings.
The worst thing I saw was the wedding planner showed up drunk and/or high and disappeared with the best man (brother of the groom) to go hook up.
So no one was in charge and the ceremony had to be delayed while people went to find the best man. He also couldn’t be found for his speech. The DJ delayed several times.
They tried to have sex in my photobooth, so I took her by the arm and told her everyone knew she was wasted and they all hated her. Pretty harsh, but even I was pissed at her as I tried to help the bride and DJ coordinate the event. The wedding coordinator left during dinner. We did our best, but the wedding sucked and the bride was pretty upset that nothing worked out. She gave the DJ and I an extra hundred bucks for our efforts, and laughed when I told her that I told off the wedding coordinator.
Image source: Joliet_Jake_Blues, Celineg granger/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#22
My wife came down with pink-eye and strep throat. We kept a bucket on the stage just in case she vomited. It was still a nice wedding, but my wife doesn’t remember much of it. She felt much better the next day, and by the time we reached our honeymoon destination she was right as rain. The wedding kind of sucked, but the marriage has been awesome – 10 years and 6 kids and she is still the crown jewel of my universe :)
Image source: randothemagician, cottonbro studio/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#23
At my friend’s sister’s wedding the best mans speech caused so much pain the family have not spoken to him since. He said “Mike has always been a greedy bastard, I remember once when we all got hookers in Amsterdam, and he got three!”
Image source: kiwimark, Henri Mathieu-Saint-Laurent/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#24
This didn’t happen to me, but to my cousin. During the cake-cutting portion of the evening, her new husband thought it would be funny to smash a piece of cake on her face. He miscalculated, and ended up essentially punching her in the mouth, chipping her front teeth and cutting her face. The reception ended shortly thereafter.
Image source: reenybobeeny, WeddingMan123 (not the actual photo)
#25
I got hypothermia during the outdoor photography and missed the reception because I was in the hospital—with my brand new wife, who was still in her wedding dress.
Image source: yesthisisnotme, Los Muertos Crew/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#26
Not my wedding, but my boyfriend’s (at the time) aunt’s 2nd wedding. His cousin Beth (the bride’s daughter) got drunk and accused a 12 year old girl of ‘coming onto her man’ although her boyfriend wasn’t even there. She shot glares at the kid the whole ceremony, and rolling her eyes during the vows. And at the reception, Beth cornered her in the bathroom, slurring her words and screaming and threatening she was going to ‘knock her out’. The poor girl was just crying, asking her what she did wrong. When her mom finally asked her to leave, Beth got mad that no one was taking her side. I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to feel bad for a overweight alcoholic screaming at a frightened 120 pound girl. It really brought the reception down, since there was only about 30 people who stayed after that fight. Tl;dr- Woman gets jealous of 12 year old, screams and tries to fight her. Edit- Girl was probably not 120 pounds. I’m taking this opportunity to rethink my views on preteen weight.
Image source: CreepyWatson, Ozan Çulha/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#27
My mom’s best friend (and maid of honour) showed up the day of my mom’s first wedding with her head shaved. Apparently she was in love with the groom and this was her silent protest.
The marriage only lasted 2 years and the groom eventually married the maid of honour.
Image source: k3lti3, Karolina Grabowska/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#28
Didn’t ruin the wedding for everyone but pretty bad. My dad got remarried when all of us kids were adults. His new wife had an adult son. My sister dated and slept with her now step brother.
Later when my step brother was marrying someone else, my sister decided on the day of the wedding it was her duty to tell the bride that she had slept with her fiance. Somehow the day had to be about my sister.
Image source: AgentElman, Emma Bauso/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#29
I was at my two best friends wedding as the best man. As we were walking down the isle after the ceremony, the MoH boyfriend grabbed a mic and proposed to her. This was immediately (think 30 seconds) after the bride and groom kissed and we were walking down the alter to the reception.
Image source: [deleted], Jeremy Wong/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#30
Bride attacked by bats during the ceremony.
Image source: Barflyerdammit, Daniel Higuita Tamayo/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#31
I worked weddings. The best was the estranged, divorced father hadn’t been in the picture for 20 years and who was not invited that showed up. Recognized the bartender as his ex-wife’s friend, and starts grabbing everything available to throw at her. Police escorted him off the premises.
Image source: [deleted], Pixabay/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#32
My mother sulked like a little b***h all day, we argued and then she called all my family and got them to cancel coming to the reception we held a month later where we live (we married out of town). Half empty venue, food wasted and we haven’t spoken since. I will have been married 5 years in July. I still have fond memories though, the wine was very good!!
Image source: THElololovesyou, Wilson Vitorino/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#33
He married some one else behind my back. We were supposed to be married January 6th, 2009. He married her January 8th, 2009. They’ve been together ever since and have 2 kids. I did a lot of self discovery and lived my life and learned to love myself ever since I was left at the alter. Currently in a very healthy relationship with my family, friends, work and my SO. Life, it’s awesome.
Image source: Tichy500, wendel moretti/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#34
We specifically asked for no small children to attend the wedding. We were not kid people and didn’t want to have to deal with that. My sister decided to ignore that request, so my 3 year old nephew was shrieking all the way through my vows. Me and the wife were pissed.
Image source: [deleted]
#35
I live in Colorado Springs, CO. Friends of ours got married last year (2013)
They *were* going to get hitched the year prior(2012) at The Flying W ranch (a tourist attraction west of the Springs) but it burned down in a massive forest fire.
So they rescheduled the wedding for the next year at a b&b in Black Forest, CO (just outside of C. Springs).
Another forest fire happened and the mandatory evacuations prevented them from using that venue.
They ended up poaching a public park near a pond for their big day instead. It turned out beautifully.
Image source: Rivetbob
#36
When my mom and dad were set to marry (before i was born), my dad got there early to make sure everything was setup and to help with final prep of everything and my mom was sent to pick up the cake. She says that when she got to the church and saw all the cars and people, she couldn’t handle the pressure and just drove home without saying anything. Dad comes home, after the wedding had been called off due to her no show, to see mom in the kitchen eating the wedding cake. They didn’t last long after that.
Image source: tankboy138, Gantas Vaičiulėnas/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#37
The newlyweds had a fist fight.
Image source: josh5676543 , Nitin Khajotia/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#38
My 3 year old brother got loose and pulled the fire alarm during the ceremony. They definitely got their “memorable” moment.
Image source: DocJohn85, Nothing Ahead/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#39
Catering never showed up, everyone was hungry.
Also the fireworks show that night was cancelled for the first time for whatever reason.
Image source: DownloadVirus, Asad Photo Maldives/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#40
During my wedding, my brother passed out while standing at the alter in the middle of our vows. WHAM! The whole ceremony stops, and the groomsmen carry his limp body out of the room. I start smiling and my bride glares at me says “you sons of b**ches are drunk, aren’t you!”… we are like 2 feet away from the pastor reading our vows. That’s when I lost it… I couldn’t stop laughing at the greatness of the situation, which made my bride even more angry, which made me laugh more. We weren’t drunk, my bro just locked up his knees for too long. It was great :-) TL;DR: Groomsman passes out leading to ceremony of anger and laughter.
Image source: jmcstar, Rene Asmussen/Pexels (not the actual photo)
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