There is a well-known engineering concept that the more parts a machine or contraption has, the more likely it will be prone to breaking. Same goes for weddings.
Because there is so much potential for something going wrong in a wedding, it’s also likely that the guests will catch wind of it, if not be affected by it. And once they do, you’re sure to hear about it online, like in this AskReddit thread answering the question what’s the worst wedding experience you ever had? And, well, some of them are definitely doozies.
#1
I was supposed to be in the bridal party and was told that things were casual, and to just show up the day of wearing something “dressy casual” I felt good in. I showed up, saw the wedding party in coordinated outfits with their corsages, bouquets, and the whole 9 yards, and realized they hadn’t had the guts to tell me they didn’t want me in the bridal party after all. We took our gift, checked out of the hotel we’d paid for at their specific recommendation (and that they cancelled the shuttle for because “we forgot you were staying there”), and drove 800km back home with our wedding present.
I am not friends with any of those people anymore, and thank god.
My sister’s wedding. It was outdoors in South Texas in the summer, and the heat was awful. My sister had picked the venue when it still had water in the ponds, but at the time of her wedding, everything had been drained for repair, so it looked like an old quarry with some mud puddles here and there.
The night before, we met at the venue for a rehearsal. My sister decided all the bridesmaids had to wait in the bathroom, but the bathroom smelled like a large dead thing and a lot of poop. One of the girls pulled perfume out of her purse and started spraying it everywhere. I had an asthma attack and was trying to take my inhaler and step out of the awful bathroom for some fresh air. My sister was screaming, “Do you have to f*****g do that now? Can you f*****g process down the f*****g aisle and worry about your f*****g breathing when it’s not my f*****g wedding eve!” Her new in-laws drove me to the ER because my mom refused, because I was being dramatic and trying to steal my sister’s attention on the eve of her big day.
#3
At my rehearsal dinner, my mother planted herself in the middle of the room, sobbing and telling anyone who would listen, (family, friends, wedding party) that I’m making a mistake, my fiance is a loser and the marriage will never work because he’s “low income”. I’ve never been so mortified in my life. Although this is her typical behavior, I guess I thought she’d at least act normal for my wedding events. All my guests left early and after the dinner, I went to their house and FLIPPED OUT. They blamed me for her behavior. 🙄 Typical. The next day my dad called to tell me to beg my mom to come to my wedding because she wasn’t coming after I yelled at her. I told him no. Tell her to stay home. This is my day, not hers. Her attendance isn’t needed. She showed up and told people how she wished I looked as good as her that day 🙄 Sadly this behavior isn’t the worst I’ve received from her. I’ve been no contact for a decade now. And my marriage she claimed wouldn’t last – we’re celebrating our 20 yr anniversary this year. But sadly, people STILL talk about her behavior at my rehearsal dinner.
As mentioned above, the concept of a wedding is complex, no thanks to social, cultural and economic factors (among others). And the more complex a wedding is, the more potential there will be for something to go haywire. Does it have to do that? Not necessarily, but there are some aspects that are common inevitabilities.
#4
My daughter’s wedding. No one showed up to the bachelorette party night before. Groom had the flu day of wedding and was vomiting all over the restroom. Bridesmaid had a seizure during the actual ceremony. Groom’s ex shows up and ruins the first dance. And someone forgot to invite grooms birth mom to the ceremony and she missed it. T O T A L D I S A S T E R
Edited to add something else I forgot. The groom didn’t book anywhere to stay the wedding night. When we realized it (the afternoon of the wedding) he opted just to sleep in his mom’s basement. HELL NO. I found them a hotel room.
#5
The bride got chickenpox a week before the wedding and still had her scabby spots the day of. Minister didn’t show up. The whole church waited a half hour before they found out he had forgotten and went out to play golf instead. They got someone else from a church directory who took another twenty minutes to show up. Meanwhile, the groom’s mother was going around giving odds on how long the marriage would last.
They’re still happily married 42 years later.
Edit: My husband just read this and said “are you nuts? It took more like an hour to figure out the pastor wasn’t coming and at least 45 minutes for the replacement to show up.” In my defense, it was over forty years ago!
#6
On my wedding day my alcoholic MIL got absolutely hammered, fell down stairs and went unconscious and stopped breathing. I was 36 weeks pregnant at this time and had to do CPR. She came around after a few compressions, when the paramedics arrived she verbally abused them. The worst day, still happily married to my beautiful husband though, he’s had a tough childhood as you can imagine.
One of the bigger threats to a happy wedding day is something that actually haunts us on the daily—running behind schedule. And it’s not just because you’re late. Guests can be late. Staff can be late. Things might take too much time.
This is, however, easily resolved with an MC who can herd everyone into a schedule and make sure your schedule has time dedicated to transitions and logistics between things.
#7
They ran out of food for the last 2 tables, who just happened to be the coworkers of the bride. We had to order pizza delivery and pay for it ourselves. The bride’s family refused to pay for it. You never remember the good weddings, but you never forget the bad ones.
#8
SIL got married in Wyoming. She’s a tad crunchy. Her bro and I lived in NYC.
Hotel Block: she gets married the weekend of graduation at U of Wyoming and doesn’t have a hotel room block. Same town for the wedding and the college. We are forced to stay 45-60 mins away.
Rehearsal Dinner: it’s in a cabin at the state forest. Groom’s mom is cooking green chili for dinner (he’s from Arizona/NM). I’m not the pickiest eater but I do not care for that and there is nothing else to eat. Not even chips and salsa. We had to drive an hour back and find a drive thru.
Wedding Day: we were told it was outdoors in May. I thought 50s for weather. Nope! Up in the mountains and it was about 35 degrees. I basically froze.
There is almost a 2 hour gap between the ceremony and the reception (not Catholic) so we had to drive an hour to the reception town and since it was lunch time we stopped at Denny’s for food. I think my MIL got a grand slam.
We get to the reception at a church undergoing renovations. THERE ARE NO STALLS OR SINKS IN THE BATHROOMS. Their mom was very overweight and I had to hold her arm for balance/be the lookout while she peed. We then had to go to the kitchen (where Groom’s mom was cooking dinner) and use the prep sink to wash our hands.
Her cake was decorated like mountains bc they love the outdoors. THERE WERE REAL ROCKS ON THE CAKE FOR DECORATION! I almost cracked a tooth.
It was also a BYOB wedding but no one told us to bring anything so I was forced to drink lavender lemonade (it was gross).
That was the worst wedding I’ve ever experienced.
#9
At a cousin’s wedding reception, at an ultra swanky private club, one of my cousin’s friends got really drunk and accused one of the (all black) serving staff of stealing her purse. She was screaming racial insults and insisting that the police come and arrest the whole staff. Eventually, she was dragged out of there. Her purse was later found in her car. I have never been so ashamed of being born white in my life.
Needless to say, the more organized the wedding is, the less problems you’re gonna have. Sure, there’ll always be that one aunt who needs to phone you on the details the morning of your wedding, but there’d be more people if not for good communication. A wedding planner can help with that.
#10
The wedding was to take place on the east coast. It was huge, expensive, and had been planned for two years. The wedding party traveled from all over to participate. The bride announced her apologies at the rehearsal dinner the night before that there would be no wedding.
Six months later, friends are told that the couple is going to try again. To avoid any stress, they’ve decided on a courthouse wedding, and specific friends from the old wedding party were asked to visit. The day of, the bride announces she can’t get married at a courthouse.
One year later. The couple announces that they have proudly gone through intensive therapy, and they are planning a destination wedding in Hawaii! They expected everyone to fly out to support them in their regenerated relationship. Family members and a subset of the wedding party (from #1) fly out. As everyone is assembling on the beach, the bride announces that there will be no wedding and encourages everyone to, “enjoy your vacation in Hawaii!” The groom ended the relationship shortly afterwards.
#11
My mother, sat in the front row, was crying so hard she was escorted out of the room by my sister while I said my wedding vows. she was devastated I was marrying a woman (I’m a lesbian). yes, I’d come out to her, three years before this; I’d told her I met someone I’d like to marry, two years before; I told her I got proposed to, half a year before, and invited her to the wedding; politely uninvited her because she was upset; she begged to be re-invited; she attends and LEAVES DURING MY VOWS. she walked back in about ten minutes later. I’ll never forget this lol.
#12
Mine. My sister in law announced her pregnancy during a toast. No one supported her decision to do it, but it was ruined. We’re getting remarried in Alaska by ourselves for our 25th anniversary ❤️.
In fact, there can be heaps of problems that having a dedicated person to help plan and manage would resolve: having your playlists in order, guests suddenly deciding they’re vegan, heck, even if the weather decides to be a pain, they probably won’t perform a ritual to cast the rain away, but they could compensate for it with added logistics.
They will, however, likely have trouble with family drama.
#13
This happened a very long time ago. I was dating this guy and his sister sent out wedding invites to Hawaii. His mother offered to pay for us to attend. So,the two of us and his parents flew out. At the airport the happy couple greeted us and we all went to dinner. Lots of toasts, happy memories, and quite a few of her family attended this dinner. The next day all of us were left to wander the island while the couple were busy with last minute things. The day of the wedding… my then-boyfriend and I were woken up to frantic banging on our hotel room door. It was his Mom, crying. Long story short, the groom-to-be let the bride know that he would not be attending the wedding. Turns out, dude never sent his family invites because he knew LONG before the wedding that he was gonna bail. He just finally did it on the wedding day itself. What a wild trip that was!
#14
A long time ago was invited to a wedding of a college friend. Invitation was very fancy so we dressed up in suits to attend. Had a difficult time finding the place, arrive and find out that it’s in a literal horse pasture. Smelled of manure and was an extremely hot summer day so that made it worse. Looking for the groom to offer congratulations and find him dressed in shorts and a T-shirt playing football with some buddies. The Bride? nowhere to be found, they had already gotten married earlier in the day and she was inside taking a nap. We had arrived a good 45 minutes before the time listed on the invite? anyways for the reception they set up a potato bar in the pasture and there were millions of
flies covering the food. We excused ourselves and never saw or heard from him again.
#15
Catholic wedding. Had all the celebration and joy of a mass funeral held for children after an orphanage burned down. The priest quoted Revelations. If you want to know what part of Revelations seems appropriate for a wedding, none of it is.
Family drama can be kinda sorta avoided by finding a good seating arrangement, but families might still cross paths on the dance floor or on their way to the bar. Or maybe Uncle Tim will decide to share an embarrassing story that makes everyone think that you just married your cousin. Wait… Did you?
#16
My auntie’s wedding to her second husband.
Her son and new husband don’t get along especially after a few drinks, so early into the reception a fight kicks off between them, drunk angry men from both sides of the family rush in.
Eventually police march into the reception decked out in riot gear (there was a brawl of about 20 people duking it out, the few members of staff that tried to break it up got hurt by both sides for their troubles) and dragged a majority of them (including my cousin and new uncle) to prison.
My auntie didn’t care, she found the whole thing hilarious when she told my parents (who had wisely left early because they know what they are like) the next day.
This is the 3rd wedding I’ve attended on my dad’s side of the family over the last 10 years and there has always been a fight, but that by far was the worst.
Made me and my now wife chuckle when we told them politely but firmly they are not invited to our wedding, and lo and behold we had a perfect wedding because those drunken cocaine sniffing twats weren’t there to ruin things.
#17
The groom’s grandfather had a heart attack on the dance floor and died.
#18
My cousin was married in NYC 9/23/2001. One of the guests was missing her fiancé, a firefighter reported then as missing. God Bless America was played, and it was a pretty rough moment….
Oh, but there’s more to the human factor. Someone can most definitely be ill and hence drop out at the last minute. There might be some uninvited guests because someone didn’t understand what plus one means. And maybe that plus one will cause a domino effect that will ruin your dress. And then Uncle Tim is sure to get involved.
#19
My husband picked up a shift at work on our wedding night. Don’t worry, though — he didn’t actually end up working on our wedding night; he was just cheating.
I found that out way later. It was COVID, and I discovered later (by going through his phone finally after the most sus behavior in the world) that he wasn’t actually going to work like a third of the time he claimed, and actually he hadn’t been faithful, ever, with anyone he was with. Yeah. He’s the ex. Funny enough, recently he tried to beg me back, and I just sent it all to his current girlfriend,the main side, who actually blew up her own marriage to be with this fool. It’s only been a few months, and he’s already trying to backwards cheat on her. What even is that?
#20
The priest called the bride by the wrong name the entire 2-hour long Catholic ceremony. The poor bride corrected the priest each time the first 10 times or so. The priest was the groom’s uncle. The groom never corrected him.
Eventually, the bride looked like she had tears in her eyes and was going to start bawling so she stopped correcting him. The priest just kept using the wrong name through the end of the ceremony. Afterwards, I wondered if the couple was even legally married since he never got her name right.
#21
During my wedding vows, a fly landed on the minister’s face… near his lip. Using his tongue like a lizard, he pulled it into his mouth and swallowed it. It was horrifying.
As you might have noticed from the answers that Redditor had, things can be a lot worse: your brother might be hooking up with his new step-mom’s daughter (knowingly or not); your sister might decide to announce her pregnancy, stealing your thunder (and likely the lightning too); and someone getting so drunk, they smash the band’s instruments because they didn’t like the music.
#22
The music for the wedding was recorded by the bride and groom, neither of whom were singers. Basically prerecorded karaoke.
#23
The groom didn’t like the music so he proceeded to smash all the bands equipment, I really don’t like being around drunks.
#24
My father’s speech (which he was asked not to do) included saying “I (the bride) and my sisters had always been a disappointment.
You could have heard a pin drop. It was devastating. I actually left my own wedding, went home and watched tv trying to compose myself, then stuck on a smile and went back. It depressed me for months.
Sure, all of these can be resolved (more or less) by having a good wedding MC who will keep tabs on everyone, but there’s also another, simpler (again, more or less) option. The wedding experience is definitely a challenge for everyone. For some, more so than others. So why not embrace it?
#25
My father’s step sister’s wedding. I was 5, it was hot, the groom smushed cake in her face even after she told him not to, she smushed cake in his face and broke his nose. Blood everywhere, we left as the ambulance was arriving.
When I was in my 30s, at my cousin’s wedding, his wife had asked him not to smush the cake, and he didn’t, the best man who was a massive ahole, did it instead. We left. Didn’t get any cake at either wedding.
#26
My own.
Trapped in an elevator with the groom for hours the night prior. Was mistakenly sent a red hummer with no AC on the hottest day of the year instead of the limo I rented. Wedding commissioner was 2 Hours late and didn’t have a phone. Almost got fake married. Rented a boat to get married and cruise around on. It was an old ice breaker with lots of character and I planned all my decor around it. On the day the boat didn’t work and we had to ask all the guest to grab whatever was on their table and re-set it up on the new boat. Which had maroon everything and my colours were teal and coral. That boat was just coming back from a bar party cruise so they hosed it down. As soon as I got on it my entire dress soaked up the water to my waist. Had to change into my friends sundress. There was not enough food and it was disgusting. The new boat had used all the fresh water on board on the last cruise so they hooked up the lines to some nasty slat water and were making drinks with that until people realized. There was no water on board and no gun drinks. The only thing to drink was palm bays. Even kids. Again on the hottest day of the year. Then we danced to 2 songs and they shut the music off as it had to be off by 12 even though we’re started hours late after the first boat didn’t work. I was so pissed I stormed off the boat. In the boat move one of my bridesmaids lost her keys and ended up having to come to our hotel room at the end of the night. Didn’t get refunded a dime. There was honestly so much more but I think I’ve blocked it all out.
#27
One of my good friends from high school got married in December. The couple gave the DJ a list of accepted music. You want to know what was NOT on that list? Dogs barking Christmas carols.
This guy played three songs of dogs barking Christmas carols in a row and the groom was PISSED. He asked after the 2nd one for the guy to stop. He didn’t. By the third, I thought the groom was going to fight the guy. Who does that to someone’s wedding? WTF?
It’s the most annoying thing…
Sometimes, everything goes wrong in a wedding. And then you feel bad that parents (and maybe even more) invested so much into it but it left you feeling negative about it. And when you finally reach that “oh, well, it was kind of a disaster, but we’re married now, so that’s all that matters!” phase, it still feels like it might upset some people. But it has to be let go.
#28
I’ve been to two weddings where the Christian ministers went off the rails. One decided he needed to go on a diatribe about how the (cis-gender heterosexual) couple getting married was fighting the “good fight” against gay marriage. The other one decided he needed to discuss his personal sex life during the sermon. Nearly walked out of the first, nearly threw up in the second. Absolutely bizarre.
#29
The grooms dad made a speech that started with ‘When we first met
Idk if it was his idea of a joke or what but it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
#30
The married bride’s dad went behind the reception hall for a make out session with her maid of honor. They got busted by his 9 months pregnant niece, who had a massive blowup in front of everyone. Meanwhile half the groomsmen were in the parking lot fist fighting a bunch of guys next door.
So, what are your thoughts on any of this? Have you ever experienced a wedding so crummy, it made you sick on the spot? Share your stories and takes in the comment section below!
And if you don’t even want to remember, well, then why not forget with more?
#31
It was the 4th of July and fireworks were going off. 3 scared local dogs came running in the church down the aisle and the brides family was freaking out. No one thought it was funny. I did though.
#32
Saw a bride give a very well thought out vow and remembrance, and the groom said
>”wow, that’s a lot. Ditto”.
#33
I do wedding videography. A few years ago, I was covering a wedding in this incredibly formal cathedral. So much formality that I had rules where I could and could not be (not super typical with most venues)
All morning, the groom had been slamming beers with his groomsmen. Everyone celebrates in their own way, right?
The bride and groom meet at the altar and begin to exchange vows. Mid bridal vow, the groom begins to burp. Everything turned slow motion after that. The groom projectile vomited all over the altar and the bride, before running away while continuing to vomit. It was so silent that his upchucking echoed throughout the cathedral.
The groom returned wearing his best man’s suit jacket, and the bride had magically blotted away the vomit stained on her dress.
Although the vows were never finished, they still got happily married. True love prevails.
#34
My uncle got so drunk at my sister’s wedding that he confessed to having an affair and completely ruined the family💀.
#35
I was roofied (drugged) at the reception by a woman I never met before. I didn’t know anyone at the wedding. I was the plus 1.
#36
It was held in the couples backyard and all of the guests brought dishes and essentially catered for them. When the ceremony took place, no one sat down because the “officiant” didn’t tell anyone to. When it was time to eat, the groom went and sat at a table with his friends and the bride sat at a table by herself. We had to invite her to our table. At the end, they opened and read everyone’s cards containing money in front of the guests. Thought that was tacky as hell.
#37
My cousin’s wedding.
For context, there had been some family issues about some inheritance and the relationship was cold, but we still got an invitation.
He had booked a hall and a cook but not a catering service, and we found out when the reception started.
The friends/sisters of the bride banded to serve the courses, and me and my brothers (cousins of the groom) doubled as waiters to take them to the tables.
We managed to eat in installments, taking g a couple minutes here and there to wolf down some food before we got back to serving tables.
He didn’t thank us. He didn’t even acknowledge us.
At the end of the reception he passed to every single table to toast with the people there and thank them for coming. He completely ignored us.
It’s been over ten years since the last time I’ve talked to him.
#38
At my dad’s wedding, having to run around to find my brother for toasts, found him upstairs hooking up with our new step mom’s daughter.
#39
The bride was wearing a $10k dress but didn’t feed her guests. The wedding was in the afternoon in a church with the reception “to follow immediately after” at a ball room nearby. The wedding party went to take pictures and everyone had to wait for them to get back and go through the line first.
One tray of appetizers for 200 guests went pretty quickly. There was only 2 buck chuck white wine or water to drink. No soda, no iced tea, no beer.
The bridal party spends 2 hours taking pictures while we wait to eat. They had set up a “stations” buffet but didn’t spring for plates at each station so the line moved through a snails pace at every station. We finally got something to eat 5 hours after the ceremony.
#40
Had to go to an indian auspicious wedding that started at 10pm and the actual marriage was at like 3am bc that’s was when the moon aligned with saturn or smth. wasn’t bad just felt like a fever dream.