People Share Their Best 'Botched Wedding' Stories

Hunger Games

"Went to a Pig Roast wedding in a rural setting, 120 people, huge field, right by the river."

"I looked at the one pig roasting and thought to myself 'They must have the other pigs roasting elsewhere to keep the smoke down'—NOPE only one pig for 120 people."

"We were the first table to line up after the head table—and the pig was already 1/3 gone—they ran out at about table 5 of 20 tables."

"I ate then sat back an watched the fallout. One of the groomsmen was my good friend and I casually said 'Should throw the groom in the river for this kind of f**k up'."

"Groom was promptly thrown in the river—that kinda thing happens when people drink on empty stomachs."

~ collectivedisagree

Stone Cold

"A few years ago, my cousin was getting married. The man she was marrying was perfect for her. I was jealous. I wanted something like they had."

"Anyway, the day of the wedding comes and her maid of honor (bride's sister) and her soon to be husband are nowhere to be found."

"Well, she's waiting in the church and one of the groomsmen comes in with a hand written letter from the fiancé."

"Turns out the maid of honor (her sister) and her fiancé have been sleeping together for a while, she's pregnant, and they ran off to Vegas to get married."

"So, no wedding."

~ ServiceCall1986

Change of Venue

"I attended a wedding where they held the ceremony and reception at this renovated historic house. During the reception though, police were called because apparently the 'venue' wasn't actually permitted to be a business."

"It was just some people's house that they kept renting out to weddings to the immense annoyance of their neighbors (and subsequently the police)."

"One of the house owners actually ended up being arrested because they had already been given a 'last warning' at the previous wedding the weekend before, and the dude was getting belligerent."

"Most of the reception was done by that point anyway, but it sure was chaotic as we were all shooed out, trying to call like 50 Ubers while the cops made sure we left."

~ ShrimpHeavenAngel

Brrrr... 🥶

"I attended an outdoor wedding."

"In December."

"All the guests assumed there would be shelter/heating but nope—nothing was provided."

"All us guests were freezing cold. Some got drunk as fast as they could and others kept asking the staff for cups of tea, not to drink but to hold the warm cups."

"It was awful."

~ ErodeMode

Tragic

"Went to the wedding of one of my husband's close friends and everything was going wonderful until about 3 hours in when the bride's grandma becomes unresponsive."

"We were sitting right next to that table when she falls to the floor not breathing. Our other friend (an EMT) ended up performing CPR on her until the paramedics came."

"He said he felt her ribs cracking under his hands."

"The wedding promptly ended as the bride and groom go to the hospital with grandma. She passed away in the hospital that night after an emergency surgery."

~ blondie5697

Not What They Ordered

"My wife and I watched in horror as the wedding planner proceeded to get very sloppily drunk and exceedingly outlandish behavior."

"It came crashing to an end when she started dancing/grinding on the father of the bride with his wife and the bride a few feet away staring in shock."

"Lots of shouting and then the groomsmen not so kindly escorted her out."

~ uni-monkey

Father of the Bride

"I was the photographer."

"The bride was very close to her stepfather, and her father had not been in the picture for a lot of her life, but he was invited to the wedding and they did two father-daughter dances so he wasn't left out or anything."

"He was also supposed to pay for part of the photos, and he just showed up with no money. He eventually got mad, like she was doing something wrong by including the stepdad, who raised her and paid for most of the wedding (and for that matter, her upbringing)."

"She spent like an hour crying in the back and eventually an uncle offered to pay for some of what the dad owed."

"I knocked off $100 and stayed an extra hour for free so we could get all the photos we would have done during that hour, but it was obviously not the same for her."

"Then the dad spent weeks harassing me to send him the photos I took because she wouldn't send them to him. (I didn't, obviously)."

~ LizardPossum

Noped Out

"The Bride said NO at the altar. Literally walked back down the aisle and out the door."

"The groom stood for a moment and then went to a side room. The minister followed the groom, then came back and said that while the wedding was off, the reception would go forward since the food was already there.

"Awkward reception and nobody stayed long after eating."

"They were getting married because the bride was pregnant, and they thought it was the right thing to do. She decided that pregnancy was not a good reason to marry after all."

"She had the baby and they ended up raising the child together, although not as a romantic couple."

~ Lulinda726

Worst Man

"I used to have a friend who owned a small hotel which operated primarily as a wedding venue. They lived in one of the hotel rooms, so all of the events taking place in the courtyard directly outside their door could be heard very clearly."

"We were hanging out one night during a wedding and listening to the speeches, the most notable of which was the best man speech during which he told the story of having a threesome with both the bride and groom at Burning Man, and heavily alluded to still being in love with the groom."

"Lots of older relatives in attendance."

"The place went silent and the wedding ended about two hours early."

~ Chapsy_

Get Him to the Church on Time

"I was a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding. Day of the wedding we are all getting ready as you normally would. I'm in the bridal suite area; everything is going fantastically."

"The church is filled to capacity with guests. We all walk down the aisle and take our places, bridesmaids and groomsmen alike. My soon-to-be SIL is walking down the aisle on her father's arm. My brother is nowhere in sight."

"There is a long, awkward pause as my SIL is standing in front of a packed church, and we are all just looking at each other. Everyone is assuming the worst—that my brother has skipped out at the altar and left her."

"I'm shout whispering to the Best Man 'where is he'eandk he says 'I don't know". My mom is nearly having a heart attack."

"My dad finally gets up goes to the room where my bro was supposed to be waiting and comes out with my brother. My brother says 'Where's the minister, I was waiting on him'."

"My bro hadn't left at all, the minister was a no-show!"

"He was supposed to be waiting with my bro and walk out with him, or tell him when it was time to walk out while groomsmen were lining up to escort bridesmaids down the aisle. Because no one had checked in on my bro after getting ready no one knew the minister wasn't there."

"At this point, we are all standing in a group at the front of the church; the majority of the church guests still don't know what is going on, just that my bro had to be summoned, and there are angry looks all around."

"My dad realizes he needs to let them in on what's going on, so he announces to the guests, 'We can't find the pastor, is anyone here licensed?' but of course no one is. The bride's father calls the minister on his cell phone, on speaker so the whole church can hear the conversation."

"'Hi Pastor Denny, where are you? Did you forget what today was? Yes Denny, the wedding. The wedding is right now. We are all waiting on you at the church. Ok we'll just wait here then'."

"Turns out the pastor was playing golf and had put the wedding date down as the following weekend in his planner."

"I then ask my soon-to-be SIL if she wants us to walk back down the aisle and come back in or what. She says at this point 'forget it we are all here' so we just stand around and wait for Pastor Denny and try to make jokes with the wedding guests but it's pretty awkward as no one really knows what to do."

"After about 15 minutes Pastor Denny comes running into the church in his golf clothes—polo shirt/funny shorts etc...—apologizes and goes immediately into the vows."

"My poor SIL was furious that day, first thinking my bro had ditched her at the altar then at the fact that the minister had ditched them."

"She laughs about it now but it was a tense ceremony."

~ GreedyReality9815

Party!

"It was my very first friend to get married: a girl I’d known in high school. We were 24, 25. Classic rom-com nightmare scenario where the groom had second thoughts the day of and just bolted."

"We all just milled around for a while, not sure what to do. Awful vibes, the bride’s mom was weeping hysterically."

"Me and some friends were finally making our way to the exits, and the bride stopped us, like 'where the f**k do you think you’re going? You guys are taking me out to a bar right this minute, and you’re gonna have to carry me out of there.”

"So we did—mostly the young people, though a few stray aunts and uncles came along, including a few of the groom’s relatives who were like, 'he’s a little punk anyway, you’re better off without him'.”

"We all got unfathomably drunk, sang karaoke, glasses were shattered, the bride hit on literally every man there including me (though no one took her up on it, that would have been weird)."

"There were a rough few months in store for her afterward, but that ended up being a hell of a party. I can still feel the hangover a decade later."

"Bride married a guy who actually showed up several years later. I think they’re happy."

"No idea about the groom—that was the last time any of us really spoke about him."

~ Nerazzurro9

Surprise?

"My family was invited to what we thought was an engagement party. My aunt had reserved a room at a local restaurant for about 50 people."

"Turns out it was my cousin's wedding. So no one brought a gift or dressed up at all. Bride is in a wedding dress and groom is wearing jeans."

"We ordered food and drinks. The officiant does his thing while waiters are bringing in drinks and appetizers. Finally over and we get to eat."

"But when the officiant asked for the marriage license so they can all sign it, my cousin and his new wife just stared at him confused."

"They didn't know they had to get one!"

"Thought just having a wedding was enough. They were in their late 20s."

"So wedding, but no marriage. They never did 'officially' get married and he ran off a few years later to another state to be with some girl he met online."

~ msao2009

Sick Day

"Friend's wedding. A bunch of people got food poisoning at the rehearsal dinner. Including the groom."

"He spent the night at the ER getting fluids and medication to stop puking. This was an awesome high-end wedding and he almost cancelled."

"He was a pale green color and basically sipped Gatorade all day and got through it. He married his high school sweetheart and they have been married 30+ years."

~ Caspers_Shadow

Fill In

"The best man choked on a piece of steak. I didn’t see it happen but I guess someone performed the Heimlich. It came out, anyway."

"They called an ambulance (you always should go to hospital! Even if obstruction is removed) and he left."

"Another groomsman did an impromptu speech in his place, which was brave of him. He started off with 'I guess (best man) bit off more than he could chew with that role'."

~ rescueruby

Have you ever been invited to a wedding that didn't happen the way it was planned?

Share your story in the comments.