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Wedding days are supposed to be filled with joy, love and celebration.
Unfortunately for some couples, the stress and high emotions can sometimes bring out the worst in people.
While most vows exchange ‘for better or for worse,’ some newlyweds take that promise to an extreme.
From physical altercations to meltdowns both petty and profound, we’ve rounded up 20 sensational stories where the bride and groom transformed into something unrecognizable on their big day.
Whether due to pre-wedding jitters, family drama or good old fashioned demons, these couples unleashed inner monsters few saw coming.
Buckle up as we take a tour through some bridezillas and grooms from hell in our collection of wedding day horrors.
You’ll be left wondering how any of these unions survived the aisle, let alone a lifetime together.
#1. Groom Requests Video Edits
It’s one thing to ask for edits to photos or the wedding video based on an issue that might have happened.
It is another thing when the groom specifically asks the videographer to edit out all the footage of him hitting on other women at the reception.
Yet, this happened to one wedding video editor.
#2. Bad Bride Behavior
Once again, booze rears its ugly head and impacts a wedding. In this case, the bride did some questionable things you wouldn’t expect to see at a wedding reception.
“The bride drank vodka out of a pint glass and spent a significant amount of time making out with another guy on the dance floor.”
#3. You Both Have Different Expectations
A lot of couples jump into marriage without having actually discussed their expectations for the future.
This can lead to major disagreements down the road, as you will have two completely different visions about what married life should look like and how it should feel.
It’s important to talk openly about your plans for the future including how many children you want, where you want to live, and how you will divide finances.
Having a clear roadmap from the start can help ensure that both of your expectations are met over time, thus creating a strong foundation for your marriage.
#4. A Third Wheel
While it is great to have friends of the opposite sex, you really have to question the relationship when everyone’s talking about how it’s not platonic and the couple involved is not hiding it.
“The bride had been having an affair and everyone knew it. The groom’s friends tried to tell him, but she convinced him they were making it up. I mean, at that point it was just sad. She actually had the guts to force her fiancé to apologize to the guy she was sleeping with for the accusations.
The night of the bachelorette party she took all her bridesmaids back to the other guy’s house and spent the night with him. He came to their wedding. It was so awkward. Everyone knew and everyone was talking.
The groom was told, but chose to overlook it. After the wedding she insisted the other guy come on vacations with her and her husband and included him in all their social functions.”
#5. Bad Honeymoon Omen
Your honeymoon is a time for ultimate happiness.
But for one couple, it didn’t start out that way.
After boarding and sitting in coach, a flight attendant came up to the groom and asked if he would like to sit in first class.
Without hesitation, or consideration of his new bride, he said yes, got up and left her for the better seating.
#6. Unfunny Vows
Here is another instance of wedding vows gone wrong. There is nothing worse than speaking from the heart and having the other person be rude.
“Two friends of mine got married, and when they gave their vows, the guy started laughing at the part about being faithful. Oops.”
#7. Replacement Groom
A wedding photographer shared a great story about a couple who came in to hire him, only to find out the wedding is canceled and then back on.
But that wasn’t the red flag. It was that the groom was a different person in the second go-round.
“I sat down with bride and groom, filling out the contract. Got the deposit. He stood up, said forget it, and walked out. Two months later I get told the wedding is off. Three months later she calls to rebook, different groom. Day of the wedding I am at the church. I got the final payment the week before, but no one shows. No one. It was just me and the DJ.”
#8. The Grooms Moment
Many times, the ego of a person comes out at the worst time. In this case, it happened at a wedding, where the true colors of the groom were flashing like a beacon in the night.
“The wedding was all about the groom promoting his band. He even ‘sang his bride a song’ that was literally just him showing off his vocal range with some classic piece. She stood up and joined him on stage half way through and he looked annoyed that he had to share the limelight.”
#9. No Wedding Vows To Husband
A popular trend people like is to prepare their own vows to make the moment even more special. Usually, the worst thing about this part of a wedding is that the bride or groom doesn’t hold the microphone close enough, and you can barely hear what they say.
However, in one person’s experience, they did hear what the bride said, and it would have been better if she couldn’t be heard.
“The bride had 45 minutes of ‘vows’ that she had prepared. Nine pages of things like inappropriate vows to friends and family, his parents and sisters, none of them her husband. When they were doing the vows and the priest got to the ‘for richer or poorer’ part and she said ‘for richer or richer and maybe for poorer.'”
#10. Wedding Cake Slap
Another tradition is cutting the cake and then feeding it to your partner. This situation is often lighthearted as the bride and groom playfully feed one another.
But in one instance, it escalated quickly to a point no one saw coming.
“The bride tried to playfully feed the groom some cake, pulling it back once it got close to his mouth. The third time she did this, he slapped it out of her hand and stormed off.”
#11. Game Over
In the early 2000s, a t-shirt made the rounds of a stick figure man and woman getting married with the caption, ‘Game Over.’ While many people have seen these shirts for sale, most people have never seen a person wearing one.
While wearing one in public might not be a red flag, it is when you wear it to your reception.
“The groom showed up to his own reception wearing a t-shirt with restroom-sign style stick figures depicting a bride and groom captioned ‘Game Over’.”
#12. Best Woman
We all have gut instincts that tell us something isn’t quite right. Regarding this story, I wonder if the bride ever had that feeling.
“The groom had a ‘best woman’ instead of a best man. Nothing wrong with that, but her toast left the whole room in awkward silence because she was clearly in love with him. It was all about how they were always together, all the late nights they spent together, etc. She was so tearful during it too. I’m not making it sound as bad as it was, but I assure you, it was bad.”
#13. Offered Cash Not to Marry
In one surprising story, some members of the grooms side of the family offered the bride cash not to marry their nephew.
This might be shocking or appalling to some, but it gets worse.
The bride took some time and actually considered taking the money.
Needless to say, the odds of the couple living happily ever after are slim.
#14. Bad Mother In Law
Mother-in-laws can be hit or miss. In some cases, they get too involved in the wedding and cause stress. That is what happened in this case.
“The bride’s mother is a big DIY person and went a little nuts with extra flowers, table pieces, decorations, etc. Note I said extra, it was already decorated by the venue, she just took it upon herself to buy and add way more stuff.
Anyway, a few weeks ago she sends my mother in law (groom’s mom) an email with receipts of all the extra stuff she bought, which was $7,000 worth, and asked that she pay half since it was technically set up in time for the rehearsal dinner for guests to enjoy.”
#15. Bridezilla
We are all familiar with the term Bridezilla, where a woman becomes obsessed with her wedding and needs it to be her way and perfect.
A worker at a bridal shop witnessed a Bridezilla close-up and was stunned by what they saw.
“Not at the wedding itself, but I used to work at a David’s Bridal. Bride came in with tons of friends, we did the ‘Say Yes To The Dress’ thing, and an hour later she’d standing there in $3,000 worth of stuff and doesn’t have any money with her or in her account. She decides she wants to apply for the store credit card, I run it through the system, and she gets denied. She then calls the groom for his info (which, to be fair, people did all the time), and he tells her no. She threw a huge fit on the phone with him, standing on the bridal stage, literally demanding ‘Why not? Why?! Why!!’ like an actual child over and over again.
She hangs up on him and her friend is like ‘I’m so sorry you can’t get your dress’ and the bride stops crying instantly and just goes, ‘Oh I’ll get the dress. I just have to do this at home and when he gets mad enough he’ll come get it for me so I’ll stop.’ I was speechless. Sure enough, the girl came back two days later with her man and he applied for the credit card and bought the dress.”
#16. Drunk Bride
Sometimes, we indulge too much at a wedding and get intoxicated. But it usually isn’t the bride, and it’s not before the wedding even takes place. In this story, the bride could not even say her lines.
“She was belligerently drunk before the ceremony even started and couldn’t even get through the lines she was supposed to repeat (i.e. “I promise to love you”). She ended up slapping the groom, spilling champagne on her dress, and then crying under a table while he tried to comfort her.”
#17. Interrupting Phone Call
A major annoyance for people is the interruption of a cell phone ringing at a critical moment. Many people have the class to silence or turn off their phone at a wedding, a funeral, a presentation, etc.
But some people miss the common courtesy memo and leave their phone on. This happened at a wedding, but it wasn’t a person in the crowd. It was the groom.
“I was at a wedding when a phone went off during the ceremony, in the middle of exchanging vows. It was the grooms. He took the call.”
#18. The Last First Dance
First dances are a tradition at weddings, even though they can be odd. Everyone stands around watching the new couple dance to a song they enjoy. Nine times out of ten, it’s a perfectly normal thing.
But then there’s that one time when you question the future of the marriage.
“The bride had a fun lighthearted dance with the groom followed by a close and slow dance with her male best friend. It’s 18 months later and now she’s living with the ‘friend’.”
#19. Betting Against The Marriage
We all know people getting married, and while we don’t say it publicly, we question if getting married is their best choice. It could be because of the other person or where they are in life. When it’s not just you that wonders, but the entire bridal party, it’s a major red flag.
“The entire bridal party, including parents of the wedded couple, entering in to a betting pool of how long the marriage would last at the wedding reception.”
#20. Drama From Drama Students
Many people warn young adults to wait to get married. It seems this advice missed these college kids. The good news is that it’s a great story.
“The couple were both drama students. Many of the bridal party were drama students. The maid-of-honor’s toast consisted of tearful declarations of unrequited love to the groom, along the lines of ‘if it couldn’t be me, I’m glad it’s my best friend that’s marrying you.’
The best man’s speech was a lusty declaration of ‘if it doesn’t work out, call me, babe…like the previous time you called me.’ Other toasts were similarly weird. A guy at the table I was seated at was a friend of the bride and said to me that he was ‘this close’ to standing up during the ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’ thing.”
#21. Sent Home to Babysit
One bride shared how they had a great wedding and reception.
But as the night seemed to be coming to an end, the groom suggested his new wife head home with their young child to put to bed, he would stay with his family to clean up.
This grand gesture ended up not being so grand at all as the bride found out the grooms family continued to party.
It was just a way to get her home with the kid so they could have more fun.
#22. Last Minute Regrets
We all know the butterflies before the wedding, where you question if this is the right thing to do. In most cases, it is nervousness.
But other times, it’s your body telling you to run.
“The bride told me two days before that she found her fiancé annoying and that she didn’t like him. Then she sobbed the entire morning, day-of. She ended up not getting any makeup done because she wouldn’t stop scream-sobbing and refused to get dressed, stalling the wedding for 35 minutes.
She almost didn’t say ‘I do.’ They managed to get a, ‘uh, yeah, okay, yeah I do’ out of her almost a full 60 seconds after she was supposed to say it.”
#23. Half Empty Church
One person shared a story about a couple who invited over 250 people to their wedding.
The shock was that when the day arrived, barely anyone came.
Out of the 250 people, only 40 showed.
Not only was the church a ghost town, the couple were trying to give away food at the reception because they paid for 250 meals.
#24. When Your Soon-To-Be Spouse Is (Mentally) Somewhere Else
If your partner often seems distant and disconnected, it can be difficult to move forward.
It’s important to find out what is going on and why they are feeling this way.
Sometimes people need a little distance from their partner in order to work through their thoughts, but if it becomes an ongoing pattern then it could mean that something more serious is going on.
It’s important to have honest conversations about how you both feel and take steps to address any underlying issues.
This could include seeing a couples therapist, going on a retreat or spending time apart from one another for the purpose of self-reflection.
#25. Bad Speeches At The Reception
Everyone looks forward to the best man and maid of honor speeches at the reception. They typically include stories of the bride and groom most people wouldn’t know and have some humor to keep things light.
Overall, they are messages of love. But not always.
Sometimes, you get cringe-worthy stories, where you wonder what the person was thinking about telling that story. This is what happened at one wedding.
“The best man’s speech was all about how hard it was to be married. ‘I’ve been married for a year and it feels like 100 years.’ Maid of honor stands up to give a speech and just says ‘Ditto.’ It was so awkward and really brought the whole room down.”
#26. Groomsmen Fighting
A wedding is supposed to be a time of happiness and love, so how does a fight break out? I’ve heard stories of fights before, but nothing like this story.
“I was at a Portuguese wedding where a fist fight broke out at the head table during the reception between two groomsmen. They were arguing about which of them had slept with the bride first. The groom was oblivious.”
#27. Repeat Offender
There’s an old saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Someone needs to remind the groom about this.
“His third wedding. Same venue and same after ceremony driving away vehicle as the first two.”
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Jon Dulin is the passionate leader of Unfinished Success, a personal development website that inspires people to take control of their own lives and reach their full potential. His commitment to helping others achieve greatness shines through in everything he does. He’s an unstoppable force with lots of wisdom, creativity, and enthusiasm – all focused on helping others build a better future. Jon enjoys writing articles about productivity, goal setting, self-development, and mindset. He also uses quotes and affirmations to help motivate and inspire himself. You can learn more about him on his About page.