How and why did your wedding go wrong? And can you look back and laugh now?

[Sd183]

Just as the title says really! I'm intrigued to hear if you can look back and laugh/accept with begrudging realism if something "went wrong" at your wedding...and what is it that went wrong?

I'm just trying to settle my own wedding nerves and tell myself that things go wrong and there's nothing I can do about it!

The difficult things were mainly around family problems and v unwell family attendees. Relationship problems with DH. Work probs for both of us.

So not wedding stuff per se, but the wedding didn’t help matters!

ExH, was in the Royal Navy and had chosen some friend from his ship to be Best Man. The twat travelled down the day before the wedding, got smashed and into a massive fight. ExH thought it was hysterical. Luckily my best friend’s boyfriend kindly stepped in.

The marriage lasted 18 months. Turned out he was a childish twat with lots of things (including a secret gambling habit and a female shipmate). Fucker.

The registrar who was supposed to marry us didn't turn up! Thankfully it was a husband and wife team who lived on site and she came home from shopping to find dh and best man wondering wtf to do. She had to get changed v. quickly and go through paperwork with dh. I didn't find out about any of this til afterwards although I did wonder why the car drove round the block a couple of times.

I hope he had a good excuse when he turned up

The heavens totally opened just before the ceremony, which was fortunately under a marquee at my insistence (the summer we married was full of floods!

A dear friend got the date mixed up and didn't come - we still take the piss about it with him.

DH insisted on not having notes for his speech, thanked everyone involved and forgot to say anything about his wonderful new wife! I laughed about it at the time and do still - lots of people commented of how happy he looked to marry me so I don't think anyone went away thinking the error reflected any lack of affection.

Our pianist was over 20 minutes late. I was stood at the church door waiting all that time which felt like hours... I nearly had to walk down the aisle to a cessette taped wedding march. When he eventually arrived there was no apology, he just quickly stormed past us and then played badly throughout the service.
I was strangely calm, I think the vicar thought we were going to kick off afterwards but it wasn't his fault. They refunded the cost of the pianist however.

Not mine but my daughters. Register office first followed by wedding blessing in marquee and party. It was June but it pissed down all day and was freezing. I started with Bucks Fizz by early morning an by the time of the marquee blessing the following had happened.
DD1 gave a reading at the Register Office ceremony and was wearing a white outfit that was transparent and we could all see her thong.
The caterers ovens broke so food had to be cooked in the kitchen.
I put a dozen bottles of champagne in the freezer for a quick cool and forgot them. They all exploded.
By the time of the speeches I was drunk and was heckling the bridegroom.
An aunty fell down the cellar steps as she was noseying round the house. We had a consultant orthopaedic surgeon there as a guest but she refused to let him examine her as he was not a 'proper doctor'.
By 6p.m. I collapsed into bed.

I have written all this and this took place years ago but I still feel bitterly ashamed.

My SIL was a pain to me & had done some nasty things before the day. I still don't know what she did at the reception, but I had one guest make a pointed remark about her to me while we were there; & some weeks later when a group of friends met up & we were talking about the wedding, one laughingly said, "Who WAS that woman in the [described SIL's outfit]" & when I said she was DH's sister he wiped the smile off his face & wouldn't answer me when I asked why he'd said it.

My sister getting drunk and kicking off and then she rang the police (even though she was the drunk one....fucking road crash), oh and the best man got my name wrong in his speech (used SILs name 🤷‍♀️) and the photos were all a disaster, even with all that going wrong we are still married over a decade later (probably because neither of us could face going through that shit show again! 🤣).

Completely different flowers from those I specified in my bouquet ... when it was delivered I said "There's no corn flowers" and remember wanting to howl but couldnt else it would have ruined my make up and there wasnt enough time to get another bouquet. Sooo disappointing.

Spent time with florist as I wanted a specific style of bouquet, certain flowers that had sentimental connections. Florist understood why I had made those choices. On the day the flowers arrived whilst I was at the hairdressers. Had I been there I would have told her to take my bouquet back. The BMs posies were lovely but mine was the polar opposite to what we had agreed. I abandoned it early on but was presented with it months later by my DM who'd been carefully drying it for posterity. It swiftly went in the bin. Florist was pretty uninterested when I complained.

MIL turned up in off white and was rude to everyone who wasn't a blood relative or personal friend. Guests were still talking about her behaviour for years afterwards.

DF decided to wing his FOB speech despite all attempts by DM to get him to prep for it. Turned into a rambling saga mainly about his own career. B&G barely mentioned. DM mortified. Raised eyebrows amongst the guests.

DIY reception and hadn't properly factored in how we were going to restore the venue back to its original state. So spent the morning after cleaning up the aftermath with a couple of friends and some of my family.

All been relegated to funny anecdotes now (although the flowers still niggle). The whole thing is overshadowed by dh announcing a couple of years later that he'd never wanted to be married and discovering the extent of his infidelities. So main memory is the loving speech I made about him at the reception and what a twunt I was to have believed what I said. Fortunately he's been the exh for far longer than we were married.

Best man forgot the rings . I laughed on the day about it, especially my husbands face panicking that we wouldn't be able to marry without them.

The best man was always a dodgy choice but we loved him

my dh-to-be's dad died 3 days before our wedding. So that wasn't brilliant. We postponed.

The re-arranged wedding had MIL sobbing all over the place (although she had already met her next H by then ) and I was newly pregnant and couldn't drink (but couldn't tell anyone). I gave dh most of my champagne and he was ratarsed for most of it. My boobs were massive and painful and I spent the honeymoon vomiting. We kept it secret from everyone, but didn't realise the video person could hear everything we were saying. So he knew! But apart from that it was amazing!

The cheese.

It was cut up wrong.

30 years and a divorce later I still remember.

Best and funniest thread ever. Especially loved the wheelchair photographer, the stilt walking jester, and the dear old auntie in every photo

I told my dad we didn't need a "car" and someone (my uncle with a BMW) could just drive us - church 1/2 mile, reception 1/2 mile. I thought it was a waste of money. Dad insisted and the car broke down at the church. My friends tried to push it but we got a lift with my uncle anyway. Most people walked. I was in stitches at the time.

My niece (2) wanted her grandad so he held her while walking me down the aisle. Fine by me.
I regret not inviting more children as there wasn't anyone for my husband's nephew to play with.
People matter. Things and organisation don't.

@DrMadelineMaxwell I'd be checking. I was at a civil ceremony where the name was wrong, and at another wedding where the same happened, and both times they said they would have to start again..

We made a wedding playlist but my husband had it on his phone but couldn't attach it to music system so had random music during the meal which wasn't too much of a problem.
We had sky lanterns (I know we wouldn't do it now) and one got caught in a tree and set it alight so the staff had to get a ladder to put it out. Was quite funny though

We had a 6 month old and booked our wedding for the following August, then 2 months later discovered I was pregnant so postponed it for 2 months to get married when she was 8 weeks old.
My husband fell down a curb on his Stag do 2 weeks before the wedding and broke his foot. He couldn't drive for 6 weeks and my Dad kindly fetched him daily for work which was an hours drive so I didn't have to get out with a 15 month and 6 week old.
The hairdresser did something hideous with my fringe and the makeup artist took forever with my Mom and bridesmaids.
The wedding photographer was running out of time so got me on the lawn which was up narrow steps and I couldn't come down to dress my baby.
My Dad tried to put the rear facing car seat in forward facing so I ended up doing it in my wedding dress.
The vicar sounded like he was auditioning for a part in 3 men and a baby. He insisted we sat side on to the congregation due to DH foot (he refused a cast and hobbled down the aisle) and shouted at us if we tried to look away.
A friend of my FIL was only invited to the evening but decided to take someone else meal at the reception, they arrived llate as they'd got lost. So had to wait outside until speeches finished.
When we went to bed I was so full of milk my daughter couldn't latch so I was desperately trying to relieve the pressure. She fed then was promptly sick all over her carrycot and I was totally unprepared as she wasn't a sickly baby.
It was 21 years ago. Life has thrown many hurdles but we're happy.

@SunshineCake Really? Blimey. I'll have a google.
It's right on all the paperwork, but he couldn't cope with my Welsh middle name and said an English close version every time.

My parents provided a free bar. His uncles took great advantage of this and ended up fighting.

I love the synchronous dropped cakes!

Love the cheese cut the wrong way!

Cutted up cheese

My dad, who could turn any celebration into an excuse for a 24 hour drinking binge, started n the juice first thing in the morning, so it was more me leading him down the aisle when we got to the church
It was in the winter and bitterly cold and nearly everyone was freezing during the photo taking.
The reception went without a hitch but it was at my mother's afterwards when the fun started. She had a party for her close friends and relatives but did not let my DH or myself know because she could not stand DH's family in case we told them to come.Well she reaped what she sowed.One of her friends, a rather large lady, after a few drinks, climbed onto my mother's brand new coffee table and started dancing. Result was her falling off, she was not injured but the table certainly was.My grandfather, who was teetotal and the only sober person there got into an argument about the effects of alcohol with my father's aunt who was very drunk.She began to insult him so he got up and left followed by my sobbing grandmother. My father by this time was unconconsious and had to helped to bed by two others who were drunk but still upright.
When I was told about this afterwards all I could say to my mother was, it could have been worse if DH's relatives had been there.
Couple of years later we heard that the officiating priest had been involved in a scandal involving young boys, left the priesthood and drank himself to death.
All this was a very long time ago now, all those mentioned are no longer with us including my DH. We stayed married though, with a few ups and downs.

Buddywoo, think you’re too hard on yourself

love the idea that should our DC choose to marry and have a wedding party we should watch our alcohol intake, lest we heckle during the speeches!

MNetters could probably do a whole thread on wedding wardrobe malfunctions alone.