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Original poster

To ask what's the worst wedding you've ever been to?

322 replies

WashingMatilda · 21/08/2017 01:25

I've just come back from a really gorgeous wedding. It was one of those joyous, real life affirming ones IYKWIM.

However, during the speeches I randomly remembered a wedding I went to years and years ago where the grandmas wheelchair was left without its brakes on at the top of a big flight of steps outside the registry office. She rolled forward, all the way down, cracked her head open on the slabs, ambulance took her off on blue lights, and the bride spent the reception scrubbing blood out of her train poor bloody woman. It was horrific. Sad (Nan fine in the end)

What's yours?

OP posts:
Sarikiz · 21/08/2017 07:06

Some years ago the daughter of my mothers best friend became a Jehovahs Witness and she and her husband married in the Kingdom Hall.
The brides parents were very unhappy at her choice but nevertheless supported her. On the wedding day most of the brides friends and family stayed away. My mother and I attended the ceremony which was in my opinion awful.
The reception if you can call it that was at the brides home which was large and beautiful. The Jehovah WItnesses at the bride and grooms request had arranged the food ,cake and non alcoholic drinks.No music.
The brides mother was in floods in tears in the bedroom consoled by my mother. My father and the brides father sat in the garden having a beer. I tried to mingle and chat but it was hard work
The bride and groom left early to go on honeymoon to a religious centre to learn how to be missionaries.
The marriage did not last neither did the brides religious zeal

IndominusRex · 21/08/2017 07:08

Worst we've been to was probably the one that was really impersonal feeling, then there was a problem with the loos so the whole marquee stunk, and the DJ played blurred pissing lines 4 times.

BeingATwatItsABingThing · 21/08/2017 07:13

Mine is nowhere near as bad as any of these.

Went to a family wedding. Ceremony lovely except they had these giant balloons as decoration. Looked lovely but a PITA! When we had to stand, I couldn't see as I was next to the balloons. I also was rendered deaf in one ear because of the static coming off of it. Awful!

Then there were the speeches and food. All lovely.

They decided to have a break in the proceedings. For 3 hours. We had to find something to do for 3 hours!!! We decided to give DD a nap as she was looking tired but that ruined her for the day. If we'd have carried on, she would have rallied but she stayed grumpy for the whole evening.

Also went to a wedding where I only knew the bride, not the groom. When the speeches came around, it was the groom and FOTB making the same in joke comment about the groom. They didn't explain this joke so none of the guests who hadn't been involved understood what they were going on about. Longest speeches of my life.

Yorkshirebetty · 21/08/2017 07:15

The long photo sessions mentioned by previous posters rings a bell with me. The b and g had a short registry office wedding and then had photos in a local park before we went to the venue. The photos went on for more than an hour and a half (at least not 4 hours!) while we were standing around in our finery. My friend took pics of locals passed out on the benches.

IfYouGoDownToTheWoodsToday · 21/08/2017 07:15

A very expensive wedding- fab location, beautiful venue, georgeous bride etc but the food was CRAP.

It was a roast dinner, which you had to go up and get, and it was like a school dinner. The very worst thing was, wait for it, NO GRAVY Shock
How can anyone serve roast dinner without gravyConfused.
There was just a constant murmuring of "where's the gravy?", "there's no gravy?!", "WHAT?"and "Shhhh don't be rude" for about 10 minutes.
It spoilt the whole day!

NorthCoast · 21/08/2017 07:16

My best friend managed to get mixed up in a Christian cult and married a fellow member without so much as kissing her before the wedding day. Other than their parents, there were only six of us there who weren't cult members. Thankfully they're both out of it now.

CasperGutman · 21/08/2017 07:16

I went to a wedding in Wales. When we arrived at the reception (in a lovely little pub) the guests all suddenly and obviously stopped speaking in English. Felt totally excluded but have no idea why.

I suspect that's not true, is it? It's just a bizarre wedding twist on the same stupid story trotted out against the Welsh language by prejudiced English-speakers who think it should hurry up and die out.

I mean, how could you possibly even know what language everyone was speaking before you arrived? It's not remotely funny.

pieceofpurplesky · 21/08/2017 07:19

Attended a very odd one with exh. Ceremony was ok and then we arrived at the venue. Hours of photos. The food was served to us and was COLD ham - and not naice ham either - coleslaw and cold new potatoes (tinned ones). My exh has a huge piece of glass
In his. There was no dessert. The groom's speech was all about his new wife farting. Best man's was a eulogy to his lost friend as new wife was possessive and boy did he let everyone know!
Huge fight when the dancing started and on the way out you could buy the wedding DVD for a tenner!

IfYouGoDownToTheWoodsToday · 21/08/2017 07:20

Also my grind went to one recently where the Bride arrived in a pony and trap and they wasted to make the most if it, so went off for 2 hours for a photo shoot, they then came back and had more photos with everyone else. There were no canapés, only alcohol hense everyone got pissed. The worst thing was bride and grooms parents and siblings knew there was going to be a long wait so brought a PICNIC for themselves.Shock My friend said she was chewing her own arm off by the time the food was served at 7pm.

IfYouGoDownToTheWoodsToday · 21/08/2017 07:22

*friend

Samoyedydog · 21/08/2017 07:24

I haven't been to a really bad wedding but the worst part of any wedding is the photos. Everyone not involved in the photos is just left standing around waiting, it's just sooo boring.

numbmum83 · 21/08/2017 07:35

My Sisters wedding . Her mil organised everything !! My sister ended up buying an £80 dress off eBay from China because she felt it was the only thing she had control of . The mil bought the other bridesmaids dress (dsis sil) from the charity shop so I had to just ordered one from eBay no idea if it would match .. She organised wedding hair for herself, the bride, other bridesmaid and the flower girl but "ran out of time " for mine . Then at the reception our family filled round tables whilst the other side filled the room !! And then mil gave her big speech and gave all her friends flowers for helping her arrange a brilliant wedding . My parents paid for all the beer coz no licence at reception (over £300) but were never given any option to help. She took over completely and made all the flowers , all the reception food and the only thing the bride and groom did was pick the colour !!!
It was a horrible day . We were just there to play our role.

Marriage lasted 8 months before the groom left dsis for his friend !
Now she's with someone else and another controlling mil who tries to take over... expecting exactly the same thing to happen again lol .

PoorYorick · 21/08/2017 07:46

I went to a wedding that was on my birthday once. Never occurred to me to be offended.

ghostyslovesheets · 21/08/2017 07:59

lovely couple - but a dry wedding with the reception in the same church as the wedding - with a 2 hour gap with no food or (non alcoholic) drink - they a self catered buffet with panda pop

but they where happy and still are so that was the main thing

elisa2502 · 21/08/2017 08:11

My own (we're now divorced, it lasted less than a year!).
My MIL didn't turn and watch me down the aisle, she scowled facing the front. This was after telling me it wasn't appropriate that I wore white!
The first aid box fell from the wall onto the guests. Oh and everyone including myself realised the Groom was gay when he looked adoringly at the Best Man whilst he gave this lengthy speech about Dr Who??!!
Add to this, my DH decided he wanted to wait until the Wedding night to sleep/ live together!!!! The sex was bloody awful and remained so. He put this bright blue condom on combined with bushy ginger pubes meant I was quite shocked!
All the signs were there he was gay, just coming from a religious family and never having left home meant he would never come out?!!
What was a thinking?! The Wedding cost 15k it was hideous!

BlondeB83 · 21/08/2017 08:14

A full on fight broke out at a rather lavish one I went to. Think women jumping on men's backs, things being thrown. It was a fancy venue too. The police were called.

Littlecaf · 21/08/2017 08:16

We went to one of DHs uni mates where it was obvious that the brides family were miserable and they thought she's married 'up' so expected everything naice. It was a nice venue but nobody danced (except us) and it felt like it was all for show. They are getting divorced now.

I've also been to another of DHs uni mates, well the first and second where the best man was also a mutal uni friend. He's an acquired taste, him and his humour, and both times the best mans speech stepped over the line, we all found them funny (as we know what he's like, think Frankie Boyle humour) but both times the brides father looked devastated. It was crawl under the table time, head in hands, trying not to cry with laughter/embarrassment....both times the brides family have been tradition conservatives (miltary or titled) so we're not appreciative of his humour.

The other awful wedding was a really good friends. Her DF just did the most awful speech about how his DD was high maintenance and she's ruined his relationship with her DM. Also went to another where my friend (the bride) DF refused to do a speech. He's known for being a chavanist & alpha head of the family, all he needed to say was 'thank you all for coming, my daughter looks beautiful, Dave is a fantastic son in law, cheers!' but he couldn't manage that. Twat.

Llanbobl · 21/08/2017 08:17

I was probably the cause of many people's worst wedding experience.

I fainted whilst the hairdresser was cutting a fringe into my hair . The bride wanted my cousin and I to have the same hairstyle buns with fringes......it was 1975, I was 7. So I ended up with a very short asymmetric fringe.

Then in Church I was sick in the aisle during the ceremony. I had to be taken to the vestry to be cleaned up whilst the vicars wife

Mopped the aisle!

Strange how I was never chosen as a bridesmaid after thatBlush

Mama1980 · 21/08/2017 08:20

My best friends, we were young, very young, the morning before it was blatantly obvious she didn't want to go through with it-I offered to drive her anywhere away and cancel everything etc. She said no she couldn't do that to her fiancé. Fair enough, he was a decent guy she just didn't love him.
It was painfully obvious all day she didn't want to be there and sat quietly after asking me to check everyone was having fun Hmm so I ran around all day trying to cheer the worried guests and make sure everyone had food etc. Her groom twigged after about 5 minutes and looked painfully uncomfortable himself.
Marriage lasted less than 6 months and actually ended amicably, they had both just got swept along with everything. But that was one painful day for everyone involved.

CaoNiMartacus · 21/08/2017 08:23

I once witnessed an arse-clenchingly cringeworthy bridesmaid's speech, which went along the lines of:

"When Sarah told me she was marrying Pete, I was like, 'WHAT? Who the fuck is Pete?'"

Not even jokingly or ironically.

waitingforlifetostart · 21/08/2017 08:29

Worst one I went to involved waiting, waiting and more waiting. Service was at 10am which was a lovely service. An hour drive to the reception which seemed quite far. Wedding 'breakfast' wasn't until 2pm so we waited and waited. No drinks were handed around or nibbles. Photographer came and took photos of the important lot but not us lesser mortals. We were starving and bored stiff by 2pm. They had eventually brought drinks around but not until nearly 1pm. Wedding breakfast ended and then there was a 2 hour wait to set up the evening do. It was freezing and incredibly boring. Never going to another 14 hour wedding. It wasn't a hotel so you couldn't escape to your room for a bit.

strawberrisc · 21/08/2017 08:31

CasperGutman It is absolutely true. I'm perplexed why you'd think I'd make it up. The ceremony was unusual but lovely. Bride was Catholic and Groom was C of E so the wedding was officiated by a Vicar and a Priest which I thought was so progressive and accepting. When my husband and I arrived at the lovely little pub we were so happy after the ceremony. I sat next at a table of people speaking English but didn't interrupt them as they were in full flow. When I introduced myself they said hello then began to converse in Welsh.

Wishfulmakeupping · 21/08/2017 08:33

My own! - mil (who was only invited after I begged stb Dh to invite her) refused to speak to me or look at me, tried to start an argument with my mum and looked like the most miserable woman on earth for all the photos- managed to wreck the entire day :(
I wish I could say I went nc at that point but it wasn't until she started showing her true colours where my dc are concerned that I finally cut her out.

PumbletonWakeshaft · 21/08/2017 08:34

I went to an awful re-marriage of a couple who hated each other so much they had stand-up fights. They had been getting on so much better since the divorce and it had been such a relief to us all,and I'm sure their 3 children.

However, seemingly on a whim, they suddenly announced they were getting remarried and "giving it another go for the kids". The whole ceremony was a joke - as we all knew that the bride had serious behavioural issues and the groom was probably just there for the sex (his brother's opinion, not mine, but it seemed to fit). It was surreal to see them talk about their love for each other and make vows in a church when just a couple of months prior to that they were talking about how much they hated each other! The day was very awkward to say the least.

Sure enough the blazing rows and fights resumed and they got re-divorced a short time later.

Minkyfluffster · 21/08/2017 08:38

I think the worse one I ever went to was in Scotland, the issue was too many guests, the church was rammed. The venue was too small, I was heavily pregnant and couldn't actually get from one side of the venue to the other due to my bump and people squashed in. It was like the busiest pub.

There were outbuildings that we were expected to use but they smelt of cow shit. There was a barn that children were meant to eat in. The main meal was a hot buffet, served at 9pm, the wedding was at 1pm. It was in the middle of the countryside so no option to find food elsewhere.

The grooms speech thanked the venue for doing their first ever wedding?!

It rained harder than the monsoon I experienced overseas.