Weddings you went to where things went wrong?

[Bupo]

Please can you share any times you attended a wedding where things went awry. I’m just keen to avoid any possible issue.

The only one I can think of is where the bride was two hours late. Apparently her family were just really exacting with the make up artist and had a lot of the make up redone/touched up.

We were sat in the Church for aaaaages. It meant that the drinks reception/evening meal was really rushed as the bride and groom really prioritised the dancing.

My aunts mother in law died on the morning of her wedding and every year her husband grieved his mum and wouldn't celebrate his wedding anniversary.

Another one where the bride left the reception with the man she had been having an affair with. Don't know why she went through with the wedding.

The Best Man's speech involved a story about the groom on a previous holiday, opening a hotel room door, "...stark bollock naked, with some 'dog' on the bed behind him". 🤦‍♀️

Didnt go to the wedding as wasn’t invited Neither were a lot of friends who had questioned friends sanity about marrying her partner (He was waving so many red flags but she chose to cut off anyone who questioned her on his suitability as husband material)

Apparently all the things we said he would do he did within a couple of hours of getting the ring on her finger.

She came to her senses midway through the reception and left alone, still in her wedding dress after a big argument during the reception. Didn’t even get to the speeches

A former colleague's wedding. He was/is an absolutely lovely guy, a real gentleman who adored his bride. They'd both had unhappy first marriages and were clearly over the moon to have found love again and treated each other with such love and respect. This was the context.

At the ceremony the bride came up the aisle, all lovely, the registrar did the opening welcome and then invited everyone including bride and groom to be seated.

Colleague, being the gentleman leant over and pulled bride's chair back slightly (he explained afterwards he thought there wouldn't be enough room for the bustle/ train on her dress otherwise). Unfortunately she didn't realise and at the same moment sat back and fell full on the floor with a shriek. There was an audible gasp from everyone. Bride was lovely about it and no one laughed but groom was absolutely distraught and looked like he would cry for the rest of the ceremony. Felt so bad for him.

20 years later they are still happily married though!

Wedding of a close friend, but I was the problem. DH and I were driving to the church and I was confident I knew the location. Turns out there are two churches in the town and the one we arrived at was derelict. Cue frantic accosting of strangers to ask where the other one was (in the days before Google maps) and we arrived after the bride and groom had gone in and had to slink into the back.

Same wedding. I hadn't been to many and didn't realise wearing white as a guest was a no-no. To be fair it was a lovely dress and nobody said anything but I cringe myself inside out now when I think about it

Mine is very boring, but a good tip for anyone planning a wedding. We went to a wedding where after the ceremony and we had travelled to the reception venue, the bride and groom disappeared for a photo shoot that took over 2 hours. They had laid on cocktails while we waited, but because the ceremony was 11-12, then we got to the venue at 12.45, everyone was starving for lunch, and got really really drunk while standing in the sun drinking cocktails and there was no food anywhere. We even asked in the hotel if we could have nuts, crisps, anything but they couldn't help. Eventually at almost 3pm the bride and groom re-appeared and we were able to go to the meal. They then decided to do all their speeches before the meal, to get them out of the way which is understandable. But everyone was still starving, and they gave out champagne for the toasts pre-meal! We didn't get to eat our starter til nearly 4pm, and by then there were a lot of people very worse for wear, or at least most people had headaches and started eating all the chocolate favours on the tables! So the moral of the story is, please don't keep you guests hanging around for hours, and if you have to, make sure there is some food and soft drinks!

Mine had several mini problems:
We went to check the venue in the morning and all the chairs were set up facing the wrong way - DH and I had to reset the whole room before going home to get ready.
After that, we went our separate ways for the morning and DH locked himself out of our house where his suit etc. was and my mum had to go over with the spare key to let him in.
There was a large, noisy, protest taking place against the closing of a sports venue in the city and blocking our ceremony venue so my car had to drive about the block a few times until it cleared.
My MIL fell up the stairs into the reception venue. Not injured but pride hurt.
She then spent a significant part of the evening reception crying in the toilet that ‘That’s it now, I’ve lost him for ever’ - not sure whether she was taking about her son or ex husband who she was unlikely to see again as this was the last big family event he’d be at.
My brother spilled red wine down my dress while drunk dancing. He was only 19. He then mooned the in-laws mini bus as they left at the end of the night.
BUT we’re still married, and it’ll be our silver anniversary next year. I adore my MIL as does my now grown up brother. Things go awry, but a wedding is one day. My top tip is to spend out on photos/videos and rings, as that’s what’s left after the big day is over.

A colleagues wedding. Her Grandmother fell down some steps during the family photo and later died. Awful.

I glanced down at my feet in the car on the way to my daughter’s wedding, and to my horror saw I still had my old scruffy shoes on. Luckily the church was within walking distance so I despatched my son to retrieve the shoes, and instead of being discreet, he walked up the aisle with them in his hand for all to see! It was in the video too, and provided a talking point for years!

I went to one where a small child shat under the buffet table. Another where a small child threw a tennis ball at the couple during their first dance, wtf.

I haven't been to any dramatic ones but I have been to one where I was hungry and photos took ages and it was so incredibly dull. Please don't do that to your guests

I was in the wedding party of a wedding being held abroad, in which the bride only organised things for herself & e.g. didn't even tell the rest of the wedding party where the reception would be so that we could book rooms there, & didn't reserve rooms for us. Apparently it just never occurred to her.🙄

We all had to scramble at the last minute to find rooms elsewhere because the reception hotel (being by far the nicest one in the area) was fully booked by the time she revealed which one it was. It was also inconvenient to get to, so having our own rooms there would've made our lives a lot easier.

Bridegroom was a part-time fireman and bleeper went off during the reception, hin and around 5 other guest bolted but managed to hit another car in the car-park while leaving.

They were stood down and back around 40 mins later but it was funny watching the bride groom running away from his wife so early on.

A no alcohol wedding, next to a pub! Everyone popped next door and downed a drink every now and again. The bride and groom had only met 3 months earlier so everyone was very nervous and didnt expect it to last. Bride cried and wore sunglasses all day. Weirdly, 20+ years later, they're still together.

This sounds like perfect chaos! I bet you laugh about it loads now. I’m glad it was still a great day x

How sad !!

Not me personally but I've never forget this story. Who wipes shit off a flower girl with wipes then carries on with the wedding as normal?

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I got bored during the very brief amount of time we spent doing formal photos and called it off to go drink :D

The bride was from overseas with a religious family and married into a secular British family. The wedding was held in her home city. The groom's brother was given a list of topics not to mention due to cultural sensitivities and deliberately mentioned every single one of them during his best man's speech. This was after the groom's uncle had refused to eat anything that the bride's family had prepared during their stay, because he doesn't eat "foreign food". It was so offensive. The couple are settled in the uk, a long drive from the groom's awful family, and very happy.

Agreed. I watched the chief bridesmaid tumble down a flight of stairs because she was pissed
Caught on video too.

Was this something you saw on the telly?

I was MOH, bride decided partway through getting ready that she’d like to have photos with my classic car in the background. I made a mad dash the 20 mins home to pick up the car. Car promptly broke down on the M1 - August Bank Holiday saturday. I was standing on the hard shoulder in my posh frock as other guests drove past.
When the RAC finally turned up, the lovely recovery guy drove me directly to the reception. It transpired after about 4 glasses of prosecco, awaiting the bridal party, that I was in the wrong side of the hotel……
The ‘other’ bride and groom were lovely about it. My bestie still laughs about having to find a stand in for the reading I was meant to do…. She sent her mum in stealth mission to ask as soon as they arrived at the church. All was well! They had a fab day and aside from smelling of traffic fumes all day, so did I.

it was funny watching the bride groom running away from his wife so early on.

I had a rather bossy friend who was strenuously 'trad wife' & anti-feminist, & when she got married she included the word 'obey' in her vows & said it loudly & clearly, just to make sure we all knew where she stood on the matter.

So after the ceremony I took a secret delight in watching her ordering her new husband about & telling him what to do & where to stand for the photos, with him meekly obeying.😂

Wedding in a marquee in a field outside a tiny village. We were the last table up for the buffet and, despite the food being served to guests by the caterers, there was virtually nothing left. I had a portion of savoury rice. My brother in law took pity on me and gave me his bread roll.

I was at one where the bride and groom had a massive row, didn't speak at the reception, spent the night in different hotels and divorced less than a year later.

One where the groom's car broke down about 20 miles from the venue.

My uncle told me about one in a coastal town where several of the guests, the best man and the groom were lifeboat crew. The rocket went up to call them (before the days of pagers) and they all rushed out. Launched the boat, did the rescue and the vicar was happy to start again where they'd left off a few hours earlier.