Redditors Share Their Botched Wedding Stories

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Nov 5, 2023 3:00 PM EST

We put so much cultural importance on weddings, that when they go wrong, it can be devastating. With months, maybe years of planning, thousands of dollars spent, and the hopes and dreams of a whole marriage foisted upon one day, it can easily be the highest-stakes event of one's lifetime. I once went to a wedding that was supposed to be held outdoors, but the rain came just like the Alanis Morissette song. Luckily, there was a backup venue yards away, but I couldn't help but feel bad for the happy couple. It was Seattle, after all, so they had it coming. And all told, that was a pretty minor goof on the spectrum of everything that can go wrong at a wedding. 

Between miscellaneous family members with big personalities, flowing alcohol, and high emotionality, there's a slew of disaster stories waiting to happen. So when Redditors opened the floor to share their wedding horror stories, there was a treasure trove to dig through. 

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  • 01
    r/AskReddit u/NickWhite 566-4h What happened to those who had attended a botched wedding?
    via u/NickWhite566
  • 02
    AdelleGilson • 4h This was one I worked at. After the ceremony, right at the start of the reception - photographer was taking 'jumping' photos of the bride and bridesmaids, so they were all jumping in the air while wearing heels. Bride landed and dislocated her knee, then passed out and kept going in and out of consciousness. We called an ambulance who turned up and fixed her knee etc, but she wanted to continue with the wedding. She then had the first course of the meal and threw up down her dr
    via u/AdelleGilson
  • 03
    TreySteinberg • 4h Attended a wedding reception and was seated near the cameraman. An aunt of mine was sitting closer to the camera and spent the evening commenting and gossiping about everyone, and much of it came out on the video. The cameraman was great, he did two copies, one edited and the other no holds barred...The unedited version is the stuff of legend.
    via u/TreySteinberg
  • 04
    allegraxo 4h ● There were no tables and chairs. Like none. They had an open bar but no f king chairs. Everyone had to put their drink on the ground and hold their plate to eat. It was f king crazy. Everyone just assumed that some sort of terrible thing happened where the tables and chair people didn't bring them but afterwards I asked her (the bride) what happened and she just said "Oh we would have had to pay extra for that."
    via u/allegraxo
  • 05
    ClaribelDewitt • 4h My nephew is highly allergic to peanuts and was the ring bearer in a wedding when he was very young. The bride and groom made sure that the venue, the caterers, whoever made the cake, all knew that there should be no peanut-containing or contaminated food on the premises for their wedding. No one thought to tell the DJ though, and the DJ brought peanuts as a snack. He held my nephew's hand walking him into the reception and my nephew had a serious reaction. He was ok in the e
    via u/ClaribelDewitt
  • 06
    SuleaGilan. 4h I'm a wedding photographer. I was at one really fancy one a couple of years ago, typical outdoor deal at a swanky location in the middle of nowhere. The place was really nice, had a large concrete stairway flanked by water fountains that led down to the altar area, so the bride could be seen by all like she was ascending from heaven.
    via u/SuleaGilan
  • 07
    The ceremony begins and the bridal party come down and take their places. Then the bride appears with her father. She takes 3 or 4 steps down the concrete steps and her shoe twists on her, she tumbled down a good 12 feet or more and busted out the majority of her front teeth in the fall. So much blood all over her. With the place being so isolated, it took a good 40 minutes for ambulance to arrive and she was in intense pain. Ultimately she was ok and I got an email from them weeks later with th
    via u/SuleaGilan
  • 08
    TempieHarwell • 4h We went to a wedding for a family member who didn't have much money. It was held at a low-cost yet pleasant location. My heart was broken when just one-third of those invited showed up. The couples' faces were filled with pain. They approached our table and asked if we had any acquaintances in (city, we lived an hour away)? They had enough food for 100 people, but only 30 people showed up. They were prepared to have total strangers come down simply to avoid wasting their money
    via u/TempieHarwell
  • 09
    ServiceCall1986 - 4h 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 (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 (edit: from the fiance). Turns out the maid of honor (her sister) and her fiance have been sleeping together for a whil
    via u/ServiceCall1986
  • 10
    Georantoja 5h ● A coworker was to one of my closest friend's wedding, and there were strict food regulations - no nuts. present were a few of individuals present who were really allergic, including the maid of honour. The venue served something with nuts, and the maid of honour became anaphylactic. The Epipen did not work, and she died on the way to the hospital. Needless to say, there are several lawsuits.
    via u/Georantoja
  • 11
    Chapsy. 2h I wasn't technically in attendance, and this is definitely not as "botched" as some of these other stories in the comments, but 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 s
    via u/Chapsy_
  • 12
    Aters1956 4h The wedding was at a state park that's famous for its giant gorge/waterfall. I don't know whose idea this was, but someone suggested a photo overlooking this gorge and everybody was game. The wedding party went around a stone security barrier and the maid of honor literally fell off the cliff to her death. It was like 500+ feet.
    via u/Aters1956
  • 13
    HaydenMccorkle . 5h Somewhere there exists a picture of me in "stage blacks" in the middle of a drunken wedding reception conga line. My BF at the time was doing sound for the band, as they'd intended to have all live music. Something like 60/100 people showed up (there was a snow storm involved) and the bride, without missing a beat, invited all of the venue staff (including people who weren't even working the wedding) to come eat and dance.
    via u/HaydenMccorkle
  • 14
    Bride's mother ended up playing DJ for an hour (with the exact same no-nonsense attitude as her daughter) so the band could propertly sit down for dinner and the groom and his groomsmen, still in tux shirts/pants, insisted on helping load out even though it was basically just a drum kit and couple speakers. I have no idea who these people were but would bet money I can't afford to lose that they're still happily married. :)
    via u/HaydenMccorkle
  • 15
    2h Magnaflorius. I have a low-stakes one where no one died, unlike some of the horrors in this thread. The bride was almost an hour late coming out to her own wedding. It was 40+ degrees Celsius and the wedding was outside. After the bridesmaids walked down the aisle, it started raining lightly. The bride wouldn't come out so we all relocated to the rain venue, which wasn't prepared so we all stood and some people were in the aisle and had to squish out of the way when the bride came down. None
    via u/Magnaflorius
  • 16
    mookmook00 - 3h My aunt had a wedding during a tropical storm. Power went out in the church during the ceremony so it had to be completed in the dark with phone lights. Then at the reception which was held in a semi outdoor space had generators to try to get some power up but it was extremely loud so you couldn't hear the music or people. Then it rained so hard that water was seeping from the walls/ceilings which flooded a good portion of the reception floor. Final piece, the maid of honor got s
    via u/mookmook00
  • 17
    Guy WithCanon • 3h I worked at a wedding where the couple had sent out 100 invitations without RSVP. They had no clue how many people would show up, but they did tell the venue to prepare dinner for 150 guests. 35 people showed up. 25 kilos of prepared salmon filet got thrown out. The 'party' ended fairly early because the few guests that were there started leaving around 9.30. We were home early :-)
    via u/GuyWithCanon
  • 18
    Begany11. 4h A fight broke out between father of the bride, brother of the bride and some guy that just happened to be staying at the hotel. In reality I don't know how much of a 'fight' it was, more just the Dad and Brother assaulting some man. So anyway they were both arrested. Cut to the bride sobbing at breakfast because her Dad and Brother spent the evening of her wedding in jail and now face assault charges for what they did to this poor man.
    via u/Begany11
  • 19
    Graehaus 3h Food poisoning, home made sushi. Another reason I stopped eating that stuff.
    via u/Graehaus
  • 20
    Frankers95. 2h The lights came up after dinner and the groom said "we're not dancing people so just mingle" and everyone left.
    via u/Frankers95

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