'They coordinated one hundred people NOT to attend the wedding': Wedding coordinator reveals what happened when almost nobody showed up to a wedding ceremony

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jul 2, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

This couple wanted to mix things up for their wedding, but they had no idea what their guests had planned for them. As told by a wedding coordinator, this story follows a couple who seemed to have it all figured out for their big day. But on the actual day of their nuptials, everything fell apart. 

This wedding coordinator thought that things were running smoothly in the weeks leading up to the wedding. They shared that there were no issues with vendors, guests, or the couple. They really thought that this couple's love for each other would outlast their wedding. But during the actual big day, it seems like nothing went right. In the comments, people were dying to know more about what really happened, wishing that one of the guests could comment on why they decided not to attend. 

It is surprising that so many of the guests didn't show up. The wedding coordinator would've definitely been able to tell if the bride or groom were acting crazy, since wedding stress can really get to the couple. It's a strange tale for certain, and one that the wedding coordinator won't forget any time soon. 

After that, read about a bridezilla who ended up losing her best friend over her intense (and expensive) wedding demands. 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10368717312
    via Jordan Arnold on Unsplash
  • 02
    Wedding Coordinator Nightmare: Cobb Salads In The Void. So in my yewt I was a Life Cycle Event Coordinator, this wedding was pretty early on and one of the first I was running solo. 120 people, easy peasy, lemon. squeezy. The bride and groom to be were both nice and easy going, no discernable deep family drama, no unresolvable seating
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 03
    arrangement issues, no therapy sessions in my office because cousin Cathy tried to sleep with whoever that one time. They were one of the couples I was sure were actually going to make it. Save the dates, invites, RSVPs, seating cards, thank you cards, day of signage, Busta box, etc all on theme and gorgeous. All sent out and received on time and on track. RSVPs, plus one issues, last minute celiacs, suddenly observant people needing last
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 04
    minute kosher meals, all WNL. Now the couple wanted something unique in that they wanted to get married in the room, after dinner service, during dessert. I advised them to do it after dessert to avoid forks clinking and nobody paying attention to the ceremony because ice cream crepes with coulis can be distracting. No problem, good thinking!
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 05
    Day of, vendors all come and do their respective Vendor Things, no hiccups. The bride and groom arrive and we get them situated in the suites with their maids and men, makeup and hair people, both mothers bustling around busily. Room is set up ready to rock, kitchen is happy no day of changes have been made to the Event Order. Everything's on track!
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 06
    4:00: Staff sent to the entrance for the event, guests due to arrive for 4:30 and there's always early people. (There's another wedding in the South Wing with 300 guests. Signage is clear as to who goes where. No issues with wayward people yet.)
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 07
    4:15: Position wedding party for receiving line. Good to go. Grandma and grandpa arrive early, of course. 4:30: Another grandma and great aunt Agnes come shambling in together. Nobody else coming down the chute gives me the hinky di dis.
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 08
    4:45: Nobody else has arrived. Nobody is lost in the parking lot. Signage is all up and visible. I take a bridesmaid and sneak her through the back way to look in on the larger party to see if she can spot any of our guests mixed into their reception... Nope! I pull the entire folder and check that the save the dates and invites all have the correct date, time, and address. A color copy of the bride's master list spreadsheet is in there, with the all checkmarks
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 09
    and X's, notes, and scribbled edits made as the RSVPs came in. Something is wrong here. (I assure the bride nothing is wrong. Maybe there's a blockage somewhere near and traffic's held up! It's tractor season, after all!) 5:00: Cousin Bethany and husband show up late. They're always late. They haven't seen anyone else though. Dinner is set to start at 5:30. Nobody else arrives. The MOH and BM are
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 10
    using the spreadsheet info to call people who are supposed to be there and aren't. Nobody is answering. I am consumed by an overwhelming sense of dread. 5:30: Nobody else has arrived. Everyone in the reception area of the hall is in one of the five stages of grief. The staff waiting to wait are wondering what's what, the chef is apoplectic. The bride and groom make the decision to start dinner. Everyone
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 11
    goes into the room full of empty tables and people initially take their assigned seats, a few lonely people scattered amongst this glittering, candle lit, damask swaddled wasteland. I move them all to one table, it doesn't help. I am as empty as the room, I can hear my pulse.
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 12
    5:45: Nobody else is coming. Love is dead. The Cobb salad is being consumed in silence. The dj, officiant, photographer, and videographer are all sitting at the vendor table eating Cobb salads. The brigade is at at porthole windows looking in, into the void of the room. We are the void, Cobb salad cannot fill the void. I watch for suspicious behavior, someone here knows something.
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 13
    6:00: The door to the room opens. EVERYONE in the room spins around to see who it is... It's just two giggling guests from the other party peeking in. The gregarious girls immediately stop giggling and gracelessly galavant back to their gala and gaiety. This is the last straw. The bride finally cracks, she gets up fast enough to overturn her chair and runs crying from the room.
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 14
    6:15: The bride is self medicating with Stoli. I offer to set up the chuppah outside for them so they can at least have a nice ceremony. They're not Jewish but the chuppah looks nice when it's covered with fabric and flowers and the weather is holding. I can have it done in 15 minutes with centrepiece flowers and a little moxy. I am desperate to salvage at least the ceremony, with creative angles we can make it look like it's normal in photos.
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 15
    You have everyone you need here! I am rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. 6:30: The bride and groom decide to call it off. I offer to have the food, wedding cake, and dessert table desserts that they've already paid in full for- boxed for them. They want none of it. Throw it out, donate it, give it to the other party, they don't want anything. Boxed individual meals and desserts are given to the hungry grandparents, and
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 16
    cousin Bethany and hubby, the vendors all leave with piles of steak and lobster croquettes. The officiant isn't religious so we can't even rely on him to take the rest to his flock. I remain vigilant during this time, watching the parents, Bethany and Dear Aunt Agnes, watching for any hint of suspicious behavior... My staff is hovering everywhere, tearing down, listening for anything. Nothing.
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 17
    7:00: The suites are pretty much silent as bride and groom put their civvies on, I've got staff listening at the doors (waiting to help, of course.) Everyone is leaving. No dispute over anything (everything, and I mean everything, was paid in full beforehand.) FOB gives me an envelope with 500$ in a card signed by both sets of parents with pre-recorded messages thanking me for all my hard work and making the day a success.
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 18
    The days after: Follow up calls to everyone are ignored. Emails are ignored. No closure is had by anyone wondering what the happened. The vendors were all paid in full with no explanation. The photographer gave the MOH the pictures and no comment was made during the handoff.
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 19
    What I know to be true: Someone... Someone better than me at coordinating, coordinated an attack on the bride, or groom, or both, for reasons unknown. They coordinated one hundred people NOT to attend the wedding, and one hundred people went along with it without a single person spilling the beans. I, to this day, have no idea what they could have done to deserve it, or why so many friends and family would go along
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 20
    with it. I, to this day, still wonder about it. There was literally no indication at any stage beforehand that anything was amiss. I did creep them and everyone on their list occasionally for about a decade to see if I could find any clue about it but nothing ever came up. I eventually lost the list and gave up on solving the mystery. It exists now only in the memories of those present, and with you folks now.
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 21
    That's it. That's the wedding that never was. One of the most stressful and simultaneously easy events I ever executed.
    via u/190PairsOfP*nties
  • 22
    clutzycook OMG, this is one of those times I really wish some redditor would pop in, read this, realize "holy this was my wedding" and give us all the closure we so desperately want.
    via u/clutzycook
  • 23
    [deleted] Wow. I don't know these people, but I'm sad for them. I do hope they got married. later & just cut everyone who didn't turn up & lived happily ever after.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 24
    Wild-Individual-6... Normally I would glance at a post like this, and think, "Too long..not gonna read all that"! But I! You had me engrossed in this mystery the whole time! You should make this into a play!!! But we'll have to create some sort of ending. to give the audience a conclusion.
    via u/Wild-Individual-6520
  • 25
    Maybe the end is, the wedding planner wakes up and it was all a bad dream!
    via u/Wild-Individual-6520
  • 26
    Traditional_Air_94... That's so sad. You can only deal with what you have. I call it "juggling cats." I'm a florist and I have seen weddings go sideways. I did a wedding at a local winery. Beautiful setting. The brides parents were lovely people. The grooms family.....(white trash).
    via u/Traditional_Air_9483
  • 27
    I was told that the grooms grandmother was expected to be late. By probably two hours. I guess that's her usual pattern. The brides. family told her the wedding was two hours earlier. She showed up and was screaming at the brides father. I was pinning his boutaneer on at the time. She was in charge of putting out the reception centerpieces. She noticed they were done.
    via u/Traditional_Air_9483
  • 28
    Ya. I put them out because the wedding was 30 minutes away and they were still in boxes. I guess they told her she needed to come help set up to get her there on time. So she's yelling and I just popped up saying "oh, was that YOU. I'm sorry. I'm the florist and I just put them out. That was me." (Smiles)
    via u/Traditional_Air_9483
  • 29
    The dad was looking in my direction. His eyes got huge and he was trying not to laugh. She shut up and walked away. He said "come find me later." I thought I screwed up. Dad caught up to later and gave me a $400 tip. He said "I have never seen her shut up like that."
    via u/Traditional_Air_9483
  • 30
    MOB asked me to be the day of coordinator and gave me another $400. I got an extra $800 and a good story out of it.
    via u/Traditional_Air_9483
  • 31
    Karen125 My stepsister canceled her wedding when she had not planned on not being able to fit into her dress in her 4th month of pregnancy. She notified everyone except her dad's family, and they all turned up at the church. My stepdad had paid for half the budget.
    via u/Karen125
  • 32
    10 years later my husband was on a fishing trip with my stepdad and the canceled groom, sitting in the middle of a pickup bench seat when the wayward brother-in-law asked my stepdad to pay for Wedding 2.0. The request was declined. He later told me most awkward fishing trip ever.
    via u/Karen125

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