'The tornado at the outdoor reception was kinda bad': 20+ Brides and grooms who had bizarre wedding days

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 4, 2024 3:00 PM EST

Despite their careful planning, some wedding ceremonies are bound to have an incident or two. Often times the "incident" becomes legend: maybe Grandma does a hilarious dance after having a few too many, or your favorite uncle gives a speech that leaves everyone else speechless. These moments can be lovely. But other people had incidents that were way worse, and they're sharing their stories of exactly how it all went down. 

Sometimes the weather does get in the way. Rain on your wedding day is supposed to bring the couple good luck! But a tornado? Hmm… that's less lucky, isn't it? At an outdoor reception, there's not much to be done except to run for cover. 

Other people shared the family drama that occurred on the big day. There are always plenty of stories about grooms who are cheating with bridesmaids, or a last-minute guest who confesses they're in love with the bride or groom. That's certain to make everyone in the whole room cringe! There's just no way to handle that without at least one person being embarrassed. The only thing to do is carry on your wedding ceremonies with grace, as many of these couples did. 

Next, read about the woman who made the literal worst Thanksgiving food ever… you truly have to read it to believe it in this story, because the "glittery sweet potato mash" is just one of the crazy dishes this woman served her family. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10436766208
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    What's the worst thing you've seen happen at a wedding (yours or someone else's)?
    via u/MARSJRA
  • 03
    Finalgirl2022 I went to a wedding for some close friends. They are high school sweethearts. They are also just, in general, sweethearts. They deserved a magical day and it went disastrously. Their priest di d a few days before so they had to find a back up. This guy was either dronk or having a stroke. He could not remember the
    via u/Finalgirl2022
  • 04
    bride's name throughout the actual ceremony. He called. her by at least 4 different names. She kept having to correct him. Then during the reception, which was outdoors, the wind picked up like crazy. No one could hear any speeches and everything started getting knocked over. Then it started raining.
    via u/Finalgirl2022
  • 05
    We were all shuffled inside a tiny room because there was another indoor wedding happening at the venue. So 200 people, soaked and now cramped. The bride and groom decided to cut the cake and celebrate in spite of everything. When they went to cut the cake, the wedding topper fell off and the bride's head
    via u/Finalgirl2022
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    split in half. The topper bride obviously. But still. The actual bride casually excused herself and had herself a very deserved moment alone. This was about 9 years ago and they are still happily married.
    via u/Finalgirl2022
  • 07
    Key-Article6622 Well, the tornado at the outdoor reception was kinda bad.
    via u/Key-Article6622
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    AncientAthlet... At one wedding I went to, the groom started complaining in his speech about how much it all cost and called out family members for not pitching in. It was so awkward, and everyone felt uncomfortable. Weddings can really bring out the drama!
    via u/AncientAthlete5243
  • 09
    CuChulainn_W... Big family wedding many years ago. I was not part of either family, but knew both sides well. Didn't know many of their cousins. One pair of cousins (brother and sister) did not get along at all. As is often the case at weddings this simmered and finally blew up. Sister was visibly being a b to brother all day, making snide remarks from the very start. He
    via u/CuChulainn_Wins
  • 10
    seemed to be bearing it with good grace, presumably because of the occasion. On a couple of occasions when he seemed to be losing his cool either their mother or father took notice and stepped in. I was seated at the same table with them, as were two other cousins and a few other friends who knew both bride and groom. Sister continued her comments
    via u/CuChulainn_Wins
  • 11
    and making fun of brother, really mean sh, that made people uncomfortable at the table. At this stage, the beer and wine had been flowing for a while and sister got louder. Parents of the two over to the table 2 or 3 times to calm things down, mostly shushing sister and calming brother ("you know what she's like" and "be the biggger person"). During the speeches she contributed to I him off until he very
    via u/CuChulainn_Wins
  • 12
    calmly reached over and pulled off her wig. She had complete alopecia (hair loss) and from the gasps from the surrounding tables of cousins this was a closely guarded secret. Sister was obviously very upset, grabbed her wig and ran off in tears. Brother just sat back calmly, sighed and took a drink. He announced he'd been wanting to do that for years. Presumably he
    via u/CuChulainn_Wins
  • 13
    was going to catch holy h I for it later on but he was going to bask in the revenge and public humiliation of his sister for a few minutes. While I felt bad for his sister, it was hard to feel sorry for her. She had been unmercifully taunting this guy about every single work and relationship failing in a very public and nasty manner, and he had just had it up because of to
    via u/CuChulainn_Wins
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    their parent's continuous interventions. Sounded like it had been coming for a while.
    via u/CuChulainn_Wins
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    idkwiao Didn't see it but certainly experienced it... I got stuck in an elevator for over an hour at a hotel wedding reception and no one noticed. I was 11
    via u/idkwiao
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    This Applicati... My best friend in high school invited me to her cousins wedding. We're both Indian and you typically invite everyone to Indian weddings because it's usually a really extravagant party. She's been to some of my family's weddings. BUT: she forgot to mention her cousin's Pentecostal. At Indian Pentecostal weddings you invite people to give
    via u/This_Application_966
  • 17
    sermons/testimony. The more sermons you have, the better you look. And like. Zero partying. It's sermons and a quiet dinner. I sat through 4 hours of prayer and sermons and had mid food around a bunch of people who also looked incredibly miserable. No alcol either.
    via u/This_Application_966
  • 18
    WhatsInANam... While I was not in the reception room, my mom dragged my husband on stage in front of all the guests and made him recite some words in a language. he did not speak. We had discussed our unwillingness to do anything like that before the wedding and she promised no surprises. It turns out, he professed to convert religions to her
    via u/WhatsInAName8879660
  • 19
    religion. He was a Catholic missionary. All her guests flooded over to the table his parents were at and congratulated them on his change of faith, which they were not happy about. I didn't find out until the honeymoon. That was the 100000th thing she did on my wedding day. I
    via u/WhatsInAName8879660
  • 20
    should never have invited her. My wedding anniversary is the anniversary of the day I realized my mother genuinely did not care about me.
    via u/WhatsInAName8879660
  • 21
    theorangeblon... My own wedding was a fun one. Grey and drizzly through the day, of course its an outdoor wedding in August. Rain stopped for the ceremony, it was perfectly overcast and mild, and then a tornado decided to fly through and knock out the power and call the party short. All the legalities were done and all the guests were safe and got home safely,
    via u/theorangeblonde
  • 22
    but let's say it wasn't what we expected! Honestly it was a fun time, and the restaurant brought us back 6 months later to redo the reception :) Hubs and I are now married 2.5 years and still loving life together!
    via u/theorangeblonde
  • 23
    Eiffel-Tower777 Before my wedding (which I planned all of it), I asked my fiancee for one favor... a promise to not smash wedding cake in my face. He agreed, said he's not into that, we can sweetly feed each other the first cake bite and share a moment. So the moment arrived, he smashed cake all over my face, hair, wedding dress. I
    via u/Eiffel-Tower777
  • 24
    didn't say anything except 'excuse me'. Then I went back to the dressing room, changed outfits, wiped the cake and icing off my hair, washed my face, re-did my make-up and returned to the reception. He had the audacity to ask me if I'm ok. I told him yes but... there will
    via u/Eiffel-Tower777
  • 25
    be no bouquet toss, garter grab, first dance... no traditions. I'm just going to party. That scenario set the stage for our marriage, we divorced 9 years later. I should have let him go right then.
    via u/Eiffel-Tower777
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    BlueTooth1878 My Uncle found out about a Sunday party for the guests. that flew in from out of the province and country only that he wasn't invited to.
    via u/BlueTooth1878
  • 27
    He then proceeded to accuse the bride (my cousin) for only inviting him to half of the wedding and demanded half of his gift. back. He then subsequently decided to take as many of the wedding favours off of people's tables that he could find before walking out.
    via u/BlueTooth1878
  • 28
    unbelizeable1 Guest got super drink and started eating food from the buffet with his hands. Like just hand into a big tray of pasta shoveling it in his mouth. Then he kept hitting on my sister making her incredibly uncomfortable.
    via u/unbelizeable1
  • 29
    Politely asked him to leave a few times to no avail. Then he got belligerent. Only fight I've ever been in in my life. was on my wedding night. Good times -_-
    via u/unbelizeable1
  • 30
    r I was the bride. My Dad talked to his date through the whole ceremony and I couldn't hear the vows over his chatter. Everyone heard him saying nasty things about the bridal party and criticising the choices we had made for the wedding.
    via u/unbelizeable1
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    ShotAbbreviati... Indian wedding. Groom walked out because dowry wasn't paid. Guests were made to remove their jewelry to give grooms family
    via u/ShotAbbreviations674
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    soaper 410 Picture it 2002. Groom is "kidnapped" by his groomsmen the night before the wedding and dropped off, blindfolded in the icountry about 40 miles from where the wedding is. No cellphone. They assume he'll head one way where there is a gas station. It's semi close to
    via u/soaper410
  • 33
    where his grandparents lived and in the dark at 1:00 am they expected him to recognize that? He doesn't. He gets lost. Finally about 10 am he convinced some random country people to let him to call his mom. Wedding is at 1 pm. Groomsman is late by over an hour.
    via u/soaper410
  • 34
    The candles in the church window have magnolia leaves surrounding them. The candles are lit at noon. around 2:00 pm, the preacher walks in as the wedding music begins (which btw is a tape of Backstreet Boys) and immediately yells "FIRE." Yes one do the candles has caught the leaves on fire in one do the windows.
    via u/soaper410
  • 35
    More chaos insures. The fire is put out but the smell of smoke stays. The bride literally sad cried through her wedding. The entire groom's family was shooting daggers at the bridal party. No pictures were taken before the wedding. They lose the wedding certificate in all the mess. And yes they are still married.
    via u/soaper410
  • 36
    BlondeKicker-17 I've been to a wedding where the bride was over an hour late walking down the aisle. The marriage didn't last 6 months! At my own, the best man invited people to the reception. Kinda awkward when we asked them to leave!
    via u/BlondeKicker-17
  • 37
    Minimum_Stor... I was there, among the guests, when everything started to fall apart. The ceremony was almost at the end, Ana was walking down the aisle beaming, and Martin, the groom, was looking at her as if she was the woman of his life. But the moment the bride's mother, Silvia, got up from her seat, something in the air changed: Silvia
    via u/Minimum_Storm_3183
  • 38
    approached Martín, whispered something in his ear, and I saw his face transform. I thought maybe she was saying something affectionate or nervous for the big moment, but no. Soon after, Silvia asked to speak, interrupting the ceremony with a serious, almost defiant expression.
    via u/Minimum_Storm_3183
  • 39
    We all looked at each other confused, and then she dropped the bombshell: "Martin, I can't hide it anymore. I love you, and I don't want you to keep marrying my daughter. What we had... it was real, and I still feel it."
    via u/Minimum_Storm_3183
  • 40
    frachris87 The bride's brother was taking pictures of people when he backed into a server carrying a large tray of fruit-shaped ice cream. CRASH. Tray went down, ice cream spilled, a few glasses. broke.
    via u/frachris87
  • 41
    The brother turned beet red and looked utterly horrified. He immediately started belting out apologies, and even insisted on helping with the clean up.
    via u/frachris87
  • 42
    jamielovin groom fainted mid vows knocked over cake everyone pretended it's normal
    via u/jamielovin
  • 43
    Ancient-Possi... My mother's boyfriend yelled at me to "smile" as I was walking down the aisle. I was the bride.
    via u/Ancient-Possible-501
  • 44
    BegoVal The groom's family all attended dressed in black, sour faced and sad. Like a funeral.
    via u/BegoVal
  • 45
    weeniefingers Went to my college boyfriend's cousins wedding about 10 years ago, he was a groomsman. At the reception there were 2 rooms. The main room probably had 15 tables of 8 and small one had about 7 tables of 8. In the main room where the dance floor, dj, wedding party, and most guests were seated, they were served surf and turf
    via u/weeniefingers
  • 46
    with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a salad. In the small parlor off the main room, we were served lasagna. In addition to that, the wedding party all sat together while their dates sat separately. So I didn't know a soul and got the second tier dinner. It was an experience. Truly my favorite wedding story because it still blows my mind!
    via u/weeniefingers
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    Anteater_Resi... My father needed law wrapped his dentures in a napkin & put them in my mother n laws purse. Or, so he thought. 36 years later we still don't know who found that parting gift.
    via u/Anteater_Resident
  • 48
    Lucentman4evr Best man (brother of the groom) forgot the ring. Didn't realize until the JP asked for the ring during the ceremony. It was CRAZY uncomfortable, but fitting for how the rest of the marriage ended up going.
    via u/Lucentman4evr
  • 49
    Confident_Ad_... Right as my step sister was walking down the aisle, the chair beneath the woman behind me broke. She was also holding a baby, so you hear a crackle, thud and screaming.
    via u/Confident_Ad_6036
  • 50
    musicallyours01 My BIL forgot the marriage license so his friend/officiant had to run back to my sister's apartment and grab it from the safe just minutes before the ceremony. Same BIL stood up in his brother's wedding a few months later and his aunt had tagged him in a photo on Facebook. So I texted him and said "nice bowtie",
    via u/musicallyours01
  • 51
    what I didn't know was he was still in the middle of the ceremony. He didn't turn his sound off. So as the "speak now" line was being said his phone pinged and the ringtone was a loud "what in the h I?!" Yeahhhhh my sister and his mom weren't too happy about that one lol but his brother and his wife found it hilarious.
    via u/musicallyours01
  • 52
    dsnuts101 There was a bear in the dumpster outside the reception hall, and the staff wouldn't let the groom and his drunken groomsmen go attempt to pet it, all the while ignoring their protests. of "If not friend, then why friend shaped?" I was told the venue was all inclusive when we booked it, bears should count in that.
    via u/dsnuts101
  • 53
    Poo_Poo_La_F... Hardly the worst thing, but I saw a best man absolutely craaaash and burn during his speech, it was soooo. awkward. He went on so long about nothing, was so offensive, told some "jokes" that only he laughed at. I drank heavily to get through it.
    via u/Poo_Poo_La_Foo
  • 54
    CadenceQuan... Photographing my best friends wedding. They had a beautiful backyard ready for their intimate ceremony, when a massive storm rolled in, shutting down the entire city. The groomsmen rushed to bring everything they could inside the house, and setup in the cramped sunroom. The wind was at such a force that several trees were blown down,
    via u/CadenceQuandry
  • 55
    there was a city wide power outage (somehow their block was one of the only ones spared), and a tornado tore a path several km wide, passing over a highway, where the grooms family was huddled under a bridge waiting for it to pass. Then as the ceremony ended, the sun broke out and it was absolutely gorgeous the rest of the
    via u/CadenceQuandry
  • 56
    evening. Minus the tornado path of destruction only a few km away! I couldn't drive home for four days, as all the gas stations had no power. (I lived several hours away).
    via u/CadenceQuandry
  • 57
    sopranoobses... 45 minute Father of the Bride speech. Get the hook!!!❤❤
    via u/sopranoobsessed
  • 58
    Foundation-Bred My brother, who was extremely hot, was getting married to the love of his life. A girl who was obsessed with him, and best friend of the bride, got plastered and announced her undying love for him. Loudly during the VOWS.
    via u/Foundation-Bred
  • 59
    Stella_Noire_2... Invited to the wedding of mother's friend. She got married to someone she met after a month in Walmart. Didn't tell her family and close friends until a week before the wedding. Whole family, bride side, kept trying to talk her out of it since groom had a lot of major red flags: multiple children, married 4 times and divorced due to
    via u/Stella_Noire_2008
  • 60
    finances. Groom had no manners to the bride's family called Bride by another woman's name the entire time, tried to hit on the bride's mom, never supervised the 3 out of 5 kids he brought with him for some reason without their mother's. Oh and another
    via u/Stella_Noire_2008
  • 61
    one was only the bride's family and friends came to the wedding, the groom only had his 3 kids who were between the ages of 12 to 19.
    via u/Stella_Noire_2008
  • 62
    Suitable_Conc... My wedding planner was a fraud and we found out 3 weeks before.
    via u/Suitable_Concept_415

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