It's wedding season, y'all! Which means...it's time for some wedding horror stories.
Redditor u/Arknight40 asked, "Wedding photographers of Reddit, what was your 'they're not gonna last long' moment?" From photographers to wedding planners, tons of people who work in the industry shared their stories. Here are just a few of them:
1. "In a recorded interview, I asked the groom why he asked her to marry him. He said he did it because of 'the pressure to get married.' They lasted less than two months. I hadn't even finished editing the video and they were over."
2. "I was a photographer for a wedding on a golf course. The bride had a very specific vision — she wanted her husband to drive up on a golf cart to see her for a first look. Well, he got one look at her from the top of the hill and vaulted the cart, ran down the hill, picked her up, and twirled her around to tell her how gorgeous she was. We caught it all. It was the best first look ever. Once he set her down, she straightened herself and looked back to us. She said, 'Okay, I don’t want that. Let’s do the golf cart now,' and sent him back up to do it 'correctly.'"
3. "I knew this one couple wouldn't make it during our initial 'do they want to hire me' coffee meeting. They argued bitterly the entire time, and eventually, the groom just sat back in his chair with his arms crossed and wouldn't speak to either of us. The next day, I emailed them the old 'something suddenly came up' excuse and told them that my schedule had unfortunately changed. Red flags aren't just for the people in the relationship. Vendors, see them and heed them. 🚩"
4. "In her speech, the maid of honor very drunkenly told the groom to call her once the marriage was over. A couple of her friends said that in their speeches, actually. The best man told the bride the groom's phone passcode in his speech, because 'she was going to need it.' Those two lasted maybe a year. The bride ended up moving states for a new job, which made sense to me after seeing how shitty her friends and family were during that wedding."
5. "While shooting video, I attached a microphone to the groom for audio and proceeded to prepare for the ceremony. Just as I was about to adjust my audio settings, the groom stepped into another room with a friend. As I put on my headphones, I overheard the groom confiding in his friend, describing the wedding as a 'wedding of convenience' and reassuring his 'friend,' saying she should not to be concerned about what would happen in their relationship. I knew they wouldn't last."
6. "I’m an artist, and I do wedding sketches when I feel like freelancing. I will never forget one of the first weddings I did back in college. It was a 250-person wedding in a big ballroom, so another artist and I were super busy. The sketches were quick, but every couple wanted one, and there was a bit of a line/crowd around our table, with people waiting and watching. The bride and groom were slowly making their way to us when I saw the groom grab the bride's hand and shake his head, pointing to the back of the line. The bride shook her head. They were obviously disagreeing — the bride was getting louder and louder, and people were starting to look. Finally, I heard her say, '[Groom's name], this is MY wedding. I’m not wasting time waiting in a line when this is MY day. If YOU want to wait, YOU can wait, but I’m NOT waiting when I’m THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON HERE!'"
"The music had changed to a slower song at that point, so everyone heard her. The groom responded with something along the lines of, 'ITS OUR WEDDING DAY, AND I KEEP SAYING THAT. YOU DIDN'T EVEN PAY FOR THIS, SO IF I SAY WE WAIT, WE WAIT. START ACTING LIKE A GOOD WIFE AND LISTEN TO ME.' He was significantly older than her; he looked as old as her father, if not older.
They divorced within two years. Not sure exactly how long they lasted. I only know because the bride emailed a year and a half later asking me to be the artist at her '30th birthday gala,' which was two months after what would have been their two-year anniversary. I showed up and was shown where to set up by her new boyfriend who was just as old as the ex-husband."
7. "At the rehearsal dinner, every toast to the bride was some euphemistic variation of 'I’m so glad you finally found someone to put up with your bullshit.' They barely made it to the six-month mark."
8. "I used to be a wedding photographer in Las Vegas at several hotels and downtown wedding chapels. I’ve got so many of these stories, so here’s a fun one. On Monday of that week, I got booked to shoot the wedding. On Wednesday, the hotel called me to cancel because the bride backed out. The next day, hotel called again to rebook me because the wedding was back on. Get this — it was the same groom, but a different bride. Two days later (Friday), I shot the wedding with the new bride, who was about 18 or 19 years old (groom was early 20s). It was clear they barely know each other. The bride just kept saying, 'This is so crazy, I can’t believe I’m doing this.' Yeah, neither could I."
9. "One of the bridesmaids cried the entire time, from makeup to reception. She would have nothing to do with the groom the entire wedding and kept wanting photos of just her and the bride. I could tell something was seriously off. Eight months later, the bride and groom separated, and the bride eloped with the bridesmaid."
10. "My mother was a wedding photographer until I was about 18 or 19, and I helped out on many of them. This one stands out the most. We were at a campsite where both the wedding and reception were being held. About halfway through the reception, I heard the groom start laughing maniacally. I peaked over his way and could see two groomsmen hauling the thrashing and screaming bride toward the lake. They threw her into the freezing cold water with her veil and dress still on."
"When she got out of the water, I genuinely thought she might shoot somebody. Saying she looked like a drowned rat would have been an insult to rats. Her hair and makeup and probably the dress were ruined beyond repair. The fact that the groom laughed and didn’t do anything stuck with me as being a dog shit move, even as a teen. Apparently, she thought so, too, because if I remember correctly, they didn’t even make it six months."
11. "Oh man, I was a wedding photographer for about five years. I get being awkward on camera and not wanting to do any public PDA — I’m very awkward myself! But when prompting couples for fun poses like whispering obscenities in each other's ear for a laughing shot, nuzzling close together, etc., most couples eventually let their guard down and enjoyed holding each other. It was so sweet to watch. A few times, though, I had couples that visibly didn’t want to be near each other at all. Once the shot was done, they went back to standing a foot apart. They would complain about each other and make fun of each other in front of me the entire time. It always left me with a bad feeling in my gut — and most of the time, the marriage didn’t last long, either!"
12. "I'm a minister and wedding officiant. One of the things that I do with wedding couples that I do not know well personally is ask them a bunch of questions about what their relationship and their partner mean to them. I ask them these questions individually, without the partner present. One particular couple has always stuck in my mind, because when I spoke to the groom, every single answer he gave was about how he could serve the bride and her needs. And when I spoke to the bride...every single answer she gave was about how the groom could serve her and her needs. It was bad enough that I took the groom aside and asked him whether he really wanted to do this, and he said that he did. I gave them six months, in my mind."
13. "I was a photographer at this bride's wedding, and she was such a monumental bitch that her mom gave me a $500 tip for not walking out. She was treating everyone (even her now-husband) like a piece of shit employee. She snapped when she wanted someone to do something for her. She berated the DJ for grabbing a sandwich when he'd been there for about eight hours. She even told him that he should've brought his own lunch and that she would be taking the cost of the food (which was an open buffet style) out of his paycheck. The couple was divorced within three years, but not before having three kids with stupid names."
14. "I could tell during the engagement session with the clients. The couple was in from out of town because the bride had just taken the bar exam to become a lawyer. At the end of the session, I gave them a prompt which asked them to share something they were proud of each other for. He couldn't think of a single thing."
"Somehow, they still got married, complete with: the groom drinking 11 IPAs + several shots before the ceremony, the mother of the bride being so drunk during family photos that she pretended to strip, and the groom and all the groomsmen wearing camo hats with neon orange letters that said 'titties and beer' for the entire wedding day — including the sunset couples photos. During those, he refused to do anything I suggested, nearly spat chew right on my feet, kept farting on purpose, and loudly complained about how all he wanted was to go have sex."
15. "Videographer here. I'll never forget this particular wedding. The groom thought he was such hot shit — he wore sunglasses during the whole ceremony. For the vows, he wanted his young kids to come up and be next to him for some reason. So, while the bride gave these wonderful, long, thought-out vows, he ignored her and paid attention to the kids, who were fucking around with the lapel mic I put on him the whole time. When she was finished, he laughed at her. He started his vows by saying, 'I mean, imma wing it. I just knew about this last night...' They were so short, and he put noticeably less effort than she did."
"He never said 'I love you' to her that whole day. During his toast, he shouted out everyone but the bride. All he had to say to her was, '[Bride's name], we're having fun, yeah?' I could tell he thought he just delivered the best speech ever. When he handed the mic over to her, he said, 'Top that,' with the most smug look on his face. There's no way they lasted."
16. And finally, "At the ceremony, the minister asked the bride's friends and family to say some affirmation (like 'we do' or similar) about how they supported the marriage. Those people said the affirmation and cheered loudly. The minister then asked the groom's friends and family to do the same thing. There was dead silence."
"The minister, very flustered, said, 'Hey, how about I give you folks another chance!' and again asked the groom's friends and family to affirm their support of this marriage. Once again, dead silence. The minister continued on with the ceremony. The couple lasted maybe a few years before getting divorced."
BuzzFeeders, now it's your turn! Have you ever worked at a wedding — be it as a photographer, a planner, an officiant, a server, or anything else? If so, was there ever a moment where you just knew the couple you were working for was 100% going to get divorced? If so, tell us about it in the comments below or via this anonymous form.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.