There's something extra dramatic about wedding stories on Quora. There just is! Here are 12 unbelievably drama-filled stories of the "worst wedding" guests have ever been to. Enjoy!
1. "I was a guest at my sorority sister’s wedding (I am going to name her Amanda). We had shared a room in the sorority house so we were pretty close. The day before the wedding, another sister (we’ll call her Rachel) and I traveled an hour and a half to get to our friend’s hometown where the wedding was being held. Rachel and I were not bridesmaids but we were going to spend the night at Amanda’s house with the rest of the wedding party. She had invited us to prove we were special even if we weren’t bridesmaids. From the minute Rachel and I stepped into the house, Amanda’s mother had us doing little tasks: Go pick up the pizza, set the table, etc. Little things, but still things you don’t ask a guest to do. The next morning Amanda’s mom woke us up and told us to go find Amanda. Apparently, she had spent the night with her lover, not her fiancé. Can you imagine how uncomfortable we were to be put in that situation?"
"It gets worse. We had to fetch breakfast, bobby pins, hairspray, and shoes. I had to fix hair. I used to fix hair for all the girls living in the house at that time, but I had no prior knowledge I would be required to style the entire bridal party and bride. Rachel had to iron Amanda’s dress. By this time we realized we hadn’t been invited as special guests, but servants. We were late for the reception after the wedding because we had to gather all the various detritus left after seven girls finished prepping for a formal event. Dinner had already been served and Amanda’s mother immediately herded us to the kitchen and instructed us to wash dishes. I was in shock, even more so when Rachel picked up a dish. But I started laughing when she tossed it to the floor. We left, went to McDonald’s, and never spoke to Amanda again."
2. "The bride did not show up. The guests were at the church, along with the bride’s and groom’s families. The bridesmaids were missing, but the groom and the groomsmen were waiting. We all waited for an hour and a half. Finally, the maid of honor showed up, and announced that the bride decided she was not getting married. It seems that she used the airplane tickets for the honeymoon to elope with someone else."
3. "The wealthier bride’s family raised a selfish monster. She WENT OUT OF HER MIND that others in the wedding party had walked on the special runner to the altar. That runner was FOR HER and her ONLY. Literally, the parents and the bridesmaids/groomsmen were expected to make their way to the altar on the bare floor, then this extra extra special runner...was supposed to be brought out so she could do her traipsing to the altar on it."
4. "We received a formal invitation two days before the wedding. The wedding invitation stated, 'as you will be paying for your own meal, please don’t feel it necessary to bring a gift.' As we entered, one of the ‘ushers’ diverted us past a wishing well (a receptacle set up for us to place money in) that had been set up to raise funds for the bride and groom – to cover the costs of the wedding. I raised an eyebrow at my partner but we shrugged and dropped some money in the well. We were then escorted to the table by the same usher. One member of the bride’s family confided gleefully that they’d gotten the bar for free because the bar assumed that they would make some sales on alcohol. That’s when it was brought to our attention that we would also be paying for all of our own drinks. And that we should buy drinks NOW to ensure that enough sales were made that the bride and groom wouldn’t need to pay for the hire of the space."
"My partner rolled his eyes and trotted off to pay for some drinks, while I admired the wedding decorations which consisted of a handful of red glitter scattered on the bashed-up tables...We paid a top-end price for an exceptionally mediocre meal (this is the kindest thing I can say) – who serves stewed chuck steak as the only main and charges $45 for the privilege? It turns out that the bride and groom would get a 'cut' of the proceeds from the food sales."
5. "We were sitting three or four rows back and when the maid of honor came down, she seemed to be a little blushed. Okay, weddings can be stressful for everybody in the party. Then, the bride and her father came down the aisle. As they walked by, I heard her mumbling, 'I can’t believe it. On my wedding day. My day.' She didn’t kiss dad. In fact, I think she killed him with her laser beam eyes. When she stepped up on the altar, she basically jammed the bouquet into the maid of honor’s hands and gave her the same glare. Well, the groom suddenly started to look anxious...Things seemed a little tense for the rest of the wedding and the feeling slowly crept back through the church. At the reception, the best man clued me in on what was going on."
"I got an idea when I heard someone say, 'That’s the kind of shit that cost him at the divorce.' Seems father of the bride and MoH were caught in 'the act' by the bride!"
6. "I was supposed to be a bridesmaid at this particular wedding but got kicked off the bridal party because I couldn't buy the particular shoes that the bride requested the bridesmaids wear. I couldn't get these shoes because due to a birth defect, I cannot wear heels higher than two inches (even then it's painful). She knew I couldn't wear high shoes before she even met her now husband. When the wedding day came around, it was fine at first but things started going downhill at the reception. The bride put me at the worst table in the room and I was sitting next to an ex-boyfriend who I'd had a nasty breakup with. The bride *forgot* that I didn't eat meat so I couldn't eat the first two courses. During the bride's speech, she made comments about how she was glad that all her *true* friends were able to be bridesmaids..."
"Before I left I went to say goodbye to her and she said, very loudly, that I still hadn't paid for the bridesmaid dress. This dress hadn't even been ordered when I was told that I was no longer a bridesmaid."
7. "My eldest son's wedding was a fiasco from beginning to end. My son was embarrassed to tell us he couldn't afford tuxes for himself and his friends. We made frantic calls to different stores and found red vests for rent (not cheap, as you can imagine). The wedding took place in a bar where my son had played gigs, and it wasn't set up for weddings. The man who was to officiate was drunk, didn't know their names, and had a difficult time climbing up on the stage, nearly falling off! During the ceremony, he turned to my son and said, 'Do you take her as your awfully wedded wife?' The wedding colors were red and black. On the white wedding cake, the red icing ran, making the cake look like it was bleeding."
8. "Once the ceremony was over and guests were being seated for dinner, I was helping my daughter bustle her [wedding] dress and my husband was taking care of the pastor. By the time we were done, the only tables left empty were one that was reserved for the wedding party and the one farthest from the dance floor in front of the DJ’s speakers, so we went to sit at the empty wedding party table with my 80-year-old mother. Shortly after that, the mother of the groom came over to tell us that the table we were sitting at was for the wedding party only and basically caused a scene until we moved to the only other empty table. The effect of this was we were the last to be offered food, were unable to see our daughter’s first dance with her husband, and couldn’t talk or hear each other for the entire evening, even though it was our event! The wedding party table remained empty the entire time."
9. "We arrived at the [wedding venue] and headed in. The catering staff looked quizzically at us and we said, 'W and J’s wedding…?' A chef gestured to the open French doors. We walked through and found ourselves…between the priest and the couple, as a singer to one side was serenading the couple, and of course, in front of everyone. A wave of titters and gasps flowed through the crowd. We ducked down and scurried into the nearest seats we could see in the second row. We later found out that those were left empty for a pair of dead relatives. After the ceremony, many people came and chatted to us – old friends, their friends who thought it was funny/rude, and the best man, who awkwardly let us know that the groom, my 'buddy,' was furious."
"Shortly after this, the mother of an elementary school friend came and invited me to peruse the name cards on the dining tables. 'Is your name at this table? No. This one? No.' And so on. Next, the mother of the bride came and let us know that catering had, um, catered to 60 people and we were #61 and #62."
10. "After the ceremony was over, we headed to the restaurant where we were offered hot wine or punch and some cheese and meat with bread. On the table was a soup with a few vegetables and some sausages. After an hour and a half of being there, the bride walked by every table and gave name tags to a few people. YES, THE BRIDE GAVE THE NAME TAGS. That was their way to dismiss the guests that they didn’t want to stay and keep the party going with the people they actually wanted."
11. "When I was 15, our cleaner invited our whole family to her wedding and reception. We were friendly with her as she’d given one of our puppies a home when our dog had a litter, but we hadn’t known her long. Being 15, I didn’t really want to go, but my mum said we wouldn’t have to stay long and we would just go for the reception, dance a bit, and come home. It was in the town hall, a big, grand room in the nearby town. When we got there, we saw the bride and groom dancing, but hardly anyone else in the room. My mum checked the time thinking we were early or late, but it turns out no one had turned up! There were my parents, my two brothers and me, and then no more than seven other people in this huge, heavily decorated room with a large buffet that would have fed around 100 people."
"We felt bad for the bride and groom so we tried to make up for the lack of people by dancing and eating a lot, but they were acting as if it was totally normal. They seemed to be having a really good time. After a while, a couple of people left and the five of us in my family made up half of the guests! I felt very awkward, and instead of staying an hour or two we had to stay the whole night, all the while pretending we were having a great time. We found out later the reason no one had showed. It turns out that the bride and groom had been married before. In fact, they’d been married and divorced nine times! The reception we went to was their 10th wedding, which explains why none of their family and friends wanted to waste any more time on them."
12. Finally, "[My friend] tells us that he is engaged to be married, asks me to be his best man, and we proceed towards his wedding. The wedding was to take place in a city about 45 miles away, so it was drivable. I go to the rehearsal and it’s a quick 15-minute walk-through, a small plate of sandwiches, and home I go. Come Sunday for the wedding, I put on my rented tux, my wife has her formal dress on, and we drive out to the wedding, arriving well before the ceremony. The ceremony is done, and we proceed to the reception hall, walk up to the place card table and find that we, along with one of the ushers and his wife are seated at the children’s table."
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Note: Responses have been edited for length and clarity.