Recently, Reddit user u/NickWhite566 asked the community: "What happened to those who had attended a botched wedding?"
Welp, folks didn't hold anything back, and revealed some of the most appalling things they've ever seen at a wedding.
So, here are some truly shocking things that happened at weddings, which scarred people for life:
Note: This post includes topics of sexual harassment. Please proceed with caution.
1. "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 speech. He told the story of having a threesome with both the bride and groom at Burning Man, and heavily alluded to still being in love with the groom. There were a lot of older relatives in attendance — the place went silent, and the wedding ended about two hours early."
2. "A few years ago, my cousin was getting married — the man she was marrying was 'perfect' for her. I was jealous because 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 were nowhere to be found. Well, she's waiting in the church, and one of the groomsmen came in with a handwritten letter from her fiancé. Turns out her sister and fiancé had been sleeping together for a while. She was pregnant, and they ran off to Vegas to get married — so, no wedding."
3. "The bride said 'NO' at the altar — she literally walked back down the aisle and out the door. The groom stood there for a moment and then went to a side room. The minister followed the groom, then came back and said that while the wedding was off, the reception would go forward since the food was already there. It was an awkward reception, and nobody stayed long after eating. Why did they 'want' to get married, you ask? The bride was pregnant, and they thought it was the 'right thing to do.' She decided that pregnancy was not a good reason to marry after all. She had the baby, and they ended up raising the child together (but in a romantic partnership)."
4. "I had a boss who was engaged for close to two years as she planned this ridiculously elaborate wedding. Everything about the wedding was probably the most expensive option available, and required very sizable deposits. The week of the wedding, the soon-to-be groom notified her uncle that he had never actually divorced his ex-wife and would not be going through with the wedding. Two whole years of effort and at least $50k spent was all for nothing."
5. "My wife and I watched in horror as the wedding planner proceeded to get sloppily drunk and exceedingly outlandish. It came crashing to an end when she started dancing/grinding on the father of the bride with his wife and the bride a few feet away, staring in shock. There was lots of shouting, and then the groomsmen not-so-kindly escorted her out."
6. "I was the photographer. The bride was very close to her stepfather, and her birth father had not been in the picture for a lot of her life. But, he was invited to the wedding, and they did two father-daughter dances so he wasn't left out. He was also supposed to pay for part of the photos, and he just showed up with no money. He eventually got mad (like she was doing something wrong by including the stepdad, who raised her and paid for most of the wedding). She spent an hour crying in the back, and eventually, an uncle offered to pay for some of what the birth dad owed. I knocked off $100 and stayed an extra hour for free so we could get all the photos we would have done during that hour, but it was obviously not the same for her. Then, the birth dad spent weeks harassing me to send him the photos I took because she wouldn't send them to him (I didn't)."
7. "I was a bridesmaid — the bride was getting dressed in the suite, and the rest of the girls in the wedding party were in there. It’s, like, a thing for us to watch the bride get dressed. Normally, she comes out in her lingerie, and we help her put on her dress, which happened. The bride's future mother-in-law was also helping her get the dress on. The MIL pinched the bride's butt, and the bride told her to stop. Then the MIL allegedly (I didn’t see) tried to stick her finger in the bride's butt. The bride slapped her in the face, and a fight started. The wedding was ruined before it even began."
8. "Went to the wedding of one of my husband's close friends, and everything was going wonderful until about three hours in. The bride's grandma was unresponsive. We were sitting right next to her table when she fell on the floor not breathing. Our other friend (an EMT) ended up performing CPR on her until the paramedics came (he said he felt her ribs cracking under his hands). The wedding promptly ended as the bride and groom went to the hospital with grandma. She passed away in the hospital that night after an emergency surgery."
9. "This was my friend's wedding. A bunch of people got food poisoning at the rehearsal dinner, including the groom. He spent the night at the ER getting fluids and medication to stop puking. This was an awesome high-end wedding, and he almost canceled. He was a pale-green color and basically sipped Gatorade all day and got through it. He married his high school sweetheart, and they have been married for over 30 years."
"That’s a man who wanted to get married."
10. "It was my very first friend to get married (a girl I’d known in high school). We were in our mid-20s, and it was a classic rom-com nightmare scenario where the groom had second thoughts the day of and just bolted. We all just milled around for a while not sure what to do. There were awful vibes — the bride’s mom was weeping hysterically. My friends and I were finally making our way to the exits, and the bride stopped us and said, 'Where the fuck do you think you’re going? You guys are taking me out to a bar right this minute, and you’re gonna have to carry me out of there.'"
"So most of us young people did (there were a few stray aunts and uncles, along with a few of the groom’s relatives who were like, 'He’s a little punk, anyway — you’re better off without him.'
We all got unfathomably drunk, sang karaoke, glasses were shattered, the bride hit on literally every man who was there, including me (though no one took her up on it — that would have been weird).
There were a rough few months in store for her afterward, but that ended up being one hell of a party. I can still feel the hangover a decade later."
11. "The best man choked on a piece of steak. I didn’t see it happen, but I guess someone performed the Heimlich — it came out. They called an ambulance (you always should go to the hospital, even if obstruction is removed), and he left. Another groomsman did an impromptu speech, which was brave of him. He started off with, 'I guess (the best man) bit off more than he could chew with that role...'"
12. "It was my own wedding. We got married at 19 and planned the whole thing in less than a month (because for some reason, despite already having been together for five years at that point, we were like, 'We have to get married NOW'). I truly do not know why. It wasn't even a religious thing — just a dumb teenage brain moment I guess. Everyone got food poisoning from our cheap cake — literally everyone. We spent our honeymoon in bed throwing up. I got calls all day from people telling me they were also throwing up. We were too sick to drive home, so my new brother-in-law (who had skipped the cake) had to drive several hours to come rescue us from a hotel and take us back home. Truly a nightmare."
13. "A coworker went to one of my closest friend's weddings, and there were strict food regulations. No nuts. There were a few individuals present who were really allergic, including the maid of honor. The venue served something with nuts, and the maid of honor became anaphylactic. The Epipen did not work, and she died on the way to the hospital. Needless to say, there are several lawsuits."
14. "My family was invited to what we thought was an engagement party. My aunt reserved a room at a local restaurant for about 50 people, and it turned out it was my cousin's wedding. So, no one brought a gift or dressed up at all. The bride was in a wedding dress, and groom was wearing jeans. We ordered food and drinks, and the officiant did his thing while waiters were bringing in drinks and appetizers. It was finally over, and we got to eat. But when the officiant asked for the marriage license so they can all sign it, my cousin and his new wife just stared at him confused. They didn't know they had to get one! They thought just having a wedding was enough — they were in their late 20s. So there was a wedding, but no marriage. They never did officially get married — he ran off a few years later to another state to be with some girl he met online."
15. And finally: "I didn’t get to see it, but my parents went to a wedding where the bride walked up the aisle, stood up front, and calmly thanked her parents, his parents, and everyone for coming. Then she thanked her maid of honor for sleeping with her fiancé the night before. She then walked out of the church. My parents said some people went to the reception because the parents of the bride and groom felt bad and wanted the people to at least eat. My parents just came home."
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.