Since we're at the peak of wedding season, I figured it would be a great time to share Reddit user u/nonoriginalname42's thread where they asked, "What's the worst thing you've seen happen at a wedding?" because the answers did not disappoint. Here's what some people said:
1. "The bride was dancing during the reception, fell, and broke her left arm. Lots of pictures from the ER — because the photographer went with them. When the doctor heard he’d be setting a bride’s arm, he put on a suit! They worked hard to get the swelling down so she wouldn’t have to have her brand-new wedding ring cut off."
2. "The best man started off his speech with, 'I've seen *the groom* with a lot of women over the years...' You know, the cliché speech where it goes on to say, 'but you're the best for him,' etc., etc. Turns out the bride and groom were dating long before the best man even became a friend. Essentially outed him as a cheater. She was super pissed."
"Was that the best man's intention, or was he unaware the relationship went that far back?"
"He wasn't the brightest person and just wasn't thinking. Ninety percent of the people at the wedding immediately knew he fucked up, and there were lots of uncomfortable looks and some chuckles. That didn't help the situation."
3. "Twelve speeches, two musical numbers, one PowerPoint presentation."
4. "We got to the church and took our seats. The vibe was off, but I didn’t think much of it. Then the start time passed and nothing happened, but I didn’t think much of it. Finally, I said something to a friend next to us, something like, 'Gee, this is late!' 'Yeah, it’s terrible, isn’t it?' 'Huh? What?' 'Oh, you didn’t hear. The entire wedding party got food poisoning from the rehearsal dinner the night before. One bridesmaid, then another, then siblings, parents, bride and groom, everybody.' They had a small ceremony at the bride’s parents' house. No church ceremony, but instead a short talk from the pastor (in part to kill time before the reception). They made a short appearance at the reception, but that was it. Just wholly unfair."
5. "My brother's second wedding. For the first dance, the DJ played the wrong song for half a second before stopping and starting the right song. The bride disappeared for two hours afterward because 'the wedding was ruined.'"
6. "The matron of honor threw up just as the officiant was asking if anyone objected."
"My brother was in a wedding where the bride said 'I do' and the groom threw up all over her due to the bachelor party the night before."
7. "A giant brush-tailed possum fell through the ceiling at my cousin's wedding. The bartenders managed to chase it with a broom into the supply closet behind the bar before calling security, who called pest control."
8. "The husband making out with a bridesmaid on the dance floor. I know a portion of the friends there knew they had an open relationship, but I seriously doubt Grandma and Aunt Carol were in on it."
9. "My wife and I booked out a small hotel in Nicaragua for the wedding. I cue the music to start the ceremony, the music starts, and there's this long delay. All of a sudden, from around the corner, we hear, 'MY VEIL IS STUCK IN THE CACTUS!!!!' One of my best friends was the officiant, and there's a great photo sequence of us going from puzzled to hysterical laughter up front."
10. "The best man giving the toast at the reception and saying the groom’s first wife’s name instead of the current one's."
11. "I was the matron of honor at my best friend's wedding. Her dad was semi-recently married to his fourth (?) wife — so the bride's 'stepmom,' but only in name. She and the bride didn’t get along but were surface-level cordial to each other. The stepmom is super weird about money because she had none and married the dad for his. She was very upset about how much he spent on this wedding for his only daughter. So upset, apparently, that she showed up in a floor-length, full-on white wedding gown of her own. The wedding coordinator sees them walk in, pulls me aside, and lets me know this bitch just walked into the cocktail hour before the ceremony in a wedding dress, and asked if I thought the bride should be made aware or if we should just hope she doesn’t notice until after the vows, etc."
12. "Well, let me tell you about this one time I saw the groom accidentally confess his undying love for the maid of honor instead of the bride during his speech. Chaos ensued. Good times, good times."
13. "My cousin married into a very religious family. During the afterparty, somebody spiked the punch. So to rid the room of the sin of alcohol, one of the religious people set the table and punch bowl on fire."
14. "I had to break up a fistfight between the groom and the mother of the bride."
"The bride and mom had a bad relationship. The mom barely wanted to be involved in the wedding process, and the groom had to help the bride through a lot of emotional pain about that. At the reception, though, the mom had a change of heart and spent all night drinking with the bride, who was thrilled to have Mom finally pay attention to her. Meanwhile, the groom went back to the house the wedding party was staying at, mad that he wasn’t getting to spend his wedding night with his wife.
"When the bride and Mom finally got back to the house, he told his new MIL that she was a shitty mother for leaving her kid high and dry for years for every dress fitting, shower, planning session, etc., and then making the reception about her. The drunk MIL tried to claw his eyes out and then walked into the ocean."
15. "The bride tripped and rolled down a large embankment and was covered in grass stains."
16. "I dated a girl in high school. It didn’t last, but we remained friends. At her wedding, her dad told me how he wished it was me marrying his daughter and how he always assumed we would get married. They had several pictures on display. I was in more pics than the groom."
17. "The groom tried to do a little dip kiss on the bride before they walked back up the aisle. He dropped her ass on the floor. Everyone let out a collective gasp that immediately turned to snorting, chortling laughter. It was the most awkward thing I’ve ever witnessed in real life. Thankfully, the bride was my sister, and I will get to remind her of this forever. AND have photo evidence."
Have you ever witnessed a completely horrible or hilarious thing at a wedding? If so, tell us what happened in the comments below.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.