Not all weddings go as planned. These brides and grooms share the time someone objected to their wedding. Content has been edited for clarity purposes.
Flirty Groom
“I objected at my wedding when I found out my groom hit on my sister the night before the wedding. He had not met my sister before the evening dinner and he never was told who she was. We never got around to introducing everybody to everyone else.
To embarrass him and his parents and all the guests he invited, I said I object because he tried to seduce my sister. Everyone in the bridal party laughed while the groom’s side tried to hide their faces. I slapped him in the face as I left the altar.”
Elvis Presley
“My wife and I decided on Las Vegas as a convergence destination for the wedding, since she’s from the East Coast and it’s an exciting place for attendees to go to. We also had some international guests, and Las Vegas is the domestic equivalent to what the Hong Kong airport offers on an international scale. It’s always easy to get to from anywhere. So Las Vegas was it.
While I had suggested the 24-hour drive-through at the Graceland Chapel or someplace such as that, my wife wanted one of those special weddings with invitations and all. Women can be so demanding.
We had previously visited the JW Marriott in Summerlin, which is about 10 miles from the strip, surrounded by million-dollar houses and golf courses, and has the vibe of a Monte Carlo casino. So we decided on the place, the date, and began working out the details.
Anybody who has attended an L.V. wedding can expect a visit from Elvis Presley.
So as we made plans, I said to my wife, ‘We have to have Elvis at the reception!’
And we began to pick out the one that we wanted. But as further logistics developed, I suggested, ‘Why not have Elvis actually interrupt the wedding? You know, when they say ‘Does anybody here object’ then we could have Elvis burst in and say ‘Wait a minute, I need to play y’all a song or two.”
Fortunately, my wife and I share a sense of humor, and she loved the idea. Our friend (who is a lawyer in Los Angeles and has officiated various weddings) was to be the officiant. And then we realized a major flaw: in the state of Nevada, you need to have your OWN church in order to officiate a wedding.
You can probably see where this is going. The Elvis that we hired had his own church, and therefore was the one who actually read the marriage vows (with such guarantees that my wife would never step on my blue suede shoes, and that I would be her Teddy Bear). Only the officiant and wedding planner knew it was a complete surprise that our guests are still talking about (15 years later).
Thus, we decided (every five years thereafter) to have Elvis renew our vows. You can find an Elvis anywhere you go, so it makes planning a renewal especially fun.”
“She Was Screaming And Cusing Everywhere”
“My mother-in-law pulled her blessing on the day of our wedding. She told me her daughter deserved better and took herself, my young brother-in-law, and a bunch of family with her.
Why? Because I asked her to only decorate the Christmas tree behind the altar with red ornaments. My wife had spent about two months planning everything, crafting, and saving. So I kindly asked her to stop putting the other colors on the tree to which she started cursing me out. So I again calmly told her we wanted just the red ones. She told me she deserved more respect than that, followed by expletives. She was screaming and cursing everywhere. I had to ask my wife to speak with her. That is when she came in, told me I was a horrible person, and left.
So what was I supposed to do?
I called her, heard her trash talk me some more, and then begged her to come back. It was hard putting my pride aside after she had treated me and my wife that way on our wedding date, but I knew removing her from pictures would be easier than trying to add her in, and I wanted my wife to have her mom there, even if at the moment neither of them wanted her there.”
His Own Friend
“I had joined a church some years prior, having been invited there by a work colleague. At that church some months later, I met a young woman who was going through some hard times and had basically been kicked out by her father. We married after a short courtship, had a couple of children, and had a lot of adventures together.
Fast-forward 13 years. She became no longer enamored with me, or that church, and filed for divorce. I ended up homeless after that but became close to another woman at the church. We had been neighbors too, but never romantic in any way before. She had also been divorced for a couple of years.
Well, I came back off the streets to marry this lady, and on a beautiful July day, we were standing in front of the pastor and the congregation.
Our pastor asked, ‘If there is anyone who objects and if so they should speak now or forever hold their peace.’
There was a long pause. Crickets (or probably birds, since it was mid-day) were the only noises. So, we continued on. About five minutes later, right before we had been pronounced man and wife, my ‘friend’ and former work colleague who had invited me to the church (but who later was the one who served me the divorce papers from my first wife … ironic) came running down the aisle and shouting.
He shouted, ‘You should go back to your wife.’
He continued his babble but overall he was objecting on every level he could think of. We all just looked down at him, completely stunned.
I don’t now remember if anyone said anything, but I remember thinking, ‘Dude, you’re about five minutes too late.’
I think the pastor may have told him something along those lines, so he left, still fuming and ranting. Well, we continued, and I got to kiss my lovely bride. We had a beautiful cake and blew bubbles with all the kids for the reception, still with the beautiful California sky overhead.
Did the marriage last? Yes, it was ’til death do us part’, when she died of cancer 20 years, 2 months, and 24 days later.”
Married At 19
“My whole family and all friends objected to me marrying my first husband, so we eloped on a whim after knowing each other for two months. In retrospect, it wasn’t wise to marry a dude straight out of rehab, and who was a decade older than me at that. But, hey, 19-year-olds do as they do, am I right?
I miserably stuck around through five years of abuse, and continued relapses only to find out later he drained my bank account twice, cheated, left multiple times without explanation, and the list goes on.
Part of me wishes I would’ve divorced him sooner, but part of me feels it was for the best only because the timing led me to the true love of my life who I’ve now been married to for three years. We have a daughter. Oh, and all of my family couldn’t be happier and more supportive of this union. He’s nothing like my ex-husband; he’s just a really phenomenal individual.”
This Couldn’t Be Real
“At the appropriate time in the ceremony, when the ‘supposed to be rhetorical’ question was asked, a man seated toward the rear stood up and fairly shouted, ‘Yes! I object!’
He started walking rapidly down the aisle to where my bride and I stood.
About 3/4 of the way to the altar, he stopped, scratched his head, and then said, ‘Oh. Sorry. I got the wrong wedding.’ Turned on his heel and bolted for the door.
Several weeks after the ceremony, I confessed to my wife that it was all a set-up; her family was a bunch of pranksters, and I had been on the butt-end of some of their wildest pranks prior to the wedding
Since it’s been 50 years since that event, and I’m still married to the same (Blessed Saint of a) woman, I guess I was forgiven.”
How A Break-Up Turned Into A Marriage Proposal
“A few years ago, when I was only eighteen and had graduated high school not even a month before, my then-girlfriend proposed to me. We had just gone out to a nice dinner that I paid for, but I was planning on breaking up with her afterward.
Right as I said, ‘We need to talk’ on the walk back to our apartment, she suddenly got down on one knee and pulled out a ring. She didn’t even say anything. I was so taken aback, I couldn’t say anything for about 40 seconds.
Then I just blurted out ‘Yes,’ just because I didn’t know what else to say.
Three months into our engagement, an ex-lover of mine turned up at my college, Harvard, and admitted she still had feelings for me, not knowing that I was to be married in only two months. The thing was, I still loved this woman and she had been the best relationship of my life. We only broke up because her parents were against us being together and they threatened to disown her. At the time she had been too afraid to say anything to them but now she had finally worked up the courage to tell them she did not care about their approval. For years I had dreamed of her coming back but now I was engaged so I was forced to reject her.
Fast forward two months and I was walking down the alter in a long, beautiful white dress heading towards the woman whom I have grown to hate. As I walked, I thought of all the fights we have had, all the times I had sat in the bathroom for hours barfing because she told me to. All the times when I would have to wear long blouses to cover the bruises that she put on my arms, and all the times she made me sleep in the bathtub when she brought other women home. But I couldn’t run away. I couldn’t just leave her. My anxiety is too bad for me to do something like that.
Finally, the monk leading our wedding asked if there were any objections. To my sadness, no one spoke.
He turned to continue when suddenly a quiet voice at the back said, ‘I object.’
It was my ex-lover. I later learned that my sister told her about our wedding in hopes that she could stop it.
My ex then continued to again say how in love she was and how much she missed me but finished by saying that if I didn’t want her back she would understand and leave me alone. This was my chance, I thought.
I opened my mouth to speak but that was when my fiancee started freaking out. She attacked me. She grabbed the knife from beside the cake, jumped on top of me, and screaming about how I was hers and hers only. She hit my head with the end of the knife and I blacked out.
I woke up in a hospital bed, my ex-lover (not my fiancee) sitting beside me, stroking my hand. She was sporting a black eye, apparently, she had rescued me from my fiancee and in the process, saved my life.
Seven years later, we are in a happy relationship but I don’t think that I will be ready for marriage anytime soon as I still have flashbacks from the abuse my ex-fiancee put me through. Luckily for me, my girlfriend is super understanding and patient and I am so grateful that she didn’t give up on us and objected at my wedding that would have otherwise ended in disaster.”
Bad Grandma
“My husband’s grandmother intentionally made him an hour late to our wedding, hoping we would just call it off.
She gave him directions to her timeshare that was her gift to us for the wedding night, and where he was supposed to get ready, except she conveniently gave him the wrong one. The one that was on the other side of the city from both the wedding and the correct one. He had to cross Interstate four (one of the worst highways in Florida, and possibly in America) during the five o’clock traffic on a weekday to get to the wedding.
Everyone chalked it up to, ‘Oh, she’s a senile old lady. She just got mixed up.’
No, she wasn’t, and no she didn’t. She was only senile when she could use it as a cover for being malicious. I could detail many other examples, but I won’t.
What happened? The wedding started an hour late, so we lost an hour of the reception. We’re still married 13 years later.”
He Was Always Asking For Money
“I met my wife after she had left a bad relationship. Not abusive, but the guy was always asking for money and never held on to a job, but always had free time to hang out at the lake. Even after they broke up, he would periodically show up asking for some money.
So fast-forward to our wedding day. We said our vows, and the minister asked if anyone objected.
I heard in the back, ‘I do!’
When we took a look at who this mystery person was, it was none other than the no-load boyfriend.
So at that point, I was beyond ticked off. The guy was basically harmless but now he was making a spectacle out of our day. People were talking as we stood at the altar. And what should be a good day was getting ruined by this dolt.
So I asked him, ‘What the heck do you want?’
He replied, ‘About $3.50.’
Well right about that time, I noticed the guy was actually a three feet tall scaly water creature from the Pleistocene Age.
I told him, ‘No way I’m giving you $3.50, you darn monster!’
He eventually left.’
Father And Son Moment
“My dad gave me an outright before my wedding. It was actually a stressful time, not just because of the wedding, but some other things going on at the time.
Anyway, I found myself in the get-ready room with just him.
He said, ‘You sure about this?’
I said, ‘Yes.’
Then he looked me square in the eye and said, ‘I know it’s last minute, but if you have any doubt, we can leave. We can get through it.’
I told him again, ‘I’m good. No problems with the wife-to-be, but there’s going to be some issues with her family.’
He said, ‘Ok.’
He then pulled a half-sized bottle of Johnny Walker out of his suit. We had a drink right before I went out to my wedding.
I got married, had three kids, and 20 years later that side of the family isn’t a problem. Those who aren’t dead, we don’t talk to with a few exceptions.”
Ex-Boyfriend
“My ex-partner threatened to object and disrupt my wedding to my husband. My ex was a tall man, 6′3″, and a big-time drinker. He could drink a gallon of Smirnoff in a day and a half. While he never hit me, he was verbally abusive and jealous. I tried to leave him numerous times.
If you’ve never been in an abusive relationship then you have no idea what it is like. When I was finally able to break away from him, he refused to accept it. He stalked me. He kept saying if he couldn’t have me then no one could.
When I connected with the wonderful man who has been my husband for the past seven years, my ex flipped out. The police said they couldn’t do anything until he actually did something more than make threats. My relationship with my husband progressed and we decided to get married. My ex said he would come to the church and object. He was serious and I knew he’d do it. Due to that, and some financial constraints, we postponed the wedding from the fall to the next spring.
One day I came home from the grocery store and my fiancee met me at the door. I knew by the look on his face that something had happened. I went into the family room and sat down as my mother broke the news to me that my ex was dead. Suicide? Not exactly. What happened?
He fell down the stairs, wasted, and broke his neck. I was shocked but yet I wasn’t. The Smirnoff bottle had won and taken down another person. Once the shock wore off my overwhelming feeling was a relief. His death was the only way that he would leave me alone. It is so terrible the price people pay for drinking.”
First Sour, Then Sweet
“My mother-in-law always hated me. She even tried to convince her daughter not to marry me right before the wedding. I ended up marrying her daughter, and we now have four kids together. Now my MIL acts like I don’t know anything about how she acted behind my back (and sometimes to my face).
I just let it go. She’s old and lives far away. She ruined what could have been a much better relationship. I’m not petty enough to be mean to her but I’m petty enough to never forget about it. Now, after 14 years of marriage, their other son-in-law who I always called ‘Golden Boy’ is on the outs and they are just about done with him. All these years he couldn’t do any wrong and I saw right through all of it but it was never my place to say anything. Now I’m just sitting back and laughing.”
Threats
“My ex-husband threatened to interrupt my second marriage and ‘save’ my new husband from me. His nephew came from out of state and alerted local police to watch for him, just to make sure there was no disruption.
The ex had also threatened to disrupt our daughter’s wedding and break her engagement a few years earlier. He ended up in the hospital instead. His new wife (the mistress) attended the parties and left him in the hospital alone. When a mutual friend asked why she wasn’t by his side (by the way, she was a licensed nurse), she said the parties were more fun.
I will admit when my dad was getting ready to walk me down the aisle for the first wedding and said to me ‘You don’t have to go through with this,’ I almost bolted and stopped the wedding myself. Might have saved me years of pain, but I also would not have had the two wonderful children and now three grandchildren!”
Dad’s Refusal
“My dad wanted to walk me down the aisle. I said yes, as long as my mom also did. Of course, he said no. They had both left me when I was a young girl.
My mom disappeared when I was nine years old, and my dad left for a job the following year. My siblings and I lived with his older sister until we moved back with my dad and his new wife three years later.
Five years later, I went to college and within a month, my dad had kicked me out. I spent holidays with friends or in my dorm. We eventually reconciled.
In the end, my fiance and I walked down the aisle together. My dad’s siblings didn’t acknowledge me for a long time afterward, but I was true to myself on my wedding day. That was important to me.”
Second Thoughts
“My bride’s father was very nervous at our wedding. He knew that once he walked her down the aisle he had to stand at the altar, and at some point say, ‘I do’ to give away his daughter.
Funny enough, the first question asked isn’t ‘Who gives this woman to this man’, but, ‘Is there anyone here who has just cause…’ Being nervous and not listening, he responded with ‘I do’ to the first question. Then he kissed his daughter and sat down.
A strange silence fell over the church.
I thought, ‘OK, maybe he’s right,’ and I didn’t move over to fill the gap where he had stood. Despite the minister gesturing with his hand for me to move over. Finally, my bride moved over and the service was finished.
Considering all factors, I should have left the alter after her father.”
Flower Girl
“At my wedding, my maid of honor’s daughter was the flower girl. She was almost three years at the time. We never had an objection line in the ceremony, because it was a small affair with people who loved and supported us. Also, there were no legal reasons as to why we shouldn’t be married so no one would have had any reason to anyhow.
About halfway through the ceremony when emotions were free-flowing and we were all getting misty-eyed when the flower girl started yelling, ‘DADDY I WANT TO GO INSIDE’ and ‘OOOOH A BUMBLEBEE’ at random intervals.
We still quote it to each other and if for some reason my marriage didn’t work out, I’d playfully never let that girl hear the end of it.”