Your wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of your life. It has its hitches, but in the end, you are walking down the aisle to someone who you love, trust, and want to spend the rest of your life with and that's all that matters. Unfortunately for some weddings, things aren't so cut and dry. The people in the following stories had more than just tiny hiccups in their days. Their wedding experienced drama on a soap opera level that left them canceling the thing altogether.
(Content has been edited for clarity)
You Can’t Kick A True Sleazeball Down
CookieStudio/Shutterstock
“When I was in the Navy, BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) scams were pretty rampant. I’m sure they still are to a certain extent.
Basically, the base pay you receive in the military isn’t that much. If you’re married and/or have kids, however, you get BAH, which is a tax-free chunk of change the government gives you every month so you can house your dependents.
How much you receive is based on the zip code where your dependents physically reside. So if I’m stationed in Norfolk, but my wife and kids are living in Boulder, Colorado, then we get the BAH for Boulder, CO and I live on the ship or in the barracks. It’s fairly common and the sailors who do this are referred to as geographical bachelors.
I was shipmates with a guy who was a complete sleaze. He was also bilking the Navy out of BAH for many years. He was turned in, multiple times, but he kept getting away with it because, at the end of the day, it’s very difficult to prove that you’re only married for the BAH. Nobody says that it has to be a healthy marriage. Nobody says it has to be a marriage based on love.
He had been married to an older woman (like, in her 80s) living in San Francisco for the past few years. San Fran has some of the highest BAH rates. So he split it down the middle with her and they each took home a decent chunk of change. In exchange, she played along, let him list her home as his home, and for all legal matters, considered him her husband.
Well, she died. And he was bummed and a little ticked that he was about to lose a big chunk of cash.
So he went out and began seeking his next paper bride with a high BAH zip code. He settled on a lady of the night from New York City who was from some Eastern European country.
To legitimize all of this, he had a wedding and invited numerous people from work to witness it. I went because there was a promise of free food and he told us we didn’t have to get him gifts. Easy day.
About five minutes into the whole thing, she backed out. Apparently, she didn’t fully understand what he was proposing. I think it was mainly a language barrier issue. She thought he just wanted someone to pretend to be his wife. Like, hang on his arm at a party and say she was Mrs. Jerkbag. She didn’t realize that he actually intended to legally marry her. Quite a bit of this was hashed out in front of all of us before they retreated to a private area where, as I understand it, he pleaded with her to go through with it and promised to remit to her around $1,000 every month for as long as she played ball.
After an hour of begging and pleading, she left. We ate the food, had a good laugh and went about our lives.
Dude also found himself a proper paper wife and began bilking BAH again before getting booted from the Navy for something completely unrelated.”
Marriage Is A Big Commitment For An 11-Year-Old
Anzheni/Shutterstock
“Back in 5th grade I had a huge crush on this girl, and we were essentially dating as much as two 5th graders really could. So, at some point, we decided to have a little recess wedding.
It got planned for a few days I think and then the day finally came and we went out to the field. There was a huge square of kids, maybe 20-30, with an aisle down the center. I ultimately freaked out a bit and called it off, but it didn’t end there. We got called to the office later and suspended for a day. Apparently, there was an uproar for over two hours after.
Our parents met and talked, but nothing bad came of it and it was a nice three day weekend (we got suspended for a Monday or Friday). Later found out that one kid had brought a Bible and rings, though that had nothing to do with the suspension.”
Can Someone Get This Girl A Jug Of Water?
Sidorenko Irina/Shutterstock
“My best friend’s wedding got called off. I was the master of ceremonies (his brother was his best man) so I was in a unique way able to experience this beauty.
I arrived about two hours before the ceremony was to start to chat with the caterer and check the microphone, speakers etc. As I was chatting with the DJ and generally just checking things out, I noticed every once in a while a waiter would walk by from the bar with a tray of drinks. I didn’t think anything of it though.
As the time got closer to the ceremony at the church, people had arrived and everyone was having snacks and drinks outside the reception venue. Both the church and reception was on a farm, so they were right next to each other.
The bride was delayed for a long time, something I couldn’t understand since she was getting ready in a guest house right there on the property.
In any event, we finally got the go-ahead that the bride was on the way to the church (they brought her on a golf cart) so we started getting everyone seated and ready for the show.
I was standing at the entrance of the church to close the door after the bride entered so I got to see everything transpire in all of its glory.
The bride climbed off the cart and as she was walking towards the stairs with her father, she tripped and faceplanted right there on the steps of the church. As this was a farm you can imagine that there is a lot of dirt everywhere, and accordingly, her dress was filthy.
At this stage, I simply thought she fell over by accident and I ran to help get her up. She just dusted herself off, said she was fine and continued in the usual fashion to enter the church. It was then that my suspicions started peaking.
I noticed she was wobbling from side to side as she walked, but thought maybe she got hurt in the fall. As she started walking down the aisle, however, she was stopping to greet people in the isles, making jokes, pulling faces, giving people thumb-ups etc. It immediately hit me. She was sloshed.
By the time she got to the groom, he just stood there with his jaw open. He could immediately tell what was happening. She was standing there next to him in the church, right in front of everyone, swaying from side to side and slurring. It was painful and cringe-inducing to witness.
The best part is that she INSISTED the wedding proceed and that everything was hunky-dory. The more the groom wanted to suspend proceedings for a bit, the more she insisted they proceed. Then she exploded at him in the church in front of EVERYONE, shouting and accusing him of ruining her wedding day and then she stormed out of the church crying and, wouldn’t you know it, she bumped into a bench in the aisle and went flying into the ground again. Wedding dresses are not made for running, and they are especially not made for hammered running.
People helped her up and escorted her outside. The groom also left and everyone just kind of sat there in silence. Since it was rather hot that day, we told everyone to go to the reception hall and have a drink whilst the situation was being dealt with.
The bride had been drinking the entire day, and those drinks I saw being carried from the bar were for her and her friends in the guest house. I inquired at the bar how much the bill was prior to people arriving and was shocked to see that between her and two other friends, they had over fifteen different drinks. In any event, the bridezilla was now crying and throwing tantrums at the guest house loud enough for everyone to hear at the reception, and apparently, she continued to drink some of the leftovers from the previous round of drinks.
The groom came out to apologize to everyone and to say that the wedding wouldn’t be going ahead, but that everyone must please eat, drink, and have fun since everything had already been paid and catered for. I made the announcement and I joined the groom and his family (who had flown in especially for the wedding) for a drink and to come to grips with what just happened. Many people, especially from the bride’s side, just went home.
Meanwhile, bridezilla was crying and drinking away in the guest house with her bridesmaids. After about an hour or so, with many people having left, she stormed out of the guest house and cry-screamed at the groom for ruining her wedding again, except this time she was even more in the bag. She stormed off with her friends and we eventually saw them climb into a car and off they went.
We finished our food, had some drinks, and called it a night. I drove home with the groom and his folks, only to discover when we got to the complex where he and bridezilla were staying, that she was sitting outside at the bar right next to the complex still in her wedding dress, make-up smeared everywhere and drinking with her friends.
The groom phoned her father, who then promptly came to pick her up and took her home. And that was the last I ever saw of bridezilla. They tried to make things work by going for counseling but things fizzled out, mainly because she was always wasted. They had lived together for two or so years prior to the wedding and whilst she did drink a lot, I never noticed it was THAT bad. Meanwhile, my friend informed me it had actually been a bit of a problem, but he didn’t think it would get that bad. Well, it did.
The wedding photographer/videographer was a friend of ours and was recording pretty much everything, so there is still a copy of this somewhere out there.”
A Devastating Family Secret
BoryanaManzurova/Shutterstock
“It started off as a normal wedding. The bride had her veil on while she waited for her father to walk her down the aisle. When he got there, she removed her veil and was in tears. She slapped her father, hard, and shouted at him what translates to, ‘How could you do this to me?’ Then she just left, wedding dress and all. The groom was confused, everyone was, but nobody followed her, partially out of nobody knowing how to act.
She took a cab home and hung herself, in her wedding dress, no letter, or anything. The groom was devastated, her parents got divorced, and it was the end of it, until her mother caved in. The groom was her ex-husband’s illegitimate son and just before the wedding, the groom’s mother told the bride’s mom, who then told the bride herself. It turns out that her father had a history of intimate abuse, with the bride, with the groom’s mother, and with a few other girls in the family. As soon as that was about to pop, with a legal investigation, he also died. He got plastered and the jerk took off in his car, totaling it, not only killing himself but also taking two more lives, of the couple on the car he crashed into.
And before that, nobody suspected a thing.”
A Runaway Bride With A Plan
HBRH/Shutterstock
“In the church, everything was nice, the priest was doing his thing, the bride and groom were smiling – all was good in the hood.
I held on the best I could, but I had to take a massive leak, and I was not ready to let it loose in my suit. Luckily I was in the back row. I ducked out to the toilet real quick.
When I came back, people were standing and talking, others were on phones sounding worried, pictures were being taken, people were crying, the groom and priest were still standing, looking surprised.
It was a crazy mess and there I was standing at the back of the aisle, thinking what the heck just went down, possibly had my zipper open; don’t remember clearly. That was the most regretful pee I have ever taken.
I was kind of shy to ask around because I didn’t know anyone else besides the groom who was an acquaintance at most, so I didn’t find out what really happened until much later (like a couple hours). It turns out when it came to the vows, the bride said (while smiling apparently) ‘I don’t.’ Then walked back down the aisle with ALL the bridesmaids including the groom’s own sister. Now I don’t know what the heck went down behind the scenes, but my God they must have planned it. But it didn’t affect me, I feel for the dude but he was a jerk, I only went because the bride was hot.”
Sometimes The Frog Is Just A Frog
Chris Bignell/Shutterstock
“After 30-45 minutes of waiting, the old ladies from the bride’s church and my aunties started talking. I found out that this is the second time they’ve tried to get married. The first time they tried to get married, he got into a bar fight the night before.
We continue waiting (1.5 hours total) and finally, they tell everyone to go to the reception space because they’re about to lose the church. I don’t think anything of it, whatever, there’s food let’s go.
During the reception, she does it ALL. The first dance (with my uncle), the dance with her dad, all the traditional wedding reception things. If it’s not clear, this is all without her actual husband.
Well. No one knows what to do at this point, can’t really give speeches because the groom isn’t here and it just seems awkward to celebrate something that for the second time, did not happen.
The bride decided to do a toast on her own. She gets on the mic and tells everyone about how maybe she’s just not meant to be married, how she’s tried twice to get married to this guy and it just isn’t happening. Then she goes, ‘You know where this guy is?! Do y’all know. Where. This. Jerk. Is? He’s in freaking JAIL because his dumb groomsmen let him drive home from the bachelor party and he was drinking and driving. So, yeah, he’s in jail and we’ve been trying to get him out.’
There was no third time and no Prince Charming for her.”
Religion Before Love
MonkeyBusinessImages/Shutterstock
“Genital Warts. I’m not even joking. I was one of the groomsmen for my friend’s wedding and his family was super religious. I mean, like, Jonestown levels of religious so he hadn’t been intimate with his bride yet. So we were all waiting by the alter for the music to start, and we were silently chatting. Now one of the other groomsmen, who had dated the bride about a year before they (the current groom and bride to be) got together, and he let loose this statement to another groomsman, ‘She’s really sweet and all but she gave me something fierce.’ Both the groomsman he told that to and I asked him to elaborate a bit. In short, she ended up giving him genital warts. We had a good maybe three minutes before the music started and we all started telling the groom as fast as we could because he had a right to know if she hadn’t told him.
He had this look to him like he didn’t want to believe us, but he slowly walked down the center aisle to go ask his bride if all this was true. When he got up, his parents followed him because they thought he was getting cold feet. The rest I can only describe from my place at the front of the church. For the next 45 minutes, we heard talking, then shouting, then crying on repeat. Then the dad came out and told everyone that the ceremony was going to be postponed. It was a small ceremony, so we all just scratched our heads and left. We all then got a call two hours or so later that the wedding was off indefinitely. Apparently, the groom’s parents didn’t want him marrying someone who wasn’t ‘pure,’ let alone with an STD. We gave him some space for a few days and after a while, he filled us in on some of the details. Most of it wasn’t that important, but the part that really punched me in the feelings was when he told us about how the bride had to tell him and his parents in her wedding gown that she got the STD from being assaulted as a child. The groom didn’t call off the wedding, the parents did. I still think they’re monsters to this day.
To my knowledge, though, the former couple still talk to each other. So there’s that.”
Can’t Keep Pop’s Down, Leg Or No Leg
EverettCollection/Shutterstock
“Long ago, when I was 25 or so, it was that summer of weddings. You know the one. The year when all of the college couples finally got settled into jobs and the grad school couples were getting out and getting hitched. Wedding season in full swing.
Anyhow, I knew the groom. We weren’t best friends or anything, but we were in the same business program all through college. So, we were good acquaintances. Good enough to get me an invite to the wedding.
I didn’t know the bride at all. She was a hometown girlfriend of the groom and went to a different college. Somehow, their relationship survived long distance. Nice enough girl from all that I had heard from others that knew her.
So, there we were at the wedding. Everything was going along very pleasantly. The bride looked very pretty and the groom was having a good day as well. The couple was standing at the front of the church with the rest of the wedding party. The preacher gave a little homily before getting down to the ‘I-do’s.’ From the back of the church, a one-legged guy came down the aisle with crutches, yelling, ‘You can’t keep me away! I promised I would be here!’ The groom turned and trotted down the aisle, only to get cracked in the head with a crutch. It caught him just right because he dropped like a stone. Needless to say, it got interesting at that point.
It seemed like almost everybody at the front of the church jumped that one-legged dude. Groomsmen rushed him, both sets of parents were out of their seats and after him. Numbers were not on his side and he was quickly dragged out of the church. We were all sitting there in stunned silence when the preacher announced that, ‘Due to these unforeseen events, the wedding has been postponed.’ Not even Jeane Dixon could have seen that insanity coming.
A few weeks later, I got the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say. Turns out mom and dad of the bride had a pretty ugly divorce when the bride was still fairly young. Mom remarried and the step-dad was a real stand up guy. A lot better than her biological dad, who was pretty much absent from her life. So, the bride wanted her stepdad to walk her down the aisle. Bio dad wasn’t happy about this at all. From what I heard, they laid it out to him in no uncertain terms that he could come to the wedding, but he would just be a guest and not part of the wedding party.
Bio dad had lost a leg to poorly managed diabetes and his taste for the drink. So, the sister of the bride was visiting with dad on the night before the ceremony. The sister, who was also one of the bridesmaids, had a chat with dear ol’ Dad just to confirm there was not going to be trouble.
Well, the story I heard was that dad was half into the bottle and told the bridesmaid sister that he was going to be a part of his daughter’s wedding. He couldn’t just be shut out like this. And so on and so forth. So, in what turned out to be a moment of poor decision making, the sister put wasted dad to bed AND STOLE HIS ARTIFICIAL LEG. I guess with the thought process being he would be homebound until she brought the leg back. I guess it made sense at the time and hindsight is 20-20. It seems like there could have been a better way to handle that.
After that fiasco, they got married in a small, private ceremony several months later. Last I heard, they were still together and their oldest child started college last fall.”
The Worst News You Could Get Before Your Wedding
PetrenkoAndriy/Shutterstock
“My cousin was getting married and about 15-30 minutes before the wedding started, she was told that the man she was going to marry was arrested and had been on Washington’s Most Wanted because of stuff he either did with a 14-year-old or was planning to do with a 14-year-old. He was like around 23 – 26, he ended up in prison for whatever it was he did. Right after she told everyone, the back porch had broke right under her and her friends. It wasn’t much of a drop, only like six inches, but that’s when she burst out in full blown tears. It was a very awkward day and honestly, if I wasn’t there to witness it, I wouldn’t believe it either.”
Getting Your Money’s Worth
joyfuldesigns/Shutterstock
“I did wedding photography for a couple who got blitzed the night before and had 100% fallen out of love overnight. I didn’t know them personally, so I don’t know how in love they were to begin with. The funniest part about it was they did the ceremony and reception anyway. I think that was more for the sake of the bride’s parents, so they could at least enjoy the cordon bleu chicken they paid for. The groom had no family show up. The ceremony was like a scene from Twilight Zone. The whole vibe was extremely awkward. The bride and groom were on opposite sides of the venue the entire time. I took a lot of great photos of grandma dancing with kids. They were having fun at least. I never got paid the balance and they never even saw the photos. Definitely the weirdest wedding I have ever been to.”
Perfect Timing
Angela Hawkey/Shutterstock
“I worked at a bar when I was at University. Two guys came in dressed to the nines. I asked what they were doing that day and they told me the wedding they were going to was canceled.
The maid of honor had been sleeping with the groom. One of the other bridesmaids had known about it for some time but decided the best time to tell her was the morning of the wedding.”
Even The 11 Year Olds Are Cringing
kravik93/Shutterstock
“In 6th grade, my entire class went to our teacher’s wedding. My teacher was the bride and about 3/4 of the way down the aisle was when the groom decided he couldn’t do it. He walked off to the side and at first my teacher and her father didn’t notice and kept walking, smiling radiantly. There was about a minute of really solid confusion (last minute cold feet? bathroom emergency?) before everyone realized what was going on. My teacher was whisked out of the church and an announcement was made that there was not going to be a wedding. This happened the second or third week of June; she didn’t come back for the last week of school. Ugly situation.”
A Cold Glimpse Of The Future
Jan Mika/Shutterstock
“The groom’s mother had painstakingly planned the wedding for months and even spent a considerable sum on the wedding as a gift. The groom was the only straight son out of three sons. Queue the wedding day and two flight cancellations meant the groom’s mother would be at least two hours late, even though the catering/priest etc were all happy to wait and the mother offered to pay the extra fees. The bride summarily declared the wedding must go on and simply didn’t want to wait. Regardless of the grooms attempt to convince her, loudly, and in front of everyone, she was adamant that she be listened too. The groom declared that if he was marrying that, then he didn’t want to marry and stormed out, leaving her for good.”