Let's be honest, some women go completely nuts when it comes to their wedding. These wedding planners have seen it all and now they are dishing the dirt on their craziest clients.
The Bride Tried To BITE The Bus Driver
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“I work as a Hotel Manager and we see bridezillas all the time.
The worst was when a bride was so upset that she couldn’t fit all of her bridesmaids on one shuttle back from the reception (they took two vans on a 10-minute trip back to the hotel and it only seats 12) that she tried to physically assault the driver.
He left her on the side of the road when she tried to bite him.
The kicker? When the groom found out and came to get her- she was acting so crazy he went to pick her up with her parents and when they found her trudging back down the highway and heard her terrible attitude they left her there too.”
“Brides sometimes don’t think rationally.”
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“A bride once called having a melt down because her friend got engaged as well and was planning to get married in the same year as she was… ‘Apparently it was her special year and not just a day. She threw a huge fit that this girl was only getting married to ‘steal her thunder’… Yes, because no one else can have a life at the same time as you. Her friend’s date wasn’t even in the same month or season. Hers was in October and her friends was in June…. Brides sometimes don’t think rationally.”
A Bride Confesses Her Love For The Wedding Planner
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“I’m not a wedding planner, but I do work in the industry and my friend is the wedding planner I’m telling this story about.
He is a good looking, straight male that has an amazing eye for design and detail. He can do everything from wedding dress design and execution, flowers, you name it. And his services are not cheap.
He had a bride who called him up a few days before her wedding and told him she couldn’t go through with the wedding because she was in love with someone else. The conversation went something like this:
Bride: ‘I can’t marry him, I just don’t love him anymore, I think I’m in love with someone else!’
Him: ‘What do you mean you’re in love with someone else!? Your wedding is in 5 days!’
Bride: ‘Well…. I’m in love with you. You just GET me! I’ve never met anyone else like you!’
Him: ‘…Do you know how much your parents are paying me to get you?!’
She ended up getting married 5 days later and it was never mentioned again.”
Bridezillas Have All Kinds Of Class, or Not!
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“I am a wedding/special event planner in Toronto. I own my own planning company, and I have been in the industry for about 8 years.
I have so many horror stories that I don’t know which to choose.
I had a bride that openly spoke utter and complete nonsense about the grooms family (in front of his face). She would say that they were ‘crazy, unclassy and annoying,’ and come to the wedding, her family was actually the hardest family I ever had to deal with and the groom’s family was absolutely lovely. On top of all this, the bride yelled at all of the vendors all day, resulting in the videographers leaving after just 1 hour of shooting, the photographer cried in the bathroom, and the groom and the bride’s cousins apologized to me for her behavior all night.
I had one horrible bride who I planned an amazing wedding for. She raved about how much she loved the food all evening, but the day after the wedding, she wrote a bad review about the caterer on Yelp and told me she wouldn’t remove it unless they gave her a discount. She’s a horrible person.
I had one horrific couple that didn’t care about anyone. The groom was 30 minutes late for the ceremony, but it was no big deal because the bride was 2 hours late. After the ceremony, we had to shorten cocktails to make up for lost time. The couple got wasted in their limo, and both ended up falling asleep. They were both so late for their own reception, that I had the venue serve dinner without them. Their parents were furious. The bride’s parents left early, and the couple didn’t arrive until 11 at night. Half of their guests left before they arrived, and they yelled at me for allowing dinner to start before their arrival. (This was a 400 guest wedding)
I had a really high strung groom who yelled at one of his young guests (the kid was 12) for sitting out of his assigned seat, and told the kid and his parents to leave.”
A Mother-In-Law Gets Nasty
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“I’m not a wedding planner but I am a musician.
I played a wedding last year, the bride and groom were fantastically lively, beautiful people. I couldn’t help but like them even though in the lead up if probably only spent an hour in their company.
Anyways, the bride wanted me to play at the ceremony, just acoustic guitar and singing outside the church, for the guests as they walked in. They invited me to the wedding and reception so I wasn’t just there for an hour and then went home.
About a week before the wedding, the bride asked if I’d also mind playing their first dance song.
I, of course, said yes, I was going to be there anyways. She wanted me to play ‘Thinking Out Loud’ by Ed Sheeran.
So fast forward to the day of the wedding, everything is going according to plan, about 10 minutes before the first dance is due to happen I go and get my guitar.
The groom’s mother followed me and basically confronted me and told me not to play that song and instead wanted me to play ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ because it was her favorite song and she wanted her son to do that. I very politely informed her that my agreement was with the bride and groom and therefore I’d play the Ed Sheeran song.
She wasn’t happy, went on a rant (I don’t remember what she said, I wasn’t paying attention) and she ended it with ‘I’m paying for this wedding, and I don’t care what that slut wants, you will play what I tell you to or you won’t get paid’
So I told her, of course, I would play her song, after all, me being a poor unemployed musician couldn’t possibly have any other gigs or a source of income, and was desperately relying on the $150 that an hour of singing at a wedding ceremony would bring me.
And then I got up to play, did what the bride wanted, making sure to stare at the MIL for a good 30 seconds, and then afterward promptly told her to stick her complaining up her behind.
I figured it was best to not ruin the happy couples day so I waited til they got back from the honeymoon before I told the bride what had happened. And bless her cotton socks she transferred me $300 on the spot for my troubles.”
She Thought He Had a “Problem With The Truth”
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“My worst bride was an Ivy League educated shrink. She tried to play head games with absolutely everyone involved in the planning of the wedding. Frequently had fits. She and I butted heads because she wanted a carpet running straight from the bottom of the stairs to the doors of the chapel. I told her it wasn’t possible (they didn’t line up). She kept on asking me if I was sure, even after I showed her exactly what I meant. She narrowed her eyes and told me she thought I had a problem with the truth.
She was very controlling with the groom as well. I remembered their names and looked them up on Facebook a while back. They’re divorced and he appears to be happily remarried.”
A Groomzilla Goes Bananas on Bar Staff
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“I work on a mobile bar that travels to different weddings in our region of the country.
We had this couple who were a bit strapped for cash so we did their wedding for cheap (we normally serve more lavish weddings).
Anyway, they were so nice to begin with but a lot of their guests brought their own alcohol to the venue which isn’t allowed. We confiscated it and promised to give it back at the end. One of these guests was the groom’s father who brought a whole keg of ale.
Around 10pm most of the guests were leaving (the party was supposed to go on until 1am) as the bride and groom had been taking drugs and were pretty smashed. We weren’t selling any more drinks so we decided to leave early, refund the customers a bit of money and leave all the confiscated booze behind.
The bride (who booked us) was cool with this so we proceeded to leave.
The groom was not cool with this.
Just after we packed up he started demanding drinks and the phone numbers of all our female staff – we denied of course as the bar was packed away and nobody wanted to give him their number. Eventually, we had packed everything into my bosses trailer and were ready to leave.
We all ran to the car park as the groom was kicking off by this point and everyone jumped into my bosses car apart from me (as I drove myself). My boss pulls away out of the car park as the groom comes out of the venue and starts hurling chairs at her car and trailer, screaming nonsense and swearing at the same time.
He hadn’t noticed me yet. I turned the key in my car (a classic VW Bug) which of course didn’t start. He noticed me then. I kept trying the engine and after a few tries, it started. I turned on my headlights and there he was. 6’2″ of drug-addled groom standing with angry eyes in front of my tiny car.
I couldn’t get around him as he kept running in front of me so I decided to drive straight at him and hope he moved out of the way. He didn’t. Instead, he jumped on to my car and eventually fell off the curved hood.
Never looked back”
A Bride Goes Nuts Over The 8 Hours Of Video
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“I used to shoot wedding videos. I worked at this place that sold everything and I only worked on videos. We’d shoot on the weekends and edit during the week. I was assigned this wedding and no one told me anything was special about it. I show up and it was an Indian wedding.
In a typical wedding we would mic up the groom and the bride and groom would stand in front of the preacher and the one mic would get everyone’s audio.
…except in this wedding, the bride and groom sat on a swing and the person officiating the wedding was pacing back and forth. So my audio was like this: ‘Today we are here to celebrate the LIVES OF THIS young couple who have agreed to spend…’
On top of that, the bride and groom had eloped months earlier and this was all for show. So what did the bride and groom do? Sat there and talked smack about all their guests.
So not only could I barely hear the guy talking, I had way too much audio about how the bride’s mother’s cousin was a drunk and a slut.
Then we go to the reception. The reception lasted 8 hours. 8 hours! I brought enough batteries and tapes but wow that was a long time. I set a camera up at one end of the hall for a long shot, then a slightly closer shot from over the DJ booth, and I was doing handheld camera work. Every few songs I’d move my long shot cam to get a different angle.
Now we go into the editing phase. This is really the first time I ever interact with the couple where we spend any amount of time together. I got shots while they are getting ready, but we didn’t really talk that much.
So I’m editing and we have a standard format we follow. A montage in the beginning, ceremony footage, first dance, father daughter dance, mom/son dance, cake cutting, random footage of people dancing, testimonials and well wishes, etc. Basic stuff. It ends up being about 2-4 hours once everything is done.
Theirs was 5 hours long. We gave them a copy and the next day the bride stormed in the store demanding the rest of her wedding. I have no idea what’s she’s talking about and I don’t get paid for any re-editing work. We gave her an hour longer than any video I’d ever done, but that wasn’t enough. She wanted all 8 hours of the reception. Edited together.
I loaded all my shots up and did huge cuts where I’d stay on a shot until it sucked, then I’d change it. Some shots wouldn’t move for 3 songs. There was no way I was spending a lot of time on this.
We finally finished and exported the video to DVD. We called her in and she wanted to watch it in the store…and she brought a note pad. As she’s watching she’s making an ‘edit list’ of things she wants me to change. That list ended up being 3 pages of nonsense.
I stood up, looked her in the face and said, ‘This job isn’t worth it. I quit.’
That was the last wedding video I ever edited.”
Rampaging Brides and Moms
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“I work at a facility that we rent out for weddings. We probably host like 8 weddings a year and weddings bring out the worst in people. You can have the calmest, chill person on your first meeting, but by the time that the wedding rolls around, that bride will be heck on wheels.
My most recent bride was having what was obviously her second or third wedding. She kept trying to use everything for free, even though she had signed a very specific contract that stated what she could and could not do. She pitched a fit over that. Then, on the day of the wedding, she threw a nuclear meltdown fit when her bridesmaids got tired of taking photographs after three hours and went somewhere to get warm. She started screaming at the photographer that she was going to keep taking pictures and to hell with all of them.
I had a mother in law zilla one time, who, after seeing and approving of the chairs that we provided, caused a scene of epic proportions after she decided that the chairs weren’t good enough anymore. The bride was sobbing by the end of it, being consoled by monster-in-law who simply kept telling her ‘it’ll be alright, even though everything is ruined by these GREEN chairs.’
I had a bride rent our facility for her ‘classy’ wedding. She was a Bitch with a capital B. She refused to make eye contact with any staff member, got people’s attention by snapping her fingers at them, and made a complete and total fool of herself when she and her groom showed up plastered to the reception. A rumor had started to spread that she was pregnant, which is why they were getting married. She furiously denied this in a speech to everyone gathered at the wedding. The baby was born five months later, a healthy 10 lbs.”
Momzilla Trying To Change The Date!
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“How about momzilla? I was the planner for a wedding and had been working with the bride and groom. A few months into planning the groom’s mom calls me to change the date of the wedding. I thought it was kind of weird and called the couple to confirm the change. NOPE! The couple did not know anything about the date change and said to completely ignore the groom’s mom and call them if she tried to get in contact.”
A Baby Mama Shows Up Uninvited!
“The worst I’ve personally witnessed had a grooms baby mama (and ex-fiancé) come to the reception uninvited. She grabbed the wedding cake, chucked it at the newlyweds, and began screaming how he was a deadbeat dad while she grabbed table wine bottles that she smashed on the ground. Everyone was stunned in shock at first, but the ex-fiancé was ultimately restrained by the groomsmen. We called the police, and she was charged with assault, assault with a weapon (from waving around a wine bottle and clocking a groomsman,) and destruction of private property (both from the couple and the venue.) What a charmer. In the end, the parents of the groom asked me to arrange a lovely (and secret) private dinner for the newlyweds and their bridal party to make up for the fiasco.”
The Dress Is The Wrong Size, The Bride Is Angry, The Bride Is Wrong
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“My mom worked in a bridal salon when she was in college.
Sizing was a nightmare. Sandra came in to try on gowns. She tried on the large sample dress, had it pinned to see how it would look on her if it was her size. She said this was it, so my mom took her measurements, and figured out what size she needed to order.
My mom told her her dress will be a size 8 based on her measurements; Sandra threw a fit. ‘That’s impossible! All of my other dresses are size 4! I have been a size 4 since I was 14. I am not an 8! Order me a 4!’
My mom would explain how sizes vary from designer to designer and that, while she may be a 4 normally, with the designer of her dress her measurements are considered an 8, and it’s just a number, and if it’s too big it can be taken-in but a 4 couldn’t be taken-out… Sandra took none of that. Despite all protest, she demanded a 4.
A couple weeks before the wedding her size 4 dress arrived. It wouldn’t zip (duh). Bride had a meltdown. Mom had to apologize and reorder a larger dress at the bridal salon’s expense.”
The BrideDiva Won’t Make Eye Contact
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“I worked a wedding where I basically had to play a game of telephone all day long.
I’m a photographer and came onsite the day of a wedding to meet with the planner/coordinator who promptly told me to be careful around the bride. Apparently at the rehearsal the prior night the bride thought the coordinator was taking too much of her time (after two questions) and relayed through her bridesmaid that the coordinator was no longer allowed to speak to the bride or even look her in the eye. All communication would have to go through a family member from there on out.
I had worked with this coordinator in the past and knew her to be a consummate professional and pleasant person to be around. She had actually assumed the bride would get over her tantrum the day of the wedding, but nope, still no talking or eye contact. The coordinator tried her best to keep the wedding day going smoothly and on time but it was really tough to do so through a proxy. Taking photos took forever because I had to make sure a bridesmaid or sister was always with us to tell the couple where to stand and how to pose. It was one of the most awkward jobs I ever had.
Also should mention that when I came on-site for the wedding, I was able to locate the bride by the sound of her screaming at her hair/makeup artists. By the time I came into the bridal suite, she had switched to screaming at her bridesmaids for looking prettier than her and made them change their hairstyles to ‘look uglier.’
After I was done with the getting-ready portraits, I found the groom outside on a balcony just smoking a cig and staring into the sun with the longest sigh I’ve ever heard in my life.”
A New Caterer Is Already Frustrated
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“I’ve only been a catering director for a few months now but I already have a few gems:
One bride getting married in January is a lovely girl and fun to talk to/work with, but I feel like every conversation I have with her leads back to ‘I want to do [really cool thing], but I only want to pay [less than 1/4 of what [really cool thing] would reasonably cost].’ I’ve made some suggestions to her, but it’s like she’s waiting for me to offer her something for free just because she wants it. No…doesn’t work that way.
Just worked a wedding this past Saturday. They had booked for 100 people. When they gave me the guest list (I work at a country club with a security gate so we need everyone’s names so they can get in the gate) there were 117 people. I told them that I would have to charge them for 117 because that’s how much food we would have to prepare. Cue annoyed phone call from the bride being all ‘every time we talk to you it seems like there are more charges.’ Well yes, but every time you talk to me you add something, like guests or bar packages.
The weekend I started, we had a large and expensive wedding for the daughter of one of the club’s members. I was there but didn’t run it. Just this past week we got an email from the groom–three months later–wanting to ‘adjust the invoice’ due to X, Y, and Z that had gone wrong with his wedding. Pretty much everything that he mentioned on the list was either a) out of our control (i.e. My predecessor leaving right before their wedding), b) corrected when it was mentioned to us, or c) never mentioned until now. I’m honestly not sure what my manager is planning on doing about it because…how are we supposed to correct something that happened three months ago? It seems like a blatant money-grab. Oh and the parents of the bride had nothing but wonderful things to say about the wedding for weeks afterward, my guess is money-grab.
I’m sure I’ll run into plenty of brides- and groomzillas during my career, but honestly, the hardest part for me right now is working with people who are ‘easygoing’ and ‘don’t care.’ It makes me reeeeal nervous when I ask someone ‘Do you like A or B better?’ And they tell me they don’t care because then if I pick A and it turns out you actually liked B better but didn’t want to tell me for whatever reason, then it’s my fault. If you’re planning a wedding, protip: be decisive. I know it’s hard, but if the decision is difficult because it doesn’t matter to you, just make the decision rather than letting it fall to your poor planner who is terrified of upsetting you.”
A Bridezilla Is On Time, No One Else Is
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“The worst disaster I’ve seen was directly caused by a bride being a Bridezilla. If you’ve ever been to a wedding, you know that weddings run behind schedule. This bride was adamant that everything be exactly on time. Of course, it being a wedding, everything was running behind about 30 minutes. At 7:55, she could no longer handle that the wedding was running late and decided to skip ahead to the Hora (aka the traditional Jewish wedding dance). The Hora was scheduled for 8:00pm. We (the band) and the wedding planner suggested that we should not skip ahead, but she was having none of it. With her face red with effort, she screamed at us that the Hava Negila would start at 8:00pm and not a minute later. Well, she was paying us, so we did what we were told.
We started our Hava Negila’s at precisely 8:00pm. The guests rose and began to form a circle as they have done countless times before. But something was amiss – the groom was nowhere to be found. The bride was alone in the center of the circle. As if on autopilot, the guests danced and sang on while the bride’s expression changed from confused, to horrified, to hysterical. It was a train wreck. They finished the dance without the groom ever arriving. The bride was sobbing uncontrollably.
The groom was outside having a cigarette because the wedding was running 30 minutes late. He knew the schedule and thought he had time for the cigarette. In the end, it was the Bride’s own stubborn insistence that led to the tragic ending. She was the captain on her own Titanic, and we were the band playing as it sank. I sometimes wonder how that marriage worked out.
My #1 advice to people getting married is to enjoy their wedding day. No matter how much you plan ahead, things will always go wrong. Instead of trying to control and manage everything, spend your wedding day celebrating with your guests. No wedding ever goes perfectly. Considering you ideally only do it once, do your best to enjoy the ride.”