Worst Wedding You've Ever Attended

[SWTXBelle]

Let's see . . . my sorority sister with whom I lived for one hellish year (she was part of a package deal - I loved Stacy, so I ended up with her and Alice). First, the invitation - a lovely Victorian era print on the front - but the text - ??? We were asked to come and watch as they celebrated their love. I called Stacy - was this an invitation? We weren't going to go - but then we were asked to be in the house party. Being properly brought up southern girls, we knew we were stuck.
SO - it's August, in San Marcos Texas. I am 6 months pregnant and already pretty darn big. The wedding is outside in a park, near the train tracks and across from the police station. The wedding is delayed because the mother of the bride has disappeared. I am sweltering in a navy blue dress and hat. The groom's side of the affair is interesting - all in jeans, cowboy shirts, trucker hats - and the bride's is in suits, ties, and dresses. Yep, she's marrying Billy Joe Bubba Redneck (and let me say - I have a Bubba in my family, and one or two rednecks, but even they know how to dress for a wedding.) Finally the mom shows up. The wedding can begin!
Alice was a dance major. So here come 4 girls in white unitards, and begin to do a modern dance interpretation of marriage. The groom's side looks decidely uncomfortable.
Finally the wedding proper can begin. Alice comes down the aisle, and they begin their vows. OH WAIT - because the mom was late, the ceremony is now late . . .and here comes the train! The minister continues to try and conduct the service, but no one can hear him.
Did I mention that I'm pregnant? Oh - and this little park has no bathrooms. FUN.
We think the end is near - but no. Every police car at the station begins to peel out, sirens blaring, lights flashing. After that, the minister finally announces they are husband and wife.
Now off to the reception. We RACE to the reception(VFW) hall (I really need a bathroom) . It's locked up. Yeah! So we wait, and wait and wait - finally an aunt of the bride comes and opens it up. Nothing has been set up - other than the cake. No one knows what to do, so I end up setting up a table for the gifts, putting together the punch, getting Stacy to get the refreshments out, and I start pouring punch. That's what I do for the next hour and a half. Finally the happy couple leave,and I then help clean up.
And that's the last I ever heard from Alice No thank you, no phone call, nothing.
Not that I'm bitter.

So what's the worst wedding you've attended/

[carnation]

This precious local Mexican girl announced her wedding plans. The family immigrated here about 15 years ago and everyone loves them! I was excited because my family would get to see an authentic Mexican wedding, which they assured us they were having.

It was held in midsummer in this gorgeous but un-airconditioned stone church at a nearby college. Because we knew there would be a crowd, we arrived quite early. For 30 minutes before the wedding, bridesmaids and groomsmen were wandering casually up and down the aisle...so much for the surprise effect. At about 15 minutes after the appointed hour, they started an informal rehearsal! The Americans in the audience were looking around like, "What the ??" She had chosen some American friends to be attendants to carry some ropes of ivy down the aisle. Only thing was, no one was telling them what to do and they were looking around in dismay.

Finally the wedding ground into action. The ivybearers came cluelessly down the aisle, looked around, gave up, and sat down in the front! Then the groomsmen apparently got bored during the sermon and did the same! One groomsman's cell phone rang and he left. The mariachi band was wandering in and out. The priest did the ceremony in Spanish and then did the WHOLE THING in English. By now, it was surely 90 degrees in the church. I told my daughter if she got married in that church in the warm months, I wasn't coming. (So she did it in December.)

The reception was just as bad; apparently the dad invited every Latino in Georgia to it and they ran out of food. And the dad owns a huge restaurant! We couldn't move at all, they had very little food left by the time we got into line, and we left when people started getting thrown in the pool.

It was totally unlike any other Mexican wedding I've been to; the rest were classy and tasteful. I spent the next couple of years having to assure the Americans who went that most Mexican weddings are nothing like that.

[aephi alum]

The worst wedding I ever attended was the wedding of a high school / college classmate of my husband's: "Aaron".

Aaron had been raised as a Conservative Jew. Once in college, he rebelled and became totally non-religious. Some time after college, he "got religion" and decided to become a practicing Orthodox Jew.

In Orthodox Judaism, it's common for a matchmaker to introduce a young man and a young woman who might be well matched. If they hit it off, they sometimes get married pretty quickly. So, Aaron had been introduced to this young woman, "Leah", and they set a wedding date six weeks (!) away.

They sent out wedding invitations instructing guests to email (!) their responses.

Before and during the wedding ceremony, men and women were separated (very common in Orthodox Judaism). Before the ceremony, I made my own way, chatting with other women guests, but my poor DH had to pray along with the groom and all the other men... He was less than thrilled.

The ceremony itself was beautiful. Then came the Reception From Hell.

The seating at the reception was totally haphazard. Everyone at my table was a high school friend of the groom's, except me (placed there as my DH's wife) and one random guy who was a coworker of the groom's. The one random guy looked absolutely miserable, seated with no one he knew. There were huge gaps in the seating arrangements, because everyone who didn't respond was evidently assumed to be coming.

There was dancing (men and women were again separated). At one point, a line of women danced onto the floor, rocking their arms as if cradling babies, while the band played a lullaby. Hint much?

All the kosher caterers in Boston are booked up years in advance, because there are so few of them. So the happy couple had arranged catering from the local kosher Chinese restaurant (!!). And as if that weren't bad enough -

THEY RAN OUT OF FOOD.

THEY FREAKING RAN OUT OF FOOD.

So they sent back to the restaurant for more food. After a nice long delay while the food was prepared, it was sent over, and by the time it arrived it was COLD.

And there was no cake, pareve or otherwise.

DH exchanges emails with Aaron from time to time (he and Leah have a baby) but I haven't spoken to him since.

Oh, and the thank-you card? Over a year late.

[KSUViolet06]

I attended a wedding my freshman year (as a guest with one of my guy friends) that was AWFUL. The bride was his friend from HS. The bride and groom were both 19 and worked at a local Walmart. When he called her to RSVP, she sounded really excited and told her that her dad had "spared no expense" and it was going to be a really great event.

It started off on a bad note. The church had no air conditioning and it was 90 degrees outside!

The ceremony was scheduled to begin at 1:00. The bride overslept! It didn't start until 3:30! The pianist had another wedding at 2:00, so she left & they had to walk down the aisle in silence. A bunch of guests left because it was taking entirely too long (the reception was scheduled to start at 2:00).

By the time the ceremony was over, it was 4:00ish and I was starving (I hadn't eaten since like 10 AM). So I was looking forward to the food (since the invite said the menu was an Italian buffet).

We pull up to the place, and it's the GYM of a local veteran's hall.

THERE ARE NO CHAIRS. NOWHERE TO SIT. EVERYBODY HAD TO STAND.

There is also no DJ, BAND, SINGER, DANCING MONKEYS, NOTHING! NO ENTERTAINMENT!

So we get inside and here's the kicker:

The reception had NO FOOD. There was a sheetcake, a plate of cookies, and punch. NO FOOD.


We were FLABBERGASTED. My friend asked the bride's mom when the food would be arriving. She replied, "Oh I know on the invite it said there would be a buffet, but we just could afford it. Sorry. You can put your gifts on the floor in the corner."

The bride was just as happy as can be, there was no indication that she was upset about the way things were going. She walked up to us and asked us if we were enjoying ourselves. WTF? YOU HAVE NO FOOD, ENTERTAINMENT, OR SEATING! We are standing around. I could do this at home.

This was the shortest reception I've ever seen. Within about a half hour of getting there, everyone had congratulated the couple, put their gifts on the table, and gotten out of there.

That was the most awful thing I've ever gone to in my life. We were starving to death by the time we left and couldn't wait to leave so we could go out to eat.

[BetteDavisEyes]

I was invited to the wedding of a cousin whom I have little contact with. She had an elaborate and traditional Mexican church wedding in a beautiful church. It was truly a spectacular ceremony. Then the reception from hell began.

When we were told that she wanted a traditional Mexican wedding, we weren't told one little thing. Traditional, in the mind of her annoying mother, meant that ALL THE WOMEN GUESTS PREPARE AND COOK THE FOOD FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF THE MEN!!!

I couldn't believe it. There we were, all dressed up, expected to cook for someone else's father, brother, husband, etc. My mom, sisters, & I just said thanks for the invite, see ya!

[NinjaPoodle]

Ghetto Weddings II
Ghetto Weddings I

For your amusement..we certainly have enjoyed the stories...

[ZTAngel]

One of my sorority sisters got married a few years ago. It wasn't bad as much as it was just tacky.

My roommate and I were both friends with this girl. Technically, if you are inviting people who are over the age of 18 and live together but are not a couple, you are supposed to send them each a separate invite. My sorority sister did not do this. My roommate and I got an invitation addressed to the both of us. I think my sorority sister was trying to cut costs but seriously???? These invitations were not the fancy kind so they were a $1.50 each at the most plus the postage back then was 34¢. Plus she invited about 30 people to the wedding. My old roommate and I joke to this day that we're each other's significant others.

She started the ceremony much earlier than the invitation had stated. My friend and I showed up right on time only to see my friend already walking down the aisle. Argh. We would've been early except the park the wedding was held at was located in the heart of Downtown Orlando and it was about 4pm so everyone was still at work in the high-rises so we couldn't find parking anywhere. A lot of her guests had to park over a mile away from the site.

The park itself was nice but it was located next to the Orlando Executive Airport. During her vows, planes were flying over the park drowning out the ceremony. We couldn't hear anything.

My friend's dress did not fit her. She didn't want to pay for alterations. The dress fit her in the waist and the hips but was swimming on her in the bust area. Everytime she bent over, I really thought she was going to fall out of her dress. When she was sitting down at the table during the reception, people came by to her to wish her congratulations. If you stood over her, you had a clear shot right down her dress. And she wasn't wearing a bra.

There was no dancing, bouquest toss, cake nor music of any kind at the reception. It was a private room with a big table that everyone sat at. It was much like you'd imagine for a rehearsal dinner.

I get that she was trying to save money and what not but there's some things that you don't skimp on. The biggest being alterations on your dress. The pictures from that day will be looked at for a lifetime. She'll get to look back at pictures of herself with her boobs falling out of her dress.

Now that I think of it, this is the 2nd wedding I've been to in a park by an airport and the 2nd time the reception has been more of a rehearsal dinner type thing. I guess I have bad luck?

[SWTXBelle]

Okay, reading y'alls reminds me of two more . (I think being greek means you have more weddings to go to, hence more stories).

One of my sisters was getting married on Galveston Island in Texas. She was married in beautiful Victorian-era St. Patrick's Cathedral. The bride and bridesmaids came to the wedding in a trolley with a big sign that said "Get me to the church on time!" So far - cute!
So we are in this gorgeous, recently restored cathedral. The organ starts, and a high-pitched nasally soprano starts singing. "OOOOOOOO. . .my loooooooove, my daaaaarrrlliiinnng, I've hungered for your touch . . . " Yep, "Unchained Melody". We are stifling giggles in the Gamma Phi section. Next up - "Ave Maria". The bride had had medical problems as a child, and the Virgin Mary was her patron saint. She had a bouquet to lay at the feet of a lovely carved statue of Our Lady at the front of the cathedral. Somehow, no one had noticed that Lisa is about 5' tall, and the foot of the statue is about 6' off the ground. She attempts to place the bouquet - no luck. She jumps - again, no dice. Finally a groomsman comes to her aid.
The reception was at Moody Gardens, and very tasteful. HOWEVER - she had an "undersea" theme, and the centerpieces included long, tall vases with goldfish. Real goldfish. Who had apparently been there some time, without enough oxygen. Dead fish at the wedding is not a good thing.

I have a thing about weddings that are taken over by the photographer. I was at a wedding for a fraternity brother of my (ex) husband. After 30 minutes of sitting and waiting for the happy couple to emerge from pictures, we left, went to a bar, had a few drinks and went back. The groom wasn't thrilled, but I think you have an obligation to let your guests at least go get a seat in the church hall and have some punch while you take a bizillion pictures. We went back, behaved ourselves, and ate our sheet cake and drank our Hawaiian Punch.

[Glitter650]

When I was a bridesmaid at the wedding of my friend from HS, all of it was fabulous...... except ... they decided not to hire a DJ, so after food was served and such... everything just kinda died... and they met at a line dancing bar and both like dancing, so you'd think they would've figured out some way around the expense of a DJ == sigh ==

[OneTimeSBX]

OMG!! i cant believe i forgot one of the worst weddings ever...

1. the bride lost her shoes. and it took 1 1/2 hours to find them.

2. the bridesmaids (all 8 or 9 of them) walked in to "Ribbon in the Sky"...but they had so far to walk, and there were so many of them, the song ran out, and someone thought nobody would notice if they just held the rewind button and start the song over in the middle. besides the fact that you could HEAR THE CD being skipped backwards, they had to redo it. three times.

3. the groom was african, and so was the pastor. whether they actually got married, only they know. i didnt understand a damn thing.

4. the reception started 2 hours late. she came in from her 4 billion pics, cut the cake, tossed the bouquet, did a toast, and left. no first dance, nothing. apparently they had a flight to catch for their honeymoon that same evening. they didnt even get to eat...and trust me, this reception was at least 10k. instead of getting served salad, then entree, then dessert, all three were waiting on the table, and they told us just to come sit and eat, dont worry about place cards or saying grace!!

her mother was super pissed, when, 6 months later, her daugher returned with a newborn (apparently she was expecting during this whole event and nobody knew). she hasnt returned back to her husband since. i think that was almost 7 years ago...

[AChiOhSnap]

Neither of these happened at weddings I actually attended, but people still get a kick out of them. Here are the two bad wedding stories...

1. I worked as a receptionist in a chiropractic office in high school. One patient that regularly came in was very much a hick. I don't mean to be mean, because she was a very nice lady. However, she was straight up redneck: we would have to remind her not to go barefoot around in our office because her feet were gross and unsanitary, and she would always post-date her payments to us about a week (because she was always just one step ahead of overdrawing her account and the collections agency) until we started demanding she pay in cash, etc. etc.

Anyway, this woman -- we'll call her Dawnna -- was incredibly friendly and always eager to share the goings on of her life to the office staff. One day came in with pictures from her half-sister's wedding. Nobody knew Dawnna's sister or anything, but we were happy to look at the pictures. I guess whatever Dawnna's social condition was ran in the family: it was the most atrocious wedding I've ever seen.

Dawnna's sister, Shawnna, was 8mos pregnant which is fine, whatever, I don't look down on pregnant women getting married except the princess seamed dress actually actually splitting at the seams because it hadn't be altered correctly. Not to mention the fact that Shawnna was significantly overweight and the spaghetti straps were far too tight and cutting into her shoulders. However, Shawnna had apparently found the money to make one alteration to her dress: in honor of her unborn baby, Shawnna got a gigantic butterfly tattooed from shoulder to shoulder and down to her mid back. She had her seamstress alter the dress to make it backless in order to showcase her butterfly tat.

The cake: the bride and groom's senior pictures (not a picture of the two of them together, but side-by-side senior pictures scanned onto the cake. Mullets and all.) The bridesmaids: the bride was only 18 and 7 months out of high school, so she had all the bridesmaids re-wear their prom dresses. The ceremony: performed by Shawnna and Dawnna's dad (who was a minister) under one of those horrific balloon arches in the VFW hall. Reception: VFW hall with cheese 'n' cracker platter. Standing room only. The guests: Many high school friends, drunkenly packed into the very tiny VFW hall. Flasks abounded in the pictures.

Dawnna, naturally, got misty-eyed when showing us the pictures saying it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Good for Dawnna, I bet it was fun. Later on that year, Dawnna made me and the other staffers Christmas ornaments made out of -- I shit you not -- dried applesauce formed into a heart shape. I don't get it either. But bless Dawnna, she really was a very sweet woman.

2. Through college, I worked summers as a receptionist at a local country club. The country club is located in a very tony zip code of a very wealthy suburb, so you'd think that weddings there would be the epitome of class and style, and most were. One wedding, however, was so indescribable that I actually had to call a friend to "run something over" to my work so he could see it for himself....

This woman, let's call her Julie, was getting married for the second time. She had one attendant, her 11 year old daughter from a previous marriage. I knew something was going to go horribly wrong when the catering manager stopped by my desk a half-hour before Julie's ceremony was supposed to start in the club garden. The catering manager exasperatedly complained that she didn't think the bride and groom were going to "go through with it" and stomped off in frustration. Ooooh boy, I thought, I'm in for good old-fashioned freakshow. And I was not disappointed.

The highlights:
- Julie's and her fiance went through the ceremony with the minister but the fiance refused to sign the marriage license.
- Julie's 11 y.o. daughter flounced into the reception in a pink mini-dress with those ripped-up looking handkerchief hems (you could see her butt when the wind blew). The dress had S&M style metal rings down the front, with a white lace ribbon criss-crossed through. Great for an adult halloween costume, totally inappropriate for a preteen. The daughter actually told me she didn't like the dress but her mom picked it out for her.
- Julie and the fiance spent the majority of the reception screaming at each other on the club patio while the minister tried to mediate.
- At one point, Julie walked by my desk and through tears demanded that I call her a cab so she could leave. Julie's dad marched over to me, pointed a finger in my face and growled "Don't you dare call that cab." I smiled politely and told them I was going on my dinner break and I would be happy to do whatever it was they decided when I got back.
- Julie's fiance finally, FINALLY signed the license after two hours of screaming, but not before the best man drunkenly tried to punch the minister because the minister wasn't "minding his own business." The minister quickly ran out.
- One guest brought an escort. An actual bonafide prostitute. I know she was an escort because she wore a 1980s red taffeta minidress with a sequined halter bodice, was at least 50 years old and incredibly haggard looking, and asked her date (decked out in his finest Don Johnson "Miami Vice" gear) "what do you do for a living, honey?" Totally awesome.
- One poor old woman started choking on the chicken dinner at the reception. The heimlich worked, but I still had to dial 911. The paramedics pretty much broke up the party. The bride left in tears.

I LOVE bad weddings!

[ASUADPi]

Wedding #1- I was in this wedding. It was supposed to start at 4pm. We were all there by like 1 to get ready and get pictures done. We still started 30minutes late. They had their friend, who had just become "internet" ordained, perform the ceremony. The ceremony wasn't bad actually, it was afterwords. The pictures took like an hour, just for the bridal party. So we then go to be "hostesses" for the guests who are mingling and drinking soda (no alcohol because the groom didn't turn 21 for another 6 weeks, she was 24). They finally show up about 45 minutes later. They didn't have a DJ, to save on money, but decided to burn CD's with their favorite music. Problem with that is that all their favorite music was music you COULDN'T DANCE TOO! The only dancing anyone did was them, for their first dance, which was choreographed. Guests started booking right after the cake. As a bridesmaid, me and my friend, who were going to be crashing at their apartment that night, had to figure out when we could make a "graceful" exit. We were both exhausted, bored and uncomfortable (neither one of our dresses really fit us well by the time the wedding rolled around).
Then the next day we got bitched out by the bride. See during their pictures we (the bridesmaids, maid and matron of honor) had gone to the bridal suite and put flower petels on the pillows and on the comforter and around the room. We put on some soothing, romantic music, we dolled the room up. Well, it turned out that the petals, bleed into the white comforter. So instead of being grateful for what we did she yelled at us and chewed us out for like 10 minutes and it was only me and my friend Tania, who got the crap. We were beyond pissed that she was treating us this way. Neither one of us talked to her for quite some time, not until she apologized for her behavior. The stupid thing was, all she did was call the front desk and tell the manager "my bridal party tried to do something nice for us and the comforter got ruined". Did she get charged? NO!!! But then she still screamed at us. Talk about gratitude

Wedding #2- this was a sisters wedding. The ceremony was fine but afterwords was just bad. Her pictures took an hour and a half to get done. They didn't have anything set up for the guests, the DJ wasn't playing, drinks weren't available and appetizers weren't even being served. When it was finally time for dinner, it was a buffet line and the DJ went table by table. My table was the LAST to get to the buffet line and when we got there most of the food was gone and it was COLD. We go back to the table to eat and the other half of the room, which got their food like 30-45 minutes before us was done and they were bored, this included the bridal party! We literally got like 10 minutes to eat before the "festivities" started. The rest of the reception wasn't really that bad, the dinner was just horrible. Made me realize that I would never do a buffet.
I also got annoyed with my sister, her wedding was on my birthday. She knew it was my birthday. She saw me many times during the reception and she not once wished me a happy birthday. I undstand that it was her special day, but in some respects your birthday is your special day, all I wish was that she had ACKNOWLEDGED it. I wasn't wanting her to stop everything and have her friends and family sing happy birthday to me. But to have her say "thank you so much for coming to my wedding. happy birthday" would have been nice.
I got a card, but because I'm not married, I haven't heard from her in 2 years.

[Still BLUTANG]

my friends know better than to get married on my b-day. i declined a wedding invitation from a CLOSE FRIEND who got married on my b-day (my mom went instead); also my LS when planning her wedding said, we were thinking about this date... i shot her a look and said i love you but i wont be there. that was the end of that. LOL.

Originally Posted by ASUADPi

I also got annoyed with my sister, her wedding was on my birthday. She knew it was my birthday. She saw me many times during the reception and she not once wished me a happy birthday. I undstand that it was her special day, but in some respects your birthday is your special day, all I wish was that she had ACKNOWLEDGED it. I wasn't wanting her to stop everything and have her friends and family sing happy birthday to me. But to have her say "thank you so much for coming to my wedding. happy birthday" would have been nice.
I got a card, but because I'm not married, I haven't heard from her in 2 years.

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by ASUADPi

I also got annoyed with my sister, her wedding was on my birthday. She knew it was my birthday. She saw me many times during the reception and she not once wished me a happy birthday. I undstand that it was her special day, but in some respects your birthday is your special day, all I wish was that she had ACKNOWLEDGED it. I wasn't wanting her to stop everything and have her friends and family sing happy birthday to me. But to have her say "thank you so much for coming to my wedding. happy birthday" would have been nice.
I got a card, but because I'm not married, I haven't heard from her in 2 years.

Wasn't this part of the plot in 16 Candles?

[Benzgirl]

The worst wedding I went to was a Greek wedding last year. I don't mean our kind of Greek; it was Greek Orthodox. I need to preface this by saying that I grew up Orthodox, so I am well aware of the long ceremony and customs.

First came the shower....there were about 250 women for a 1:00 shower. Most of the women showed up in cocktail attire. Just before I left, a fist fight broke out between two women.


Since I knew a lot of people who would be attending the wedding, I went by myself. The usher wouldn't walk me down the main aisle because I was not "Greek". Who cares? The only thing that I cared about was that I didn't want to sit next to the acquaintance with whom they sat me. Mark had just been fired from my employer, and complained the entire time.

The wedding started 45 minutes late because the maid of honor was late getting to the church. Then she had to "do" the mother of the bride's hair AND her aunt's hair. We were all sitting in church freezing for what seemed like ever. I kept looking back at some friends who had flown in from Texas and the looks they kept throwing me were so funny.

So wedding finally begins. Mark, who was not of Greek descent, but thought he was, began to chant with the priest. The father of the bride kept trying to run out the church for a cigarette. The mother of the bride was making hand signals to all of the brides maids. By the time the reception started, we were starved but didn't care because we needed large amounts of alcohol.

The reception was at the adjoining hall. The bride, who was on a "strict budget" had 600 (that's right) people at the wedding. The hall held about 400 at most. 10 of us were crammed into a 6 foot table. If someone behind us had to pull their chair out, we had to move in. They ran out of liquor before dinner was served. By the time our food was served it was cold. We probably shouldn't have eaten it because everyone who ordered the chicken got sick the next day.

The father of the groom handed $3000 to two of my friends to go on a liquor run. Because the church hall is in a bad area of town, they had to drive 30 minutes to find anyone who sold premium shelf liquor. We finally had alcohol about 2 hours later.

The dancing, of course, was all ethnic, whiich would be fine in most circumstances. I have never seen a bride throw stacks of $1 bills from her cleavage, then grab a push broom to sweep it up. The best (or worst) sight of the evening was Mark trying to belly dance. It was quite a view watching him wiggle his butt.

Fast forward to thet honeymoon....I forgot to mention, the bride was not just a virgin, but a very naive virgin. She knew nothing! After the wedding night, she told her new husband that it hurt too much and never wanted to do it again.

The wedding was in May, we received thank you notes in December. The "thank you notes" were printed on a home printer with a fill-in-the-blank body:
Dear___________________,
Thank you for the ______________. It really means a lot to us.
Love, Bride and Groom

Very few of us have spoken with her since the wedding. From what she told us about the wedding night, I won't expect a baby shower invitation soon.