14 guests share what happened when a bride or groom didn't show up for the wedding.

We've seen runaway brides on horseback in early 2000s romantic comedies, but what happens in a real life tale of jilting?

So, when a Reddit user asked, 'people who went to a wedding where the groom or bride never showed up, what happened next?' scarred guests everywhere were ready to share what went down during the awkward post-rejection moment.

1.

I went to one where the bride-to-be didn't show up. It was very awkward. A few minutes into the bridal party marching down the aisle, the cousin of the bride marched to the platform from the side entrance and very tersely said that the wedding was not going to happen today and that we should all take our gifts with us if we'd brought one to the ceremony.

There was an outbreak of murmuring immediately after she stepped away from the microphone. We all just kind of milled about and formed packs in the lobby trying to figure out if anyone knew what was going on, sending people to scout around and find out.

The immediate family on both sides were all hiding somewhere so everyone in my group was scanning around for the cousin who made the speech. A different group nearby our pod eventually unearthed what happened: two days before the wedding, while the bride was at her bachelorette party, the groom was taking part in a craigslist casual encounter.

The guy was a d*ckhead and his neighbor saw what was happening and spilled the beans to the bride when he saw her the day before her wedding. The bride and groom fought all night long but in the end they decided to go through with it.

The bride obviously changed her mind when she got to the venue, though. Naturally, they eloped three weeks later. Two months after that, they divorced. - rutgerswhat

2.

It happened to my cousin. He went to the wrong church lol. - mike1883

3.

I wouldn't say he never showed up but rather the f*ck called off the wedding (This is my cousins not mine) because his Mommy and Daddy told him not to, Safe to say I want to strangle him next time I see him. - KobraTheAssassin28

4.

My Mum and her boyfriend at the time got dolled up to go a friend's wedding. There were a smattering of guests waiting outside the church, so they joined them and waited for about an hour, well into the time the wedding was supposed to start.

Eventually the parish priest arrived at the church, and informed them that the wedding had actually been called off early that morning; Mum didn't ever find out exactly why, but she did know that the groom was overly attached to his mother. Some of the guests had been contacted, but not every single one of them.

Apparently the couple stayed together after the cancelled wedding and had a small, family-only wedding later when she became pregnant. As far as we know, they're still together. - EarlGreyhair

5.

So I'm camping at a lake house my cousins own in the midwest. My family brought a camper because there was alot of people staying there for this wedding. I get up in the morning and everyone is all excited for the wedding. I eat, hang out with my cousins, then go take a nap.

I wake up, theres 30 new people there waiting for the bride, i go sit down next to my mom to find out whats happening. Apperently the bride to be said 'naa f*ck this' and took the truck that they BOTH took to this lake back to Colorado where they lived. She stood him up, stole his truck, then he got a plane home and married her in Colorado. They're divorced now... - yocancountto5

6.

My neighbor sent out invitations for her daughters wedding....a week before the wedding the neighbor had to explain that the wedding would take place but there would be a different groom...it was awkward and humiliating for her.... - oldgreymare59

7.

A wedding photographer friend of mine arrived at the venue (a hotel near the airport). The bride was supposed to be in her dress when he got there, only she was in jeans. She greeted him with a 'there isn't going to be a wedding.'

The groom had hopped a plane earlier that morning. He and his family had called all their guests the night before to tell them the wedding was cancelled. No one bothered to tell the bride.

Because everything was already paid for, the bride's family had a 'reunion' (though I think he said the bride just went home). They ate as much reception food as possible, took photos, and the DJ played music for them. - rachelmaryl

8.

I went to school with a girl who got married in July 2016 after 3 months of dating a guy. They got divorced in November 2016, after the presidential election. Turns out one of them was an extreme Conservative and the other was an extreme Liberal and this was not discovered until then... - PeterBarry_007

9.

A friend of mine got married on April 1st. They showed up, got to the alter and right before everything was about to start, they both yelled 'April Fools!!' and ran out of the venue. - 72scott72

.

10.

The groom's mom (MIL) wanted the wedding to be done a certain way, perhaps the wedding she wanted and never got. She relayed these orders to her son, who then relayed them to his fiancée and pressured her until she gave up and did it MIL's way.

The morning of the wedding, the bride looked at it and realized that none of it was what she wanted, and she couldn't take this anymore. So she put her foot down, called the wedding off, and then eventually got remarried the way she wanted to, after she beat it into the groom's head that wife > mom. - Kahtoorrein

11.

Once the bride didnt turn up at all, turns out she booked a plane to Australia and had no intention of coming to the wedding. - IndianLarper

12.

Everyone just went home. some people got mad/annoyed if they traveled far. people wanted to know if they'd get their gifts back. overall, uneventful. - [deleted]

13.

I went to a wedding where the bride was late - about 20 minutes after the ceremony was supposed to start. Apparently she overslept and then got stuck in traffic! Sometimes I truly think I live in a sitcom. - [deleted]

14.

I went to one where neither of them showed up. Turns out the girl (my cousin) got sick (very sick, hospital sick), and the guy just ran away. At the beginning no one told her about the guy. It took two days until all the lies and excuses didn't work anymore. It was devastating for her. - [deleted]