16 married people whose weddings were 'ruined' share what went down.

We've heard of the rare wedding that gets canceled because someone refused to 'forever hold their peace,' runaway brides on horseback, or the open bar hitting Aunt Lisa a bit too hard on the dance floor...

Still, a truly disastrous day of one destructive vendor, venue, or scheduling mistake after another can haunt every future family holiday for years to come. So, when a Reddit user asked married people of the internet whose weddings were 'ruined,' 'how and what happened?' people were ready to relive the horror story. Note to all couples planning a wedding: City Hall is always an option.

1.

My mom's best friend (and maid of honor) showed up the day of my mom's first wedding with her head shaved. Apparently she was in love with the groom and this was her silent protest. The marriage only lasted 2 years and the groom eventually married the maid of honor. - k3lti3

2.

My mom ruined my wedding (she ruined my brother's wedding, too, but that's another story). She loved my fiancé until we got engaged, and then suddenly he wasn't 'successful' enough. I wanted to get married at the yacht club because an uncle on my dad's side could offer a huge discount.

She shot that idea down because she didn't want it to look like my dad's side paid for it (they're divorced). She tried to book the wedding at the same country club where her brother's recently failed marriage took place. She shot down every single one of my choices from dress, to food, to colors and flowers.

It got to the point where I hated thinking about my own wedding, and my husband finally suggested we just elope. So we booked a date with a judge, got married in secret, and asked our families to meet us for dinner, where we told everyone what we'd just done.

My mom couldn't be angry about it in front of everyone without looking like a nutcase. 12 years later, no regrets. It's not about the wedding, it's about the marriage. - Pibbles4Lyfe

3.

I briefly owned a photo booth business that was hired mainly for weddings. The worst thing I saw was the wedding planner showed up drunk and/or high and disappeared with the best man (brother of the groom) to go hook up.

So no one was in charge and the ceremony had to be delayed while people went to find the best man. He also couldn't be found for his speech. The DJ delayed several times.

They tried to have sex in my photo booth, so I took her by the arm and told her everyone knew she was wasted and they all hated her. Pretty harsh, but even I was pissed at her as I tried to help the bride and DJ coordinate the event. The wedding coordinator left during dinner.

We did our best, but the wedding sucked and the bride was pretty upset that nothing worked out. She gave the DJ and I an extra hundred bucks for our efforts, and laughed when I told her that I told off the wedding coordinator. - Joliet_Jake_Blues

4.

My wife's parents were against us getting married (that's a long story for another time). First my wife's brother is a pastor. She wanted him to perform the wedding. Her parents talked him into refusing. Then my FIL said he wouldn't walk my wife down the aisle.

Then, when we were continuing to plan the wedding anyways, my MIL 'surprised' us by showing up at our door. Luckily, she lived in Washington and we lived in southern California, and my wife's brother (not the pastor) was able to warn us that she was on her way. We then found out that she had an appointment setup with our pastor and my parents to try to get the rest of them on their side to get us to call off the wedding.

It didn't work, and my MIL was shocked when she was told by my pastor 'they're adults, and can make this decision for themselves. I've known strider820 for years, and he's a good man' That was the final straw, we canceled the wedding and went to the court house to get married by a judge, followed up by some breakfast burritos on the way home.

When we got back, my MIL was trying to get my wife to get an annulment, including giving her information on how and where to get an abortion, in case that was a factor. My wife's brother was upset, saying that we were basically saying 'f*ck you' to the whole family, to which we replied 'well, ya'

Then her parents planned a joke of a 'wedding' where we got no say in who, where or what was involved. They had the wedding in Washington, so it was cold, wet, and gray.

That also caused the only people from my family to be there to be my parents. My 'best man' was my wife's brother, who I didn't like at the time, as my best friend was too poor to make the trip to Washington.

They basically didn't think we were really married until after that glorified party. It really would have been nice if they used all the money they used to throw a circus to help us with a down payment for a house or something instead.

It has caused issues between me and her parents ever since. Meanwhile, we've been happily married for almost 9 years. - strider820

5.

This didn't happen to me, but to my cousin. During the cake-cutting portion of the evening, her new husband thought it would be funny to smash a piece of cake on her face.

He miscalculated, and ended up essentially punching her in the mouth, chipping her front teeth and cutting her face. The reception ended shortly thereafter. - reenybobeeny

6.

Best man's girlfriend got drunk and angry that she wasn't sitting at the bridal party table. Best man got angry and they both walked out at the start of the reception after the girlfriend tried to fight my maid of honor and the staff at the venue.

After they left the reception they went and trashed an onsite cabin we were all staying in and the crazy girlfriend was taken away by police. Nothing like getting pulled out of your own wedding to go talk to the police.

Tried not to let it ruin the night, but my Husband was pretty devo as it was his best mate of 14 years. Still haven't talked to them and it has been 2.5 months. - lejade

7.

My step mother decided that she was going to be my wedding coordinator right after the proposal. My husband and I gave in and said yes after my dad and stepmom bullied us into it by pointing out they were going to pay, that was the first warning sign.

We planned to get married a year later so we had plenty of time to decide on a location and all of the details, which was fine. However, my stepmom wanted us to have everything booked and paid for 11 months before the actual wedding date.

I originally wanted a small beach wedding with only immediate family and probably some close friends, but my parents kept telling me it would be impossible because that would be too expensive.

Later on I found out the reason why they said no to a small beach wedding was because they already told about 100 of their friends and coworkers they were already invited to the wedding and that their invitations would be arriving soon.

My stepmom convinced us to have it at crappy golf course surrounded by houses and desert. She also decided on the colors, DJ, flowers, and the wedding party. By this point I was stressed out and the cost was already around $25,000.

What really got to me was that I asked about getting my biological mother (I have a good relationship with her and she was excited about the wedding) a mother of the bride flower pin. My stepmom just screamed at me saying how dare I ask that when she has planned my entire wedding and how ungrateful and stupid I was.

Oh, this happened all in a crowded floral shop in front of the owner that we have known for years. I just started crying and was yelled at for that.

After I told my the fiancé about what happened he decided that we should stop this as it was not our wedding anymore. When we told my dad about it, he decided to cancel everything and to back out on paying for any wedding that wasn't what they approved of.

After that day, we had about 4 months until the actual wedding day. My husband and I moved the date to the week before the original wedding date to a beach in Santa Barbara and we hired a coordinator to help us plan the wedding we actually wanted.

My stepmom never came but my dad did, which I regretted after he tried to choke and punch my aunt (his older sister) in the parking lot. Because of that I didn't let him walk me down to the beach and if he did anything else, we would call the police.

The actual wedding went pretty well and we spent only 3k including decorations, the cake, the hotel, and the reception with food at a super nice wine and tapas place in Montecito.

On the original day and location that was set, there was a huge brushfire and the golf course caught on fire, so we dodged an even worse wedding. I wish we could have done it right the first time but we are planning on doing a vow renewal for our 10 year anniversary, so hopefully it will go better.

This happened over 4 years ago, but we still talk to my dad and stepmom. We're just more cautious about them helping us out with anything now. - Kalaena

8.

My wife and I eloped and got married overseas, but there was a party for family and friends when we got back. My family insisted on traditional speeches, which was our downfall. My father repeatedly called my wife by my ex's name and had to have it repeatedly pointed out to him before he corrected himself.

The first time it happened I was standing in the sun with it arms around my wife, feeling pretty great about life. Then he dropped the faux pas bomb and I immediately went cold inside. No one responded at first and I thought 'f*ck, maybe that didn't just happen.'

My older sister was standing next to me and a second later she let out a pained cry and then sunk her head into her hands. A very palpable shudder then moved through the crowd as everyone cringed in unison. The night kinda fizzled after that. So much awkward. - _timm

9.

My (the bride) mother went full on b*tchzilla and tore a warpath through my wedding party and guests that we now refer to as 'Hurricane Beth.'

His (the groom) mother had a panic attack and didn't make it to the wedding. We tried to wait for her but after 45 minutes of waiting (and some horrible words from my mother) we decided to go on without her.

She arrived almost 3 hours after the wedding. There was also drama between his mom and dad, who were recently divorced and couldn't just stop being ridiculous for one day. - BurnPhoenix

10.

50% of the people who RSVPed didn't come. My brother-in-law who volunteered to DJ didn't actually bring any DJ equipment, so our reception was powered by Pandora. He also said he would video the ceremony and highlights of the reception but didn't bring his video camera.

The florist forgot to deliver about 50% of the flowers. The reception venue took everything we discussed and then decided to do the opposite (Not enough tables, big weird glass centerpieces, no dance floor...)

And when we tried to get it fixed, the man who was sent to change out the tables stood outside the window of the reception hall angrily smoking cigarettes. I later spoke with a friend who has worked with that man who explained that that sort of behavior happens pretty much any time he is asked to do anything, so...

We made a CD of music for my brother-in-law to play before the ceremony began. He insisted that he had something better. It was two songs played on repeat for about an hour.

My immediate family was late to the wedding, including my sister who was a bridesmaid, and my mother and father. They had originally offered to help set up everything that morning, but I guess they just got a late start.

My veil got lost the night before the wedding. It still has not resurfaced. After everyone was done eating and the cake had been cut, I dimmed the lights in the reception hall to change the atmosphere to a more fun, party vibe and get people dancing. Everyone got up and left.

It didn't go great, but my husband and I ended up married and we're still very happy together, and that's the most important thing. Still, I wish I'd saved the money from the whole thing and gotten married at the county clerk instead. - WholesaleBees

11.

My 3 year old brother got loose and pulled the fire alarm during the ceremony. They definitely got their 'memorable' moment. - DocJohn85

12.

My FIL's wife of the time attempted to ruin our wedding. The week before our wedding, she sent my mother an email that I (the bride) was/am too good for her stepson, then messaged me that she had decided not to wear the dress she and I had picked out.

She refused to come to the wedding rehearsal, then showed up on the day of in a garish, skimpy outfit. She wouldn't speak to anyone or smile and just sat there with her arms crossed the whole day.

We just ignored her, even when she threw away all the leftovers from the post-ceremony brunch that my husband and his best guys catered (they're all cooks/chefs). My FIL divorced her the following year.- [deleted]

13.

The only mishap at my wedding was a friend videotaped the whole thing, but accidentally used the night vision feature. The video is pretty surreal, with everything super overexposed. With my pale skin, I ended up looking like one of the aliens from Cocoon. - hwarang_

14.

I worked as a wedding decorator for 5 years, and while this is not my own wedding, its still pretty bad. Two years ago we did the decor for a really pretty ceremony, and halfway through the day we found out it was a 'surprise wedding.'

Basically, they were not engaged, but the bride planned the whole thing and the groom showed up at the golf course thinking he was just playing a regular round of golf. Nope. He walked into his own wedding, saw her standing at the altar, and peaced the f*ck out. As he should have.

I've also seen weddings where fist fights break out and we've had to call the cops. There was another where one of the guests was smoking inside and caused a fire, causing the entire wedding to evacuate into the rainy parking lot. Those, and countless glasses of wine spilled on wedding dresses. That happens...a lot. - pretendparades

15.

Catering never showed up, everyone was hungry. Also the fireworks show that night was canceled for the first time for whatever reason. - DownloadVirus

16.

I got hypothermia during the outdoor photography and missed the reception because I was in the hospital—with my brand new wife, who was still in her wedding dress. - yesthisisnotme