40 Unbelievable Wedding Stories That Will Make You Wonder Why These People Got Married

We’re sure there are plenty of unbelievably beautiful wedding stories out there; touching moments that neither the couples nor their guests will soon forget. This is not a compilation of such anecdotes, though. Instead, we’ve found 40 of the most stunningly bad tales of nuptials gone wrong: ceremonies that served more as foreshadowing for a fractured future than as a harbinger of happily-ever-after. We can only vow to make you cringe – and wonder why the heck any of these couples went through with their weddings in the first place...

40. An offer he shouldn’t have refused

It’s not that unheard of for parents to dislike their child’s spouse, but how often do they disapprove of their own son or daughter as someone’s other half? One Reddit user said their brother’s former father-in-law came in on the morning of the wedding and “told [the groom] that if he wanted to leave that he would take care of all the people inside and he wouldn’t even be mad.” Now, that is not a good sign.

39. May I have this dance? No...

Sometimes, it’s best to just say no to someone who’s clearly making a bad decision. Not everyone gets that memo, though, so they end up partaking in behavior bad enough to be a marriage’s red flag. A wedding band’s keyboard player shared via Reddit that the biggest marriage-fail omen they ever saw was “the groom aggressively grinding on two of the bridesmaids (simultaneously); one of which was the bride’s sister.”

38. The worst day of her life

Many people are lucky enough to look back on their weddings with hearts in their eyes, recalling it as the best time they ever had and the smartest decision they ever made. So, one bride’s post-wedding Facebook post was particularly telling when it came to her future with the groom. She wrote that her marriage marked “the worst day of her life.”

37. I’m not sure what I vow to do

Writing your own vows can be a very sweet way to express to your partner – and the world at large – why you love them so much. According to redditor SorryMegaton, one groom took the assignment very seriously, pouring his heart out to the woman across from him. But when it came to her turn, she said she was “just gonna wing it” and “trailed off soon after.” Who would want to say “I do” after that?!

36. The Mrs. hated the mixtape

Making someone a mixtape is a sweet way to express your feelings toward them. That gesture was lost on one bride, whose husband had made the playlist for the evening. When she found out, she “patted his arm and said, ‘Oh, sweetie. No one but you wants to hear that.’” It’s no surprise that they split before celebrating their one-year anniversary.

35. The groom kept it casual – and he was the only one

Wedding dress codes are typically pretty clearly written on the invitation. Even without that information presented, two people should know the level of elegance required: the bride and groom, of course. That’s why it was a huge red flag when she showed up in a gorgeous gown… and he arrived in a T-shirt and sneakers.

34. The groom stopped the show-stopping dress

One Redditor caught a glimpse of a newlywed couple stepping out of an elevator, but it wasn’t the kind of fairytale bride-and-groom scene you’d imagine. Instead, they wrote, “He accidentally stepped on her dress. She snapped and turned around, yelling, “Do that again and see what happens!” After that, he headed straight for the drinks counter.

33. You’re not quite number one

Some red flags fly before the wedding even takes place. One bride had a breakdown in the car at the rehearsal dinner, which took place on the eve of her nuptials. The reason for her tears? Her husband-to-be “had some other girl’s phone number in his wallet.” Shockingly, they still went through with the wedding, but split less than a year later.

32. A fake smile on the groom – quite literally

Most couples naturally grin all day on their wedding day – they’re marrying the person they love, after all. So, a pair of wedding photographers found it particularly telling that one couple they shot didn’t smile at all on their big day. It was so bad that the shutterbugs had to Photoshop a happy face onto the groom.

31. I love you… whatsyername

Married couples grow to know one another like the backs of their hands. But even newlyweds have a good idea of who they’re marrying – starting with their love’s name. And yet, one Redditor saw a groom stand up for a toast and call his new wife “a similar but very different name” to her actual moniker. That red flag turned out to be a true omen, with the pair parting ways two years later.

30. Is it stealing if you want to be stolen?

One Redditor said that their local tradition of “stealing the bride” saw groomsmen take the newly minted Mrs. away from her wedding for an hour to go bar-hopping. Sounds fun… until she starts throwing up huge red flags. In this case, the lady of the hour wanted to stay out drinking instead of returning to her wedding.

29. A best man’s speech slip-up

Most best men will outline their relationship with the groom in their speech. They might also touch on their buddy’s bond with his bride and how happy they are to see their friend happy. But one best man stood up and made a very telling slip-up. His toast started with him saying, “Welp…”

28. Eye love you

One bride used her vows as a chance to declare her love for someone who wasn’t standing on the altar across from her. One Reddit wedding attendee described how she said “I do” while “looking at the guy she’d been in love with for a very long time straight in the eyes… spoiler alert: it wasn’t her soon-to-be husband.” Unsurprisingly, the newlyweds split before their first anniversary.

27. Say goodbye, sister

A marriage is a union of two people and their families, too – at least, that’s how it should be. One bride came to her big day with a warning for her new spouse’s sister. Supposedly, she said, “Just so you know, you’re not the most important girl in his life anymore. I am.” We don’t want to speculate, but it was probably tough to build a familial bond after that.

26. It was all about the dress

The bride-to-be in one wedding supposedly knew her future husband was, well, not a good guy. A friend of a friend described him via Reddit as “controlling and manipulative” to the point that her pals wondered why she was going to get married in the first place. Her response? “I just want to wear my dress.” Now, that’s a bad sign if we’ve ever seen one.

25. This takes the cake

The cutting of the cake is a major wedding tradition that can go one of two ways: either the couple feeds each other respectfully, or they smush the confection on each other’s faces. Some say it’s a huge red flag if brides or grooms disregard their new spouse’s request by swiping icing onto their face anyway.

24. A very bad ring to it

Weddings can be stressful for most people involved, especially the couple in the spotlight. When one groom fumbled for a second to find the ring, his new bride didn’t have any mercy for him. Instead, a guest recalled her being “visually annoyed” by his search and lamenting to the crowd, “That’s the kind of guy I’m marrying.” Their union lasted less than a year afterward.

23. Don’t smudge my makeup

The last thing on your mind when you kiss someone you love is your makeup smudging, right? Well, it should be – especially when that kiss is marking the culmination of your wedding ceremony. So, it was quite alarming to one wedding guest that the bride stopped the groom mid-smooch to chide him, saying, “On the forehead, you're gonna ruin my makeup.’” Ouch.

22. The groom couldn’t stop winking

On his wedding night, a groom should be exchanging sweet glances with his new wife – but that’s not always the case. A wedding photographer shared via Reddit that the man of the hour kept winking at both the shutterbug and their assistant. They recalled, “He would lean his head back in his chair, look past his soon to be wife and wink at me or look over his left shoulder and wink at my assistant. It was bizarre.” We have to agree.

21. A change is certainly coming

You should love your future husband or wife for who they are, not who you force them to be. And yet, one bride stood up at her wedding and “talked not about her love for [the groom] or how great he is, but more about how he changed so much of his personality for her and how that made everything perfect.” We don’t want to judge, but that certainly doesn’t sound like true love.

20. These baubles are on loan

Perhaps it was a mother’s intuition, but one woman knew her wedding wouldn’t last because of her husband’s mom’s behavior on the big day. Bride and Redditor SSSS_car_go recalled, “My mother-in-law-to-be gave me some of her nice jewelry but added that she wanted some of it back when we got divorced.” Notice how she didn’t say “if” there, either...

19. Celebrating her first big day

Marriage is supposed to last forever – at least, when it’s entered into for all of the right reasons. One bridesmaid recalled her friend’s wedding, at which the mother of the bride lamented the cost of the soiree. The Mrs-to-be rebutted, “Mom! It’s my first wedding!” Seemingly she was already planning a sequel...

18. Runaway bride

Brides don’t just run away in the movies – and, when they do so in real life, it’s a telltale sign that the union won’t last forever. One Reddit user recalled, “The bride and groom got in an argument post-reception and the bride ran away. It was in a small town in the middle of nowhere but we ran around all night trying to find her.”

17. The best man was better

The groom should be the best man at the wedding, in the eyes of the bride. But there are so many stories of her opting for a fling with the actual best man instead. One groomsman recalled “the bride hitting on [him],” while another shared via Reddit that the newly minted Mrs. left her reception within 45 minutes to go home with her new spouse’s top-ranking friend.

16. Kiss her? LOL

The kiss at the end of the wedding seals the deal – unless, of course, the couple is already unhappily married. One Reddit user recalled the bride leaning in for the big smooch, but the groom pulled away at the last second “and pointed and laughed at her.” As such, “no one was surprised” when the newlyweds divorced a year into their union.

15. Unfashionably late

You can’t control all of the elements on your big day. Even if you’re up on time and getting ready as planned, there still might be something that prevents you from making it to the chapel on time. Traditionally, brides run a few minutes late – grooms, not so much. One male suitor arrived a full 30 minutes past the scheduled time of his own ceremony and provided zero explanation for his tardiness, which wedding guests took as a serious red flag.

14. Couldn’t care less about the dress code

So much thoughtful planning goes into a wedding: details that both the bride and groom know intimately – or, at least, that should be the case. But if one half of the pair doesn’t care to remember the setup of the big day, well, that can be a bad sign. One Reddit user recalled that the bride “changed into an extremely fancy going-away outfit” at the end of the night, while the groom put on “an old T-shirt and shorts that reeked of stale student-bachelor sweat.” Upon seeing his new wife’s outfit, he said he “didn’t know we were dressing up,” and she “gave him a look of the purest hatred and disgust.” Their union lasted all of six months.

13. The groom gave single men a warning

A wedding marks the beginning of a new life for the bride and groom, one that should make the two of them excited for what’s to come. If one of them isn’t feeling that way, well, that could be a very bad sign. According to one Reddit user, the groom told the bride’s brother, “Never get yourself into something you can’t get out of,” and proceeded to get heavily intoxicated at his own soiree. Needless to say, the couple got a divorce – a “messy” one, said another sibling of the bride.

12. Don’t make him pause the TV

There are only a handful of valid reasons for pausing your wedding ceremony. One person shared that their groom “stopped the entire ceremony,” which they had at home, “so he could watch The Simpsons.” It ended up being an omen as to how their relationship as man and wife would go, his disgruntled ex-partner revealed. They wrote, “No, we are not still married. Shocking, I know.”

11. No one – except the groom – knew the bride

When you fall in love, you’re excited to introduce your friends and family to the person who has stolen your heart. If you’re not? Well, that’s yet another huge red flag – especially if the two of you make it down the aisle without anyone in your circle meeting your new spouse. One Reddit user said they met their friend’s wife on the day they got married. “Never even heard of her before that day,” they wrote. Very strange, indeed.

10. Not in sickness or in health

Couples preparing to wed promise to stand by one another in sickness and in health. Not all of them take such promises seriously – although, you’d expect them to make it a few years into marriage before they start slacking. One groom couldn’t be bothered with his new wife’s epileptic seizure during their wedding. He “was too busy getting drunk and partying with all his mates,” according to a Reddit user.

9. The baby knew the truth

Not all red flags are obvious ones. One Redditor recalled a wedding during which the married couple-to-be’s “newborn daughter began to speak like a banshee” just after “the judge asked if anyone had any objections.” Turns out, the little one had it right: the couple split after a few years together and a revelation that the child’s father wasn’t the groom.

8. He brawled with this BFFs

Your best friends will probably make your bridal party or gaggle of groomsmen. That’s why it’s so crazy to imagine that a newly minted husband would spend his wedding night in a brawl with the guys who stood by him during the ceremony. The same wedding attendee recalled the bride slinging “her ring at [the groom]” post-fistfight, too.

7. Let’s not taco ‘bout commitment

On the morning of your wedding, you’ve got a lot of things on your mind – but fast-food Mexican-style probably shouldn’t be one of them. That’s why this groom’s behavior raised some serious eyebrows and, perhaps, foreshadowed the couple’s divorce less than two years later. Supposedly, he “wanted to delay the wedding so they could do a last-minute Taco Bell run,” one Redditor recalled.

6. It’s a learning curve

Self-written vows can be touching… or they can be wildly offensive. A Reddit user watched his sister’s wedding and couldn’t believe that his brother-in-law-to-be “vowed to get fat” with the bride. He explained, “Considering my sister is already kind of overweight, I found that a rather strange thing to say.”

5. Sending the wrong message

Sometimes, a red flag comes in the form of a written message. One person shared via Reddit, “There was a part of the ceremony where the bride and groom were kneeling at the altar. On the bottom of the groom’s shoes were two pieces of tape that read ‘HELP’ and ‘ME’ on them.” Apparently, no one would fess up to writing those words on the soles, either, but they proved an accurate prophecy of marital woes to come.

4. Zero RSVPs

Half the fun of throwing a wedding is having all of your friends and family in one place. They should be happy to be able to celebrate you and your love, too. And that’s precisely why this person’s red flag was such a major one. They wrote, “Nobody attended my wedding.”

3. Planning for the next big day

On your wedding day, you should be looking forward to the future with your new partner. But one Redditor’s grandfather had a very different sentiment on the day of his fourth marriage. He lifted his glass for a toast and saluted “the next one.” The grandchild added, “No, it didn’t last.”

2. First dance choice pulled no punches

The first dance is usually a chance for newlyweds to express how they feel about each other through someone else’s song. And that’s one couple’s musical selection left their wedding guests wondering how long the union would last. Their tune of choice? U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Yikes.

1. Someone objected – and it didn’t stop there

It would be shocking enough for someone to stand up and object to a happy couple’s nuptials. But one Redditor saw perhaps the biggest red flag of them all when the groom’s supposed ex-girlfriend rose to dissent. She did so “with a pregnancy stick in her hand” and told someone else’s husband-to-be, “Positive it’s you.” We wonder if they bothered completing their vows...