These Marriages Were Doomed From The Start

July 6, 2023 | Nia Williams

These Marriages Were Doomed From The Start


Sometimes there are obvious signs of when marriage seems unlikely to last. From finding the groom kissing the bridesmaid to watching the bride berating her new husband in front of all her guests, these Redditors share their experience of witnessing the ugliest moments at a wedding. 


1. Late Epiphany

My niece was 27 and a top-tier lawyer. She is a beautiful woman and at the time, she was marrying a thrice divorced, 42-year-old who had somewhat mysterious means of financial support. He was a very attractive man but seemed aloof. Her parents were gritting their teeth and didn't like the guy. 

We flew in the day before the wedding and after the rehearsal party, I had a few minutes alone with my niece. I was always her favorite aunt and all I did was ask her, "Are you sure you want to marry this man"?

Her reaction was startling—that’s when the floodgates of emotions erupted. She started bawling. She wasn't sure, didn't know what to do. She hugged me sobbing. I calmed her down, got a glass of red in her and she told me that about a week ago she had an epiphany. She realized that he wasn’t the right guy for her. But now she was afraid to back out with all of the money that was already spent on travel, planning, etc.

Long story short, we had a midnight meeting with her parents and she called off the wedding. Yes, it was very difficult. The groom's family went ballistic. Thousands had already been spent by the guests and my sister, but all of the people close to her were relieved.

Instead of a wedding reception, we had a family reunion with all the food and things spent on the wedding. My niece ended up marrying a nice guy a few years later in a civil ceremony. They have three and are in a good marriage together.

Younger woman and elder woman wearing white dresses hugging each other on the beach.Kampus Production , Pexels

2. Out And Free

My cousin got married to this guy she’d been dating for a year or so. They had a fairytale wedding at a plantation in Louisiana. It really was a gorgeous wedding. I turned and looked at my mom and said, “They aren’t going to make it”. She asked me what made me think that. I told her that I knew for a fact that he is gay. He used to help out at band camp when I was in high school and he was very clearly gay but closeted. He was his most comfortable self when he was hanging out with the dance instructor and they were openly gay.

Turns out I was right. They split up about two years later because he finally came out to my cousin as gay and wanted to live his best life.

Woman looking shocked with man looking down.Timur Weber , Pexels

3. Disaster In The Making

Although it was the most extravagant wedding I have ever attended (costing over $100,000), it was a disaster from the start. Cocktails were served before the reception and the groom was already smashed. One of the bride's best friends from out of town complimented him on how great his eyebrows looked and he replied back "What the heck are you trying to say about me”?! He then tried to kick her out even though she was just trying to be polite.

After that fiasco, he kept drinking and it was time for cutting the cake. This is when things got super awkward. So normally you would just cut the cake and maybe rub a little into each other's faces. Nope, he baseball-pitched the cake straight into her face—I’m not exaggerating. Everyone went completely silent. The bride ran out of the reception bawling her eyes out and her father followed. Her brothers started to get in his face but it quickly calmed down. Once she returned, the groom decided that it was time to make an apology over the mic. You can guess how much of a disaster that turned out to be—incoherent nonsense.

As the night was ending, the groom was outside with her brothers and dad trying to fight all of them. Yup, the marriage was annulled the very next day.

Drunk man holding a glass of wine in hand.benzoix , Freepik

4. What Were They Thinking?

There was a palpable but emotional disconnect between the bride and groom. She seemed completely void of emotion. At the reception, he got inebriated and missed the cutting of the cake. He had to be carried to their hotel room upstairs. 

The marriage lasted just over two years. She got them into an enormous credit card debt, buying everything she saw. He spent most of his off time surfing and had no interest in spending time with her. They had zero in common. 

cottonbro studio , Pexels

5. A Big Mistake

At my cousin's wedding, the bride came to hang out in our hotel room. Apparently, her new husband just sat down in the honeymoon suite, put his face in his hands, and he uttered a sentence that left a pit in her stomach. It was something along the lines of, "I made a mistake".

They stayed together for five years, had two kids, and had a very angry divorce.

Man wearing black shirt seating on the bed and covering his face with hand.MART PRODUCTION , Pexels

6. Yes, That Is Strange Indeed

Just before everyone’s wedding, the church held a pre-marriage group session. They split the men and women off into separate groups and held round table discussions.

One guy asked if it was strange that his fiance slept with her parents all the time, even when he was there. Then said that she went home every weekend during college. She’s currently a senior and it was a nine-hour trip one way.

We all said, “Yes”.

RDNE Stock project , Pexels


7. What A Fiasco

My wife was a bridesmaid at this wedding. I videoed it and was going to edit the footage together for them. After the wedding and more drinking, the wedding party went to the couples’ favorite bar for more "celebrating". After a few more hours of drinking and the bride was so inebriated, the truth started coming out.

She started trashing the groom and anyone else that got in her way (my wife included). She ended up calling her ex-husband at 2 am and telling him she had made a huge mistake. I took the phone from her and told him that she was intoxicated. Fortunately, he understood. The night ended with us shoving everyone into the limo that was supposed to take them to their hotel. We hoped for the best because my wife and I were sick of all their partying.

Miraculously, the couple are still married, from what we know. We are no longer friends with the wife and I still have their unedited wedding footage on my computer.

Grayscale photo of a bride holding a champagne glass.Darya Sannikova , Pexels


8. Marriage Didn’t Resolve That

Leading up to the wedding, he didn't call her his "fiancee". It was like he avoided the term altogether. He also never changed his address to their new place, and only really moved in with her because she insisted.

The biggest red flag, though, was how much he complained about her, in subtle and overt ways that shockingly didn’t resolve upon marriage.

SHVETS production , Pexels

9. Mentally Checked Out

The church was heavily involved with getting an old pair of friends married. They were both fresh out of college but had been together since middle school. 

On the day of the wedding, the bride was very sad and mellow. She was physically there but mentally had checked out. Throughout the day, she gave exasperated sighs, forced smiles, and feigned excitement. I understand being a blushing bride doesn't compliment everyone's personality but this was obvious. Things got super uncomfortable when she started walking down the aisle—she paused at one point with a look of sheer panic but was 'guided' by her soon-to-be father-in-law.

The groom on the other hand was eerily calm. His vows were almost like a comedy sketch, alluding to their colorful differences. At the reception, someone discreetly mentioned to him that the bride was crying. He scoffed and insisted it was probably because her special day was almost over. It was also rumored he tried to pick up a catering waitress.

They never signed a marriage license, split up a year later, and left the church. The bride is now in a lesbian relationship with a wonderful woman and is happy as can be. Last I heard, the groom was auditioning for The Bachelorette.

Portrait of the bride crying.Viacheslav Boiko , Shutterstock10. Expensive Lesson

They had an outdoor ceremony and reception in a barn-type setting. The bride was blazed during the ceremony. She just had a happy, dopey, complacent look on her face while the minister was talking. Then after the ceremony, she came and smoked with me and her old friends throughout the reception. The groom never joined us. It was like she was actively trying to disappear from him. This wasn’t the, "I’m gonna casually enjoy myself tonight"-type of inhale. It was more like "Just one more hit—I need this". She gave the same deadpan, complacent smile before she headed back over to the main party.

Not surprisingly, they split eight months later. It was an expensive mistake but the food was good.

Faruk Tokluoğlu , Pexels

11. What A Sham

I went to a wedding for my wife's co-worker. She took her sweet time getting ready and made everyone wait an hour to walk down the aisle. It was her perfect day for the sake of it being her perfect day. She wasn't in love and just wanted to get married. Everyone there knew it. Even the mother of the bride made comments like, "Well, it's the Jackie Show"—implying that it was all about the wedding, not really about the marriage. 

My wife and I predicted it would last six months. It turns out we were right—but we never expected the plot twist. Although she was "very upset" her husband was cheating on her, the entire time she was cheating on him too. It was just a sham and a completely pointless event.

Father of the bride walking down the aisle with daughter in wedding dress.Ignatios Kourouvasilis , Pexels

12. Sweet As The Wedding Cake

I make wedding cakes for a living. The other day, I had a cake tasting with a very nice young couple. They were both very sweet and polite during the tasting. When the tasting was over and we were about to start talking about pricing and contracts, the groom excused himself. He asked if the bride and I wouldn't talk about anything while he was away. He then came back with his mom. She was a very rude woman. She pretty much told me to shut my mouth and to write down five different prices of various cakes. While the mother and I were talking, I noticed that the groom had a brutal grip on the bride’s arm. She didn't look happy and looked to be in pain.

I felt so bad for the bride. She was such a sweet girl.

SHVETS production , Pexels

13. Something Is Amiss

The couple didn’t act like they were having a special day. It wasn’t normal at all—more like, "Look at how much we are in love. Can you tell”? They were over-the-top clingy to each other.

I had known them for a few years already and something was definitely off. I later found out that he had laid down ‘rules' for the marriage the day before their wedding. Apparently, she had been thinking of running during the whole ceremony but was too afraid of him. He became obsessive shortly afterward, beat her up, caused a miscarriage, and divorced her after spending all the money they had been given for the wedding.

Scared woman hiding her face from angry man.MART PRODUCTION , Pexels

14. You Said It

Instead of saying "I do", he said "Eh... I guess..."

It didn't last two years.

8photo ,Freepik

15. Obvious Red Flag

While celebrating their engagement with everyone, the groom got intoxicated and showed how possessive he was about his bride. He kept saying that to keep a woman like her, you have to lock her down fast with a ring like it's a cage or something. It was a pretty obvious red flag but she was determined to go through with it.

They were my neighbors. The things I’ve seen and heard are horrifying. I would often wake up to what sounded like him trying to "de-escalate" the situation with a strike to her face. It sounded like would respond by throwing every piece of furniture she could lift at him to help her properly enunciate her rebuttal during these insane fights. She was pretty intimidating herself.

Not surprisingly, the marriage lasted only three months. Apparently, every time she left to go somewhere, he assumed that she was cheating. So he'd go out himself and cheat constantly regardless of whether she actually was or not. 

They tried to save the marriage by staying together in their tiny studio apartment for a month. They had nothing but hate and a complete lack of trust between the two of them. Not long after, they threw in the towel. Marriage counseling wasn't enough to make a dent at that point.

RDNE Stock project , Pexels

16. The Look Of Defeat

Last summer, my then fiancé and I went to his cousin's wedding. The groom (cousin) was very happy and was positively beaming during the ceremony. The bride, however, marched her wedding party up the aisle with a sour look on her face. I’ll never forget her behavior that night.

After the ceremony, the bride was micromanaging the photography, the welcome drinks, and the catering. When the speeches ended, she stood up and said that she had something to say. She didn’t have a speech prepared. She muttered something about not wanting to be a traditional woman. It was quite unmemorable, whatever it was. She then ran to the buffet table and drank heavily with her bridesmaids.

When she and her new husband went around to talk to all the guests at each table, she was determined to get around everyone whereas he wanted to linger and chat. So she literally dragged him around after a "Hi, how are you? Nice to see you. Bye"! It gets worse.

As the music started, she was with the bridesmaids watching the empty dance floor. He was at the bar with the groomsmen. He wasn't smiling anymore.

This summer, they attended our wedding. She still looks like she's got a bad smell under her nose, and he looks defeated. They aren't even 30—it's very sad.

Woman wearing wedding dress looking upset on white background.BestPhotoStudio , Shutterstock


17. Run Away As Fast As You Can

A lifelong friend of mine was getting married. They were having a traditional wedding where the bride and groom don't see each other on the wedding day leading up to the ceremony. 

Well, the day before the wedding, the bride came back to the house where the groom was staying. She had a total meltdown—they started yelling at each other through the bedroom door since he wasn’t allowed to see her. This was one of many meltdowns she had during the time they dated.

You always have that joke where the best man tells the groom that now's the time to run away and leave her at the altar. Well, when I said it, I handed him my keys and let him know that I wasn't joking. I told him to get the heck out and I'd cover for him. Of course, he married her. It lasted less than a year.

Two man wearing suits talking to each other and seating on the table.August de Richelieu , Pexels


18. Scathing Words

I'm an amateur photographer, but I've photographed a few of my friends' weddings pro bono to save them some money when asked.

This particular bride and groom had been rocky on and off for a decade before they got married. They seemed picture-perfect on the outside, but they were hiding a dark secret. I was at the end of the aisle snapping photos and just before they exited, I got to hear the first private words exchanged between the happy couple. She said, "Well, that was a whole lot of money for a whole lot of nothing".

Yaroslava Borz , Pexels

19. It All Changed After The Wedding

Two years ago, my wife's friend married an American guy to get a green card. My wife and I stayed via the green card route. Her friend’s visa was about to expire so decided to just get married.

During the wedding, the groom was awfully calm but wore sunglasses the whole time so you could not read his emotions. It was a very boring wedding without any happy vibes. 

A year later, I heard that the husband hardly talked to his wife at all. Meanwhile, his wife was always trying to find time to hang out with my wife. One day, she mocked my wife's job and so my wife stopped talking to her. Our guess is that she's not feeling very happy and secure so she has to mock others in order to make herself feel better. She was not like this before the marriage.

Black woman trying to talk with a woman turned with back at her.Liza Summer , Pexels

20. What An Absolute Jerk

I'm a wedding photographer and once in a while I’d shoot a couple’s ‘first look’.

At the session, I told the groom he could turn around to see his stunning new bride for the first time. Most grooms would have a huge smile on their faces. Some would even cry. But this guy—he was a freakin robot. No smile—no crying. Nothing. He just stood there staring at her as she smiled back at him. Things immediately got tense.

Finally, she whispered to him very shyly, "Well, aren't you gonna tell me I look beautiful"? He shrugged his shoulders. I was at a complete loss for words. So then I tried to lighten the moment up by telling him, "Hey, it's ok to touch her" hoping he would at least give her a hug. He then proceeded—and I kid you not, to reach out and poke her with his finger. It was all I could do not to throw my camera at the jerk. This poor girl had been dreaming about this moment since she was six and this guy just took that moment away and flushed it down the toilet forever.

Wedding photographer talking with a couple who is getting married.freepik Freepik


21. This Isn’t Normal

I have a friend who had a bad habit of dating terrible women, who would browbeat him and chew him out for nothing at all. He was engaged to at least two such women (at different times, of course) during the course of our friendship. No matter how many times I pointed out that your partner shouldn't be screaming at you every day, he insisted that this was just a sign of caring. I’ll never forget his most recent failure.

He married one such woman, but they were divorced within a few years after she cheated on him. He’s now married to a wonderful woman who loves him and doesn't scream at him at all.

Victor Jauregui , Pexels


22. Drop The Facade

I found out that one of my best friends got married through Facebook. I wasn't invited nor practically any of our other friends—only hers. A lot of people were offended, obviously.

She turned out to be physically abusive. When he started divorce proceedings she suddenly became pregnant. The divorce was called off. He now always looks like his mouth is smiling but the rest of his body language is screaming for help.

KamranAydinov , Freepik

23. Just Between You And Me

I was a bridesmaid at a friend's wedding. I have known both the bride and groom for years. We were best friends in high school. About a week before the wedding, one of the groomsmen made a comment to the bride that he wanted to have intercourse with me. I said no. The bride said, "If you don't, I will! He's hot"! Knowing the kind of person that she is, I just rolled my eyes and went on.

On the day of the wedding rehearsal, the groom sent me texts at 2 am while he was out drinking. I was absolutely floored by them. After the wedding, while they were driving to their honeymoon, the groom sent me texts about how great the friend I brought and I looked. He asked me to keep our texts a secret.

They're somehow still married, but they "separate" at least once a month. The bride also texted me about a month after the wedding and accused me of trying to sleep with her husband (who I find highly unattractive) because she had checked the phone records and saw that he had texted me.

Woman lying on a sofa with a smartphone in hand.Jack Sparrow , Pexels

24. All The Signs Were There

I WAS the bride, and honestly, I don't think half the people at my wedding thought we would last. My family all hated him, and our friends knew he was a jerk and a raging drinker. Of all days, I decided to be petty on my wedding day.

My best friend and I made a sign that said, "Please wait till the divorce to pick a side" and put it up near the seating for the ceremony. My ex-husband was almost late to the wedding and pulled up just minutes before the ceremony was about to start, but it didn't matter because his family was late anyway. He hardly spent any time at all with me at the reception. It honestly had all of the charms of forced marriage.

Boryana Manzurova , Shutterstock


25. Cheated Out Of A Happy Marriage

The groom was one of the nicest people to ever exist. He and the bride had previously dated in high school where she slept with so many other guys, her own family intervened and split them up. They reconnected in their mid-twenties, when according to her own family again, she was seeing other guys. 

Fast forward a couple of years and on the day of their wedding, her sisters, who were the bridesmaids, backed out. She managed to get her friends to replace them. Meanwhile, the groom’s mom and sister were constantly trying to tell him to make a run for it. As soon as they said, " I do" almost all the family guests left, with only a few friends staying behind to watch the bride and groom fight for a while.

They didn't go on any honeymoon, but miraculously, they are still married. They just had a kid, who of course, looks nothing like the father.

Woman wearing wedding dress and flower yelling and pointing to a man wearing white shirt and tie looking surprised.Ljupco Smokovski , Shutterstock

26. Shocking Announcement

Everyone was shocked when they announced that they were going to get married. There were so many signs beforehand. Anyway, as soon as guests walked into the reception hall, there was a huge photo of the bride and groom. They wanted guests to write a message to them which they were going to have framed and hung on their wall at home. Well, when I arrived, the picture had my jaw on the floor. It wasn't something you would have hanging in your home. Her side of the picture was defaced with a blacked-out tooth, eye patch, and devil horns.

At a later point in the reception, the groom came over to our group of friends and said with a sigh, "I can't believe we're all standing here for this reason". Yeah, that wasn't gonna last.

Juice Flair , Shutterstock


27. He Married Bridezilla

The bride looked totally disinterested and entitled at her wedding. Meanwhile, the poor groom was running about doing everything. She was doing her best impression of Scarlett O'Hara or some spoiled English aristocrat from the 18th century or something. Though the funny thing was, he was the wealthy one in the relationship. 

They divorced a couple of years later. She told him she couldn't stand how nice and whiney he was. She basically married him because he was from a well-to-do family whereas she was from a proper working-class family. He was so cut up and heartbroken. She was also cheating on him with her older, very married boss. I think they spent over $60,000 on the wedding day alone, not including the castle in Scotland and everything else at the wedding. I wasn't surprised at the outcome after her behavior at their wedding.

Young bride in wedding dress looking disinterested.Michal Plachy , Shutterstock

28. Nobody Forgets

When the groom stood up for his speech to thank all the guests for coming he said, "Well, thanks everyone for coming. You know, we're really going to try and make this work".

The jaws of half the guests actually dropped. Turns out the bride was a “personal” masseuse and the groom only found out right before they married. She said that she’d stop. But when they went to get divorced a couple of years later, she dropped a cannon and said that she "forgot" to file their marriage paperwork with the county. So they weren't even actually married. Which meant that she didn't have to share assets with her now ex-husband.

Black woman talking and walking off a man on the street.RDNE Stock project , Pexels

29. Get A Back Bone

I was one of the bridesmaids at my good friend’s wedding. Prior to her big day, she told us a few stories about the groom’s mother that made us say "yuck", but we never realized just how horrible she was to my friend.

On the day of the wedding, her future mother-in-law kept calling her about stupid stuff. She kept stirring up drama and not allowing my friend to enjoy her day when we were at the salon. The whole situation made my blood boil. Apparently, she had promised kids from her side of the family that they could be ring bearers, even though my friend and her husband had already chosen the kids they wanted. She then got upset because it put her in a "bad spot" with about 30 minutes to go before the ceremony. Her husband kept making excuses for his mother and still does to this day. The other bridesmaid and I exchanged glances that basically meant, "This would not last long". As far as I know, they still fight a lot because of his mother's behavior and his inability to stand up to her due to their relationship.

I find it really sad and really depressing.

BearFotos , Shutterstock

30. Noticeably Awkward 

When my friend got engaged he was very stoic about it. I thought that was just how they were until about three weeks prior when we were celebrating his birthday. She was upstairs because she didn't want to socialize and we went down to the store for 10 minutes to grab some things for the fire.

When we got back, she ran downstairs and started screaming at him about how we were all such idiots for leaving without her in front of everyone. That's when we realized he was getting pressured into marriage.

During the wedding, he kept staring into the woods and barely looked at her while they were about to kiss. It was pretty awkward and everyone noticed. She now lives on the east coast and he lives on the west coast.

Woman wearing grey shirt screaming at camera.Andrea Piacquadio , Pexels

31. Single and Happy

The bride's smile was a "model camera ready" smile with nothing behind it. Even her birth father did not show up for the rehearsal dinner or the wedding. The bride never lived with the groom and never, it seems, ever had plans to move to where the groom lived. She stopped taking calls from the groom within a couple of months after the wedding. Then came her stupidest moment—she decided they needed to divorce when what they really needed was an annulment. I think the bride only wanted a big wedding party with gifts and all but, was totally uninterested in being married. The groom is so much better off without this person.

Karolina Grabowska , Pexels

32. Love Is Blind

I just stood at a wedding as the best man for one of my very best friends. Sure the wedding was great but the problem was the bride's obvious distaste for the groom's friends.

We are a very accepting bunch. We don't judge, we are easygoing and openly share the things we have in our home—may it be a bed, ale, food, or just simple hospitality but we will always make everyone feel welcome with what simple means we can provide.

The bride, however, has surrounded herself with socialites with large salaries that have extravagant things and wheelbarrows of cash to spend. They provided the venue, which I must confess, was stunning and the people themselves were very nice.

This is where the problem lies with the bride. We, the groom's friends, are humble. We give what we can. She sees that as not being enough and chooses to ostracize us—though she doesn’t have a career or salary herself.

We don't get it. We just wished him the best. We are all in our forties with families and this is his first marriage. We did our best to counsel him but love is blind after all.

Surprised man wearing black suit with outstretched palms.Shopping King Louie , Shutterstock

33. Clueless Beyond Clueless

My male friend was set to get married. A week before the wedding, the bride crossed the line of no return—she hooked up with one of my female friends. He knew about it and said that she was just messing around—that it didn't mean anything.

I tried to tell him otherwise but he left it at that. Less than a year later, they got divorced. The bride is now happily married to a girl she met and the groom is still a clueless idiot.

Julia Larson , Pexels


34. Celebrations Gone Pear-Shaped

My brother was going to get married on my birthday. I didn't really think anything about it, that's just the way that things fell into place and I never did resent him for it. In fact, I didn't even think about it.

My parents were also there, and the whole family had arrived a day before to enjoy the resort we were in. Since we were there a day before the wedding, and it was going to be my birthday at 12 am, my parents said to everyone that I was going to get a cake at midnight to celebrate it. Everything seemed fine and dandy until it happened and everyone sang Feliz Cumpleaños to me. Oh boy, did that go sideways…The bride started crying and left running to hide in her room. She didn't want to come out because in her words, "We didn't pay for all of this, only so someone else could be in the spotlight. The wedding is canceled"!

I can’t even pretend to know how a person who is about to get married feels. But I kind of thought that day, "Oh, man. That marriage is going to fail".

They eventually convinced her to carry on with the wedding, but I don't really have any contact with her anymore.


Woman seating on the chair and crying.Andrea Piacquadio , Pexels

35. You Bet

At my friend's wedding, twelve people literally sat at a table at the reception and formed a pool for how long the marriage would last. The shortest guess was one month, and the longest was two years. I guessed 15 months. Then came the big reveal:

The divorce was announced two years and one month later. We decided all bets were off.

People at wedding ceremony talking and drinking wine.Rene Asmussen , Pexels

36. Rotten Marriage

We were at the wedding of one of my sister’s best friends. She was in her early 20s. I only knew the bride, not the groom. My parents and I were sitting at a table whereas my sister was part of the very large wedding party.

When it was time for the toasts, a bridesmaid asked for them to put their hands up next to her. She then took the groom's hand and put it over the bride’s and finished with, "This will be the last time you ever get the upper hand on her". After she said that, it was awkward silence and crickets.

The marriage lasted about two years—just enough time to have two kids. The bride was pregnant at the time if I remember correctly.

People at wedding making a wedding toast with bride and groom.Jonathan Nenemann , Pexels

37. Not Even A Flicker Of Hope

The bride and the groom were getting married because she was pregnant with twins. Each had a lit candle and they were supposed to use the two to ignite a unity candle. But things got awkward real quick—the candle absolutely refused to light. We watched them try for about ten solid minutes before somebody finally went and got a BIC lighter and lit it for them. Partway through the ceremony, the unity candle went out.

A year later, they were divorced.

Bride and groom holding a white candle together.Nikolay Mint , Shutterstock

38. My Head Hurts

My then-best friend’s sister got married rather quickly. The couple seemed to have gotten along well, but the wedding day was a disaster. When they cut the cake, they sort of got into a food fight. It wasn’t a big deal. They were both laughing until she ducked away from him and hit her head on a corner of a fireplace mantle. She ended up needing to go to the hospital for stitches. He offered to go with her but she said to stay with the kids (they each had a child from a previous relationship) so he stayed behind. When she got back, she had apparently changed her mind about how she really felt. She laid it to him for not having gone with her to the hospital. He then proceeded to get really inebriated and disappeared.

The wedding was held at a private camp with several cabins and a lodge spread out over several acres. We looked for him in all the buildings but couldn't find him. About five hours later, the bride's younger sister and I happened to find him sobbing on the ground beside someone's car in the dark. We couldn't convince him to go back to his wife, but we managed to convince him to go to a cabin, take a shower and sleep it off. We informed the bride's father (who owned the camp) where he was and he agreed that we should just let the bride continue with her night and tell her where he was in the morning. Besides, at the time she was tearing up the dance floor with her friends and didn't seem to care at all that her groom was missing. 

They were divorced within a year.

A Bride dancing alone on the floor.Leeloo Thefirst , Pexels

39. Boredom Pays Off

I have known a skinny goth girl since I was a kid. Her dad suggested that she go to Fleet Week in San Diego since she wasn’t having much luck getting many dates. Sure enough, she met a guy there and after a few dates, they eventually got married. When I congratulated her at the family reception in California,  she replied, "Make sure you know the guy BEFORE you get married" and stormed off. That's all I heard from her that day.

They moved to the Midwest to be closer to his family (which seemed odd to me considering he was in the Navy. All the other Navy people I knew lived on the coast, but what do I know? Well, she was bored out of her mind living there. And to top it all off, his career got cut short due to an alleged back injury and he ended up on disability. They ended up divorcing and she moved back to California.

Fast forward several years and this skinny goth girl is now fat and happily married to a great guy. She met him at a convention and they have an adorable kid named after a Star Wars character.

Interestingly, she only started watching "geeky stuff" as something to do when she was "stuck" in the Midwest. So she might never have met her now husband had she not had to "endure" the first one.

Andrea Piacquadio , Pexels

40. Saw It Coming

My ex from high school got divorced about eight months ago. I knew it wouldn't last because I could tell she didn't really have much trust in her fiance. 

About a week before they started dating, she confessed to liking me again after we had broken up. A year later, while she was dating the guy, she told me about a lot of personal things she didn't feel comfortable sharing with her boyfriend. But for some reason, they still got engaged a month later. 

Another year down the road, I was swiping on Tinder, saw her face, and was shocked. I looked her up again and found out she had split up with her fiance. Can't say I didn't see it coming.

Andrea Piacquadio , Pexels

41. No Music To My Ears

The couple came to see me by appointment to choose wedding music for their ceremony.

There, in the church choir loft, they got into a heated argument over each piece of music under consideration. From the wedding processional to the recessional, there was zero agreement or willingness to compromise with each other.

To try to bring some harmony to the table, I suggested that the bride choose the organ processional and the groom select the recessional. Even though they strongly disagreed with each other, that worked for the moment—but it was already too late.

In less than six months, the pastor informed me that the couple was back to see him for counseling, with divorce under consideration.

cottonbro studio , Pexels

42. Beautiful Yet Generic

A friend I knew from high school was getting married. We weren't super close but since our mothers were good friends, I was invited to attend.

The wedding was beautiful but it was also incredibly generic. There was nothing in either the ceremony or reception that said anything about who they were as a couple. To this day, it's the only wedding I've ever been to that was like that. Usually, there are little personal touches everywhere that show off the couple's personalities both as individuals and together. At this wedding, there was neither. It was like they pulled everything straight out of a wedding magazine and that was the end of it.

While this didn't immediately make me think that they shouldn't be together (after all I didn't really know them that well), I was not surprised when they ended up divorced less than two years later. That generic ceremony was definitely a sign that they were getting married because they figured it was what they should do, and not because they were a good match for each other.

Wedding ceremony outside.sergio souza , Pexels

43. And That’s How It’s Going To Be

A few weeks ago, I attended my friend’s wedding. No one in his friend group, my husband and I included, thought that they should get married, or even be together. She's very controlling, and every time they broke up, he'd go back to the bottle—not to the point of getting intoxicated, just an ale or two and hanging out with us. They'd get back together and he would disappear again.

Two days before the wedding, he texted me to make sure I would be there. I asked him if he was ready and he answered, "Yeah, it's been a long time". There was no excitement or love in his response. He just seemed like he was resigned to it. That was bad enough—but the red flags kept coming.

Anyway, the day comes and throughout the ceremony, he's looking at her with obvious devotion. Meanwhile, she's loudly chewing gum and looking around at anything but his eyes. It was super uncomfortable. Then at the reception, she continued the same behavior. I don't think I saw them kiss or she showed him any sort of physical affection. 

During their first dance, her daughter comes up and puts herself right in between them. The best man leans over to me and says, "And that's the way their whole marriage is going to be". Sucky situation.

I know many people who tried talking him out of marrying her. They were convinced right up until the day that they wouldn't go through with it. So far it just feels like he's disappeared from our lives.

IVASHstudio , Shutterstock

44. What A Piece Of Work

The bride just wanted a party and a ring. I knew that she was marrying the groom because he was a safe choice. She had just come out of a very conservative lifestyle. 

The mood from the groom's side of the family was very somber whereas the bride's side was more relieved. They probably were happy that they didn't have to deal with her anymore.

She ended up leaving him two years later for some guy who owned his own gym. She had told me that she didn't want any kids at all and if she fell pregnant she would give it up for adoption. Well, the gym dude had two kids of his own. Within four months of leaving my friend, the groom, she was pregnant. She tried to take the house and stuff away from my friend but instead, she got laughed at by the judge who made her cry. The judge told her he could make her pay him back for everything. She was a piece of work and still is. 

My friend said at one point he felt like he was her father because she was never taught to do anything in her life.

Karolina Grabowska, Pexels

45. No Sign Of Respect Anywhere

My best friend got married about a year ago. During the ceremony, I realized just how odd the bride's vows were. They seemed to focus more on keeping and respecting each other's individuality rather than joining their lives together. Then during the reception, she spent the majority of the time on stage singing (she sings in a band) rather than spending time with her new husband. About a month later came the huge shocker—he found out she had been cheating on him for quite some time. The guy she was sleeping with was at the wedding. They were divorced a few months later.

Alexandre Laprise , Shutterstock

46. Keeping It Professional

I was at a wedding as a videographer. The bride was really happy and all but the groom seemed disinterested and bored. I filmed the ceremony and everything but needed some shots of the guests mingling. Then my buddy said that he didn’t get any footage of the groom and asked if I had seen him. I hadn’t but offered to walk around to look for him.

I eventually found the groom down by the lake sitting on a bench and chatting with one of the bridesmaids. They didn't notice me, but I saw them share a kiss. I mentioned it to my buddy who just shrugged and said that we were there to film the wedding, so it wasn’t our concern.

Videographer recording wedding ceremony.Phakorn Kasikij , Shutterstock

47. Cheesy And Freaky

I attended the wedding of my ex-girlfriend. They were one of those cheesy dollar dance things where the bride and groom shake down the crowd for more money. Fine. I sucked it up and danced with her for a fiver. That one dance ruined everything.

During the dance, she whispered, "This should have been you". I freaked out and quickly left after that.

Needless to say, they didn't last.

Man leaving from wedding ceremony.Aliakbar Nosrati , Pexels48. Obvious Guilt

The bride ugly cried throughout the entire reception until she, the groom, and her mom got into a yelling fight about it. They both made it clear to her that the only reason they got married was because she was pregnant with their second child.

Incidentally, the best man, who was of a different race, seemed very jumpy the entire time. Fast forward to six months later and the baby is clearly biracial. Less than a year after the wedding, the bride & groom are divorced and she’s with the best man. 

The groom was not unhappy to get a divorce. The general consensus was that he was probably as unfaithful as she was. It’s just that she had the misfortune that her infidelity was a lot more obvious.

Upset sad couple not talking to each other and seating on the sofa.Ketut Subiyanto , Pexels

49. Damage Was Already Done

I attended a wedding where the groom accidentally spilled champagne on the bride's dress. This turned pretty nasty in a matter of seconds. It started with her being irate over the dress, then blaming him for everything that went wrong with the wedding (which no one noticed), issues with his family followed and to top it all off she questioned his mental health (he'd had problems in the past). She was screaming at the top of her lungs in front of about 150 people. Poor guy never stood a chance

Angry bride in wedding dress screaming. Isolated on white background.Den Rozhnovsky , Shutterstock

50. Cringey Toast

The groom raised his glass and he said the densest thing I’ve ever heard a groom say: "I look forward to seeing all of you at the divorce proceedings"! His wife looked rather hurt. There’s a time and a place for these comments and that wasn’t it. Not surprisingly, they got divorced.

He just remarried another girl he knocked up. He looked miserable in the wedding photos. Hope he's matured since the last time.

Bride and groom wearing white makes a toast with the guest outside.WellStock , Shutterstock

Sources: Reddit,


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