Worst Wedding You've Ever Attended

dkgoetz

I went to the wedding of a friend I grew up with. The wedding held in her parent's back yard. When I arrived (a guest!), none of her bridesmaids were ready and she was still getting her hair done. The groom was trying to help as best as he could and getting snapped at and berated by her the entire time. The wedding started almost an hour late.

Their son was supposed to be the ring bearer, but he refused to walk down the aisle and they finally put him in a wagon and pulled him down, he cried the entire way. During the ceremony, my friend would stare off into the distance, look at her nails, everywhere EXCEPT the groom. I originally thought she was nervous but eventually settled on thinking she just looked incredibly bored. It was very awkward!

During their vows, he had note cards which he only glanced at, and spoke to her like she was a goddess. She read hers word for word staring at her notes instead of bothering to look at him. And the kiss was more like a peck than a triumphant we-just-got-married smooch.

The reception started off fine until my friend and her bridesmaids started drinking. There was drama, cat fighting, crying, etc. The maid of honor left in tears. It was a mess.

I am surprised to say she is still married to that "lucky" guy.

thoshowski

It's your wedding and do what you want and forget what others think. My wedding ceremony will be at 11 am and the reception is at 4:30. I don't care what everyone else will do. I know I will be busy with pictures. I would like to enjoy my day and not feel rushed to get every picture I want in.

raisingemilyjune

I've never actually been to a wedding, but I do worry about etiquette at our wedding. It's hard to plan one when you've never been to one! Our ceremony is 1/2 hour from our reception, although this is because we are having a traditional wedding in a Catholic Church and the closest city with any sort of venue is 1/2 hour away and we are having our wedding at this particular church because we know the priest and we attend church there for all holidays.

We won't be having a cash bar, but we are supplying our own alcohol. We're bringing in several kegs of Creemore beer (one of our favourites that is also nice and smooth and a majority favourite for our guests), red and white wine, + toasting champagne and rose champagne as well. We've considered a specialty drink, my favourite cocktail the "Jolly Rancher Martini" the way my MIL makes it, and again because I know that a lot of our guests who hang out at the cottage with us do like it.

My only concern right now is time of ceremony, we told our priest 1:30pm but I think we are looking at moving it to 2 or 3pm. I just don't want to rush through photos since I'm paying quite a hefty price tag for them and I want some really awesome photos to remember the day.

breeshabebe

I've never been to a terrible wedding... and for the most part, none of them were all together bad... just a few things:

Bad DJ or No DJ/band- You really don't realize how much a DJ moves the party along. They announce dances, toasts, open the floor. I had one friend that just let music that her and her husband had put on their itunes play. No one danced, and it was pretty lame. Another friend had a bad DJ that didn't announce the money dance or cake cutting until half the people had already left.

Photography being more important than the wedding taking place: This is a huge pet peeve of mine...alot of times, the wedding party is so busy posing for pictures that they don't realize that all of the guest are just left twiddling their thumbs. The photographer is supposed to be there to take pics of your moment, not pose your moment for pics. Let the toast be an actual toast- not just picture time. You want to have a good time, not just look like you are having a good time for pics.

Lobster1987

It's your wedding and do what you want and forget what others think. My wedding ceremony will be at 11 am and the reception is at 4:30. I don't care what everyone else will do. I know I will be busy with pictures. I would like to enjoy my day and not feel rushed to get every picture I want in.

And....what are your guests supposed to do that entire time? Don't be surprised if you get a lot of them who leave...or keep their gift to you. A better way to do it is to do a "first look" photo shoot before the ceremony and take most of your pictures before then so you don't have that rude gap. You should never keep your guests waiting for more than an hour with nothing to do.

white__wizard

Anything on a boat. That means I can't leave until the boat docks. It's literally a wedding prison ship.

kmbweber2014

I went to a wedding last summer that had strippers dancing down the isle (they were the bridesmaids, but also strippers and they love their job) to a profanity laced rap song, it started two hours late because the ring bearer was napping, they had cheap beer bottles as vases (labels still on), and a cake covered in fake blood and zombies. It was a real treat.

dandelyon

I've never gone to a horrible wedding.

I did participate in a wedding where my husband was a second class guest because I was a bridesmaid with tons of duties to fulfill - like an awkward dance with a groomsman that I hadn't even been introduced to, and the honor of wearing a bridesmaid gift that turned out to be tan granny panties - which I shouldn't complain about, they were very well made and functional - and I was expected to sit apart from my husband during the ceremony and reception and of course there was all this hair and makeup nonsense.

Not saying it was horrible, but it definitely wasn't an experience I would willingly repeat.

fuhrmeister

I went to a wedding in VA in March or early April. Still pretty chilly outside.

First I was invited through my MIL no actual invite... it was my husband’s cousins wedding.

The ceremony was beautiful

The reception was at the grooms parent house. Out side under tents. The heat lamps were not turned on before we arrived to the tent was cold. And since I did not have an invitation I had no idea where reception was and proceeded to sink into the ground and get mud all over my heels.

The hors' dovers we set out but the bride and grooms friends grabbed so much foo that many of the older guest had little to nothing and had to wait for items to be replenished. At this point we were freezing hungry and greatly ignored by most other guest including my MIL (but that is another story) So we left.

I brought a gift since I did not attend the shower and never received a thank you note...

I went to her baby shower a year later...as an afterthought on my MIL/SIL's invite again. I stayed and helped the family load all the gifts and leftover food into the car b/c I was with my SIL and again did not receive a thank you note.

I'm sure people hated the heat at my wedding. Who knew June 7th 2008 would end up being the hottest day of the year in Fredericksburg, VA. But I had plenty of water and a free wine and beer bar. We had a small wedding we paid for ourselves.

I'm so glad others are still interested in etiquette

MrsPong

I was to be married to a U.S Marine. He proposed and we were married 6 weeks later, 1.5 week after my 21st birthday.

Anyways... We had to keep it simple and quick. We did the ceremony part and reception all in on spot, no long time in between.
The bar was not open before the ceremony. It was open right before dinner, and open all night. No Cash Bar. The place we rented allowed us to bring in our own alcohol and they supplied the bartenders (cool right?)...

We had a DJ and a family style buffet which they gave us more options bc my husband was in the military, along with all the groomsman.

My only thing was people wearing those white top, black bottom dresses...They were I style then and I wanted to be the only 1 in white (besides my daughter who was 4 months old and in the cutest off white dress EVER) and my dress was not fancy or big....so I wanted to "special". somehow. my mom covered her white top during the ceremony bc it bothered me. But it actually turned out well bc my cousin who was doing the candles had that type of dress on and my mom and his mom too...in the end I was the only one that looked like the bride and I freaked over nothing lol

3dogsrunning

Yes! I didn't know etiquette was a thing until I started planning either! And now I am just bound and determined to be a great host and to not be a rude bride. Open bar all night...no more than an hour between ceremony and supper, etc...and the ceremony and reception will be in the same place.

And reading about invitations and how much etiquette there is to that...and inviting plus ones and etc...omg! There was so much I didn't know!

I love reading about awful weddings though! It makes me plan to not do things at my own wedding. Keep 'em coming!

sounds perfect! I didn't follow much etiquette since my wedding wasn't fancy (outdoor beachside venue) but I wanted to make sure it was as convenient and fun for the guests as possible! I went to a wedding once where the ceremony was at a church almost an hour from the hall that the reception was held. I didn't get that. Just remember it's one day, and after a few weeks people will forget all about it, so don't stress (or spend $$) on the little stuff. That is the biggest thing I learned! haha

Ironically, this is exactly what etiquette is supposed to be for, not as a basis to judge people but to ensure your guests are treated well.

JanetteBradleyMahnken

Worse wedding I attended was long ago. It was my boyfriend at the time's best friend. My boyfriend was suppose to be the best man. But something came up and he couldn't even attend. My Boyfriend and his friend still wanted me to attend. The night before I also attended the bridal shower that was taking place in an apartment a couple doors down from the apartment where the groom's party was being held. There was suppose to be a stripper for the guys and a stripper for the girls. But the bride and her lady friend some how managed to cancel the guys stripper. And then arranged for one of the bride's old boyfriend to come as a second stripper for the ladies, as they wanted to have one last fling or even talk about calling off the wedding. Well needless to say a big fight broke out and most of the guest were so mad at the bride, her girlfriend, and old boyfriend that most of the people then refused to go to the wedding the next day. I really didn't want to go either after that, but my boyfriend still wanted me to go to take pictures for him, and to support the groom for going through with the wedding. The wedding was held out in the open on the apartment roof and hardly any one showed up. The people at the wedding were the brides three little girls from a previous relationship, the bride's sister and her kids, and a few of her friends. And a few of the groom's military buddies did show up too just to support him. And then there were a few of the apartment complex neighbors there too. And The reception was held in one apartment and spread all over the apartment complex. The dance and after party was held at a small dive night club type bar that the bride use to work at and only myself, the bride, her sister, the groom and I think 2-3 friends of the groom came. There was free beer, soda and some other stuff at the reception in the apartment. But everyone had to pay for their own at the night club. Needless to say that marriage didn't last long as the wife took off later. And her own three little girls that this man adopted after the wedding got left with him too as the mother didn't want to take care of them any more.

AbigailClarke48

Well, I am not sure this qualifies as 'etiquette issue', but when the time came for the mother/son dance for the groom who was a long time family friend, slowly.....slowly......Pink Floyd's hit 'Mother' came on - I think everyone went into a state of surreal disbelief. Mother and Son seemed quite happy. If you don't know the song, look up the words.

missybct

Generally, all the weddings I have been to have been fantastic - may have not been my particular taste, but that's why we are all unique.

My Dad's wedding was a kick in the stomach - a) he cheated on my Mum with the woman he was marrying and b) he referred to the divorce from my mother as a "difficult" time. Funny thing was, he was the one who stalled on the divorce and more than that, my Mum was left with nothing from the divorce - all the house money went to his debts. I got pretty smashed at that wedding and pretended that I didn't care.

The only other wedding that was a bit....less than good - my ex was a photographer and we were taking photos for an ex colleague of his. She was a lovely, humble, smart lady - she was marrying the love of her life and had recently experienced the bereavement of their young son, so it was quite a sombre affair. That wasn't the issue at all, the issue was the husband's less than polite side of the family (the husband was fine) who got completely mashed on Stella and cocaine outside and completely ruined the entire evening for the bride and groom when the police showed up with a van. I felt so sorry for them - it was so upsetting to watch and although I know they no longer speak to certain sections of that group. The fact that those people decided to not only use a wedding as a platform for aggression, but also the fact the wedding ceremony was centred around the deceased son...man that choked me up.

Ladyinwaiting4

my friend Cherise's wedding last September, 2012. the wedding went off without a hitch and it was time for the reception. the caters and everyone was waiting someone had to say there has been a delay you have to wait well by 6pm we ( my mom, stepdad, daughter and I ended up eating Mcdonald's) come to find out from the people who stayed there they didn't start the reception till 8pm mind you the wedding was at 2pm in the afternoon. the delay was the girls in the wedding party needed to redo their hair and make up because after the wedding was over it was raining.

so when her sister got married we got invited me, my mom, daughter and stepdad said we better leave early and grab a mcdonald's as this might be a repeat of what happened last time. and half the church folks who came last time all were eating at mcdonald's too. the reception there was not as bad we only had to wait 30 minuets.

My1985Freckles

Let's see....

DH's Cousin's wedding.... Cousin 1.... DH and I were engaged and he was invited and we had to pay for me to go. WTF?

And Cousin #2... World's WORST wedding!

Wedding starts at 2:00, so we show up around 1:30-1:45ish and join the other guests in the sanctuary while the bridal party is having their pictures done. Yep, minutes before the wedding and we ALL see the bride. Um, Sweetheart, you should have had the pictures done already, it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding!.... I thought the ceremony was awful. I had never been to a wedding where everyone sings hymns, but I've heard that it apparently isn't "weird" but I thought it was insane.... Proceed to the reception, there is NO FOOD! Why? The ditzy bride didn't finalize with the caterer. DUH! My MIL called the caterer and "magically" food appeared. There was NO CAKE!!!!! The bride asked several people to make key lime pies and cherry pies. Dafuq?!

My own wedding had a LOT of glitches due to manipulative IL's, but no breaches of ettiquette.

onwarddownward

Worst wedding?

Both of mine.

I am not a party girl.

BrieLP

A lot of things at my wedding probably did not follow etiquette. BUT everyone had a great time. We had a "mini-destination" wedding. We got married about 3 hrs away and because of the time of day everyone came in early checked into cabins and stayed after the reception. The ceremony and cocktail hr was held on my husband's grandparents property right on the river and the reception was at a bar down the street that was closed to the public and was a cash bar. Everyone had a great time and still talks about it today.

BohoLovin

My step-sister's wedding was awful. Well, the wedding itself was fine, it was the reception that was bad. I wasn't of legal drinking age at the time, so the fact that all of her other friends and family that were there just wanted to get totally wasted didn't help, but the worst part was that NO ONE would dance. (oh, and it wasn't an open bar either) I don't really remember the food, so it definitely wasn't great. I love dancing, and I was so sad that they only played crappy music, and I was the only one who would dance. I was so disappointed, and left pretty early.

BrieLP

Well, I am not sure this qualifies as 'etiquette issue', but when the time came for the mother/son dance for the groom who was a long time family friend, slowly.....slowly......Pink Floyd's hit 'Mother' came on - I think everyone went into a state of surreal disbelief. Mother and Son seemed quite happy. If you don't know the song, look up the words.

My father and daughter dance was Sweet Child o' Mine by guns and roses.

My mother in law wanted to dance to Harper Valley PTA. She joked about it for almost year and DH kept saying NO! lol