Nightmare wedding stories(inspired by bridesmaid dropped out thread!)

[antkim]

O.K. here's my story(other than my bridesmaid dropping out! LOL) I'll keep it as short as possible!!!

About a year before our wedding I picked out my bridesmaids dresses. The only problem was they only came in white and I wanted black(night wedding the night before NYE). I hired a seamstress and bought all the patterns and fabric etc. and gave them to her in early Feb. SO she had almost 1 year to make them. Periodically I would call her to see when she would begin and she would always assure me "not to worry-they would be done in plenty of time"!! Well time passed and passed ........

Finally, about 3 weeks before the wedding she began to make them!!! She had 7 to make.

I had my rehearsal dinner 2 nights before the wedding(thank god!) and I had 1/2 of the dresses for the girls to try on WELL they put them on and I burst out in tears!!! They were AWFUL! The backs were all crooked, the padding in the front was all uneven and they weren't even the right length!!! They looked like I had bought them at a local 5 and dime!! I could have done better and I can barely sew a button on! LOL My Mom took them home and stayed up all night trying to fix them with NO LUCK!!

SO the night before my wedding I was out with all but 2 of my bridesmaids until midnight trying to find dresses!!! We had sizes 2-16 to find!!!! After about 4 hours we found 6 dresses the same just 2 different sequences on top. So 3 were in 1 dress and 3 were in the other!!!

The day of the wedding they all looked beautiful and no one even noticed the different dresses until my cousin(maid of honor) told the story for our toast!! The best thing about it was they ALL wore the dresses again because they were formal dresses bought at Filenes-the kind you would by for a formal NYE celebration!!

I forgot to mention 1 thing. My MOH lives in St. Louis so all her measurements were done over the phone. When she got to the seamstress's house the 2 days before the wedding she tried on the dress and it was WAY to short so the woman tried to take part of another dress and sew it to that one to make it longer! (the extra dress was from my bridemaid dropping out a few weeks before-she had just started working on it when I informed her about the girl dropping out. She had apparently just cut the pattern so she wasn't upset when I told her not to bother)

Sorry so long!! O.K. let's hear yours!!!

Kim

 

[my3kids]

My ring bearer and flower girl caught the buffet table on fire.

 

[stinkerbelle]

I don't have any real horror stories - but this is a great place to read some GREAT stories :

http://www.etiquettehell.com/


DH and I got married last september...the same weekend that Hurricane Isabel decided to pummel the northeast. I basically hydroplaned to the salon the morning of my wedding. (ceremony was at 4 that afternoon) As we were hydroplanning down the highway my maid of honor looks at me and says "Holy crap - did you just see that?" no, what? I ask - "We just passed Noah's ark!" (I then nearly peed my pants while driving)

so that basically put me in a pretty good mood for the rest of the day...the sun finally came out and we were able to get married outside like planned.

It was still VERY windy out...and I almost got blown off the cliff we were having the ceremony on - but thank god DH and my maid of honor were quick and grabbed me.

Even if it did rain...who cares...I still got to marry my wonderful hubby. And that's all that mattered - not the dresses/pictures/favors/appetizers/etc...none of that really mattered in the long run.

 

[mickeyboat]

I also had a bridesmaid drop out, we just went on without her.

My brother was smoking a cigarette in the hall of the hotel the bridal party was staying at, he set off the fire alarm (thank God not the sprinklers). We had to evacuate the hotel two hours before the wedding and wait for the fire department. My father said he would go back in and rescue my dress.

Then when DH got to the church with his wedding party, there was a bat flying all over the church. He and his groomsmen took batted it down with a collection basket, trapped it under the basket, slid a hymnal under it, and brought it outside. Can you imagine if that thing had been flying around when I got to the church?

Denae

 

[stinkerbelle]

He and his groomsmen took batted it down with a collection basket, trapped it under the basket, slid a hymnal under it, and brought it outside.

I'm sorry - but I'm getting a mental image of a bunch of men in tuxes jumping up at a bat with collection baskets in their hands...kinda like from the movie "The Great Outdoors" only dressed nicer...

glad they got the bat out though!

 

[2bemarried]

I don't have a true horror story.....but my mother had a mental breakdown 6 months before the wedding. Needless to say...it was NOT easy planning a wedding when the mother of the bride didn't feel like participating.

 

[Stepharoonie!]

Well, basically my wedding was nothing how I wanted it. I originally wanted it in my hometown (Daytona Beach), but my mom said that we couldn't really have one there since she was a city official...she'd have to invite half of the town, and she couldn't afford that.

So, my ex and I talked about possibly eloping. Of course, I wasn't exactly thrilled with this. What woman doesn't want their big pretty wedding?

Eventually, he decided that having a wedding in Las Vegas was the way to go. Well, Vegas was great for me....but he wanted one of those themed costume weddings. We ended up getting married at the Excalibur Hotel and had a medieval themed wedding.

Oh, I was really not happy with this...especially considering I was the ONLY one in a party of 30 people who was wearing a "real" wedding outfit (I had bought a gorgeous wedding dress before all of this was decided). I was basically so upset because we looked like a bunch of clowns in our pictures.

His father was a pain as well. He kept trying to rush the photos so we could hurry up and eat. Yeah, we got a wedding dinner to remember...ooh. The Roundtable Buffet. His father rushed us through that so that he could (and he announced this loudly) go to his room to take a **** and then go gamble some more.

Before I shredded those pictures, you could clearly tell I was crying in quite a few of them. I should have known before we got married that that was a warning sign!

I felt much better after I got rid of those pictures.

 

[tc]

I was married at 6:00 p.m. on a Friday evening, Memorial Day weekend, in Wyoming. My husband-to-be, Stephen, just started working for Mountain Bell, so had no vacation. Our honeymoon would consist of the weekend in Salt Lake City.

Our reception was to be outdoors, in the newly landscaped backyard of some very close friends. Landscaped specifically for the wedding. The week leading up the wedding, the weather was beautiful. The wedding day dawned cold, wet and windy, and stayed that way all day. That was the beginning.

Just before I left the house (I lived at the house where the reception was taking place), the cake arrived. My colors were burgundy and silver. I had requested fresh roses on the cake. Instead, the cake decorator decided to make icing roses. They were purple, not even close to burgundy. The leaves were a very bright green. It was hideous. There was really nothing I could do, so I left for the church.

My mother was in charge of decorating the altar. She said she wanted to do it on her own. She decorated it with houseplants, from her house. That's the only part she wanted involved with, so I let her do it. What a mistake. When I walked in, I almost cried. It was awful.

I walked the aisle with my dad, and got to the front, only to find out my groom was a little tipsy. He has never drank alcohol since. He got off at noon that day, and was drinking all afternoon. His best man kept saying things like, "You haven't said 'I do' yet, you can leave," and "It's not too late."

Stephen's dad married us, and preached a 30 minute sermon. By the time the ceremony was over, Stephen was sick and I was wishing the day were over. We got pictures taken, then off to the reception.

The reception had to be moved inside because it started sleeting, then hailing, the snow. On the way into the house, my brother-in-law, picked me up, took me to his car, and rode around town for over an hour. He thought it would be funny if Stephen didn't know where I was. He didn't think it was funny, he was scared and mad. No one knew where I was.

After I returned, some boys from our church (and their dads) decided to "decorate" my car. We had a brand new Honda Prelude. They removed the back tires, throwing the lug nuts in the back of a guys truck. He didn't know they were there, and left the reception early to go home, to Rock Springs, 30 miles away. They put a full size barbeque grill in the back seat. Shaving cream and vasoline all over, even the mirrors. When you see pictures of the wedding, it's pretty much me crying or begging Stephen to make them stop. By the time we got our lug nuts back (pre cell phones) it was midnight, and we had a 4 hour trip to SLC. We went to a car wash to clean the shaving cream off of our brand new car, and ran out of change. Stephen ran over to a liquor store to get more change, and the boys attacked the car again while he was gone. I was in hysterics by the time he got back.

We made it to SLC around 4:30 a.m., Stephen had a hang-over, in addition to a terrible cold. We were exhausted and not very happy.

So, that's my wedding day. We spent the weekend making up, and decided that it can only improve from here.

We will be celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary May 23 this year.

 

[Cruise04]

This should have been a sign (not really a wedding nightmare) but my first marriage it snowed the day before we got married - in October and the day after the wedding, the place that we had the reception caught on fire and had significant fire damage.

I always say - must have been a sign, must have been a sign

Second marriage - we ran out of food with about 36 people to go. I didn't find out until after people started leaving (we were in the dancing mode of the reception). Other than that - the day was beautiful and wonderful - hot but wonderful. Oh, when we were taking pictures I twisted my ankle stepping down off the gazebo we were in but didn't feel a thing until 2am the next morning (was a sign I drank too much I think ). And man, did it hurt then!!!!!

 

[arminnie]

I'll bet we've all heard stories about a missing bride or groom or some other party of the wedding, but do you know of another wedding where the MINISTER FORGOT TO COME.

My aunt was widowed very young and met a nice man who had also lost his wife. They decided to marry and everyone was so happy for them. Lots of people came from out of state for the wedding.

The night of the wedding the church was locked and there were over 100 people waiting to get into the church for the wedding. Phone calls to the minister were unanswered until one of his kids finally answered and said "Oh, he's at the mall."

Someone found another minister and we all went over to my cousin's house and they got married there. The groom had a heart attack a week later and I know it was from the stress and anger over how horribly they were treated.

The minister never really apologized - he just tried to blame it on his secretary. They had gone to this church for decades and he had even held the services for her late husband so it wasn't like they were strangers just wanting to be married in that church.

 

[LuvBuzz]

My grandfather, papa, went into the hospital the Weds. before my wedding due to congestive heart failure. He passed away that Friday during my rehearsal dinner. I was devastated. But we went on with the wedding the next day. I wanted to postpone, to which my father about had a heart attack. During the wedding I wore my late grandmothers ring (which papa gave me at a shower) and my papa's ring he wore. We placed his boutineer (sp!) on the alter next to a picture of him. My DH's family had no idea what had happened and thought I was just not happy to be there. It was tough on my family, but nice that we were all there together, and he was able to see a lot of family before he passed because of this. My parents were absolutely wonderful and made my day still feel special. I don't think I have ever realized how much they went thru for me that day till just now writing this out. The funeral was that Monday. My husband and I went on with our honeymoon (to Disney) that Wednesday as planned at the insistance of my family. One of my gifts was a wedding card that papa had already written out. My wedding is bittersweet, the pictures, the video, everything. But I knew that night, from the support my DH gave me, that I could not have picked a better husband.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

We got married on October 7th. There were snow flurries that day and it was windy. When we got to the church there was no heat! It was absolutely freezing. I was wearing a strapless dress. The bridesmaids were wearing halter dresses.

When we got to the reception site we were going to take pictures outside. In our video you can see all of the girls huddled around the groomsmen shivering.

That's the worst that happened and I consider ourselves very fortunate.

 

[CyranoJones]

We got married at a friend's home and her dad was giving the judge a look around the house. As luck would have it, I had just gotten out of the shower and was about to start to get dressed when that room came up on the tour. He certainly got more than an eyeful. Poor man was a lot more embarrassed than I was.

 

[septbride2002]

Let me see.........................

My SIL told me she did not want her son to be a ring bearer without a flower girl because he was young and probably wouldn't walk down the aisle by himself. We suggested her walking down with him but she said and I quote, "Well I might as well be a greater at the door." She was a little pissy that she wasn't a bridesmaid. Anyway the night before the wedding she decides that she DOES now want to do exactly what we suggested. So I'm at a local Michaels and other craft stores trying to find a ring bearer pillow.

The day of the wedding my FIL insisted on working that morning even though they had to be at the church by Noon (He is a Vet and owns his own business so he could have taken the day off). They got there late.

Before the ceremony my deacon asked us if we wanted to read the sermon - I replied no that I trusted him and I was sure it would be beautiful. His sermon had absolutely nothing to do with us or our day, which would have been fine except for that his sermon made no sense and was ridiculous. Here is how it started, "So Jesus is at this receiption tipping back a few glasses of wine." use your imagination

The reception started at 7pm everyone in the wedding party was instructed to be at the hall at 6p.m. to great people at the door. FIL and MIL didn't get to the receipt until 7:45!!!! Evidently they went home and fell asleep and woke up late. DH was furious beyond words because we put off being announced until the last possible minute for them. We were being announced as they walked in the door. They didn't great any of their friends that we let them invite and I use the word "let" because we paid for everything.

~Amanda

~Amanda

 

[aynt79]

My maid of honor decided to drop out (along with her daughter the flowergirl) - the day before the wedding. I hadn't heard from her for the last couple of weeks and she finally called me back the morning before to tell me she had to babysit her boyfriend's kids instead.
(for background the wedding was being held in the eastern part of the state where we all were from, DH and I lived & worked in the central part, and maid of honor was at her boyfriend's relatives in the south/western part of the state - about 2-3 hours between each part) My DH offered to 1)go get her (he was still at work) 2) pay one of the groomsmen to get her, 3) hire a taxi $$$. We even checked into flights to get her close. Long Story Short - she had a different excuse for every offer we gave her.
It will be 2 years this June and I have never heard from her since. I'm not mad anymore, she just isn't worth my time. We always had the kind of relationship where it was my job to set up the visits, phone calls, etc and this was the last straw.

On a funny part of this happening, DH was adament that we get his sister to be a bridesmaid (we only had 2 attendants each to start with) Luckily I picked dresses that were available at the local mall with no special order required. So DH and one of his groomsmen are running around trying to find the dress in the right size. They run into the store and DH says "We're getting married tomorrow and we need to find a dress". Now remember, it's just DH and groomsman - no females are with them. I guess the girls at the store were super helpful in finding the two guys a dress

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

At my cousins wedding, a very good friend of hers was a bridesmaid, and she simply didn't show at the wedding. Luckily the dress was with us so we put it on a friend of my sister's and she became a bridesmaid. That way one of the groomsmen didn't have to drop out or not have a partner.

At my wedding the lady doing the video was talking to me as I was getting ready before the ceremony. She said something about how nice the horse and carriage was - which I didn't know anything about. It was supposed to be a surprise. I swore her to secrecy and acted very surprised about the carriage that arrived for DH and I after the ceremony. Not a big deal but it would've been a really nice surprise

 

[CajunDixie]

A few years ago I was a bridesmaid and DS was a ring bearer in a friend's wedding. All went well until at the end of the ceremony the bride and groom were supposed to leave the front of the church first by a different aisle than what we had come down. It seems the side aisles are not as wide as the center aisle and her dressed was quite wide. On these outer aisles her mom and M-I-L had placed candles in holders that were pretty but not very sturdy. As they walked down the aisle it was like a domino efect....candle after candle fell. Of course the rest of us in the wedding party just froze. Her brother began grabbing the candles and setting them back up. Luckily the only damage was some wax on the ends of the pews and on the carpet.

 

[eeyore74]

I had one bridesmaid drop out, but she still came to the wedding. She dropped out because she didn't like the dresses I picked out. Anyway, the she kept popping out of the dress she wore. She's a larger woman and there was a lot of popping! Breasts everywhere.

And my mom told me the morning of my wedding that it wasn't my day, it was everybody else's day. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

 

[palmtreegirl]

Not a nightmare but we had a few snafus at the church.

1- My parents-in-law were over 30 minutes late for the wedding. We held the ceremony, standing in the back of the church waiting. We had candles on each row of pews and they were all melting away, finally the priest asked people to blow them out. We finally started without them after 25 minutes and they came running in just as I was about to walk down the aisle.

2- One of my bridesmaids fainted right after the ceremony was over.

3- DH popped the champagne bottle open outside the church and the cork flew and hit the priest right in the head! lol

The rest of the day was a blast, it was a great wedding.

 

[Hillbeans]

Well, this was minor, but my DH's whole family was in from PA and not ONE of them brought directions from the church to the reception that I sent in the invitations (about 8 of them).

They got on the NJ Turnpike instead of the Garden State Parkway and ended up about 25 miles the wrong direction. Someone finally stopped and realized they were going the wrong way. They got to the reception with 10 minutes left of the cocktail hour and they missed outside pictures because the sun went down.

His dad then said "why didn't your limo wait for us"??

Hello???