23 Of The Most Obnoxious Things Guests Have Ever Done At A Wedding — Like, It Gets Sooo Messy
We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the most obnoxious thing someone did at their wedding that they still can't get over to this day. Here are the wild results:
1."My mother-in-law got up during the wedding ceremony and started fixing my wife's hair while the minister was giving his talk. Twice! She thought the veil my wife was wearing was falling and didn't like how it looked. She jammed it down so hard that the comb spines cut my wife's head, and she started bleeding. The minister froze and didn't know what to do or say."
"When she got up a third time, I took the veil out of my wife's hair, handed it to her sister (maid of honor), and told her to throw it in the fireplace behind us if her mother tried to touch it again."
—Anonymous, USA
2."My brother proposed to his girlfriend at my wedding. I gave birth on their wedding day, so I won in the end."
"F*** you, Matt."
3."My wedding venue had three split areas, so there can be more than one wedding going all at once. I had a fairly large wedding of 250 people, and during my reception, a guest came to tell me there was another bride on the dance floor. Turns out, the bride from another wedding on-site 'popped in' to say hi to the DJ because they were friends."
"My bridesmaids quickly told that bride if she didn't leave my venue, they'd gladly remove her. What kind of person does that?!"
4."We had a morning ceremony with a luncheon before our reception. A family member thought that would be the appropriate venue to serve their spouse divorce papers."
—40, USA
5."Our officiant, one of my husband’s best friends, got in a fight with his then-girlfriend and decided to pull out of our wedding less than two hours before the ceremony. Everyone was scrambling to get someone else ordained online because he was off crying miles away about some minor disagreement they had. He finally came through after some choice words (and threats) from my husband, but the girlfriend decided to pout and whine for the ENTIRE reception about how mean our officiant/her boyfriend was and how he was just putting on an act for the ceremony."
"But really, he was just as miserable as she was. We never should have given him a plus-one."
—35, USA
6."I was married 10 years ago, and I haven't spoken to these people since. RSVPs went out, and two girlfriends of mine and their husbands — married couples — said yes. On the wedding day, both husbands were missing. I was so busy and didn't let it sink in, so I didn't ask, but my husband did, and you know what? One of them was too hungover from the night before, and the other decided to stain their porch instead."
"The wedding was at 2 in the afternoon on a Sunday. I do not consider them 'friends' anymore."
7."My in-laws offered to get a room where we were having our ceremony so my wife would have somewhere private to get ready. They went to get ready an hour before my wife needed to, but when she showed up, my father-in-law wasn't even started and refused to allow my wife in. He stalled until the ceremony's start time and finally let her in. They made her 45 minutes late to the ceremony."
"On top of that, they refused to pay the photographer after telling us they wanted to get one for us as a wedding gift. We ended up with a mash of photos being emailed to us and nothing else."
8."My whole bridal party sucked. The best man complained that he was hot every 10 minutes while we took photos. NONE of my bridesmaids wore the right shoes they were suppose to. My aunt and grandma ended up planning us a wedding shower last minute because bridesmaids had no plans to give one. No bachelorette party, no bachelor party. The maid of honor and best man did not have any speeches prepared so no toasts. Oh and we found out later another couple who was both in our bridal party tried to start a bet with the rest of the party on how long we would last."
"That couple is now divorced; we are still married three years later."
—30, USA
9."My father-in-law made a bonkers speech about how he didn't know much about me and that it would be difficult to get to know me because my husband and I dated for a short time. (He never made an effort to get to know me in the seven months before our wedding) He also mentioned how great his relationship was with my husband's ex-wife because she was 'easier to convince' to do things. Two days later, he blew up in our hotel room (we had a destination wedding, and my three stepkids kids were in the room as well) about how we relied on our original plans, which he changed, to make additional plans. It was wild, and we didn't talk to him for months after the wedding."
"We found out later that he refused to take his medication to our wedding, which was 5,000 miles away from home. Four months later, we found out we were expecting, and I had a very frank conversation about my expectations of him and how I’d bar him from ever seeing our kids if he didn’t get psychological help. Our relationship is rocky, and I very much dislike him. I don’t trust him with my children, and I never ever will. He marred our otherwise beautiful wedding with his BS."
—30, Pennsylvania
10."My mother didn't talk to me the ENTIRE time we were getting ready. It was me, my mom, my sister, and my best friend getting ready together (we didn't have bridesmaids or groomsmen). For the five or so hours we're together, she's silent, playing games on her iPad. She even got upset that I hired someone to do her hair and makeup. Then, when my parents walked me down the aisle, she didn't smile or look happy. The pictures of that were awful."
"A few weeks after the wedding, I asked her about it, and it turns out she was upset that my best friend was in the room with us (someone she's known for almost 20 years). So, instead of saying anything or getting over it because it was my day, she just shut down and didn't interact with us. It wasn't the best start to the day; it made me feel like I had to make everyone else happy and put their happiness before mine."
—36, Virginia
11."In our wedding, we chose not to have a flower girl or ring boy. None of our immediate family or close friends had kids — we have plenty of cousins and more distant relatives with younger children. Day of the wedding, the florist delivers bouquets/boutineers, flowers, AND a *bonus* bag of rose petals for a flower girl. As the processional starts, to my surprise, there is a sloppily dressed girl with a makeshift headpiece walking down, laying down the rose petals. She was not wearing a dress; instead, she had on a dark shirt and pants AND sneakers! The rest of the bridal party were in gowns with matching hair, heels, gloves, and accessories."
"After the wedding, I asked my wife about the surprise flower girl. She thought it was my mom's idea. I laughed because my mom asked who was that girl wearing sneakers. I thought it was one of her sister's idea, but they all denied it. We figured out later that my bride's aunt decided we *needed* a flower girl and had her 12-year-old granddaughter walk in front of the bridal group. She was a little too old to be a flower girl...any of my younger cousins would have been a better choice. They all wore nice dresses and had on dressy flats."
—48, Virginia
12."My photographer had my DJ announce it was time for the newlyweds' sendoff. It was not. We still had hours to go before the reception was over. He just wanted a good pic of people waving goodbye at us. Multiple people, including my grandmother, left early, thinking the party was over."
"That was 25 years ago, and I'm still pissed."
13."I had only met my mother-in-law (now ex-MIL) a handful of times before our wedding, despite living 10 minutes from her. Two days before the wedding, she shows up at my house, insisting she should be in my wedding party. I offered to have a groomsman walk her down the aisle at the start of the ceremony, like my mom. She refused and got into an argument with her son. During the ceremony, right when the music changed and everyone stood up for me to enter, she got out of her seat and walked down the aisle and stood next to my maid of honor."
"She also got drunk and walked around telling anyone who would listen that I got pregnant on purpose and trapped her son. We were engaged a year before we got married. I had only told a few people at this point that I was pregnant because I was only in the first trimester. This is what inspired me to become a wedding coordinator. Now, I happily kick out unruly family members and keep the peace. Thanks ex-MIL!"
14."My sister-in-law not only wore white satin, but she brought her 6-year-old child to a no-children wedding, dressed the child in the white flower girl dress she had worn when my brother married my SIL, AND tied a peach (my wedding color) sash around the child's waist. I am still salty 35 years later!"
—deq
15."My (now ex) mother-in-law turned to my mother during the vows and said, 'Well, of all the girls he's dated, I never thought he would marry THAT one.' Yes, she knew that was my mother as it was a family-only wedding with exactly ONE member of my family there."
16."My father went around on his scooter at his granddaughter's wedding, giving out his self-published book and telling everyone how great he is! Total narcissist."
"When I was informed what was going on, I told him to stop, or the next book would have to be removed from his ass!"
—61, New York
17."My great-aunt, who I'm not close with, brought an additional, uninvited friend to my reception! I didn't know the lady, and she didn't know me. I'm still unclear why this woman even wanted to be at my reception. And then, to top it all off, my aunt came straight to me and told ME that I needed to find an additional seat at her table."
"Thankfully, some friends overheard our conversation and took over the task of finding room at the table. It was such a bizarre experience, but thankfully, the rest of the night went perfectly!"
18."Not at the wedding, but regarding the wedding. My mother asserted absolute control over everything. She rented me a big, white fluffy gown, put in a deposit to use the park as a venue, and designated my siblings as maid of honor and best man — the whole shebang. I only told her I was getting married as a courtesy, and I certainly didn’t want any of that."
"So, I simply left the state, and my ex and I took our vows in a courthouse eight hours away from that madness, as we had already planned."
19."We deliberately had an afternoon tea reception to avoid the drama that my mother, who has an alcohol addiction, has brought to daily life and special occasions, with champagne for the toasts and speeches. Despite this planning, my mom and her older aunt drank booze they brought out of paper bags and were loaded by the end of the afternoon. My now ex-husband and I had to drive them to their hotel at the end of the reception. Good times."
20."Not my wedding but my best friend's (which is probably why I'm still mad!) This guest was a friend of both the bride and groom. About halfway through the first dance, I think I can hear game commentary — this woman was watching a college football *preseason* game on her phone, with the volume on, during the couple's first dance!"
"This game meant absolutely nothing, and there is zero reason to disrupt an important part of the reception for it."
21."I moved to the area about a month before my wedding and relied on my soon-to-be in-laws' recommendations for most of our vendors. When we met with the DJ, I explained that the vibe of the wedding is outdoorsy, a bit rustic. He asked if we'd like him to incorporate his flashing strobe lights, and I said a firm NO. All seemed fine until I finally took a bathroom break at the reception. Looking out the window (since the reception was outside), I could see he must've waited until I was out of sight to start up those flippin' lights."
"He probably thought my husband and I had left for the night. What a tacky dude. He also thought 'Blurred Lines' would be a great bouquet toss song."
22."This was back in 1993. My husband and I were living in Las Vegas. He insisted on inviting this woman he worked with at this nightclub to our wedding. I knew this woman liked my husband because she had made comments in front of me at my husband's job. I begged my husband not to invite her. But he insisted. Then, after the wedding and at the reception, my mother said to me, 'Who is that girl giving you dirty looks?'"
"I said, 'Don’t worry about her, Mom.' But to this day, I tell my husband that I’m still married to, 'I told you not to invite her!!!'"
And finally...
23."Our photographer. We decided to save money and hire one of my wife's cousins (who was actually a photographer) to do our wedding. He spent almost the entire time socializing and not taking photos, so we got almost no photos. Then, when it came time to show us the photos, he opened his laptop, which had a porn website opened. I couldn't believe it. Yes, you're family, but you are paid to do a job and be professional. Should've paid more to get someone else. Still, to this day, we have no wedding photos anywhere in our house."
"Further to that…our priest was condescending and scolded us for wanting to go through the ceremony at a decent pace so that we’d have time to take photos. He took his time, which led us to have about half an hour for actual photos before the party/dinner. The next week at his service, he bad mouthed my wife and I to the entire congregation about how we wanted to go through the ceremony quickly. Thank God I wasn’t there."
Yikes. What's the most obnoxious thing someone did at your wedding? Feel free to share your story in the comments below.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
