11 Nightmare Wedding Guests Who Completely Ruined the Big Day

A couple’s wedding is the day they celebrate their love surrounded by their loved ones, hoping their wedding will be one of the best days of their lives.

However, sometimes, things don’t go as planned, and the celebration goes wrong. A few folks on Reddit shared how some people ruined wedding ceremonies.

Comments have been edited for clarity and grammar.

1. My Father-in-Law Didn’t Get My Name Right

u/[deleted]: My father-in-law repeatedly used my husband’s ex-girlfriend’s name during his speeches and when talking to me.

His toast at the wedding was full of slurred speech and a story about Mark and Alyssa, their budding romance, and how adorable it was. I’m not Alyssa. Alyssa was his girlfriend in high school.

His parents got divorced when he was young. He was into alcohol abuse, and I’ve met him twice outside of our wedding. He didn’t see much of my husband after he was 12. He was out of touch.

We had been dating for about seven years before our marriage. My father-in-law should at least get my name right.

2. The Mashed Potatoes

u/Cant_Spel: My brother had an exciting toast at our wedding. He is genuinely a super-friendly guy that everyone likes. He proceeded to drink, and when his best man speech started, he thanked everyone for attending.

Next, he had to thank the grandparents for attending and “doing what they did” (gesturing with air quotes) so our parents could be here.

Next was a thanks to the parents for doing what they did so we kids could all be here. He then mumbles, “God bless the mashed potatoes!” and drops the mic, stumbling off the dance floor.

We had a good prime rib meal, and some of the best chipotle pepper mashed potatoes ever. The whole reception erupted in laughter, and my mom went to the chef to get the recipe.

3. Someone Stole My Marriage License

u/MissWriter1: I got married on a Sunday. My aunt was doing flash photography the entire time (even though my officiant announced no photos or videos), and my photographer couldn’t get some of the shots I wanted.

Also, my mom and aunt were being mean to everyone. Then, we signed the marriage license, and I put it in my purse before walking away to get some wine.

I come back, and my mom is going through my purse. She said she was getting some gum because “the brisket was too dry.”

I realized I couldn’t find the marriage license until after she left. She took it. Now I have to get another one.

4. I Had No Idea I Was Ruining the Wedding

u/Northsidebill1: I once ruined a wedding, but I swear it wasn’t my fault! I was a friend of a friend of the groom, and I had an F150, so I got asked to bring some chairs and a table to the reception hall, as people who own trucks are often asked to do.

I agreed and was told I would be met there by a couple of women and a few guys to unload everything and place it. Cool.

One of the women was beautiful. I flirted a bit, and she flirted back. She asked if I wanted to walk along the river the reception hall was on. Sure!

We walked for a while and talked, and things escalated quickly. We ended up getting intimate on the riverbank for a bit and walked back to the hall, where I invited her for a ride in my truck.

This was in rural Indiana, so in about 10 minutes, we were along some numbered county road getting intimate in the back of the truck.

It was late evening, and there was no one around. Then a car comes towards us. We laid still and waited for them to pass, but the car stopped, and the girl from earlier got out and started screaming at us. Yep, the girl I was with was the bride.

The wedding got canceled. My friend punched me in the face (he found out later that I had no idea who she was and apologized. We are good now), and it was quite the scandal for a while.

5. My Aunt’s Wedding

u/RubixRube: My aunt had a very fancy formal wedding. Being four, adorable, and related, I was the obvious choice for the flower girl.

Here is the thing: it’s a long day for the wedding party, and even the most attentive adult will get tired and bored between hair, makeup, photos, and long-winded Baptist vows.

So here we are, standing lined up by the altar, and the preacher finally asks for objections. At that moment, I yawned as loud as my little lungs would allow. The once silent room filled with 200 friends and family erupted into laughter.

That is when I noticed that 200 people were watching me, and I got scared and did what many scared four-year-olds do: urinate, cry, and try to run away.

So here I am, an angry, soaked four-year-old in a pink taffeta dress running about a church while my mother (the maid of honor) tries in vain to catch me (running in heels and a ball gown is not easy). I still haven’t lived it down 30 years later.

6. My Mother-in-Law Ruined My Big Day

u/[deleted]: I recently had my wedding, and we woke up together, happy to be getting married. Then, my soon-to-be husband received a text from his mother. Disclaimer: his mother had waist-length black hair.

It’s a photo of her. She cut and colored her hair exactly like mine—shoulder length, brown with blonde streaks. I was livid!

Of all days to color your hair! And to do it on my wedding day. Fine, I let it go and decided to just forget it. Finally, it’s the moment we all have been waiting for. I’m walking to the aisle, and we reach the front.

The parents were called up so we all could recite a vow together. (Our wedding was held in front of a river bank, mind you.) His mother then walked around me near the pastor instead of being with the other parents near the groom.

Then, she proceeded to scream and fall. She grabbed my hair as she fell, and I fell with her inches away from the riverbank. My moment… Ruined.

She got up, laughed, and walked away while I was on the ground, trying not to cry. To be honest, I don’t remember anything else from the ceremony. I was seeing red.

We no longer speak to one another. And I will forever refuse to talk to that woman. My husband stands by me on that decision. To this day, when I think about my wedding, I tear up.

She ruined it and didn’t even feel sorry for it. And those of you who say she fell and couldn’t help it—after watching our wedding video, I learned that her husband and the pastor were holding her arms. She deliberately stepped back and fell.

7. My Wedding

u/Tinkletyme: My family flew in from Michigan. The wedding was in Phoenix. This was the first time my family met my wife’s side of the family.

Well, long story short, right before the speeches, my niece, 2, and her cousin’s child, 2, were playing tag and running around like kids do. So, her cousin’s child fell while running, completely normal, and my niece went to help her up because she’s a sweetheart.

At this time, the cousin’s father started yelling at my niece until she started crying. My sister runs over to see what’s happening, and he tells her to “Watch her kid!”

This was just after my sister complimented her family for being so lovely and welcoming. It didn’t ruin our wedding because we heard about it afterward. Apparently, his wife was running around bragging to our guests.

8. My Father’s Fiancée

u/harsh4correction2: My father’s wedding was a minimal ceremony on the beach. I was 18 then. My great-aunt allowed us to use her awesome 2br beach house for the week and invited us to stay at her immaculate personal home beforehand.

At the house, my father’s fiancée decided she would order a pizza instead of eating a completely made-from-scratch meal. We talked the glance into having the home-cooked dinner, which was delicious. My great-aunt felt very disrespected but held her tongue.

Seven people were at the ceremony a few days later, including me, the wedding official, my father and fiancée, my soon-to-be stepsister, my great aunt, and my grandfather. Indeed, it was a small ceremony by any standards.

Dad’s fiancée threw a tantrum because she said there were “too many people” and “she doesn’t even know this lady,” who was my great aunt.

It didn’t ruin the ceremony, but a handless man could count with his fingers the number of times I’ve heard from my great aunt since the wedding.

That may not seem striking, but we frequently wrote letters to each other in my much younger days. I’ve also been severely alienated from my father because of this woman’s continued psychotic territorial behavior.

9. One Woman Had Issues

u/Smouldering_goose: Not my wedding (it was my SILs). It was a very formal wedding at a beautiful venue.

One of the groomsmen’s girlfriends had a meltdown because her boyfriend was getting his photograph taken with another girl—a bridesmaid (along with the other two bridesmaids, two groomsmen, the best man, the maid of honor, and the bride and groom).

I pulled her aside and told her to stop or leave, so she sulked in a corner for the next few hours. After dinner and speeches, it was the first dance. Then, the bridesmaids and groomsmen dance with the newlywed couple (then the bride and groom’s parents, etc.).

This girl stormed up to the dance floor and started screaming inappropriate things about the bridesmaid dancing with “her man.” The bridesmaid is happily married with two children and has met the groomsman twice.

Everyone was horrified, so I pulled her out the nearest door, down the driveway, and told her not to return. The bride was fuming, and the groomsman was very ashamed.

10. So Many Things

u/bunnyplop: I had a couple of weird things happen. I wouldn’t say anyone ruined the wedding (we ended up married after all!), but one girl ruined a lot of pictures!

A guy was working in the kitchen at the venue that she and I worked with for a couple of weeks, and she invited him to watch the ceremony in his yellow hoodie and backpack. They were standing right on the aisle, so they’re in many pictures. Oh, and she wore a white dress. She also caught the bouquet.

I had a bridesmaid get in a fight with her boyfriend and sit in a corner crying all night. And the DJ made a terrible mistake. After the ceremony, he missed his cue to play us back down the aisle, so I awkwardly turned to him, did finger guns, and said, “Hit it!”

And then later, my mom asked him for the mic to give a speech, but he said, “No, it’s too late.” Then, I cried, so my friends went and talked to him, and she made her speech.

11. Crazy mother-in-law

u/[deleted]: My mother-in-law ruined my wedding. I’m allergic to seafood and she knew it. She secretly added tiny pieces of fish to my salad. I saw her laughing as I was rushed from the altar in an ambulance. I decided to get back at her in a way she’d never forget.

Three days later, my furious husband burst into my room yelling, ‘THIS IS TOO MUCH, HOW COULD YOU file a lawsuit against my mother?” I responded firmly. “She knowingly endangered my health. That’s not just cruel; it’s illegal.” My husband’s anger gave way to shock.