9 hours Ago
We recently had members of the BuzzFeed Community tell us about the tackiest things they've ever witnessed while attending a wedding, and oooooof, it's not pretty. Here's what people shared: 1. "I was asked to be in a wedding where the only other person standing up was the groom's sister.
We each made our dresses out of fake suede. The groom's sister decided to dye her hair blonde the night before the wedding and used straight bleach, so her hair looked like straw. She also didn't find shoes to match her dress, so she wore pink fuzzy socks down the aisle.
Women started loading fried chicken directly from the buffet into their large purses at the reception. It was a bizarre experience!" —Anonymous 2. "I once attended a wedding where the bride's mother invited an old friend of the bride to perform during the reception against the bride's wishes.
He sang an original song about how special his relationship with the bride was, and mocked the groom. It was so obvious this man considered the bride the one who got away, and now he was sharing it with the entire wedding. It was received in dead silence, except the bride's delighted mother.
" —Anonymous 3. "This was a work colleague's wedding (when I was in the service). The groom called his bride 'the base bicycle' because 'everyone rode her.
' I left. They divorced. Come to think of it, the four military weddings I attended: all divorced.
" — charmingtrout668 4. "I was a bridesmaid for a new friend (it should've been a red flag that I got asked in the first place). She became a total nightmare and shit-talked everyone (including her parents, who paid for her wedding dress).
Complaints and shit-talking were nonstop at the bachelorette, bridal shower, and the night before the wedding. I didn't get a thank you for anything..
.and all the bridesmaids had to pay for their hair, dress, and makeup. We also had to come into town two days before the ceremony because that's when the rehearsal was (the groom's parents offered to pay, and she told everyone how nice it was that they finally contributed).
After the wedding, they went on their honeymoon, and still no thank you text or card (and I included a gift at the wedding to cover my plate cost). All I got was tagged in the wedding photos. Never spoke to her again.
" —Anonymous 5. "My aunt was getting married to her second husband. She decided to do it at Disney World, as that was where they met.
Cute right? No. It was at a lake near Cinderella's castle, and there were several alligators sunbathing. My aunt wore a Cinderella-style dress, and her husband wore a prince outfit.
Their first dance was to 'You've Got a Friend in Me' sung by my uncle, who really can't sing. I loved it when I was 5, but now I realize how tacky it was." —Anonymous 6.
"My own wedding. I didn't want to get married, but my parents insisted because I was pregnant. I even went so far as to ask someone else to pretend he was the dad.
Anyhow, my now ex made me make his ex-girlfriend my matron of honor because her husband was his best man. My then-husband and my matron of honor made out at our reception in front of everyone and the cameras. The whole thing was about everyone else.
None of it was about him loving me or me loving him. I still married him, had two children with him, and survived seven years with him for our children's and families' sake. Don't ever get married just because you are pregnant.
" —Anonymous 7. "We received an online invitation from a younger relative with whom we aren't close. She was getting married in another state, and we hadn't seen or heard from her in years, nor had we met her fiancé.
It was in an outdoor setting in Wisconsin in November, and the reception was in a barn. While COVID restrictions were starting to be lifted, people were still required to be vaccinated for most events, and social distancing was still a big deal. I asked if they required everyone to be vaccinated, and neither the bride nor the groom was vaccinated nor believed in vaccines, masks, or social distancing.
The invitation was odd and included an FAQ list. One thing was made crystal clear. 'Will there be booze? DUH!!! Cash bar!' Between the cost of travel, hotel, rental car, the possibility of it sleeting, having to pay for our drinks, and being a COVID disaster, I sent our regrets.
" —Anonymous 8. "My own wedding was the tackiest I have ever attended. I had planned an outdoor wedding at a local venue next to a river.
My in-laws notified us they couldn't attend (as they were out of state), so we decided on a private ceremony. A friend offered his huge barn-sized garage for us to use. The weekend before, I was to visit my best friend with my daughter for a girls' weekend.
The dress I was supposed to pick up was suddenly no longer available, so we had one day to find something. Then I got a ticket driving back home. The day of the wedding, the strap on my shoe broke, so we had to go into town to buy another.
" "My friend had insisted that she would do my hair. After getting my makeup on and her 'fixing' my hair, I put on my dress, looked in the mirror, and wanted to cry. The dress was horrible.
It was so thin, it was nearly see-through, and it looked like a cheap summer dress, which it was because that was all we could find. My hair looked like a clown's. My friend had made huge hair flowers on my head that looked more like Droopy Dog ears.
Then, my groom called me to say I was running late, and I had 20 minutes to get there. I frantically tore at the flower petals in my hair as my friend raced us to the location. I found out later that I did not find all the hair petals, so there are pictures of me with wild loops of hair sticking out of the back and sides of my head.
My mother, daughter, and stepdad were the only family to show. Two coworkers came, as did a couple of neighbors. When we were taking pictures, I found out I accidentally put the ring on his right hand instead of his left.
He stopped dancing halfway through our wedding song because 'his back hurt' and then got so drunk that I went to bed by myself that night. Yeah, we are divorced now." — abourque 9.
"I attended my husband's cousin's wedding last summer, which was a tacky mess. The ceremony was outside at a nice venue, but it was so hot, the bugs were ridiculous, and there were not enough chairs for the garden ceremony, so some people had to stand through the nuptials. After the ceremony, the cocktail hour was a disaster.
Everything the bride and groom selected was cheese-based. Fully dressed in my beautiful gown, I had to choose between cheese pizza and oily macaroni and cheese. Then the reception rolled around and was equally chaotic as the ceremony.
There was not enough seating for the number of people invited!" "The wedding planner had to pull tables and chairs from another ballroom to accommodate the over 50 people stranded outside, whom they hadn't accounted for. Needless to say, I didn't have a seat, so I left and had a great meal on the way home. It's tacky to invite people to a wedding, accept their gift, and not actually make provisions for them to attend the wedding.
" —Anonymous 10. "The wedding of my partner's sister and her husband. She already had three children by two fathers and was pregnant with her groom's baby.
The groom's father told one of the bridesmaids that he wished she were the one marrying his son. The couple got married on the first anniversary of their first date. I personally didn't touch the salads, as they had been sitting in the hall all day in January (which is high summer here).
" —Anonymous 11. "A college friend and her fiancé were trying to save money for their wedding. The ceremony was originally supposed to be outdoors.
The groom and bride were supposed to stand in a gazebo, and the only decoration was an arch that the bride had made herself. The guests were supposed to stand for the ceremony; no chairs were planned. The ceremony got rained out, and everything was moved indoors to a small room.
Again, no chairs or decorations. The reception dinner consisted of sandwiches and salad made by the family and served by the groom's students (he was a teacher), and I don't think he paid them. The cake was cupcakes that the bride's sister made.
The alcohol consisted of one four-liter tetra box of wine, some beer, and liquor pilfered from her sister's stash at her parents' house, which was possibly years old. And the bride got upset that someone she invited to the wedding who didn't attend ONLY gave her $50." —Anonymous 12.
"I went to a wedding about 28 years ago for an acquaintance of my partner. They had hired a professional emcee for the event, and she turned up with her husband and two children in tow and insisted they participate in the wedding breakfast despite the fact that they had not been invited and catered for. She still also expected payment for her services! Another thing I recall from that day was a kid of about 10 helping themselves to wine off the table (completely unsupervised) and getting absolutely hammered!" — fuggletim 13.
"I was a bridesmaid for a high school friend's wedding. She had complained that no one could curl her hair the way she liked, so when I told her I wanted to try (I was a beauty school dropout and knew tricks), she agreed. I managed to give her the head of curls she wanted, and she was so excited that she asked me to do her hair for the wedding.
I agreed, and on the morning of the wedding, she demanded that I curl the flower girl's hair, then asked me to do the hair of another bridesmaid who showed up late. I agreed again." "By the time I did my friend's (the bride's) hair, she was freaking out that her fiancé wasn't returning her calls.
He was getting ready with his dad and groomsmen. And during her fit, she turned her head and burned her neck on my curling iron. She threw an even bigger fit, and I had to use my makeup to cover the burn on her neck.
By the time I finished, I had maybe five minutes to put on my own dress and didn't have time to do my hair. By that point, I was so done." — awfulhouse65 14.
"The bride insisted on getting married outside in the rain, even though the option for an indoor ceremony was beautiful. The venue had no microphone, coverings, or umbrellas. No one was prepared or dressed to be asked to sit outside.
Everyone sat in the cold rain, straining to hear the ceremony. Then, we had to sit through the reception wet. Guests in wheelchairs who couldn't go in the rain had a faraway view from a window with no sound at all.
" —Anonymous 15. "About 25 years ago, my husband's cousin invited us to his son's wedding. They lived in Utah, and so we flew out there.
The wedding was held in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints venue, so restrictions were in place. We dressed in our Sunday best, and upon arrival, we discovered that we missed the dress code memo. The families and guests were very casually dressed! As there was no alcohol involved, my husband and his cousins snuck out to one of their vans for a nip or two, which was discovered by one of the children in attendance, and announced inside.
The reception was in the venue's basement, which was warm, and the food was being placed on the table as we arrived. We were all hungry, but speeches were first. When we finally got ready to eat, I saw that we had a couple of crackers, melty Jell-O with fruit, a cupcake, and some Cheez Whiz.
Within one hour, it was over and we all went to eat!" —Anonymous 16. "I had just moved to the city and was invited to a coworker's wedding. I paired up with another coworker as my escort, who drove us to the reception venue in the middle of nowhere.
It was a huge family gathering, and everyone brought traditional dishes. The booze flowed freely. It was 10 p.
m., and still no food had come out. The ovens couldn't cope.
Then the bride and groom got into it, to the point she locked herself in his sports car and proceeded to rev the engine, rock the car, and eventually blow the transmission. I want to return to my quarters, but my 'date' insisted he could fix this. I rode back to the city with total strangers.
..still unfed.
They divorced." — charmingtrout668 17. "My cousin got married to his on-again, off-again fiancé in her parents' backyard in what was basically a mud pit because of all the rain we'd had that week in front of a falling-down building with a blue tarp over the front to 'make it look better.
' The bride's father walked out in pajama pants and a robe, the bride's dress was tacky as hell, and no one wanted to be there. They were together for four years after that and split up three times in between. It's finally stuck this time, we think.
" —Anonymous 18. "We went to my husband's cousin's wedding. We were curious as to why all the seats on the bride's side had names taped on them.
The groom's mother explained that they had to ensure certain people didn't sit near each other to avoid a riot. The bride's father wore his new overalls and a plaid shirt. We knew it would be an interesting wedding when we pulled into the parking lot, and it was full of pickups complete with gun racks and rifles.
" —Anonymous 19. "Several years ago, I attended a wedding by myself. The groom was the son of one of my husband's coworkers.
My husband had gotten very ill and asked me to please attend. So I went by myself. My husband's coworker makes a nice living and has no financial problems.
The wedding was at a gorgeous resort in the foothills. Being an outdoor 5 p.m.
wedding, I expected some dinner or food to be served, as it was requested that I RSVP for the reception to follow. It was a smaller wedding — maybe 50 people. I thought to myself that the bride and groom went with 'quality over quantity.
' After the vows, guests were ushered inside the resort to a smaller room next to the larger ballrooms. There were six tables with four chairs each, and a bowl of M&M's on each table." "The wedding cake and a large lemonade dispenser were on the buffet table.
I was mortified and kept thinking, 'My husband isn't going to believe this.' The bride and groom arrived at the reception, cut the cake, smashed cake in each other's faces, and then started opening presents. I just left.
It was the tackiest wedding I've been to, and I won't forget it." —Anonymous 20. "I was invited to a wedding by a relative who had champagne taste but a Budweiser budget.
I was asked to help pay for her wedding dress, and I had no problem with that since I did help raise her. Imagine my surprise when I ended up footing the entire cost of the dress, and on the day of the wedding, I was asked to sit in the third row with friends of the family! I was livid! Then two days later, they talked about divorcing (thankfully, they are still married..
.barely). I have only heard from her a handful of times since the wedding, and it's been almost a year.
If it's not my actual child, I will NOT volunteer my services again!" —Anonymous 21. Finally: "I was invited to the wedding of a friend's daughter. My friend was super rich and from another country, which is culturally very different from America.
I knew this friend's family, and they were all super nice. However, I learned quickly that weddings are very different in different cultures. I was not rich by any means and had been told the bride and groom did not want gifts except for gift cards or cash.
I thought that was a little tacky, but I'd oblige if that's what they wanted. I got a gift card for $250 (which was a lot of money for me back then) and put it in a fancy wedding gift card envelope. The wedding was at a huge fancy hotel in Los Angeles.
I dressed and drove the three hours to get there, then spent another hour finding parking and walking around to find the big room they were getting married in." "I was about 15 minutes early. Before you were allowed to enter the big room they had rented, there was a long table out front where several people were sitting and 'accepting' the cash and gift cards each person brought as gifts.
They each had a book where they wrote who gave a gift and how much money it was for. They asked me to give them the wedding card with the gift card inside. Then the gentleman (I have no idea who he was) ripped open the pretty card and took out the gift card to see how much money it was.
He wrote my name and how much money it was for in the book. He looked at me and said loudly, 'Don't you have more to give?' I was confused, then I realized he expected me to give him more money. I said, 'That is my gift.
' He just grumbled under his breath about cheap Americans. Honestly, I was shocked and hurt, as this was a lot for me. There were no directional signs on where to go, so I asked which room the wedding was in.
With disdain, he said, 'Fourth door down on your right. I went in, and the room was full of people walking around, chatting, and drinking. I guess it was the waiting room? It wasn't decorated — just a normal bar-type area.
I saw someone I knew and asked what was going on. She told me she had just discovered that the wedding would go on for six to eight hours and would be moved from room to room as the wedding progressed in 'stages.' She asked me if I had given my gift card to the rude people outside.
I told her I did, but they seemed to feel it wasn't enough and called me a rude American. She said the same thing happened to her. We were in this bar area for over an hour with nowhere to sit, and the air conditioning wasn't working.
Our dresses started getting sticky, our hair was limp, and our makeup was sweating off. This was Los Angeles in the summertime, and over 100 people were already there. I found out there were going to be 400 guests.
I thought this odd, as that many people would never fit in this room. Apparently, Americans were sent into the bar area (oh, by the way, I don't drink), and people of the other culture went into another room for a religious ceremony without us. I thought I was going to faint.
It was so hot. Finally, I told my friend I had a three-hour drive home and could not take this heat, and no one had greeted or spoken to us. I was not going to wait around another seven hours.
I said that if anyone asked about me (which I doubted they would), she could just tell them I came, gave my gift, and wanted to stay but could not take the heat. She decided she would just leave, too. We walked out together.
No one missed us. When people asked about the wedding, I just said it was wonderful and the bride was beautiful, even though I had never seen her. Oh, by the way, I never got a thank you for my gift card.
" —Anonymous.
