Weddings are meant to be happy occasions—celebrating your vows of lifelong love, surrounded by the people you care about most in the world. And many happy couples believe that they should be able to do whatever they want during their wedding because, well, it’s theirs. Though that’s partly, true, there are plenty of things that marrying couples should definitely avoid doing. From asking for cash donations and being late to behaving way too stingy/liberal with the drinks.
Some wedding-weary internet users spilled the tea about the most cringy and tacky things they’ve ever seen couples do at their wedding, and the stories are spicy as heck. We’ve collected the most entertaining ones to share with you, so scroll down and take notes on what you want to steer clear of at your own wedding.
#1
Not the groom and bride’s fault. But the pastor marrying them, talked about his marriage and his kids for 20 minutes. He was obviously going for something of showing what marriage will be like. But he full up was talking about how his daughter, Kelsey, learned to walk this way, and his other daughter’s first words were this and that. And that he and his wife make love throughout the house because that’s what you do when in love, etc.
Bride and groom had to stand there holding hands for 20 minutes right in front of him as the other 150 of us had to listen about his sex life and his kids.
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166points
#2
At a classmates’ wedding. They were young - maybe like 22? 23? There is apparently a caking tradition in some parts of the country, where when they cut the wedding cake, the couple feed each other a bit and smear each other’s faces with cake as a joke. The bride had absolutely made 1000% clear to the groom she did NOT want to be caked.
He did it anyways, and not just a small smear, but full on smushed the slice in her face. She was stunned initially, then got up, face full of cake, yelled “YOU A*****E I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT!” and then ran to a back area in the reception. The groom tried to follow but the bridesmaids/mother of the bride stopped him. So he sat at the head table awkwardly while half the wedding party rushed off with the bride.
She stayed back there for like an hour. They eventually did let him back there to check on her. We could hear her crying and them arguing. The rest of the reception came to a screeching halt until one of the bride’s aunts emerged and directed the servers to clear the tables and put on some music.
They got divorced 2 years later.
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153points
#3
They sang their vows to each other.
Neither had a singing voice.
Vows were generally bat s**t crazy, like submissive in the bedroom, and not asking about where she was going.
The autotune microphones were a terrible idea.
Their vow songs shared a chorus and it was awful and they expected the guests to sing along with the chorus.
The vows singing lasted 20 minutes.
Pure cringe.
151points
The r/AskReddit thread made a huge splash. Redditor u/ajlposh’s question started a massive discussion, and at the time of writing their thread had over 80.7k upvotes. As it turns out, plenty of people have seen some pretty tacky things at the weddings they’ve been invited to.
And though a cringy detail here or there won’t harm the celebrations much (and let’s be real here, some of them are unavoidable), it helps if the wedding organizers try to put a positive spin on the entire occasion. After all, you really don’t want your guests to tell all of your friends about how tasteless your wedding was for years and decades to come.
#4
When I was in high school one of my hockey teammates had a kid with his girlfriend when they were juniors. They decided to get married and the wedding was officiated by my teammates dad, who also happened to be our head coach. The entire wedding was the bride and grooms direct family and the hockey team. At a Golden Corral. Then the reception was at.... the same Golden Corral. Then we had a hockey game that night. The other team we played that night somehow found out about it and hounded the guy the whole time. They were a bunch of d***s.
Now about 7 years later that have a second kid, dad is an officer in the Air Force, both of his kids play hockey and he coaches and refs and him and his wife look very happy so I’m glad it all worked out for them.
Edit: For all of you asking about the game, I honestly don’t remember if we won. Hockey seasons a long one with a lot of games and it was 7-8 years ago.
And as a side note I really did not mean for this to be a rip on the couple. They’re amazing together and doing an awesome job raising their kids in a loving household where they want for nothing. They haven’t had the easiest lives but they’re doing the best they can and absolutely killing it
I haven’t spoken to him in a while but I’ve seen his dad (our old coach) at alumni games and they’re such an awesome family. They’re the perfect example of the fact that you don’t need a giant, expensive, fancy a*s wedding to be happy. As long as you have each other, family, and friends it’s a joyous occasion that should be celebrated.
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138points
#5
Bride shows up almost 2 hours late to her own wedding. Southern California in an open field no water no shade. She shows up and wants to get married in her yoga outfit. the groom shut it down and when she refused to change her clothes the groom decided to leave her looking stupid and they never got married.
EDIT: I spoke with my uncle and it turns out he had speculation that his fiancé was sleeping with her personal trainer. When she showed up in her yoga outfit it was all he needed to call off the wedding. She ended up married to her personal trainer and divorced again.
EDIT: I spoke with my uncle and it turns out he had speculation that his fiancé was sleeping with her personal trainer. When she showed up in her yoga outfit it was all he needed to call off the wedding. She ended up married to her personal trainer and divorced again.
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132points
#6
The ceremony also was the "Name Reveal". They changed their last name because they didn't want to be stuck to their heritage and didn't want anything to hold them back.
Turns out they changed their name thinking they could erase their mountains of debt or at least hide from it. Turns out you can't live under two legal identities....
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125points
One redditor working in the wedding industry urged marrying couples to never ever sing their vows because things won’t go as planned. They also added that weddings are horrible occasions for surprises, so those should be steered well clear of. Something else to avoid are tacky and dirty jokes, being late to everything, and being unable to handle your liquor.
#7
When I was 11 my cousin got married for the 3rd time. I never really liked her because A.) She was 37 when I was 11, we didn't have a lot in common and B.) She was pretty full of herself. The wedding itself was fine, pretty boring but fine. Then we get to the reception. We were told we had to sit down as soon as we got there, some people found it weird but I've only been to one other wedding before this (her other marriages were when I was little, no kids were allowed at her weddings) so I didn't think anything of it. The Bride and Groom then make a huge dramatic entrance and everyone awkwardly clapped for them as they strutted around the room with actual crowns on their heads. The Bride then gets the microphone and hands it to her mom and asks her to say something she loves about the bride. She then tells her mom to pass it on and says she wants EVERYONE in the room to say one thing they absolutely love about the bride. Not the bride and groom, not their relationship, just the bride herself. It was super awkward.
Edit: This blew up a lot more than I thought it would lol so for everyone asking "What did you say???" And "Where is she now??"
I said "Your eyeshadow is pretty." Because I felt so awkward and wanted to die. My older brother said "Pass" which made her force a fake laugh and urge him to say something. He ignored it and she kept insisting so he said "your parents." And passed the mic on.
She and husband 3 divorced a few months later because he was caught cheating with an 18 year old still in highschool. He gave off bad pedo vibes to the point where even strangers noticed and wanted kids to stay away from him. She married another guy a few years later and they are still together.
*Bonus* she likes to take pictures with a life-sized cutout of Trump and post it on Facebook because she, her mom, and sister believe it looks so REAL (nope) and she even pretends she's been caught cheating on husband 4 with cutout. Posting pictures of her kissing it or it in her room with a caption like "Oops, caught with my side piece ;)" or some cringe like that. Husband is also a hard Trump supporter so he laughs about it but her daughter (From marriage 2) deleted her from Facebook and often stays with her dad because she can't stand her mom anymore.
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108points
#8
I wasn't a guest, I was working the wedding. The bride got drunk and sat on some other dudes lap for two hours and flirted with him while the groom sat by himself at the head table with a defeated look on his face.
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107points
#9
My cousin and his wife are SUPER religious and maybe the two most awkward people I've ever met. They did one of those 'fake out' first dances where it starts with a slow song then transitions to a dance number with an upbeat song.
Not only is that naturally cringe worthy, the upbeat song was 5 minutes long and they just kept repeating the same moves over and over for what felt like eternity. There was no alcohol allowed at the wedding, so there was nothing to dull the pain.
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106points
According to ‘Brides,’ the happy couple should not be charging their guests for anything at the wedding. So, for example, cash bars shouldn’t even be considered because the hosts should be taking care of their guests. However, if the budget is a big issue, you could solve the problem more subtly, say, by limiting the type of alcohol available at the venue
Fallon Carter of Fallon Carter Events told ‘Brides’ that weddings are more than just about the happy couple and they should think about the guests as well. “If you think this day is only about you, elope,” the expert said. “Focus on the guest experience.” The more gracious a host you are, the more likely that your guests will enjoy the wedding as much as you.
#10
The groom gave a speech thanking everyone for coming that devolved in the space of about two minutes into a straight-up roast of his new brother-in-law. They were friends, and the brother-in-law seemed to take it in good humour, but there's only so much implication of 'I'm for sure going to be f*****g your sister tonight' that you can take before it becomes *really* cringy.
It didn't help that a) I barely knew anyone there because I was a plus one, and b) I was on the table with the elderly relatives from that side of the family, who were *less than amused*.
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101points
#11
The couple saved their first kiss for marriage, and when the officiant said you may now kiss the bride, they stopped the ceremony and made a video blog at the altar about how they just got married and were going to kiss for the first time. Cringe
100points
#12
My cousin's wedding featured the groom driving a small tractor around the outdoor venue while the bride rode on the back, to the tune of 'She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy' on repeat for about 30 minutes after their vows. The guests just hung out and waited, thinking it would be a quick jaunt and then we could enjoy some refreshments and food. Nope, like half an hour to make sure they got good pictures and video, then even more time for pictures sitting stationary on the tractor. It was blazing hot with no canopy or cover and I was very pregnant so I was especially miserable. He is not even a farmer, they live in an apartment...
Edit: OMG, this blew up!!! Wow, to think my top ever comment was about my cousin's bizarre wedding! I do want to add that I like my cousin- he is nice, just kinda clueless. His wife is the same, and they are perfect for each other! They are still together and now have many children, none of whom are named John or Deere.
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95points
#13
Dated a girl in my 20s and went to her friend’s wedding in upstate New York. In the middle of the service the minister’s cell phone rang, he answered, it was God, God wanted to talk to the groom, conversation lasted a couple minutes, then the ceremony continued.
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94points
#14
I know a guy who recently made his lackies, sorry friends, compete to be his best man. Most pretentious thing I have ever seen. Watching them grovel was so upsetting to me.
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89points
#15
Finally: "The bride and groom had their ceremony outside where there were no space restrictions, and they said that anyone who wanted to come to the ceremony could. But, for the reception, they said they had to limit the guest list to 100. So, what was their solution to get the numbers down? They posted on their wedding website and shared on Facebook that if you wanted to come to the reception, they wanted you to submit an essay saying why you wanted to come, what their friendship meant to you, etc. — basically justifying why you should be invited. They gave a deadline for people to submit their entries. The bride and groom said they would then read through all of the submissions together and pick who would get invited to the reception. It was seriously one of the most egotistical things I have ever seen anyone do.
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88points
#16
The minister (or pastor?) used to date the bride and gushed about how wonderful she was. Told the groom if he ever died not to worry, he'd take care of her. I was shell shocked. I so wished I could think of a reason to ask the couple for a copy of the video of their wedding but couldn't quite find a legit one.
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86points
#17
One wedding I was in, no one was told until DAY OF that there would be no food served at the reception, only cake. The wedding cake was blue with penguins on it because the bride loved penguins. A friend of a friend had made the cake FIVE DAYS BEFORE the wedding. There was so much (dried out) fondant on it that it was nearly impossible to cut, and the cake was so stale it was impossible to eat. The bride literally threw a fit when she saw how many people were throwing away their slices of cake and became even more livid when people started leaving to go get food since there was no place at the reception site to get even a snack. To be clear, they HAD the money to actually purchase meals for the reception, but chose not to because 'people won’t notice there’s no food.'
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84points
#18
The pastor stopped SEVERAL times throughout the wedding ceremony to tell the bride how beautiful and sexy she looked, and how if he was young and unmarried...
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77points
#19
My husband’s friends didn’t like me, and boy did they show it at my wedding. At my rehearsal dinner, one of the groomsmen brought a woman with him who not only wasn’t invited, but who was the woman their friend group had tried for years to hook up with my husband. She tried to get his attention all night. Then, the wife of the best man and the wife of another groomsman didn’t show to the wedding, and they spent the evening calling their husbands asking when they were leaving. It got to the point where one almost missed the toasts because he was on the phone. They both left before the cake was cut. Then, another groomsman cut out early because he had made a date for the night since he was wearing such a nice suit — which I had paid for! By the end of the reception, only my friends were there. It was really sad for my husband, who had put up with these jerks his whole life.
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77points
#20
My sister’s friend was marrying a Jehovah's Witness, and the day of the wedding, the mother-in-law fired the non-denominational officiant and replaced him with the pastor from her church. The entire sermon was about how the bride should be subservient to her husband and obey his every demand. It was awful. We called the groom ‘The Pallbearer’ because he was so somber and not fun. They divorced not even a year later, thank god.
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75points