Occasions,WeddingJAN 23, 2024

28 People Who Witnessed Wedding Objections Share What Happened

Oh, the favorite rom-com question, “Speak now or forever hold your peace.” It’s dramatic, thoroughly juicy, and serves a plot twist that makes for a great movie. But does anyone actually storm into the church to stop the couple from making the worst mistake of their lives?

Apparently, they do, because when redditor Bowlingcabbages asked netizens if they ever witnessed a wedding objection, more than 600 people shared the unfortunate protests. From cuckoo clocks to fed-up priests, these people have seen a lot of stuff. So, grab some popcorn and scroll down to enjoy the drama and absurdity of these unfortunate ceremony interruptions.

While you're at it, make sure to check out a brief chat we had with Bowlingcabbages - the person who started this discussion in the first place.

#1

28 People Who Witnessed Wedding Objections Share What Happened

I objected at my cousin’s wedding.

The dude had hit her multiple times. He was and is generally a douchebag. Every time I had ever seen him he was drunk, and my cousin who I was previously very close with quit talking much and suddenly became very clumsy, falling down and hitting her face on things a lot.

I had no intention of going. Turned down being in the wedding party. Turned down going to the bachelorette party.

My mother and aunt begged me to go over my objections. I told them why I didn’t want to go. They made a bunch of excuses and told me it was just me being jealous.

Ended up going, explicitly to object.

The priest did the speak up or forever hold your peace. I stayed that I object because the guy is an abusing pile of s**t.

Everything went silent. One of my cousins and my dad walked me out. The marriage continued.

Nobody talked to me for about a year. Right after the d******d go arrested for hitting her in the face with a hand mixer because she made something wrong.

Turned out I was right. Yet they are still married even though he has been to jail twice now for beating her.

Downside is my parents wouldn’t talk to me for a long time. Now my mom apologized for not believing me.

i_am_your_dads_c*m, Hebert Santos/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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248points

Bored Panda reached out to Bowlingcabbages who kindly agreed to tell us what inspired them to start this online thread, which now has more than 650 contributions.

What pushed them to ask this question online was the terrible weddings they witnessed themselves.

"I've been a guest at weddings where the couples were clearly a match made in hell, which made me wonder what each party's life would be like if the weddings never happened to begin with.

Once, a groom threatened to cancel the wedding (he had anger issues and was arguing with the bride). The bride was in tears but acted like nothing happened during the ceremony itself. Their family members had to cajole both parties.

It was a shotgun wedding, as having children before marriage is still considered taboo in Asian culture.

They divorced after a harrowing few years because he discovered her cheating.

Separately, I share mutuals with other people whose friends are definitely getting married, not out of love but out of fear of embarrassment. It's terrible."

#2

When the registrar was doing the whole “will you Mary take you Bill” bit there was a loud shriek of “BILLLLL!!!!!” Paused the ceremony and everyone was looking round to find the source. The source was a small baby using this opportunity to speak one of their first proper words.

disco-pandas, Pavel Danilyuk/ Pexels (not the actual photo)

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230points

#3

Many, many years ago, the wedding was at the bride's upscale residence. They had the rehearsal, and thought they had anticipated every possibility. When "the question" was asked it was too late to realize that nobody had thought to stop the cuckoo clock. "CUCKOO, CUCKOO, CUCKOO!!!" It was a good ten minutes before the laughter died down enough for them to finish the ceremony. The bride, groom and officiant chuckled their way through the rest of the ceremony. They have been married for over thirty years .

fredzout, Pixabay/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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214points

#4

Only once. They were lawyers being married by one of the judges they appeared before a lot. It was done as a joke. The judge overruled the objection.

N1ghtSt4lk3r482, Lewis Ashton/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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174points

#5

At a friend's wedding in 2003 he was asked if he wants to marry the bride >first name last name<. Without any pause he said no! Everyone was shocked, including the bride. It was like the world stopped turning for a second and dead silence together with severe tension was in the air. He then corrected, that he was there to marry >correct first name, last name< - the brides first name has been a wrong one when he was asked, but the bride itself doesn't noticed (some guest did notice as well) The official then checked and it turns out he noted down the wrong first name, which would lead to them not being married if not corrected. They are happily married until today.

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148points

#6

I was at an outdoor wedding. During the ceremony we get to the *'speak now or forever hold your peace'* bit and during the pause a squirrel had been walking across a tree branch causing it to crack, break, and fall to the floor. It was loud.

I turned to my wife and said *"I guess God is trying to tell us something."* to which I got hit on the arm by her as others around us chuckled. Apparently I said it a little too loudly!

Turned out that squirrel was on to something. They split up after 5 years.

B0z22, Maddie Franz/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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132points

We were also curious to know if the original poster would ever object to a wedding themselves (for good reasons).

They told us, "I usually share my concerns about the relationship privately, but I have learned that it's, unfortunately, better for some people to learn things the difficult way.

I have had friends whose exes made them choose between us, and they ended up begging the exes to keep their friendship with me. It's not exactly a compliment since I'd expect more loyalty in a friendship.

So probably not, UNLESS there is a huge mitigating factor that either the bride or groom should be made aware of and there isn't enough time to inform them privately, or if I've been given blessings by the victim to do so."

#7

There were no objections but at my cousins wedding, about 12 years ago, when the priest asked if there were any objections, my cousin who is a 6’5 bodybuilder turned to the crowd with his arms wide as if to challenge anyone to object. The whole place erupted with laughter. It was great.

Edit: For those who are asking, it was certainly intended to be a light hearted joke and was taken as such. It landed very well.

AviatorNine, Goran Vrakela/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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123points

#8

When my cousin's parents got married he was their page boy (he must have been about 4). He refused to hand over the rings.

anon, Edgar Santana/ Pexels (not the actual photo)

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109points

Fortunately, the phrase “speak now or forever hold your peace” is rarely used in wedding ceremonies nowadays. Which raises the question why was it incorporated in the first place?

Like many Western wedding traditions, this question comes from Christianity and European customs. In fact, the phrase is a shortened version of a longer sentence “Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.” Try saying that in one breath.

#9

My cousin and her husband purposely had the priest skip that part because the groom’s mom had been trying to cancel the wedding. She’d threaten not to come, she tried canceling venues, tried booking her own rehearsal party for only the groom’s family, and started calling the bride’s guests saying the wedding was cancelled. I was a bridesmaid and our bouquets were the size of basketballs. I had a clear view incase I had to throw my bouquet at her in distraction in case she did try to object at any point in the ceremony.

_Winterlong_, Anderson Santo/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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109points

#10

Not an actual objection, but at the "If anyone here present knows of any reason why they should not be joined" moment, the photographer knocked over his tripod, smashing his camera, and shouted "F**K!".

klc81, thrissurkaran photography/ Pexels (not the actual photo)

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105points

#11

I was very young and barely talking when my aunt and uncle got married. When the priest asked if there were any objections, apparently I blurted out, "Uh ohh!" to a silent church audience.

I obviously don't remember any of this, but there's video evidence. And my family LOVES to bring it up every couple years.

downdirthills, Deesha Chandra/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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103points

It originated in Medieval times when communication between areas was slow and tricky and record-keeping was anything but orderly. That’s why the Christian Church initiated the phrase to give some time for any legal issues in matrimony to appear.

This includes information like the bride or groom being already married, related, underage, or unbaptized. Because people are creatures of habit, this tradition has been included in ceremonies for generations and is still used to this day.

#12

Not an objection but I was at a wedding, the priest gets to the objections. The 3yoish daughter was the flower girl. Walks up the aisle, pulls the bride's dress and whispers something to her.

Everyone was like...is the little girl objecting?

Nope. Apparently she told her mom she didnt feel good. That was about half a second before she threw up all over her.

makeitrain9789, X L/ Pexels (not the actual photo)

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89points

#13

Ok, my sister and her best friend went to a mutual friend's wedding and they told me this story.

Everything was going normally and the bride walked down the aisle and it was all good. then the officiator asked if anyone had any objections and the best man came forward and just started roasting the bride like he held nothing back. so the groom got really upset and was like "why are you insulting my wife?" so the best mn answered "she's not your wife yet" it went back and forth for a bit before the best man shouted, "I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU DEREK!" the whole place went silent like in a movie. Then the maid of honour dragged the best man away and they continued on with the wedding like nothing happened.

Savannah_P_Frost, Omar Ramadan/ Pexels (not the actual photo)

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86points

In case you’re wondering, can the couple get married if someone actually says, “I object" - they absolutely can. The only obstacle to getting legally married would be if they are already married or a close relative.

#14

I was on wedding of my mom's cousin (J). When the guy asked if there was any objections, the mother of J said: i never wanted my daughter to date such a a$$hole like him. Everyone started whispering and J was holding her tears back. I was something around 11 when that happened, still old enough to understand that J didn't want her mother there. The mother had to leave, and the ceremony continued. After that a went to hug J. She was 20 at the time, really young. She started to tear up while hugging me. Imagine getting married, and your mother would talk sh¡t about your future husband, when she was this young, she seemed to regret going that fast. They are still married, happy and healthy, but if i'm ever gonna get married this is going to be my biggest fear. Tldr: the bride's mother almost ruined the wedding. Few years later they are still married, happy and healthy.

Min_Nellie, Agostino Toselli/ Pexels (not the actual photo)

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79points

#15

The most dramatic objection came from a guy seated farther back in a church filled with people. He said the groom was still legally married to another woman in California — that a decree of divorce had not been finalized by the judicial system. Turns out the guy was correct — some glitch in the process prevented the divorce from becoming official, even though the groom thought it had long been resolved. Apparently, the man who spoke at the East Coast wedding ceremony was related to the groom's wife, and the guy was intent on spoiling the occasion out of some bitterness he held toward the groom

Back2Bach, Pixabay/ Pexels (not the actual photo)

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79points

#16

I got my license to marry people online. It's kinda cool. I was marrying this sweet couple and when I got to "Does anyone object this marriage?" Someone did. The uncle of the GROOM. He stood up, said he objected because "I love you more than your girlfriend does! Marry me instead." It was kinda weird. I am not going to lie.

anon, Photomandi/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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75points

#17

When asked if there were any objections, right on cue, the groom's 2-year-old nephew squealed and banged his toy car on the floor a couple of times like he was trying to make a point. The marriage didn't last. I guess he's the only one who was perceptive enough to know

[deleted] , Huynh Van/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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71points

#18

My brother objected at my Dad's wedding to my step mom...while he was standing next to them at the altar. He was young and just trying to be rebellious. It was just cringy.

narcolepticpoet, jose Alvarez/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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67points

#19

No but at my wedding when they asked if any body had any reason to believe we should not be wed I playfully covered my husbands ears. Got a good laugh :)

peak-performance-, Jeremy Wong/ Pexels (not the actual photo)

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65points

#20

I didn’t go to this wedding but my father is a pastor and to this day claims this to be the craziest ceremony he’s done.

The couple wanted a redneck-but-not-redneck wedding. They rented him a big rich cowboy suit. Think Doug Dimmadome. They then proceeded to give him a holstered revolver with a blank in it and told him when he got to the “speak now or forever hold your peace” bit, the groom’s brother would stand up to object and they wanted him to pull the gun and shoot him. According to my dad, it was the stupidest request he ever had but it was fun and the crowd loved it.

AdventureEngineer, Brett Sayles/ Pexels (not the actual photo)

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61points