Not So Great Weddings

FH got a call a week before while we were on vacation to be a groomsman in his cousins wedding because one of the guys dropped out last minute, why he agreed, I have no idea. Bride was upset that he didn't have a pinstripe suit but what can you do so last minute and while we were out of state?!

Ceremony #1 was Quaker in an outdoor church with no air. An hour long and it was REALLY uncomfortable. Then there was a 3 hour break where all members of the bridal party (who did not participate at all in the Quaker ceremony) were required to go to lunch and pay for their own meal. Then off to the synagogue for ceremony #2 which lasted another hour. Then it was potluck dinner with super cheap champagne. Only music allowed was from 1920's and the bride FLIPPED her shit when some teens got a hold of the ipod and put on Katy Perry. Groom set up a table to sell his book for $15, proceeds went to being able to rent a apt. Groom's mother ran her hand up my skirt and his father (who cheated on his mother with his then fiance) and his girlfriend got drunk and fought really loudly all night. Photographer was a family friend with an iPhone.

Super fun.

I remember this vow renewal I went to with my family when I was younger. The food was buffet style and they called everyone up by tables. We sat for hours for our table to be called and by the time it was there was no food left.

Ugh, my brother's wedding was the worst. I feel like I shouldn't complain, because I love him and my SIL, but good gracious....

1) Two months before the wedding, I ordered a dress to wear. When it arrived, I sent a picture to my SIL. Who decided, right at that moment, that "the family had to wear blue" so I had to buy a new dress, because the one I had ordered was gold.

2) About 3 weeks before the wedding, I got a text from my sister telling me to call my brother to ask if we were doing anything in the wedding, because "I was just talking to them and they said they wanted [2-year old nephew] to be the ring bearer." So I called my brother who told me that all of us would be reading scripture in their ceremony.

3) They got married in a government building that did not allow dancing or alcohol. More frustratingly, they didn't hire a DOC and expected my family to set everything up--which meant bringing all the decor, food, etc. through security and into the building.

4) Self-catered. My sister and I iced 200 cupcakes.

5) Ceremony was SUPER short and nobody could hear anything.

6) Our family had to stick around and clean up after the ceremony/reception (again, no DOC).

6) Never got a thank you card for the shower gift I sent, the wedding gift I gave them...never got a thank you card for anything, actually.

No food (only sweets), no booze, ipod music, minimal decorations, dirty bathrooms. All this after driving 8 hours to attend!

My cousins wedding - red solo cups and keg beer DURING the ceremony. It was 1920s themed and BMs literally wore the flapper outfits from Spirit Halloween store. Food was self catered including warm deviled eggs. Officiant was a friend who was a witch? I'm not religious but it was odd. The icing on top of the (homemade cake - pun intended lol) is the bride rather than getting her train bustled literally had my cousin take scissors to it and cut off her dress into a mini skirt during the reception in front of everyone. We later found out they registered at a place that allowed for cash refunds so they could return everything everyone bought for them for cash... which to me is a million times ruder than a honeyfund or straight up asking for cash because people found out and everyone spent time buying/wrapping gifts from their registry they had no intention of keeping. Love my cousins but the whole thing was WTF.

The last wedding I went to also had the food truck problem. It took almost two hours for us to get food. It was set up in someone's backyard, and they squished all the tables together, to where no one could fit if we were all sitting down and eating. And they only had water and unsweetened tea to drink! What!!

August wedding in a barn that had no air conditioning (or fans) that was connected to a greenhouse... The heat from the greenhouse filtered into the reception area in the barn. Miserable.

My friends wedding ughhh! Let me remind you this is a Mormon wedding reception though.

- long receiving line (lasted for two hours! )

- only served homemade cookies, milk in little containers, and water

- no music, except for the first dance/father-daughter dance, which was played off of a cell phone through some speakers...

- Venue was too small

FH's cousins wedding (also Mormon)

- Reception was in a church gym

- family dinner at 4, actual reception at 7. Had to wait around for a few hours with nothing to do.

- played the same 5 songs off a cell phone through a radio the entire time.

- only had hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls for reception guests (wedding was in January)

We drove almost 2 hours for this wedding event too...

Welcome to Utah, we have shitty weddings

@MayAF, lol! I am in Utah, too, and I hear you. That should be the new state motto. Life Elevated, Weddings ... De-elevated.

Early AM wedding (ceremony at 8 AM on a Saturday) it was INSIDE A GREENHOUSE! We were all just about melting. Long break to the reception (7-8hrs) to come to find a cash bar, dollar dance, honeymoon fish bowl fund, and no DJ just someone's iPhone plugged in

'Weddings with lame dance floors. I know you can't always control it, but it just makes me sad and leaves a bad taste in my mouth when no one dances.'

That's unfair. My wedding had a pretty lame dance floor. We had a full open bar and a great dj but some people just don't want to dance. I think things beyond the bride and groom's control should be left off this thread.

@Jessie I'll contact Gov. Gary Herbert and see if we can change our motto to that! Lol

The people of WW think their "dry weddings" and "cold buffets" are bad, in Utah most venues don't allow alcohol and your dinner is a potluck. I have never been to an actual wedding in a fancy ballroom with seating charts and a steak for dinner with an open bar. My wedding will surprisingly be a step up from this traditional Utah nonsense.

These stories are so mind-blowing, so embarrassing, so unbelievable, and so damn cheap, that I could only read up to page three.

Here's the truth -- nobody, whether you're a family member, friend, or honor attendant, is bound to set up or clean up a couple's reception space because they were too damn cheap to handle it themselves. They knew, for months, that they intended to put that expensive vendor task on their VIPs, guests, or attendants -- those who had already invested time and money into their wedding, and they obviously counted on the fact that their guests would be their janitors. Horrific. Just say NO when this shit is dumped in your lap -- and make up whatever excuse you want to make up. Better yet...tell the truth, and the truth is, "Absolutely no way. Sorry. Goodnight and best wishes."

The common thread in all of these posts is the same thing -- couples who host these ridiculous carnivals want guests, guests, and more guests, and they aren't willing to cut their guest lists because what matters is them -- not their guests. That behavior shouldn't be rewarded. We teach our children that truth by the time they're in kindergarten.

@Natalie, that's fair. A lame dance floor is the thing I am most nervous about for my wedding, because I can't control it. If only we could!. So when I think of things I'd most like to avoid, that is it.

They did the "write your favorite song" thing on the RSVP cards at my uncle's wedding. It might've been fine, but they also had a horrible friendor "DJ" who literally played the songs off of the list they gave him that was only made up of songs off of the RSVP cards. So he played the songs in the order they were given to him. There was no "reading the crowd," whatsoever.

Outdoors at a campground in Virginia in July. Bridal party was all dressed up nice and most of the guests were in t shirts and cut off jean shorts. Yuck

Omgosh some of these are such horror stories!!! A wedding I went to they had to wait until sundown for their ceremony to begin (religious reasons I think, not sure though) so despite the invite saying 5:30pm ceremony and we were seated at this time, ceremony did not begin until closer to 7:30pm, it was just ridiculous. Because of that we didn't end up eating dinner until 10pm - aka I was so hangry that nothing was enjoyable. Also they had a plated meal with no choices offered so everyone got steak.... I was vegetarian at the time so I ate 3 soggy asparagus stalks for dinner.

Another wedding I went to the girl (22 years old when she was married) only registered for crazy expensive things, so 3 of my friends and I went in on a $500 gift and put together some extras not from the registry that matched the theme of the gift (baking stuff). Well when the thankyou card came she thanked me for the extras and omitted the frickin $500 mixer?!?! As a 21yr old at the time spending over $100 on a gift for someone was a ton of money and to not be recognized for that kind of sucked. Oh well.

No seating chart at weddings gives me unbelievable anxiety and I literally cannot enjoy myself bc I always wonder if because of where I chose to sit I inconvenienced someone/ split up groups, maybe that's just me, but seriously it makes life easier! Also so many people had to ask people to switch and move around because many tables were left with one or two lonely chairs so couples were split up, it was such a mess!

Also maybe this is just my boring person coming out but at one wedding I went to the booze was flowing a little too much (they included shots in their open bar and were encouraged) and by the end of the night tons of people were streaking around the venue grounds it was kind of unbelievable lol as I say, maybe that's just because I'm very boring but I would be so mortified if it were my wedding!!

No seating chart and BYOB (but everyone found out when we got to the reception not before hand), and "Black Tie Optional"... the wedding is next weekend but I'm already pissed. It does not qualify as black tie not even close, and I have to go buy a dress, when I have a dress that I've worn for all of the other weddings I've attended this summer.

One of the worst weddings ever was the one I was in. We were told to be there hours early just to sit and watch the bride and moh drink champagne. (None offered to the other bridesmaids) In spite of us being hours early, the ceremony still started late. It was freezing and rainy and we had to take 2 hours of pictures outside then drive to the reception location 45 min away. We were also in a popular Halloween destination on Halloween so there was heavy traffic. When we got there (all separately. No transportation for wedding party) we had missed their one hour of open bar and they were no longer serving their sig cocktail so cash bar all night for us. Their DJ was their iPod and played industrial/goth all night. It was also a themed wedding so i was dressed as a zombie all night.

Anyone remember Puddle of Mudd's song "She fuckin hates me"? The grooms brother sang it 5 minutes before the bride walked down the aisle. The only alcohol available was a keg of Old Milwaukee's Best, but the groom and his brother killed an entire 5th of Jagermeister before the ceremony and the groom could barely stand during the ceremony.