When that’s the case, you gotta listen to your gut. It’s not completely uncommon for a wedding to be called off before it happens. However, we’ve gathered here some stories that are quite out of the ordinary! Take a look at these wild wedding mishaps and last-minute runaways…
From Fiance to Stranger
Okay, the first point of contention...getting engaged in a week is already suspect. Not that it’s not happened and worked at some point in history, but generally, that would seem a bit too fast.
So maybe the ghosting of the military fiance who you’ve known for five weeks was less than ideal; but the idiot had the gall to show up and work in the same place with zero acknowledgment of the incident is absurd, to say the least. Say it with us! She. Dodged. That. Bullet.
Too Close For Comfort
Welp, when it’s real, it’s real. And it seems, as ill-timed as it might have been, the woman meant to marry this girl’s cousin found the one right before her big day.
Sometimes you just have to listen to her gut, and she’s now been married 20 years, so we guess her gut feeling was right! On top of that, the storyteller’s cousin seems to have had a rough go of it since then. Who’s to say what would have happened, but it seems she might have dodged that bullet.
You’ve Got a Friend
You know, it’s important to maintain your friendships while in a relationship; however, there’s certainly a time and a place. Your wedding day is clearly a celebration of the couple themselves so commandeering the slideshow and pumping it full of pictures of your friends seems a little...offbeat.
On top of that, thanking them profusely in your speech instead of talking about your significant other might be a bit inappropriate for the occasion. Welp, we wish them all the best!
Tantrum Sparks Table Toss
It’s common knowledge that the, shall we say, lesser desired qualities a person has when they’re young generally worsen with age. If someone is capable of losing control to the point of near infliction of bodily harm, that should be a hard deal breaker.
We’d like to applaud the lady who was able to recognize insidious behavior and choose self-preservation instead.
Family Pressure
There’s definitely a stigma for girls that choose to stay single longer or get married later. Society has made that conscious decision a bit of a faux pas.
However, you know yourself better than everyone else, and better to discover it isn’t what you want before you tie the knot rather than after—no shame in wanting to play the field a bit more before you settle down.
Terrible Timing
Well, we can think of almost nothing as awkward as saying your ex's name at the altar in that crucial moment. We have so many questions about what transpired after that moment!
Did they finish the ceremony? Was there a big blowup? ARE THEY STILL TOGETHER?! We might never know, but we most certainly feel second-hand embarrassment from this wedding tale.
Weird Flex, But Okay
Personally, we kinda get the willies from just calling off one wedding last minute, let alone calling off multiple weddings. This girl seems to get a weird rush from this, and we say weird flex, but okay.
To each his own, right? Like, if that’s her kink, then so be it. But maybe the guys she starts dating should get some sort of warning ahead of time because damn, that’s gotta hurt.
Once A Cheater…
It is better to get out when you can before there are kids involved and combined finances. The saying goes, once a cheater, always a cheater. It’s probably best to operate under the assumption that it would probably happen again somewhere down the line.
If the trust is broken, it’s hard to rebuild. It sounds like everything worked out for her in the end, so we’re happy.
Too Relaxed for Comfort
So it seems this groom had a pretty unfortunate reason (to say the least) for being so relaxed during the whole wedding planning process. Cheating on your fiance with her sister and the best man’s girlfriend is pretty scummy.
So yeah, no judgment for calling off the wedding only two weeks ahead of time. She deserves someone committed and honest. It sounds like she got her happy ending, though!
Brutally Honest
Here’s the thing. We’re all about honesty and communication in a relationship. But ןf you’re in a place in the relationship after three or four years where you’re just telling your partner you’re going on dates with other people, then maybe this relationship has run its course, and it’s time to move on.
We don’t blame this guy one bit for not being down with sleeping in the same bed as their partner, who is willy nilly checking out other options.
Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me
There’s a very famous saying that goes, “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.” Well, this guy kinda had it coming after being engaged to this woman, having her call it off last minute, and then doing it again!
In his defense, he was definitely reaching well above his grade level, so kudos to him for trying. But in the end, the heart wants what the heart wants...and it seems her heart didn’t want him.
Shocked and Dismayed
We can’t even begin to imagine how shocking a discovery of this magnitude would be just mere weeks before your wedding.
Not only to discover that your finance doesn’t want to marry you but to find out they have a pregnant girlfriend and she’s being moved into your home? That level of deceit is despicable. Our heart goes out to this woman, and we hope she finds someone who’ll treat her right.
On Second Thought...
It’s true; waiting until the last minute is kind of a messed-up move. However, we have to give props for this girl’s mom’s sense of self-preservation.
If she didn’t see a happy future with this guy, then ultimately, she was doing them both a favor. It’s nice that they were able to remain friends; generally, after a move like that, the relationship is broken.
Red Flags on Parade
Well, if calling out your sisters name during the deed isn’t a red flag, then we surely don’t know what is. This young woman was so incredibly close to becoming a teenage bride, but in an age without internet background checks, she couldn’t possibly have no known what she was actually getting herself into.
Thank goodness she ended up having some sense. We get the feeling this guy was quite a leech, seeing as he met, proposed to, and married another girl, all in the span of three weeks after the breakup.
A Bit Extreme But Okay
Well, this story seems like a severe infringement upon free will. It’s true that in many cultures, arranged marriages are still very much prevalent. That being said, generally, even in the most religious of faiths, the bride and groom get a chance to meet each other before the big day...or at least know they’re on their way to their own wedding.
Not exactly sure why this girl’s dad thought he could spring her wedding day, and she would just go along with it but thank goodness for reasonable family members out there in the world, right?
Unfortunate Timing
When you grow up with what seems like a solid marriage as the model and then it all falls apart two weeks before your big day, that can be pretty jarring. This girl had her view of the institution of marriage pretty shattered just two weeks before her own wedding.
We can’t really blame her for feeling confused about her own decisions with regards to getting hitched. We hope she was able to do some solid soul searching.
Misplaced Blame
We don’t claim to know what people are going through when they’re having doubts about their big day, but if you share your feelings with your parents and they recommend not going through with it or not making it official, you might want to listen.
In this case, listening to her parents could have saved this girl’s sister quite a bit of heartache, not to mention a whopping 25,000 dollars…
Serial Relationship
Red flag number one, overly jealous. Red flag number two jumps from relationship to relationship in the blink of an eye.
So maybe it was a blessing in disguise that she called off the wedding just days beforehand, seeing as she was already living with someone else a few weeks afterward. How people manage to constantly be in a relationship, we’ll never know.
Do Us Both a Favor
People have a tendency to make impulsive decisions, especially when they’re young. Getting engaged not long after having gone through a divorce is one of those.
Although she backed out pretty hard literally at the altar, in the end, it worked out better for both of them. He seems to have found happiness with someone else, and she is happier she didn’t go through with it, so that’s really what’s important.
Worth It?
Okay, ethics aside, this woman definitely had the better end of the deal. After discovering her fiance had an inappropriate online addiction, she called off the wedding and got to keep all the gifts.
Pretty sure the people who sent those gifts would have been happy to get the money back, but maybe she felt it was payment for emotional damage? Who’s to say, really.
Hard Pass
Kudos to this girl that had enough self-preservation to recognize an extremely unfunny comment for what it really was, a threat masked as a joke. We absolutely need fewer people like this man out there in the world.
And we can only send good vibes to this girl and hope that she found someone who truly respects her and treats her right. Nobody, and we mean nobody, deserves that.
Inappropriate Timing
We have a bunch of questions about this one. 1. If the divorce hadn’t fully gone through yet, why did she have to wait until not only his wedding day but until almost the end of the ceremony to say something?
2. Why did she have to be so dramatic about it? Saying, “...he is my husband” instead of, the divorce isn’t yet final? 3. Why did this have to be announced in such a public setting? 4. What kind of bizarrely formal old English way of announcing this? “...as he is my husband!” Can someone get back to us on these? Thanks.
The Accent that Broke the Camel’s Back
We can’t even begin to imagine what an arranged marriage must feel like for someone. In this case, it seems the girl wasn’t super into it from the beginning.
Ghosting someone leading up to the wedding is maybe not the most ethical thing to do (she said herself she could have handled it better), but it didn’t seem to dissuade her future husband. In the end, it was the fake American accent that did it for her...but it seems that was just the cherry on top.
Ex’s Just Want to Have Fun
Just an outsider’s observation here but hanging out with your ex the day before the wedding is kinda a big no-no. If all it took for this guy to call everything off was hanging out with another woman that he deemed as “more fun,” then this guy did her a favor.
She partied anyway, and you know what? You go, girl. Celebrate yourself because you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.
GPS Made Me Do It
Sometimes maybe we need to trust our eyes instead of the GPS. We’d like to assume this wasn’t the first time this girl was at the venue...but when she put her full faith in the GPS after entering a wrong address, she almost unintentionally stood up her groom.
It seems like in the end, it all worked out, and she made it to the venue, and all's well that ends well.
You Gotta Have Faith
Nobody should be asked to change their personal beliefs for a relationship. Obviously, there are compromises that need to be made, but belief is strong, and to each their own, you know?
In the end, as difficult as it might have been to call off your wedding after all the plans and arrangements had been made, they ended up becoming friends, and hopefully, both of them will be able to find a partner who’s more in line with their lifestyle.
Too Young to Know Better
Sometimes the only way you can learn is through life experience. I think we can all agree that the fact this girl decided not to go through with it, in the end, shows deep down, she knew it wasn’t an ideal age to be making such a large altering decision.
Everyone is dealing with their own mental health issues, so it’s fair to say that at the ripe age of 18 and 21, it wouldn’t be the most convenient time to be taking on someone else’s.
I’ll Make A Man Out Of You
It’s quite refreshing to see that out of something that must have been quite traumatic, this guy was able to see the positive, and in the end, it made him grow up a bit. We can’t always know what’s going through our partners’ heads.
Committing to someone can be scary, and if you don’t feel like it’s the right fit, that much more. We’re glad this guy was able to see the good in the bad. Would that there were more people like that in the world.
Ill Timed Whiskey Drink
This could have been way worse than it ended up being. I think you’ve been left at the altar by your groom, and also, the minister is pretty bad. But it seems like the moment was very brief, as the two missing parties showed up mere seconds later to get in place.
So yeah, having a whiskey drink and missing the beginning of the ceremony is maybe not ideal, but seeing as their daughter is telling the story, it seems like everything ended up okay.
Weird Reason to Marry...
Let’s be real, marrying someone because your friends think it’s cool is probably not the best reason to commit to spending the rest of your life with someone.
Maybe dipping out last minute wasn’t the best way to handle it, but it seems like it worked out for the better since he’s now spent over 20 years with this girl’s mom. If they were his true friends, we can’t imagine they would want him to enter into a marriage he didn’t want.
Left at the Altar
It seems like this guy might still hold a bit of resentment after being left at the altar by his wife-to-be. He might come around eventually and see that ultimately it was for the best, not to marry someone that would leave you hanging like that.
We can’t imagine what it must be like to be left up there...but we have faith that people can heal and move on! And maybe even come out a stronger person on the other side.
Gut Instinct
In the end, this girl had to trust her gut instinct which was telling her; this guy isn’t the one. We can see how it might be fairly unfortunate to have your fiance get shwaste face at the rehearsal dinner and make a fool of himself.
It happens to the best of us, but there are occasions where it isn’t appropriate. That’s one of them. If she was having doubts anyway, this seemed to just be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Meant to Be
Well, the heart wants what the heart wants. It seems like this girl’s heart was already set on another man at her first wedding, even if she didn’t realize it. Maybe she shouldn’t have gone through with the wedding, but we’re not here to judge.
In the end, she decided to get out and be with the man she had wanted all along. We wish them all the best and the message here, folks, is to pay attention to the signs.
Gamers Unite
When there’s a connection, there’s a connection. It can’t be denied. Chances are she was already having doubts before she discovered a real connection with a video game guy.
At least canceling the wedding four months ahead of time is better than canceling it the day before? You have to look on the bright side of things sometimes. And maybe, as a gamer herself, she just has more in common with video game guys.
What are the Odds
No, but seriously, what are the odds that you catch your fiance in a hot tub with twins and then you end up marrying their brother? That is an absolutely wild coincidence. Do they live in a small town?
Or was this just fate that brought them together? Either way, coincidence or not, we’re glad this girl’s mom found the right partner, and we hope she made up with her new sisters-in-law.
That Math Doesn’t Add Up
Wait, wait, wait...how can you work and support the family but also be a stay-at-home mom? That...that doesn’t quite make any actual sense.
Clearly, this guy failed out of elementary arithmetic, and quite frankly, with someone that stupid and controlling, we are over the moon that this girl got out when she could. She is a strong, independent woman who needs no man to tell her how to live her life!
Bounced Out, Hard
This guy didn't just bounce out during his wedding ceremony; he literally fled the country. Like, he probably had to have some of that pre-arranged since he never came back and has been living in Europe for several years.
I didn’t feel the need to explain; I just dip set extremely hard. That guy is a grade A idiot, and we hope someday someone gives him a dose of his own medicine. He absolutely deserves it!
He Deserved It
This guy absolutely deserved being left at the altar if he was abusive in any way. We shouldn’t stand for that kind of behavior, and we applaud this girl’s aunt, who seemed to know better.
Her dad seems to be a standup guy, though, seeing as he allowed those who wanted to enjoy the party to hang around for drinks and dinner. It was already paid for, so someone might as well enjoy it, right?
Boy, Bye
Nope, absolutely not. This toxic, controlling behavior must be avoided at all costs. Thank goodness this girl had the good sense to recognize crazy when she sees it.
Girl, you do not need that type of insanity in your life. Not sure what drives a person to think they could “own” someone else, but that absolutely is not how relationships should work, and good luck finding someone to fall for that idiocy, buddy.
At Least They Got a Vacay
We don’t know about you guys, but if you have to get invited to a wedding, one can only hope it’s a destination wedding so you can at least get a sweet vacation out of it.
It does sound pretty...bizarre, shall we say, that the wedding was called off, but the bride and groom went anyway, with all the guests, and proceeded to get supremely intoxicated on the plane. We can only hope the destination was a fun one, and the guests enjoyed themselves anyway, right?
When in Doubt, DQ
There’s nothing a little Dairy Queen can’t fix, right? So when this girl had massive doubts on her wedding day about marrying an emotionally abusive man (very understandable), her dad really stepped up with their old DQ tradition.
How lucky she is to have such a support system, and we’d like to just say, good for you, girl, for getting out of there! We can’t imagine it was an easy decision to make, but we hope that her dad’s support and a bit of DQ ice cream helped just a bit.
Runaway Groom
Well, this must have been quite a tough conversation to have, but kudos to this guy for being such a mensch about it.
In the end, you really are doing the other person a favor by not going through with it and getting a divorce later on, as difficult as that convo must have been. This happened in the 70s, so we have hope that everything worked out for the better for all parties involved.
A Happy Ending Indeed
We’re under the impression that nobody should get married for someone else’s pleasure, and particularly not that of the will of your entire town. Why the town had any say or opinion on this, we’ll never know.
However, it seems like this guy eventually listened to his own desires and ended up with the girl he actually wanted to be with, so it all turned out okay in the end. That’s all one can really hope for, right?
Absolutely Wild Wedding Day
Now this story is absolutely wild if you ask us...like movie worthy wild. We have an arranged marriage, a wedding after only 6 months, a plighted lover, and a human blockade on the wedding day. If that doesn’t scream Hollywood...or Bollywood, we don’t know what does!
In the end, the bride’s family calls off the wedding, which is understandable. But the cherry on top, which is absolutely hilarious, is the fact that the guests tried to eat as much food as possible before they were forced to leave the wedding, and that is just incredible.
A Happy Ending...We Guess
Your wedding day is one filled with a lot of excitement and probably quite a number of nerves as well. One of the last things you might expect would be for your groom to have a “massive heart attack” right before the ceremony!
That must have been an unbelievably unexpected shock. Although we’re sure that was extremely scary for both the bride and the groom, (obviously), it seems like in the end they were in fact able to get married….so that’s a silver lining!
The Vanishing Bride
Well, this is absolutely beyond bizarre. They have a ceremony, the bride goes through with it, so they’re totally married, and then she just disappears into thin air. Was she planning this ahead of time? Did she panic?
We can’t really ever know, but we do have some questions. How does one get a divorce from someone who’s disappeared? Was she willing to remotely sign the papers? Did anyone ever talk to her again?!
Strange Turn of Events
Okay, so this woman had an absolutely wild turn of events leading up to getting married. Her groom, who ran away with her younger sister and then she ended up marrying his younger brother, and they’re still married! What are the odds of that? No, really, WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!
That’s got to be a bizarre story to tell your kids. Mom, how did you meet dad? “Oh well, I was supposed to marry your uncle, but he ran away with my sister, so I married your dad instead.” So crazy.
Here Comes the...Bride?
So we've heard many stories about runaway brides, but what happens when the bride doesn't realize she's the bride?
We cannot help but wonder how this one turned out? Did she turn and run or was she intrigued by her future "surprise" husband?
12 Years Too Young
With the introduction of smartphones, along with the many positive things, came a direct and easy way for children to communicate with whomever they please, without the knowledge of their parents.
This girl’s story of almost running away with a 40-year-old man is absolutely chilling, and we’re supremely relieved that even a 12-year-old, in the end, was able to clearly analyze the situation and avoid a potentially traumatic experience.