I’m willing to bet that if you’re a veteran of working in the wedding industry, you develop a pretty good sense of what marriages are going to work out and which ones aren’t.
And I also bet that it’s gotta be pretty uncomfortable to be at the weddings where you just know deep down in your gut that a marriage is pretty much doomed.
People who work in the wedding industry talked on AskReddit about the marriages they knew weren’t gonna last.
1. Not gonna make it.
“Two of the weddings i could just tell they weren’t going to make it.
The first wedding the bride and groom hardly talked the entire wedding. It was like they had nothing in common. And then later the groom pretty much f*cks off half way through and went home because i quote “he was tired”.
So he just left his bride having to take pictures with the wedding guests on her own. He never came back that evening so she had to greet everyone off etc. Funny enough about a year later i heard they’re filing for divorce.
Another time was actually last summer. Just before the wedding speeches the groom went go hang out with his friends for like half an hour leaving the bride sitting there alone and delaying the speeches.
Then right after the bride and groom cut the cake he once again went to go hang out with his friends and abandoned his wife. So she was left alone having to mingle with all the guests and he made no interaction with her side of the guests. He stuck with his friends the rest of the evening.
His wife basically had to go and beg him to come and take more wedding pictures. At one point in the evening he actually went for a drive with his friends for about an hour and his wife had no idea where he was.
I mean I get wanting to mingle with your friends at your wedding but to not even mingle with your wife’s family or friends on your wedding day seems quite rude.”
2. D*ckhead.
“Wedding DJ here.
Had a wedding a few years ago where the groom was a total d*ckhead. When it was his turn to make a speech he refused to make one. When the bride’s sister begged him to please make a speech or at least just tell the bride she looks beautiful, he got up took the mic mumbled to her that she looks beautiful and sat back down.
When I left after the wedding was done I was walking to my van with some gear and the I saw the bride sitting one side crying. Found out a few days later that the groom hit her 3 days before the wedding and he tried to hit her at the wedding again when she asked him to not drink so much and pace himself.”
3. Classy!
“I work for a catering company.
I knew they were going to get a divorce as soon as the bride started grinding on the best man when the groom was puking his guts out in the corner.”
4. Drama queen.
“Many years ago I had a side hustle doing cakes and would often get orders for wedding cakes.
Long story short, the bride to be threw a full-fledged stompy-footed tantrum, locking herself in my bathroom and refused to come out because the groom was “unreasonably insisting” on having a say in what the cake flavour was going to be.
Like, I’d say through the door, “Get out of my bathroom!” and all I’d get was a whiny defiant little “NoooOooooooOooooooooO!!!!!!”
She was about 22.”
5. Did you get that?
“I worked fine dining/catering for over 20 years so Iʻve worked lots of weddings and receptions.
I once heard a bride at the reception during the toasts say that she actually thought she was asking out the grooms twin brother on their first date and that might actually be cute except she …just kept going on.
How the twin was more compatible, etc. then she ended the toast with “well…as nice as you are youʻll make a great first husband”. I was walking past the camera man at that time and you can hear me on tape saying ” did you get that? Tell me you got that”.”
6. That was quick.
“I have a friend who is a wedding photographer – a rather busy and expensive one at that, so people usually book a year in advance.
So she had a bride book the wedding date and pay the deposit (nothing unusual there). The bride confirmed the venue (also booked and pricey), and had the general discussions with her about the style that she wanted etc.
They had regular meetings over the following months, but the groom was never there (a bit unusual, but not unheard of). So it’s now 4 weeks before the wedding and they have the meeting to lock down all the details, but still no groom. My friend asks about him, and the bride mentions for the first time that she isn’t engaged.
Okay, maybe she has a long term boyfriend and is planning a surprise wedding… No, it turns out that she doesn’t have a boyfriend or any guy in mind. But she prayed about it and god told her to trust that he will provide a groom for her…
So, in the end, no groom magically materialised, and there was no wedding.
So in that case, the marriage lasted 0 minutes and we were all sure that it wasn’t going to work out. In fact at the time we had some running jokes about her meeting a guy on a date and asking him if he wants to go to a wedding with her next weekend.”
7. Uh oh.
“I’ve been right a few times for sure. Photographer here.
One groom was so full of himself, but did that “Whatever you want, my Queen” thing where he wants to be seen as this great guy, but really he’s a self-absorbed dick. He was a “chef” and f*cking loved telling people that.
It was a quick engagement and marriage, and I got the feeling maybe too quick. The wedding and reception were to be at his parents place, and his mom had a lot of input, as did his sister. The bride got shut down whenever she talked.
On the day of the wedding, I arrive to shoot the bride getting ready. She is alone with the hair and makeup person. I initially thought that person was a friend, but she wasn’t. Her bridesmaids were not there. Two hours go by. She can’t get a hold of them. The makeup person leaves. I help her put her veil on and do up her shoes.
I am feeling so bad for her, and also awkward as f*ck. This is supposed to be her big day and here is basically a stranger putting her veil on and telling her she looks great.
Finally, the bridesmaids come in. The maid of honour is the groom’s sister. When the bride questions them, the sister says they went out for breakfast. The bride asks why they wouldn’t tell her or bring her food and they get p*ssy, like she’s being bridezilla.
Then it comes out that the groom was invited for breakfast, along with the groomsmen. And they all had started drinking. It’s only 11:30am and the bridal party is half lit. The kicker? None of the bridesmaids are dressed or have their hair or makeup done. The wedding is in 30mins.
I get 0 photos of the bridesmaids. I run to shoot the groomsmen. They are doing shots. I get some great photos of them because they’re drunk and all dressed up and feeling great.
Wedding happens and that part is fine. We are supposed to go to a nearby beach and trail for photos. This never happens because the groom is literally talking to every person in attendance in the longest receiving line situation I have ever seen. He keeps drinking.
The meal happens and takes forever. The sun is about to set. I tell the couple I literally have 0 photos of them alone together and we need to go.
He says “Yeah, yeah after the speeches.”
He gets up to speak after several of his friends and his sister do 10-minute speeches and he goes on. And on. And on. Most of it has nothing to do with his new bride. 30mins into his speech and the sun has set. He finally finishes and I approach the bride. She just looks at me, defeated, and says, “You can just go home now.”
Groom was in the middle of a group of people, chugging a beer and laughing loudly while his beautiful new bride sat alone, seemingly wondering what the f*ck she got herself into.
I delivered the images and they didn’t pay the remainder amount. I got a million excuses. After a month, I finally texted him and said I was going through small claims. The next day he sent an EFT with an angry message about hounding him and giving me a bad review.
I saw her six months later at a restaurant and before I could ask, she told me she left him.
Saw him a few months ago working at a liquor store downtown – I guess being a chef didn’t work out (a friend told me they know of him and he got fired from three restaurants). He ignored me while he flirted hard with this woman. I sh*t you not – just before we left he said to her, “I’m off in 5 minutes. I’ll walk with you to that store.
I’ll tell Charlie to put that delicious Cab Sauv aside for you.” So smooth. Good luck, lady.”
8. Sounds excited about it.
“At a wedding when the “I do’s” came, the groom said, “I guess”.”
9. Let’s try this again.
“It was the third time the bride had hired me and all the guys had been carbon copies.
She clearly had a type.
The type wasn’t working, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her.”
10. Red flag.
“When the bride and groom argued over why the grooms mother shouldn’t get all money given to them on their wedding day.
Yeah, that was a red flag.”
11. Let’s call it off.
“They had a big fight the night before the wedding and were considering calling it off.
Until the bride showed up 30 minutes before the ceremony, no one was sure if she would be there at all. The groom danced with his MOM more times than he did with the bride. The bride was snippy and nitpicky with the staff all night.
The word “annullment” was cast around and I hope to god they went through with it the next day because holy sh*t.”
12. I’m going home!
“I work in a hotel.
I came in one night to find the wedding was already wrapped up (it was supposed to go until 1 AM and it was 11 PM) because the wedding couple had a fight and she went home with mom.
At another one they had a huge rehearsal dinner fight which spilled out into the lobby. Everyone in the lobby found out that she hated his parents, she was pregnant and she had no idea who the father was, and a few other things.
Half the guest list packed up and checked out the next day. They still got married.”
13. That’s not good.
“Photographing the groom and his eyes lit up when a guest arrived.
It was a cute woman in a short dress. He smiled, walked up to the woman, picked her up and swung her in his arms.
Best smile I captured of the groom all day.
Marriage didn’t last 6 months from what I’ve heard.”
14. Not a good start.
“One of my brides was nervous and got so drunk before the ceremony that she had to be helped down the aisle.
Then when the ceremony was over, instead of kissing the groom (“we now pronounce you man and wife”) she licked him from chin to eyeball. She fell during the recessional and knocked over a waiter carrying champagne.
She couldn’t be in their post ceremony photoshoot because she kept falling. When it was time to cut the cake, we couldn’t find her. Our staff went to her hotel room and found her covered in her own vomit, still in her wedding dress.
She had the audacity to ask for a refund after all of this. They’re divorced now…”
15. Oh my…
“The night before the wedding, the bride-to-be tried to sleep with me, crying on my shoulder that she wasn’t ready for marriage.
Even my 18 year old hormonal brain did a big NOPE there.
They lasted a year.”
16. Holy sh*t!
“I work catering gigs in Florida.
The bride was being super mean towards the groom during dinner and the reception, like a sarcastic “you should have known to do that already dumb*ss” tone.
Our crew figured, yep, this is a short marriage. After the obligatory dances, and dinner had started the groom came up, tipped the dj, the photographers, then came over tipped our crew way too much, thanked us very sweetly, and said he was gonna skip away and drive down to the beach a few minutes away while the party continued.
He never came back, next day we were told by the bride’s family the sheriff found his car, the groom’s body, and a gun down by the beach.”
17. It was awful…
“When I used to work the occasional wedding on weekends there was this one couple that made me think yea she’s going to end up alone.
She took the microphone in the middle of a song that everyone was happily dancing to and then kept saying “it’s my day but I’ll wait til your done your conversation!” “Don’t worry it’s only my wedding day” “helloooo bride wants to talk” blah blah it was hella rude.
When she was finally satisfied with the silence she started her speech by berating everyone for taking so long to be quiet and then went on to talk about how she’s so happy and she loves her husband and don’t take the center pieces.
It was awful if I was a guest I would’ve taken my gift and left.”
18. Handsy.
“I remember a wedding that I worked catering for that involved the Groom getting rather handsy with the Maid of Honor during the reception.
Both were drunk and a bit too close. The Bride was on the dance floor flopping around drunk off her *ss to a point of having to be escorted to a restroom to freshen up. Honestly, it always seems when the bride/groom get trashed during the reception, something happens that will cause them to split shortly after.
Not always, but its just something I noticed during the weddings I have assisted with.”
19. Red flags everywhere.
“I ran a fairly upmarket hotel and restaurant that sometimes hosted weddings.
Made a rookie error and booked in a wedding for Christmas Eve. This should have been a warning sign, as it shows a pretty significant lack of consideration for friends and family making them travel across the country on one of the most irritating days of the year, when we’d all rather be at home with family preparing for the next day.
They turned up 3 hours early and the battle axe of a bride proceeded to shout at us for not being prepared, surrounded by her incredibly embarrassed but not unsurprised family.
There were various other red flags throughout the night, but the main one was when the husband got blind drunk on whiskey and asked me to go to his hotel room with him and “break him in” as a married man. I politely refused.”
20. Did that just happen?
“Used to do wedding DJing.
Went to a storage room to grab some gear and walked in on the bride going down on the best man. I immediately closed the door, then thought, “wait, did that just happen?” And opened again to see the best man look like deer in headlights. I slammed the door again and went back to my post for the night.
My coworker said, “don’t say a f*cking word! We don’t get paid to get involved. Just collect the check and keep playing music.””
21. You could see it.
“I worked in a tux shop for a while after high school.
The friction in a couple’s relationship was directly correlated with how involved the mothers were.
Whether it was motherzilla of the bride or a momma’s boy groom, if they had their finger on the scale, you could see it.”
22. Bad news.
“Worked wedding receptions, here are some favorites:
Bride started stripping on the table while the groom was outside.
Bride and best man had s*x in a closet.
Bride lost her ring less that 3 hours after being married.
Mother of the groom lit the table on fire because she didnt like the bride or her family.
Groom was passed out drunk less than 30 mins into the reception. He pregamed in the limo. Our bartender refused to serve him when he arrived.
Groomsmen loaded him back into the limo to sleep it off and he didn’t come back that night.”
23. The best shift ever.
“I used to work at a popular wedding venue.
Bride and groom came in the day before for rehearsal, checked the decorations, and played a sweet video of the couple, standard wedding bullsh*t. Next day, bride and groom arrived fighting the entire time until reception where the groom proceeded to drink himself blind before speeches and had to be carried out, didn’t even get to play that video.
It was the best shift ever, got to go home early and take home a bunch of food already paid for.”
24. Good grief.
“You know how they say 50% of weddings end in divorce? I can pretty much predetermine who that 50% are going to be with about 98% accuracy.
I bake wedding cakes for a living. I own my own bakery, but have also worked in a country club kitchen, doing basically the same thing + other pastry chef duties day of weddings. I’ve seen them both for the tasting/design consultation, and on their wedding day.
I see how they interact when they’re just together, but also when under stress of the big day. I’ve seen everything. Lots of cheating, lots of drunks, lots of terrible mothers.
Once had a Mama’s boy who ignored his wife when they were supposed to be having their cake tasting to cuddle their mother and hand feed her cake. His mother was NOT supposed to be there, and you could tell the bride was p*ssed. By the end of it he had kissed his mother on the lips multiple times. Divorce.
Have seen a woman bitch and complain at everything her fiancé said. Any suggestions he had for what he liked resulted in him being called stupid. Anytime she’d open her mouth he’d cower and flinch.
Their cake actually got canceled like a month before the wedding, so we didn’t get anything but the deposit even though we’d started baking it. First time I’ve lost out on money and I’ve been relieved.
Once had this arrogant d*ckhead Turkish guy marrying into this Bangladeshi family. Bride was sweet, about 10 years older than him, and came from a fairly well off family.
Generally got the impression that this being a Turk/South Asian marriage was kind of a big deal, even though they’re both Muslim, but since she was 30-something they wanted her to get married so they allowed it.
Guy complains about everything during the planning process, especially over them not serving alcohol. Is generally a d*ck to us, but is just straight up cruel to her. Like at one point when we were meeting I asked after her wedding dress, because south asian wedding dresses are gorgeous.
She’s showing me this amazing dress and he says straight up ‘I don’t know what she picked that one, she looks fat and old in it. every other woman is going to be more beautiful than her one her wedding day.’ He then shows me this dress he picked out, which isn’t traditional south asian style at all, and is very western and very fugly and basically makes the model in the picture look naked it’s so sheer.
When she says something about how no mosque would let her in dressed like that and her traditions are important, he just sneered and said she should ‘get over it’ and her traditions weren’t that important. Divorce red flag.
Found out later they didn’t last a day. From the way the servers tell it, midway through the reception, guy raises his hand to his new bride when she asked him a question about being drunk and she flinched and turned away, protecting her face.
He grabs her by the arm and rips her around, p*ssed. Her mother and aunt were standing three feet from her and lost their f*cking minds, realizing what must’ve been happening there. His response when Mom started to lose her sh*t on him was to hit the mother.
So in the middle of this very big, 600+ person Bangladeshi wedding, this 20-something outsider d*ckhead no one wanted her to marry anyway smacked a well respected woman in their community. There was a brawl, the cops were called, marriage was annulled.”
25. Capturing moments.
“As the filmmaker, my entire job was centered around capturing shared moments of emotion & chemistry. These are what make it into the edit. These are what make your wedding film amazing.
But when you realize you have almost no chemistry to capture, it becomes clear that the edit is going to lack the magic that is, you know, love. I can tell you of 2 experiences that I know of.
1: The couple treated the wedding like a bachelor party and only hung out with their respective circles. The groom drinking and laughing loudly amidst his drunk old men was not a good vibe, a very hostile table.
The kicker? They each got their own photographers and filmmakers… eventually their conflict became our conflict.
They divorced very shortly after.
2: A political celebrity wedding, they didn’t care about my camera crew and instead they invited and treated the paparazzi cameras as priority! My main cam guy had to argue with security to get the shots we need!
They essentially cared more about the next day front page & glamour magazines, than their memories. The guy was also known for corruption and there was an incident where his ‘lover’ arrived and made a scene… I just googled them now and I see they are publicly fighting each other in the news!
(She says he watches too much p*rn on a tv interview, then he had her arrested last week – wow!).”
Have you ever had a gut feeling about a marriage ending badly and it ended up coming true?
If so, tell us your stories in the comments.
We look forward to hearing from you!
