There's no drama quite like wedding drama, so I recently asked the people on the frontlines wedding industry employees for their wildest gossip.

 

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"I worked for the worst wedding planner in the world. She refused to get the bride (who had kidney issues) a bottle of water because she hadn't ordered any ahead of time. I got the poor woman her water and took a reprimand." —RayneFox

 

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"I'm a wedding musician. I showed up to a large wedding in which I was to play the harp with an organist, singer, and pianist. The pianist strolled in and asked, 'So what songs are we playing?' WHAT?! Everyone else has been practicing for weeks." —claire13ear

 

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"Wedding photographer here! A few years ago, we shot this beautiful Catholic wedding, with a large reception at an expensive golf course. While we were out taking photos of the newlyweds on the course, the bride’s uncle hit up the open bar at cocktail hour. The problem? He was a recovering alcoholic".

 

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"Not even a delicious dinner could soak up the booze, and right after dancing started, we saw a ton of waitstaff bolting for the door to the parking lot. The newlyweds ran outside to see her uncle, without many clothes on, chasing another family member with a machete in the parking structure! We stood there in horror as he jumped in his truck and sped off into the night, as the police were called. We went back inside, packed our things, quietly thanked the couple for a lovely day, and left." —Ashley Durham

 

"At a wedding we were photographing at an upscale Malibu venue, we had the worst wedding planner and caterer ever. The planner was essentially useless all day and showed up dressed like a call girl, which whatever — stuff got done, that’s all I cared about. Dinner rolled around, and we sat patiently waiting for our plates which never showed up. We let the planner know that we still hadn’t gotten dinner even after the last table had been served, and she didn’t do anything about it."

 

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"Since getting dinner is in our contract, I spoke with the caterer who said they’d fix us a plate. Since dancing had already started, we took turns eating so no coverage was lost, and as I am scarfing food down, I look at my fork and see a dead cockroach with my cold salmon. Turned out the caterers had forgotten about us because the planner never reminded them, and they had gotten our food from the trash bin. To add insult to injury, after the wedding, the planner offered to refer us to future couples — for 25% of our fee. WTF?!" —Ashley Durham

 

"My cousin works at a resort that hosts a lot of weddings in Port Douglas, Australia. She told me about THE most garbage bridezilla who set out rules for her bridesmaids — no getting engaged, no hair changing, no getting pregnant, etc. When one poor bridesmaid accidentally got pregnant and then miscarried about a week before the wedding, she told the bride she needed a procedure first to remove the miscarriage, and that she would still be in the wedding. Said bridezilla went absolutely OFF HER TREE as her rules about getting pregnant were 'violated,' and she forcefully coerced this girl (who obviously was terrified, and was also bleeding, spotting, and feeling very uncomfortable) to put off the procedure until after the wedding and still be in the wedding party".

 

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"All because she wanted a 'perfect' day. The other bridesmaids didn’t find out about this until in between the ceremony and reception, when bridezilla was berating the poor bridesmaid for 'looking miserable' for the photos. All the bridesmaids then subtly up and left during the reception (before the speeches lol), all checked out of the resort, and left together." —KelpNougatCrunch

 

"I've been a wedding planner for 10 years, so I've got a TON of stories — I think this one is my all-time favorite, though. At a wedding last year, the best man, who was also the groom's brother, went on a beer run 30 minutes prior to the ceremony, crashed his truck on the side of the road, and was arrested for a DUI. Hence, we did the ceremony without him."

 

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"A few hours later, he reappeared toward the end of dinner, and when I got him a bottle of water and some food and told him that his brother would still like for him to give the best man toast, he held his head low and said, 'I'll do whatever you need me to do.' He gave the toast, rambled for a bit, cried, and then his brother cut him off, gave him a hug, and we went on with the party." —aeholder

 

"Whoa, Nelly, do I have some stories from my five years as a bridal consultant at a popular, mid-budget chain. I recently had a bride who was perfectly nice, excited for her wedding, if a little picky (which is fine, if there's ever a time to be picky, it's shopping for a wedding dress). She was between two dresses, both fitted, but one with satin. Silk-satin fitted dresses show everything, making them (obviously) hard to wear. As she's walking out of the appointment, she cheerfully and casually says, 'I don't think I'll wind up going with the satin dress. I don't want my stomach to stick out the whole time...like yours is right now' and waves goodbye. Reader, WTF!" —callac

 

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"I work for a resort in a high-end desert town. We had a wedding over a long holiday weekend. The Friday of the weekend, the bride and groom had a pool party at the resort pool. They rented a cabana, and the groom got drunk and started peeing in the bushes in broad daylight instead of using the restroom. When a towel girl asked him what he was doing, he exposed himself to her (she was also 17) and made lewd comments."

 

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"She told her manager, and we called the police. The hotel refused to press charges and agreed to not cancel the wedding unless he paid to have security outside his room 24/7 and only could attend the rehearsal dinner and wedding and could not go anywhere else. Obviously, everyone in the wedding knew what was going on. The wedding planner overheard the bride tell her mother it was cheaper to divorce him after the wedding was over than to lose out on everything she pre-paid for." —pmusumeci85

 

"In college, I worked as a concierge at a country club where lots of wedding receptions took place. During one reception, the wedding planner came running out yelling, 'Call security, call security!' Apparently, some family drama went down, and the groom’s father punched him in the face at the cocktail hour in front of all the guests. He and the rest of the family were escorted out, and the bride spent the rest of the evening crying." —rosielady713

 

Via Giphy

 

"I work for a resort in a high-end desert town. We had a wedding over a long holiday weekend. The Friday of the weekend, the bride and groom had a pool party at the resort pool. They rented a cabana, and the groom got drunk and started peeing in the bushes in broad daylight instead of using the restroom. When a towel girl asked him what he was doing, he exposed himself to her (she was also 17) and made lewd comments."

 

Via Giphy

 

"She told her manager, and we called the police. The hotel refused to press charges and agreed to not cancel the wedding unless he paid to have security outside his room 24/7 and only could attend the rehearsal dinner and wedding and could not go anywhere else. Obviously, everyone in the wedding knew what was going on. The wedding planner overheard the bride tell her mother it was cheaper to divorce him after the wedding was over than to lose out on everything she pre-paid for." —pmusumeci85

Got any other wedding industry horror stories? Sound off in the comments!