Weddings can be super emotional and heartwarmingly beautiful. Watching two people in love share that bond with their guests as they vow to love and protect each other for as long as their live — it's super romantic. But weddings can go the opposite way too. Weddings can be cringy when the bride and groom attempt to put personal touches on their big day. Instead of tears streaming down the cheeks of the guests, there are confused faces and covered ears.
A Reddit user posed a question in the AskReddit community asking what the "cringiest" thing guests have seen a bride and groom do for their wedding, and the results are a mess. There are a surprising number of stories available for awkward moments, and we've compiled the 16 best (or worst, depending on perspective) moments that left guests speechless during weddings.
A Speech About an Ex
Giving a speech at a wedding isn't easy, but this is how it's done wrong. "My uncle not only brought up his daughter's ex-boyfriend in his speech but talked about their toxic relationship for a solid 5 minutes," one person wrote. "I highly recommend preparing a speech before talking in front of a room full of people."
A Pretend Phone Call
"Dated a girl in my 20s and went to her friend's wedding in upstate New York," a Reddit user shared. "In the middle of the service the minister's cell phone rang, he answered, it was God, God wanted to talk to the groom, conversation lasted a couple minutes, then the ceremony continued." It was meant to be totally serious.
A Connection Between Pastor and Bride
There's a saying that exes shouldn't be invited to a wedding, and it's a rule for a reason. "The minister (or pastor?) used to date the bride and gushed about how wonderful she was," another person wrote. "Told the groom if he ever died not to worry, he'd take care of her. I was shell shocked. I so wished I could think of a reason to ask the couple for a copy of the video of their wedding but couldn't quite find a legit one."
They Should Be in Love
Weddings usually symbolize love and a commitment to each other. This wedding didn't sound like that was super strong. "I wasn't a guest, I was working the wedding," a person commented. "The bride got drunk and sat on some other dudes lap for two hours and flirted with him while the groom sat by himself at the head table with a defeated look on his face."
A Live Performance
"At the reception, the groom and his groomsmen sung a god-awful a capella version of 'Stand By Me'" the guest wrote. Awkward enough, but this one leveled up the cringe. "The worst part was he wasn't even singing it to his wife. He was singing it to his mom."
A Two-for-One Story
Another Reddit user couldn't decide between two cringy moments, so he shared both of them. "It's a tie between my sister breaking her knee (seriously) at her own wedding dancing to the cotton eyed joe and my stepsister having her reception at an honest to god truck stop while 6 months pregnant."
They Sang to Each Other
"They sang their vows to each other," another person recounted. "Neither had a singing voice." The person went on to say that the lyrics were awkward and lasted for a good 20 minutes. That's way too long for lyrics that aren't given with a tune. "Their vow songs shared a chorus and it was awful and they expected the guests to sing along with the chorus."
A Patriotic Punch
"At the beginning of the reception, we all had to stand up and sing the national anthem," someone else shared. The person went on to say that this wedding wasn't in the United States, and they thought perhaps this was a tradition in the country. "Then I told this to other people, and they were all like 'no, that's just really weird.'"
Awkward Music and Weird Timing
There are some really great weddings that have personal touches, such as music, but not all of them hit the mark.
"Bride entered to Braveheart soundtrack blasting on boom box," one person shared. "Civil service that lasted a few minutes starting at around 1 pm. She leaves to same blasting Braveheart soundtrack. The mother announces that the reception starts at 5:30 pm. There is no food and no bar, but trays of dessert bars will be served. We are also told the venue is locked until then so there is no place to wait!"
Potluck Reception
There's nothing wrong with a potluck reception and choosing to be alcohol-free is OK too. This cringe came thanks to the groom, who was being strange, according to a Reddit user. "Potluck wedding with no alcohol or music. Groom kept showing people his flask and bragging about it. Macaroni was only redeemable thing, when i went to scoop there was hair in it. Very sad."
Informal Invites
There are amazing weddings of all sizes, but often it's best to know who is coming and how many to expect. Not everyone feels that way, it seems.
"Invite all their facebook friends and expect 700 people and like less than 100 show up," a Reddit user wrote. Another chimed in with this: "Ugh I knew a couple who didn't specifically invite anyone, just made like a public event on FB or somehow assumed people would know when/where it was and show up?They were confused and offended when almost nobody came."
The Bride's Song
"The bride decided to sing as she walked down the aisle. She was not a particularly talented singer, and she was singing over a Carrie Underwood song so we could all hear the original vocal track," someone else wrote. "She finished walking about halfway through the song and then stood there and sang the rest of the song at the groom and all we could do was sit there and watch."
Leave the Music Alone
Not everyone has the same taste in music, and that's understandable. But we can also see how this person's experience was a touch cringy.
"I went to a wedding with my ex a few years back. It was one of his fraternity brother's wedding, and apparently the bride's parents were ridiculously conservative. So conservative that they have super-edited versions of every song the DJ played, including bleeping out the word 'shots' from 'Shots' by LMFAO."
A Missed Attempt
Playful is cute, but not if it hurts grandma. "When I was at a wedding of my parents friends, the groom tried to throw a decently sized piece of cake at the bride who moved out of the way, the cake ended up hitting my 76 year old grandma," someone wrote. "We all had a good laugh. But we were all cringing at the same time at the missed cake attempt."
Name Change Ceremony?
"The ceremony also was the 'Name Reveal.' They changed their last name because they didn't want to be stuck to their heritage and didn't want anything to hold them back," another person shared. "Turns out they changed their name thinking they could erase their mountains of debt or at least hide from it. Turns out you can't live under two legal identities."
No Confetti or Rice
Personal touches are a good thing, but some personal touches are really weird. "Instead of throwing rice (or confetti, or sprinkles, or anything like that) the bride and groom asked their friends to save all their empty Juul pods and throw those as they walked down the aisle," someone wrote. "The friends obliged."
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
