Some say your wedding day is the biggest day of your life. Planned and micromanaged years in advance, and with everyone on their best behavior, you'd hope nothing could go wrong. And yet, things often take an unexpected turn... for better or for worse. Luckily, nowadays there's usually someone with a camera to document proceedings. So, without further ado, check out our favorite funnies and marital faux-pas moments that made these folks' big day even more special.
Always The Bridesmaid, Always The Bride
Remember the famous expression "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride?" This bride decided to switch things up to make it "Always the bridesmaid, always the bride!" This blushing bride––she's the one glowing in blue––thought it was a shame her girlfriends only got to wear their wedding dress once in their whole lifetime. So, she did the unthinkable and invited her girls to dust off their old wedding dresses one final time.
As for her choice of dress, it certainly looks like a wedding dress, but it's the color of a bridesmaid's dress. So maybe she went for that other old wedding expression, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."
Beware Of Geeks Bearing Gifts
This stunning soon-to-be bride didn't have any girlfriends to accompany her as bridesmaids. That's because she works as a computer engineer and says she doesn't have a single girlfriend. So, instead, she invited her male friends and colleagues to be her bridesmaids. It looks like they did everything just as well as traditional bridesmaids, from crowning her with a tiara to helping her get into her shoes. Are those glass slippers, Cinderella?
Hang on. We take that back. They didn't do as well as traditional bridesmaids. Instead of a Champagne breakfast, these guys seem to have treated their bride to vodka served in plastic cups! Let's hope they got her to the church on time!
American Gothic
If this wedding photo looks familiar, it's based on the famous 1930 painting by Grant Wood called American Gothic. The couple's grown-up child snapped the photo, and the first thing you need to know is that this unhappy couple was separated for 25 years. Then they hooked back up, bought a farm in Texas, and got married a second time. And boy, do they look over the moon about it! Jeez, Louise!
If you check out the original painting, you'll see the lengths they went to get the whole thing correct. Everything from the clothes to the triangular beams behind them are perfect. We're impressed!
Run For Your Lives!
When these are the grandparents at a wedding party, you know you're in for a night of debauchery! From left-to-right, there's Uncle Larry and Auntie Sheila (heart-shaped sunglasses), married for 47 years. Then there's Janet and Frank LeMessurier from Rhode Island, you remember them! They're always a hoot, even without the fancy crowns. On the far right are Joyce and Barbara from New Jersey. Married to the mob for decades, they escaped their gangster husbands, stole a cop car, and eloped together.
We could be making this all up, who knows. What's safe to say though, is that if these are the bride and groom's grandparents, the wedding must have been spectacular.
Right Royal Gatecrasher
Who do you wish could come to your wedding? The Kardashian sisters? David Hasselhoff? Well, back in 2012, British couple Frances and John Canning discovered they would be sharing their wedding venue in Manchester with the Queen of England. So, for a joke, they sent a light-hearted letter to Buckingham Palace inviting Her Majesty to their wedding day. Of course, Queen Elizabeth II turned up to surprise them as the guest of honor! How cool is that?
The couple’s guests were bewildered as The Queen and Prince Philip lined up to congratulate the newlyweds. And they'd clearly done their homework as Prince Philip asked them where in Italy they were honeymooning. Talk about a fairy tale wedding!
Oh, What A Knight!
On the subject of fairy tale weddings, when one couple staged a medieval-themed day, the bride never imagined her dear old Grandpa would show up dressed as a knight, complete with a pantomime horse. He began his speech with "A funny thing happened to me on the way here..." before explaining how he paid a troll to get over the bridge, climbed a beanstalk, and killed a dragon.
Songs were sung, mead was drunk, Grandpa beat The Black Knight in a jousting competition, and no one called the groom's new mother-in-law a witch. They all lived happily ever after.
The Ultimate Wedding DJ
Most weddings feature a part-time DJ from work called Darren, who turns up with a tinny sound system, a set of Fisher Price lights, and proceeds to play a 1990s cheese-fest. Then, when DJ Dazzler isn't playing Bryan Adams and Wet, Wet, Wet, he interrupts his setlist with public service announcements: "Can the owner of a burgundy Toyota Carolla, please move their car as they're blocking the farmer's entrance." And no, that's not a euphemism.
But not this wedding. At this wedding, they were making stars of the future! This six-year-old kid was the DJ at his mom's wedding and seemingly rocked the party with poise, grace, and Baby Shark... doop-doop-de-doody-doop on repeat for eight hours.
Cats In The Cradle
You know the bride or groom well at some weddings and really want their big day to go perfectly. At other weddings, you don't know anyone, don't give a fig and you can't wait for this day-long chore to be over. There, we said it. So when this father and son team snuck away for a five-minute break to play in the playground, the wedding photographer followed them and caught them playing hooky.
Dad regressed back to childhood and swung as high as he could on the swings while his son pondered his existence and mulled over the futility of married life.
What Have You Come As?
Way back when, perhaps in the early 1990s judging by the quality of the photos, this fun-loving couple invited their friends to a costume party. Or, as they say in some parts of the world, a fancy dress party. However, when the guests arrived, they were shocked to discover that the hosts were actually getting married! Their bridesmaids were seemingly a pair of ham sandwiches, and Little Bo Peep was an usher.
The Energizer Bunny kept guests buzzing by serving drinks, and the 1930s Chicago mobsters acted as security. No one remembers what roles the Dungeons and Dragons monk and European soccer hooligan (bottom left) were performing.
Role Reversal
Halfway through their big day, this bride and groom brilliantly decided to swap clothes, leading to this ultra-cool photo. Well, one of the "happy couple" looks cool. The other... not so much. While this role reversal seemed like a good idea at the time, you can bet the tattooed husband lived to regret it. In fact, hiding behind his cigar, that look on his face says it all.
The photographer captured the exact second this dude realized what he'd signed himself up for. This is the moment of recognition as to who's actually going to be wearing the pants in this relationship!
Flower Nana
This bride and groom were leafing through their wedding photos on their first anniversary and came across their favorite photo from their big day. Unusually, their fave photo wasn't of them; it was of their grandmother, who's seemingly having the best day of her entire life! Since they call her "Flower Nana," we're guessing she's been littering the room with flowers from that basket. She looks like she's having so much fun!
If proof were needed that you're only as old as you feel, this photo is it. As George Bernard Shaw said: "We don't stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing."
Never Work With Children Or Animals
Weddings should be fun, but they are also a time for serious reflection. It is a sacred day when two people join together in holy matrimony before God, the exchange of rings binding them together in sickness and in health... until death do them part. Unless, that is, someone brings a doggo! Then all bets are off, and the whole affair becomes less of a wedding ceremony and more of a circus!
If you don't speak doggo, he's excitedly saying, "I love you, Mom, I love you, Dad," and has clearly decided he's going to appear in every single wedding photo.
Black and White Wedding Photo
When this bride and groom asked for some black and white wedding photos, this isn't quite what they meant! This cat wandered in off the streets, gatecrashed the ceremony, then thought, 'this looks like a nice place to take a nap' so took pride of place on the bride's dress as the minister read their vows. We hope this kitty cat wiped his paws before he arrived at church.
Superstitious folk say that black cats are bad luck, but we sure hope this couple didn't believe in that stuff. And knew the number of a good dry cleaner.
Wedding Photos, South Africa Style
This upwardly mobile pair of hotties decided to get hitched at a South African nature preserve when, all of a sudden, their photo session was crashed by an unexpected visitor. Yes, this 15-foot giraffe wandered in off the savannah to get in on the action. The groom looks remarkably cool-headed, considering the giant beast has his three-foot blue tongue halfway down his new wife's throat!
The nature preserve also offers packages where you can be married by meerkats, wed by warthogs, and get hitched by hyenas. Unfortunately, minutes after this photo was taken, the bride, groom, photographer, and giraffe were all eaten by lions. Prove us wrong!
I Am Flower Man
This lucky dude was invited to be the Flower Man at a wedding, a role traditionally carried out by a Flower Girl. Their job is to follow behind the wedding processional and scatter flower petals or confetti right before the bride makes her entrance. It's a centuries-old tradition and, of course, symbolizes fertility. Now, some men might be embarrassed to take on a traditionally female role, but not this guy. He owned it!
He approached the role with such confidence that he has a slight Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man vibe about him, like he's revealing his secret superhero identity with the words, "I am Flower Man!"
Double Booked Wedding Venue
You've been dreaming about the day you get hitched since you were a little girl and spent years planning the event. You've thought of everything, from the bridesmaid's floral sprays down to the literal icing on the cake. But when you arrive at the hotel, you find out you have to share the venue with a fetish ball. Awkward! But remember, the hotel did say they'd give you an unforgettable wedding day!
This poor bride is doing her best to smile her way through it all, but the longer you look, the more tortured she seems. She eventually got into the swing of things and slipped into something a little more uncomfortable for the party!
Dog Day Afternoon
The bride and groom at this wedding didn't want their doggo taking over their big day, so they left their fur baby trashing his petsitter's home. But their dog was obviously such a big part of their lives, that if he couldn't be there in "person," they wanted him to be there in spirit. So they had the wedding cake maker produce a tiny sugarcraft replica of their best friend taking a chunk out of the cake.
We just hope that, when the big day was over, they saved their little buddy a real piece of cake for when they got home.
Not Exactly What You’d Expect To See at a Wedding
When these two handsome guys got hitched, their wedding ceremony featured Beer Burros, which, of course, is the Spanish word for donkey. Apparently, donkeys serving beer is a thing in Texas and California. They do look quite fancy in their floral arrangements, if we may say so ourselves. We wonder if any other animals were also invited to the celebration!
With an endless amount of beer on tap, we hope that the only ones making asses of themselves were the donkeys. Get it? Asses? Donkeys? We're here all week and available for weddings, bah mitzvahs, funerals...
Don't You Just Hate It When This Happens?
When one pair of newlyweds had a BBQ wedding party, this pair of jovial fellows turned up in exactly the same clothes. The funny thing is that one is from the bride's side and one is from the groom's side. And while one of these dudes can see the funny side, the other is clearly thinking, "Don't you hate it when you get all dressed up, and someone is wearing the same dress?"
It was great to see you both made an effort though, guys. It means a lot! It seems this event was black tie optional, to say the least!
Llama Chameleon
Five years ago, this guy promised his sister he would bring a llama to her wedding. And being a man of his word, he came through on his promise. Going by the look on her face, this was her llamagedon. It could have been worse; she could have been a right llama queen! The priest was the Dalai Llama, and you won't believe who they danced to for their first dance.
Their first dance was to a medley of songs by Kendrick Llama and Llama Del Ray. Then they sped off on their honeymoon to Alpacapuco.
Honesty Is The Best Policy
Remember earlier when we mentioned that some weddings are meaningful, while others are a chore? Well, it seems these practical lovebirds had definitely sat through their share of boring weddings. So, for their own wedding, they devised and printed a handy guide on how to get through it without falling asleep. Top tips must have included live-tweeting the ceremony, handing out fines as the fashion police, and being first on the dance floor.
One tip they forgot to include is when someone suggests "hitting the bar." It turns out that doesn't mean punching the bartender in the face. Sorry about that, buddy. It won't happen again.
The Wedding Crasher
If you're not familiar with The Owl and The Pussycat, Edward Lear's nonsense poem, the owl and pussycat purchased their wedding ring from a piggy-wig standing in a wood with a ring at the end of his nose: "Dear piggy, are you willing, to sell for one shilling, your ring? Said the piggy 'I will.'" Here we see what appears to be one of the characters from the poem, crashing a wedding way back in 1927.
So, perhaps this is the same pig on the prowl wanting his ring back? Anyway, nonsense poems aside, check out the laughing bride while her new husband clearly has one word on his mind... "bacon!"
Those Three Little Words
This wonderful photo––presumably from a wedding in India––captures the moment when this soon-to-be-husband whispers three little words to the most beautiful bride in the history of humankind. If you think those words are the three little ones everyone wants to hear, "I love you," well, you can think again! This photo, in fact, captures the mid-ceremony moment when the groom turned to his stunning bride and whispered: "Split my pants!"
Although from the look on the bride's face, she might have misheard her man and thought he said something else... something that rhymes with "Split my pants."
Run For Your Wife
One pair of newlyweds were rifling through their wedding photo album on their first anniversary and came across one of our favorite wedding photos ever. This Tyrannosaurus Rex was actually a bridesmaid and just really wanted to catch the bouquet! Looks like the couple decided on the venue after she wanted Disney World, and he wanted Westworld. They ended up getting Jurrasic Park, as it seems!
We're not sure if this is actually located in Jurassic Park's Isla Nublar, but it sure makes a killer picture, and a day worth remembering!
Extreme Ironing Wedding Photos
This guy's bride made him promise he would only take "serious" photos with his groomsmen. So, being a child at heart, he decided to take pictures of him and his friends pressing pants in their underwear. The irony (get it?) was not lost on his bride because––since he did such a great job ironing his pants––now, whenever he needs his pants pressing, she can tell him to do it himself!
Kudos to the guy on the far right in the denim cowboy chaps boxers. It certainly took some cojones to wear those knowing he'd appear in a wedding photo album!
Rings? I Forgot The Rings!
The unthinkable happened at this wedding. When the groom held his hand out and asked his Best Man for the rings, he rummaged through his pockets and replied, "I don't have them!" At this point, everyone started rifling through their pockets, to no avail. All seemed lost because––just like there's no murder without a body––there's can be no wedding without rings. Then, at the last minute, this guy made his dramatic entrance to save the day!
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the ringbearer! With his Superman underwear and socks, we really hope heroic theme music played as he rollerbladed down the aisle!
The Jilted Painted Bride
This young lady was left standing at the altar by her fiancé, who is clearly an idiot. After being stood up, we imagine she went through her own five stages of grieving. First, she was confused: "Where is he?" Then she went into denial: "This can't be happening!" Next came bargaining: "I'll do anything for him to show up!" This was followed by acceptance: "It is was it is!" Then came the anger stage, and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!
She and her bridesmaids somehow procured some children's paint and transformed her virginal white dress into a piece of modern art that Jackson Pollock would have been proud of! Later that night, they painted the town red!
Original Gatecrashers
This fun tale comes from Matt Mahomes aka @mcbasquiat. When KiRST3N sent out a wedding invitation to a friend, complete with time, date, and address, little did she know she had texted the wrong number! She quickly received a reply from a total stranger saying he and his O.G.'s––Original Gatecrashers––would be there. When Kirsten tried to un-ivite him, he replied, "We still comin'!"
At least eight dudes turned up in their cargo pants, bare-chests, and Timberlands, and a great time was had by all. Judging from the photos, it's a good job they did turn up, just to make up the numbers!
This Groom Had The Shock Of His Wife
This groom was standing there, as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, waiting for his first look at his bride in her wedding dress. Remember, it's still bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding day. Anyway, this dude's best friend elected to play a trick on him, donned a dress, and snuck up on him while he was at his most vulnerable.
The bad news is, the real bride never showed and left him standing at the altar. The good news is, he married his bestie. Okay, we made that up, but it could have happened!
How's The Wedding Going?
When someone who couldn't make a wedding asked her sister how her nephew was enjoying the day, she didn't receive a normal text response. Instead, the sister sent this photo as a reply. After all, they do say a picture paints a thousand words! We're not sure if it's a Hannibal Lecter mask or a Jason Voorhees mask, but this is what happens when you get married on Friday the 13th!
When half the wedding party went missing, and the kid was asked where they went, he said, "I ate them with some fava beans and a nice chianti!"
The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
Back in the day, perhaps the 1990s, this brother and sister pulled funny faces for a wedding photo. So, when the sister got hitched years later, they decided to recreate the original photo with hilarious consequences. The brother is still a little devil, and we can tell this isn't the first time in 25 years that he's pulled this face. It's just a shame he's not wearing his wedding sweater.
As for the sister, she looks pretty much the same as she did years before. Her dress looks a little fancier, though!
Should I Have Worn Black?
Sadly, this elderly lady has Alzheimer's Disease, but that didn't stop her from attending her grandchild's wedding. In fact, wild horses couldn't have kept her away. But a funny thing happened at the beginning of the wedding ceremony when Grandma turned and asked, "Where's the body?" Yes, dear old Nana thought she'd been invited to a funeral, so at least her day turned out better than she hoped!
Judging by the photo, she was delighted to hear she wasn't there to bury yet another friend. Look at her face, she's loving every minute of it.
DIY Wedding Reception
When this soon-to-be bride and groom sent out their wedding invitations, they weren't messing around! Firstly, instead of carefully writing each invitee's name in elegant silver or gold calligraphy, the invites were blank and you had to fill in your own name. Fair enough. But if that didn't make clear just how seriously they were taking proceedings, they wrote that whoever sends their RSVP late must bring their own chair and sandwich!
Do you think anyone did miss the 10th September RSVP date and showed up with a folding chair and egg mayonnaise sandwich? We wonder!
Working From Home Wedding
We've all had to adjust and evolve during the pandemic, and work meetings aren't the only things to have changed. Some weddings had to be postponed, while others went ahead online. So, when this fun-loving couple attended a wedding ceremony via Zoom, they got into the spirit of working from home by showing up in formal top halves. Look at how smart they look in the top half of the photo!
However, once you scroll down, you see they're both sporting pajama bottoms, just like we've attended meetings with our bosses over the past couple of years! And, before you ask, yes, they had a pajama party for the wedding reception.
Falling In Love All Over Again
The wedding photographer's job is not as easy as it looks. First, they have to corral hundreds of strangers as if herding sheep, then not get drunk and fall over. Most of the time, they do okay, but you can almost hear this unfortunate wedding snapper's words: "That's it folks, a little closer... gentleman on the left, don't be shy, squeeze in a little, and we're good to go in 3, 2, 1... everybody say cheese!"
Then, walking backward, he or she fell over. But, being a professional, they still got their shot! If you look carefully, you can see which guilty bridesmaid plied the photographer with drinks before tying their shoelaces together!
Jealous Girlfriend Meme
We can't say with 100% certainty, but we think this wedding shot is trying to recapture the famous "jealous girlfriend meme" which has been doing the rounds for a few years now. Either way, it's a brilliant photo and the bride deserves to be on the receiving end of that look as she looks absolutely stunning. Now, as for the two guys holding hands, this is what we think happened.
When setting up the shot, they needed someone to play the "jealous girlfriend" and the rest of the boys volunteered this dude simply because of his gorgeous, flowing blonde locks!
Are You on the Guest List?
We cross the Atlantic Ocean to the other side of the pond for this entry. Quite literally the other side of the pond. This guy recently went to a wedding and this swan wouldn't leave him alone. All through the reception, it stood at the door staring at him, obviously liking the look of him. In the United Kingdom, they'd say "Get your coat, you've pulled a bird!"
Despite wearing the correct formal wedding attire, the swan wasn't allowed in. Unfortunately, we don't know if the guy left with her at the end of the night.
The Simple Bear Necessities of Life
Why would anyone want to get married at the local zoo? Anyway, this brave couple did, and someone wasn't too happy about the bride's choice of husband. This gorgeous brown bear showed up in the background of one of their first photos as husband and wife as if to say, "Girlfriend, what have you done? Are you sure about this? It's not too late to change your mind, sister!"
After their first dance, the bear muscled in and said, "Honey, let me teach you all about the birds and the bees." Probably.
What A Way To Make An Entrance!
Somewhere along the way, there was a definite breakdown in communication when planning this wedding. You can almost hear the conversation... "No, we said we wanted a wedding uniform!" Anyway, enough horsing around from us, these two arrived at their wedding on the back of a unicorn, much to the delight of everyone in the crowd. In fact, the only one who doesn't look over the rainbow is the horse.
From the expression on her face, the poor horse looks as if she's saying, "I don't get paid enough to do this ****"
How Do You Know When Two Cops Get Married?
It may sound like the start of a joke but with both the bride and groom at this wedding being officers of the law, they decided that they should serve donuts instead of a wedding cake. And they didn't serve delicious Boston Creams with sprinkles and icing... nope, these sad, stale donuts look like they were the leftovers from a week-long stake-out. Instead of Champagne, they served lukewarm coffee out of paper cups.
We sure hope these donuts were tastier than they look. You have to admit though, it's a funny one!