As Queen Victoria's grandson, King George V never had a chance to escape the drama that hounded his family. From the tragedy that thrust him into the spotlight, to his complicated relationship with his despicable elder son, the Sailor Prince barely saw a moment's rest in his seven decades on Earth.
1. He Had A Big Family
His Royal Highness Prince George of Wales was born on June 3, 1865, at Marlborough House, right in the heart of London. His parents were Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, and Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The couple went on to have six children in total, filling their luxurious mansion with little princes and princesses—but George's parents were no ordinary royal couple.
These two hid a scandalous secret.
2. His Dad Had Too Much Time On His Hands
George's grandmother, Queen Victoria, had a...complicated relationship with George's father. She callously blamed him for the loss of her husband, and could barely stand to look at him. For that reason, she gave him absolutely nothing to do. Of course, George's father spent some of that time with his mother—they had six kids after all—but the rest of his time was spent somewhere far seedier...
3. He Adored His Father
George VGeorge V grew up adoring his father—aside from Queen Victoria, most people who met Prince Albert Edward loved him—but George likely didn't know about his parents' secret: They lived a double life. The first life was the one that George saw: The happy royal family. However, George must have noticed that his father was gone from home for long periods of time.
He likely figured his dad was just off performing his royal duties. Yeah...something like that...
4. His Dad Slept Around
Prince Albert Edward eventually succeeded his mother and became King Edward VII—but before that, he had another name: Dirty Bertie. You see, Edward VII was a man of massive appetites, and we're not just talking about his bulging waistline. Edward's favorite place on Earth was Paris, where he frittered away the hours in the finest brothels the city could offer.
But how did George's mother feel about this? Well, like everything else in the royal family, it's complicated.
5. His Mother Put Up With It
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By all accounts, Alexandra of Denmark loved her husband, and at the very least put up with his philandering. She couldn't keep up with his ravenous desires, and at least he still spent some of his time at home performing his marital duties. So, she simply turned a blind eye to Edward VII's Parisian adventures and spent her time raising George and his siblings—and boy, did she have her hands full.
6. He Grew Up With His Brother
An important note: The young Prince George was never supposed to be the King of England at all. That role was supposed to fall to his older brother, Prince Albert Victor. Born only a year apart, the two boys spent nearly their entire childhoods together. They received the same education, but neither of them was what you would call a "star student."
The classroom obviously wasn't working out for them—so when they were old enough, their father shipped them both away from home.
7. His Dad Wanted To Make Men Of Them
The Prince of Wales thought there was only one proper way to turn a boy into a man: The Royal Navy. George's father sent both him and his brother off for training when he was just 12 years old. By the time George was 15, the pair of them entered service on the HMS Bacchante. But don't go thinking the boys were off seeing active combat. Their time on the Bacchante was more holiday than boot camp.
8. He Got A Tattoo
Aboard the Bacchante, George and his brother traveled the world, visiting the furthest reaches of the British Empire, from the Caribbean to South Africa to Australia. In 1881, they visited Japan, where George made a scandalous decision. Like so many teens after him, he got a tattoo: a blue and red dragon on his arm, to be specific (though of course he never allowed anyone to photograph it).
George would fondly remember his teenage years on the high seas for the rest of his life—but his magical childhood was coming to a close.
9. He Split Up With His Brother
George grew up with his older brother Albert Victor, but they had to part ways eventually. Albert Victor was to be king, after all. Eventually, their parents sent Albert Victor to Trinity College to study, while George stayed with the Navy. But he wouldn't be alone for long—he was about to meet his first love. Unfortunately, she was...let's say a little too close for comfort...
10. He Fell In Love
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Once he and Albert Victor parted ways, George began serving with his uncle, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, in Malta. It made perfect sense: Like him, Alfred was a second son. Who better to show him the strange duties of a royal prince? But Alfred wasn't alone on Malta. He had his daughter, Princess Marie of Edinburgh, with him. George quickly fell in love with her, and she with him.
But, wait...doesn't that mean...?
11. She Was His Cousin
You read that right: Prince George's first love was...his cousin. And no "second cousin twice removed" business. She was his cousin. He quickly decided she was the one for him, and planned to pop the question. And even stranger, his grandmother, father, and uncle all approved. For the royal family, it seemed like a match made in heaven—at least, it did for most of them.
Others weren't so happy about it—and that's when the scheming began.
12. It Wasn't Meant To Be
Even with so many people in favor of these kissing cousins, some in the family despised the idea. George's mother and aunt were both against it—though not because of the cousin thing. They both disliked the political implications of the match. In the end, George's aunt convinced Princess Marie to refuse George's proposal, and she later went on to become the Queen of Romania.
George was heartbroken—but there was far worse pain right on the horizon.
13. He Fell Horribly Ill
Not even the royal family's resources could protect Prince George from everything. Around 1891, George fell ill with typhoid—the same disease that biographers believe killed his grandfather. For six excruciating weeks, George lay confined to a bed, praying for the fever to break. When it did, the entire royal family rejoiced. It seemed as though they'd evaded the Reaper—little did they know, George wasn't the prince he was looking for.
14. His Brother Was A Mess
George's older brother Albert Victor had started spiraling almost the instant the two of them parted ways. In England, rumors of his scandalous exploits were on everyone's lips. Whether it was secret affairs with chorus girls or controversy at a gay brothel, the name "Prince Albert Victor" seemed to just keep coming up where it shouldn't.
When he announced his engagement to Princess Mary of Teck, it seemed like he might finally settle down. Tragically, he never got the chance.
15. He Lost His Best Friend
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Prince Albert Victor and Princess Mary of Teck got to enjoy their engagement for all of six weeks. This entire time, an influenza pandemic had ravaged the empire—and it finally came for a member of the royal family in 1892. Prince Albert Victor succumbed to pneumonia on January 14, 1892, at just 28 years old. George's closest friend in the world was gone—but that wasn't all.
His entire life, George never thought he'd have to become king. Well, that had changed.
16. His Grandma Matched Him Up
Is marrying your dead brother's fiancée weird? At least it's better than first cousins, I suppose. Queen Victoria had worked hard to choose the perfect bride for her grandson—so why let such a great match go to waste? She suggested that George, now in line to become king, marry Princess Mary instead! Now, we've all had grandparents meddle in our lives—but in a bizarre twist, this one actually worked out for the best.
17. He Fell For His Brother's Girl
Things must have been awkward between George and Mary of Teck at first, but over the months, their shared grief and loss brought them together. Though Victoria undoubtedly pushed them into it, the two of them soon grew to care for each other. About one year after losing Albert Victor, George asked for Mary's hand, and she said yes.
18. He Couldn't Express Himself
George V and Mary of Teck had a surprisingly devoted and tender relationship. Though they might have seemed slightly cold and distant in public, that was just because George struggled to express himself. However, both he and his wife frequently wrote each other love letters. Despite the strange way they got together, they were a team, and that was a good thing.
Pretty soon, they would both need all the help they could get.
19. He Ruled Through Fear
George and Mary had five sons and a daughter. George allegedly gave a simple explanation of his fatherhood style: "My father was frightened of his mother, I was frightened of my father, and I am [darn] well going to see to it that my children are frightened of me." That would certainly line up with what his son Henry would later say about him, calling George V a "terrible father."
Maybe the kids resented the fact that George didn't give them the life most royal families expected...
20. He Liked The "Simple" Life
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George's blood was as blue as it gets, and he could have lived in any number of extravagant palaces or castles. But that wasn't George V's style. He raised his family mainly at York Cottage, a relatively small house in Norfolk. They looked more like an upper-middle-class family than anything else, even though George was now directly in line to be the King of England.
So what did George do with all that time out in the country? Simple: He shot things.
21. He Loved His Hobbies
Queen Victoria was still alive, so the crown was still quite far off—and that meant George didn't actually have that much to do. He had plenty of time to kill, and he took that literally. As his official biographer put it, "when he was the Duke of York...he didn't nothing at all but kill animals and stick in stamps." George's two great loves were hunting and stamp collecting—though one of those pastimes got a little bloodier than the other.
22. He Loved Big Game Hunting
Later in his life, when he became Emperor of India, George and his wife took a trip through the Indian subcontinent. And while George was in India, you just know he was going to buck wild. Over 10 days, he shot 21 tigers, eight rhinos, and a bear. He may have been rich, but you did not want to mess with George while he had a gun in his hand.
23. He Went Too Far
The peak of George V's hunting obsession came on December 18, 1913. That day, he went hunting for about six hours. In that time, he shot one thousand pheasants. That's one bird every 20 seconds. By the time he had finished, likely because there was no ammo left in sight, even George had to admit "we went a little too far." You don't say, Georgie!
24. He Moved Up In The World
When Queen Victoria finally passed, George's father became King Edward VII, and George became the Prince of Wales. He spent the next several years having children, traveling the world, and learning about the business of being king from his father. Well, he was going to need all the help he could get: While Queen Victoria had seemingly lived forever, his dad was not long for this world...
25. He Became The King
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Years of debaucherous eating, drinking, and sleeping around took their toll on Edward VII. Victoria's reign lasted 63 years; Edward's only lasted nine. He succumbed to illness on May 6, 1910. The loss devastated George—soon to be King George V. Numb, he wrote: "I have lost my best friend and the best of fathers...I am heart-broken and overwhelmed with grief..."
But George didn't have long to mourn. At the time, Europe was a powder keg—and it was about to explode.
26. He Ruled Through WWI
On 4 August 1914, four years after George V became king, he wrote a frank entry in his diary: "I held a council at 10.45 to declare war with Germany. It is a terrible catastrophe but it is not our fault....Please to God it may soon be over." WWI would prove the most horrifying conflict that the world had ever seen—but not many people realize just how close to home it hit for George.
27. His Cousin Was Public Enemy #1
During WWI, the British public saw Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II as the figurehead for all the horror taking place on the continent. To them, he was little more than a monster—but he was George's first cousin. King George V was quite literally fighting with his own family—and the nightmare would only get worse as it got better.
28. He Sounded Too German
George tried his best to remain a beacon of strength and national pride during WWI. That meant making a decision that changed the royal family forever. Technically, George's house—the ruling house of England—was German. The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, to be exact. Britons had to watch as thousands upon thousands of their fathers, sons, and brothers went off to fight Germans, while a German ruled them.
It was a terrible look, and George knew it. So he decided to do something about it.
29. He Invented A New Name
I don't expect you to know the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, but I bet you've heard of the House of Windsor. Well, turns out they're the same thing. In 1917, George V released a royal proclamation, changing the British royal house's name to Windsor. He also made his German relatives change their names too. Prince Louis of Battenberg became Louis Mountbatten, for instance.
The royal family as we know it was born that day—but changing your name can't solve all your problems, as George was about to learn.
30. His Cousin Lost His Crown
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As if he didn't have enough on his plate, later in 1917, George received truly harrowing news: His first cousin and near-doppelganger, Tsar Nicholas II, had been overthrown, and the Bolsheviks had taken over the nation. The British government acted fast and planned to offer asylum to the Russian imperial family—but in a surprisingly heartless turn, George stepped in the way.
31. He Betrayed His Family
Kings must have to make countless hard decisions, but this one was particularly harsh. George feared that the Romanov family might inspire revolution in Britain. So, he abandoned his own cousin to a chilling fate. George blocked the offer of asylum: The Romanovs were not welcome in Britain. They remained in Russia where, after several grueling months in captivity, the Bolsheviks executed the entire family, then dumped their bodies down an abandoned mineshaft.
32. His Youngest Child Was Sickly
Finally, in 1918, King George V got some good news: WWI was finally over! George rejoiced along with his nation—but his happiness would be short-lived. Prince John, George's youngest child, was born in 1905, but from the moment of his birth, he was a sickly and frail boy. Little "Johnnie" was the baby of the family, but no matter how much anyone spoiled him, his health just never improved.
Finally, just two months after Armistice Day, George's worst fear came true.
33. He Suffered Every Parent's Nightmare
On January 18, 1919, Prince George had a severe seizure, and this time, he would never recover. He passed in his sleep at 13 years old. George and his wife Mary were both devastated, but part of them was relieved. John's entire life had been filled with sickness and pain. In a letter, George painfully described John's passing as "the greatest mercy possible."
34. He Started A Tradition
If you've ever watched Queen Elizabeth II's address on Christmas Day, you've got George V to thank. In 1932, he delivered the first-ever Royal Christmas Speech on the radio. He didn't want to do it, but his advisors reminded him that his people wanted to hear from him. And it turns out they were right! George became a beloved king—even if he didn't see it.
35. He Didn't Know Why They Loved Him
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In 1935, George celebrated his Silver Jubilee, and he could not believe the crowd that came out for the occasion. His radio addresses had allowed him to reach his people unlike any monarch who came before him. When he heard the crowd's adulation, he exclaimed, "I cannot understand it, after all I am only a very ordinary sort of fellow."
Well George, not everyone liked you—and at the top of the list was your own son.
36. He Was Disappointed In His Son
When George was young, his older brother was the problem child. When it came to his kids, the story was the same. Though they had once been close, George's relationship with his eldest son Edward grew more and more strained as the years went on. Now, oftentimes, fathers expect too much of their sons. In this case, I side with George 100%.
Prince Edward was not the kind of guy to make a father proud...
37. Edward Was Not A Good Guy
While he traveled the world, George had noted the prejudices of the British Empire with disgust. Edward had a...different reaction. His world travels only confirmed his belief that whites were superior to everyone on Earth. His writings about the indigenous people he encountered are truly despicable—yet that was just one way he disappointed George.
Edward's scandalous affairs might have been even worse.
38. His Son Slept Around Too
Edward VIIIdefinitely would have had more in common with his grandfather than with his father. He refused to settle down, embarking on affairs with married women, courtesans, and whoever else happened to catch his eye. Edward's antics horrified George and the other royals, but at least to this point, they had mostly stayed under wraps.
Then a scandal broke out that threatened to drag the entire royal family into Edward's mess.
39. He Found A Scandalous Mistress
Her name was Marguerite Alibert, and she was not the kind of person George wanted his son sleeping around with. A one-time working girl, she caught Edward's eye, and he upgraded her lifestyle to "courtesan." Edward met her while on leave from the front during WWI, and she gave him whatever he needed. But his grandfather was the one who loved working girls—not the current king.
When George found out about his son's new mistress, he was horrified.
40. She Shot A Man
King George V | George V's reign began amid the continuing c… | Flickrwww.flickr.com
George and the rest of the royal family heaved a sigh of relief when Edward broke things off with his Parisian courtesan—but that wasn't the last they'd hear of Marguerite Alibert. Just a few years later, she visited London with a new lover...and she shot him in the back several times. This upper-class murder shocked England—but for George, the stakes were so much higher.
41. He Kept It Buried
George V did everything he could to make sure that his son's name never appeared in the press surrounding the Marguerite Alibert. He mostly succeeded, and though there were rumors, the public never learned that the Prince of Wales had an affair with a working girl, who then shot her new lover. George eventually tracked down every last letter that Edward had written to Alibert and had them destroyed.
But the damage was done: George would never truly trust his son again.
42. He Adored His Son And Granddaughter
The members of George's family weren't all as exhausting as his eldest son. He thought extremely highly of his second son, the future King George VI, and adored his precocious granddaughter "Lilibet" (you might know her as Queen Elizabeth II). She loved him in turn, affectionately calling him "Grandpa England." He thought both of them would make excellent monarchs—if only they got the chance.
43. He Feared His Son Would Ruin Himself
By 1935, George's faith in his son and heir had all but evaporated. He said, "After I am dead, the boy will ruin himself within 12 months...I pray to God my eldest son will never marry and have children, and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne." He must have sensed that the end was near—and he would have been right.
44. His Health Failed
Back in the days when people called him the Sailor Prince, George V was the picture of health—but he'd seen hard miles in his time as king. During WWI, his horse bucked and threw him to the ground, causing serious injury from which he never fully recovered. The fact that he smoked like a chimney his entire adult life didn't help matters either.
The once hale and hearty king grew frail and sickly—and a painful tragedy only made things worse.
45. He Lost His Favorite Sister
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George V's brother Albert Victor had been his closest companion growing up, but he still held a soft spot for his little sister Victoria. In December of 1935, when George was already at death's door, Victoria suffered a hemorrhage and suddenly passed. Her loss sent the king into a spiraling depression from which he would never recover.
46. He Went In His Sleep
By January 1936, George barely clung to life. He retired to a country estate at Sandringham House, but pretty soon he was too weak to leave his bedroom. Finally, his doctors released a statement: "The King's life is moving peacefully towards its close." And that it did. George V passed quietly in his sleep on January 20, 1936—only, that wasn't the whole story.
47. His Doctor Had A Secret Diary
Lord Dawson of Penn was George V's chief physician in his final days. He kept a detailed diary from that time, but he kept them a closely guarded secret for the rest of his life. Finally, in 1986, his diaries were made public. They revealed the king's last words, a mumbled "God damn you!" to his nurse. But that's not all they revealed.
It turns out, Dawson had not been entirely honest about that final night.
48. His Doctor Euthanized Him
The entire world thought that George V had passed from natural causes. In truth, Dawson had actively ended the king's life. A believer in euthanasia, Dawson knew that George's end might take hours or even days, and he saw the toll that it was taking on the king's family. So, he made the decision to kill a king. He injected King George V with morphine and cocaine.
15 minutes later, George's breath slowed...then stopped.
49. His Son Gave Up The Crown
George's son Edward became King Edward VIII—but it turns out that George's fears about him were baseless. Sure, George thought he'd make a terrible king, but apparently so did Edward! Before the year was out, Edward abdicated his throne so he could marry his divorcee partner Wallis Simpson. He was then free to live a life of high fashion, German sympathies, and extreme prejudice while his younger brother became King George VI.
So at least our guy King George V got what he wanted in the end.
50. His Son Really Was The Worst
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It's hard to pinpoint when exactly George V's relationship with Edward went south—but it certainly could have been around the time the family lost young Prince John. While George and his wife experienced mixed relief and sorrow, Edward's response was truly disturbing. Despite being a 24-year-old man, Edward called his brother's loss "little more than a regrettable nuisance." I, for one, am happy this guy gave up his crown.
When two people decide to get married, everyone hopes for a “happily ever after” ending. Sometimes, though, the union is doomed from the start. These Redditors share some red flag moments from weddings that should have brought the impending nuptials to a grinding halt—but didn’t. Constant fighting and cheating are only the tip of the iceberg.
1. Work Wife Vs. Real Wife
The groom spent almost the entire wedding glued to his female work colleague, to the point that the bride had to drag him away for their first dance. They also kept going off somewhere together. You could see the obvious hurt on the bride's face throughout the day. But that’s not the craziest part.
Prior to the wedding, he'd taken his colleague away abroad for his stag. It was just the two of them, despite the bride's protests, and in his wedding speech, he pointed his colleague out and told her that he'd had "the best time of his life" that weekend.
They're still together at the moment, but I don't see it being the happy ending that the bride was so desperate for.
2. Nothing But Complaints
The bride-to-be told me two days before the wedding that she found her fiancé annoying and that she didn’t like him, and that he was AWFUL in bed. She was visibly, endlessly uncomfortable at the rehearsal wedding/dinner combination. Then, she cried the ENTIRE morning, the day of her wedding. She ended up not getting any makeup done because she wouldn’t stop scream-crying, and refused to get dressed, stalling the wedding for about 35 minutes.
She then said 45 minutes of “vows” that she had prepared. It was nine pages of things like inappropriate vows to friends and family, his parents and sisters, but none of them were to her husband. Then, she ALMOST didn’t say “I do”. They managed to get a, “Uh, yeah, okay, yeah I do” out of her almost a full 60 seconds after she was supposed to say anything.
I could go on for HOURS, but it was the most painful and awkward wedding I have ever been to. I’ve got my money on it lasting about 10 months. Two and a half months later, she would gossip about how awful her husband was, and they were in couples therapy. At five months, there were fighting non-stop and there were no more lovey-dovey images on social media. They seem to be right on track for a 10-month breakup as I predicted.
3. Their Vows Didn’t Show Much Promise
woman with white floral headdress beside white wallPhoto by Valerie Elash on UnsplashThe groom hated the bride’s family, and the groom’s family didn’t approve of the bride, which made for a very awkward wedding! The bride’s vows made things especially awkward. She said something along the lines of “I promise to try and be worthy of your family”—and we all raised eyebrows at each other.
The groom’s speech was all about how much he has helped his bride change for the better and how he “made her what she is”. My eyebrows were practically falling off the top of my head at that point. It’s been a few months so I guess we will wait and see, but I found it to be very controlling.
4. Teenage Wasteland Wedding
My cousin was in the Army, and his bride was six months pregnant, a senior in high school, and she had just turned 18 the previous day. Her grandfather was the officiant and he gave a big speech about how marriage was only between one man and one woman and no one can tear apart what God puts together. They opened their gifts in front of everyone like it was a birthday party.
There was no booze, dancing, or food. Within 30–40 minutes after the gift opening, the "happy" couple peeled out of the Boy Scout lodge, doing donuts while her teenage friends cheered them on. They spent the night at the hotel everyone was staying at—separately—which consisted of him getting trashed with his friends while she was alone in their room. In front of our entire family, my sister said, "I give them a year."
She was wrong, though. Within three months of the kid arriving, they had split and my cousin swears the kid isn't his. The whole wedding was one giant red flag.
5. The Groom’s Behavior Had The Bride Shook
After the ceremony, the bride, who had epilepsy, had a seizure and her family took her into a side room away from all the guests to look after her until she’d recovered. The groom’s reaction was brutal. He didn’t bother to go and help look after his wife, he was too busy getting sloshed and partying with all his mates. Even after the bride recovered enough to return to the celebrations, he didn’t stay with her or comfort her, and she sat there in tears for half the night. It lasted a couple of years before they divorced due to his selfishness and drinking.
6. My Big Fat Gay Wedding
man in gray sweater sitting beside woman in gray sweaterPhoto by Renate Vanaga on UnsplashThe best man, the groom's lifelong best friend, was gay, and all but one of the groomsmen were gay as well. I knew the bride for years before the marriage, from before she met the groom. We never dated or considered dating, but we were part of each other's core social groups. The bride and groom met in college, where they dated casually.
He would always take her to family functions back home, but when they were back at school he would distance himself. A few years after the wedding, the groom's father passed. Within a week of the funeral, he told her it wasn't working and moved in with the best man. Everyone did their best to act shocked. From the first time I met him, I knew he was gay.
This was before I met or even heard about the best friend. He didn't react at all to her, or to other women. His eyes just didn't go where the eyes of a guy who's interested in women go. He was fit and well-groomed, and I saw more than one female flirting attempt crash and burn. All her friends tried to warn her; we literally took turns. It's just sad that he lost so much time to keep from disappointing his father, and that she lost so much time participating in his lie.
7. She’s Just Not That Into You
The groom was madly in love with his fiancée, but always got the vibe she just wasn’t that into it. During the wedding, he was so nervous he stuttered. The bride rolled her eyes and looked mad. Then later in the night, after dinner and music had started, the bride got annoyed that people weren’t staying in their allocated seats. They had a “wishing well” for presents, and we added our anonymous gift with a card and thought that was that.
One week later, we got an infuriating call. They said that we did not put ours in. This ended up getting so bad it tore down multiple friendships for the groom. The bride wanted enough money to buy a house. It turned out the bride was cheating on him the whole time with someone who was also married. He ended up leaving her about two years later when a family friend told him about the cheating. She was then threatening to take half his business if he didn’t pay her rent for the following months.
8. The Bride And Her Lover
The bride was pregnant, and the groom might or might not have been the father. She also invited her lover to the wedding and got really angry with me because her lover was flirting with me. She had also slept with her sister's fiancé two months before the wedding. At the bachelorette party, she was snorting copious amounts of powder.
After her child was born, she got divorced and hubby got custody. She went back to live with her parents because she kept getting fired and couldn't support herself. It was the biggest trainwreck I've ever seen personally.
9. Friends Or Family?
a woman in an orange dress holding a bird on her armPhoto by Lance Reis on UnsplashWhen I got married, it was a Renaissance fair-style wedding outside at a large gazebo and the maid of honor had promised to purchase a stylized dress for my bride that they had agreed on. Three days before the wedding, she revealed that she’d been keeping a secret. She called to tell us she had no money and was embarrassed to admit it. So, we literally hand-sewed one together in 24 hours. In my opinion, it turned out pretty nice for what we had.
The bride’s mother was supposed to pick up the cake and drive an hour south for the wedding. She left her house 30 minutes before the wedding to pick it up. When she finally showed up an hour late, the cake was DESTROYED. She had put it in the back seat and drove like mad all the way down, slamming it against its box with every turn. But then there was another twist. During the one-hour delay, there was almost a fistfight between two groomsmen because the maid of honor showed up in the dress that she was “unable to afford”.
It was an obvious attempt to upstage the bride. After the ceremony, during her speech, the same maid of honor started off by saying, “When we all met, I did not like [the groom] at all. However, I found that he grows on you like a fungus”. Needless to say, the entire side of my family didn’t appreciate all of this. Since all of these issues were on her side of friendships or families, I was told to suck it up, and we would discuss it later.
I sort of assumed that a lot of these “friends” had just shown themselves the door, but it was quite the opposite. In fact, two years later, when I accepted my first well-paying job out of college, it became an issue that it was an hour and a half out of Austin, where we were living. My wife decided to just stay in Austin to be with her friends. I mailed her the divorce papers and since she couldn't be bothered to even show up to the hearing, I never saw her again.
10. Bride-Beater Busted
Years ago, I attended a wedding and reception of a friend and neighbor. At the reception, the bride started crying. They were not happy tears either, but rather long, heartfelt weeping. Ten months later, she had a baby, and the next month he beat her up so badly she passed out on the front lawn. Her ex, who was a big, big guy and the father of her first two children, came over to their house.
He dragged the new husband out by his hair and beat him on the front lawn. The new hubby left town, and she divorced him right after that. Then we found out his first wife divorced him for beating her up too.
11. It Was His Way Or The Highway
My ex-husband kept completely bulldozing the wedding plans. For instance, I didn't get to choose ANY of the music at all. He shut down things and made me feel small. I just kept acquiescing to his non-negotiable wedding ideas. He was also mad because people didn't execute them as he wanted. He wasn't smiling as I came down the aisle because the DJ got the music wrong.
All that should just have been a red flag that it was an unhealthy relationship. I was young, naive, and stayed way too long. It lasted 10.5 years, and those sorts of things never changed. We could never talk and compromise; it was either his way or the highway. If it didn’t go his way, I was a horrible human being for not giving him his way.
If I suggested a paint color for the living room, it was shot down. If he arrived at the same color on his own, it was great. I literally could not suggest something without being made to feel inconsequential. But, he expected me to jump, cater, and give in to anything he wanted, exactly as he wanted. He was always so critical of everything. Never again will I put up with that.
12. He Just Needed A Hug
man in gray suit and woman in white wedding dressPhoto by Євгенія Височина on UnsplashI attended the very big, very religious wedding of a 21-year-old bride and a 22-year-old groom. They lied about where they met—it was on Tinder. The night before, the groom and members of the wedding party were playing truth or dare. During a round, the groom admitted his biggest love language was touch but that his significant other hated to express affection physically.
He said that all he wanted was to be cuddled sometimes, and she’d refuse. He said he hoped it got better after they were married. All the groomsmen made frantic eye contact and changed the subject.
13. The Judge Tried To Warn Her
I worked as a county prosecutor. I did a sentencing where the guy was sent to prison for about two years. As I was walking out of the courtroom, his girlfriend asked the judge to marry her to her boyfriend, who was going to be incarcerated. The judge said she needed a marriage license and there was a two-day waiting period—he was basically telling her not to marry the guy. But she’d planned ahead.
Then, she pulled out the marriage license. The judge told her that she needed two witnesses, and she was alone. The dude's attorney grabbed me by the arm and enthusiastically volunteered us to be the witnesses. The wedding went through. The guy was in an orange jumpsuit and was shackled during the ceremony.
14. The Counting Game
The bride and groom secretly married and told no one because their relationship would cost him his job. They had a wedding one year later, about a month after she graduated college. While at the reception, we were playing a “counting game” which consisted of “How many groomsmen has the bride slept with”? It was all eight of them. The groom had slept with three of the bridesmaids so there was that, too.
Then, we started the betting pool at the reception which only played country music and served grits three ways with beers. I won the bet. It lasted six months after the ceremony, which isn’t too surprising, as the bride went home with the guitarist from the band playing at the reception instead of with the groom.
15. His Frat Boy Ways
a couple of men standing next to each otherPhoto by Nima Sarram on UnsplashI went to my wife's coworker’s wedding. She was the sweetest person and her fiancé was a total slob. He was just a cocky, out-of-shape, burnt-out frat guy. He had told her to her face about all the girls he'd slept with and how he'd had perfect weeks where he'd slept with a different girl every night. I’m pretty sure this was a bad technique to try and make her stick around and think he was desirable. But he saved the worst for the wedding.
That was where he drank so much, he passed out before anyone had left and she had to take him to their hotel room while passed out. She didn’t get to finish her own wedding or have a wedding night. I felt so sad for her.
16. Dancing Around The Real Issues
My wedding was full of red flags. My ex-wife had a taste for theatrics and wanted a choreographed dance number for the first dance. She also wanted the whole wedding party involved, but there was no interest. I'd never danced, not even at a club, but was willing to take lessons with her with the understanding we would do something together, so she could have her dream wedding.
I sucked but got through a few lessons of slow dancing. The dance school wouldn't choreograph anything for us, so she promptly gave up. When it came to choosing the song, she decided she wanted “I Want You To” by Weezer, which was my favorite band and the song had just come out. It has a jamboree feel to it; it is not a song to slow dance to.
So, I suggested we choose something else, but she insisted we would just slow dance to it. I made her promise she wouldn't change her mind. Sure enough, 30 seconds into the song, she backed up and started dancing a jig. I just stood there in disbelief, fuming, while she kept shouting and motioning for me to dance in front of all our guests.
To boot, we had set a budget, and she exceeded it. Then her parents decided to chip in $5K, and rather than use it to offset what we were over budget for, she decided to spend more. In retrospect, that should have been a huge clue that she didn't respect me at all. She cheated on me and ran off with some guy a year later. She got remarried before we were officially divorced.
17. No Arguing It Wouldn’t Last
I was a groomsman at my friend’s wedding. The rest of the groomsmen were guys he met while stationed in the Air Force, and they knew his fiancée much better than I did. During the entire week leading up to the wedding, she would call him constantly and just straight-up yell as soon as he answered; then, they would argue.
During the week, the other groomsmen kept telling me that they didn’t like her and how much of a pain she was. At the wedding, one of the groomsmen came up to me and said, “I can’t wait to see you guys at his second wedding”. I laughed so hard.
18. Big Wedding Gone Bust
a man and woman kissingPhoto by Chip Vincent on UnsplashThe bride didn't look happy to be walking down the aisle. She was smiling, but it was very much a pasted-on smile that I assumed was because she was nervous. I found out at the wedding that her parents had offered to pay for either a big wedding or pay for a small wedding then give them the money for a down payment for a house. She wanted a big wedding. Big mistake.
Where we lived, the housing market was insanely competitive and this was at the peak of the housing prices, right before the crash. Her parents basically offered her the ability to jump-start their lives together. Instead, she turned it down for the big party with her as the center of attention. It was over within two years, and she didn't even seem upset about it.
19. Knocked Up And Fed Up
My high school best friend got pregnant from the first guy she dated upon joining the Air Force. She grew up in a super strict, and really weird household. She didn’t know anything about birth control or dating. I moved back to our hometown a few weeks before she came home to get married. She asked me to be a bridesmaid, along with her five sisters, and I agreed.
The guy brought his parents and enough friends to fill out the party. We spent two days around her house just getting to know each other, which was pretty fun. I had been flirting with a couple of the guys, which annoyed one of the sisters. So, she called me out for having a “tramp stamp” and embarrassed me. I really hate being the center of attention, so it was extra awful.
I’m sure it was obvious I was mortified. The wedding went on. The bride bawled the whole time and was about six months pregnant at the time. After the vows, she disappeared for a little bit to clean up. The groom and I ended up chit-chatting while everyone was mingling. It was the first time I had even really spoken to him. He ended up talking about my tattoos, and how attractive they were.
I tried to play it off as him being polite until he said something about inviting me to his hotel room later to show me his own tattoos, which were apparently located in some inappropriate places. I had no idea what to say, so I laughed and said I needed to change out of my heels. It was awful, and I felt so bad for her, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.
Most likely, since they lived a couple of states away and had JUST gotten married with a baby on the way, I would have been the one who was blamed. So, I just lived with the guilt. She got divorced less than three years later, at about 22 years old. He cheated a lot, and she finally got fed up. She then took a vow to be celibate afterward.
Because she had a child with him, she chose to just be single rather than confuse her child with a new spouse. I never understood her logic, but I supported her choice. It’s been 10 years, and she’s still single. I don’t feel like she’s ever really even experienced what it’s like to be with a good spouse, and I feel terrible for her.
20. Keeping With Tradition Spelled Disaster
I come from a very large Indian family, portions of which still strongly believe in "traditional marriage", such as child brides, forced marriage, and uncle/niece marriages. There was one wedding where a woman in the family eventually found the guy of her dreams and wanted to marry him. However, as her older brother was unmarried, she was not allowed to marry until he did first.
So, their parents forced the brother to marry an emotionally manipulative girl. He clearly understood what she was like prior to getting married. He went through with it anyway on the pretext that he was okay "sacrificing" his life for the sake of his sister. It was a complete disaster.
Within two years they were divorced. He eventually married again, for love, but got divorced again. He is now preparing to marry for the third time, again at the behest of his family because "it's not okay" for the older brother to be single while the younger sister is married.
21. Lack Of Devotion
group of people dancingPhoto by Mitchell Orr on UnsplashI went to a beautiful wedding a few summers ago. It was a quiet backyard wedding, in a beautiful woodsy neighborhood. The couple had been happily dating for eight years and were about to buy a house. The only thing that seemed kind of off was the fact that the groom cried tears of joy, but the bride didn't. She spent the entirety of the reception dancing by herself or talking to family, not really paying her new husband much attention.
It was a busy day, so nobody really thought much of it. Two years later, she cheated on him with a guy she had just met, filed for divorce, and moved in with the new guy immediately. The husband was devastated and still hasn't moved on despite getting constant offers. His wife very openly didn’t care and has since flooded her social media with cutesy updates and pictures of her new relationship. I suppose the wedding day was a glimpse into the imbalance of devotion in their relationship.
22. Princess Bride
A rich guy married a girl with stars in her eyes. The wedding was insane. As you walked in, there was a guy on each of the double doors opening them in unison. They actually paid two people to do this little dance and stand there all day. When you walked in, there was what must have been $10,000 worth of giant flower arrangements in the entryway.
Then there was another double door with two more guys opening them. The wedding was nuts with string quartets, and no expense was spared. However, during the reception, I overheard the bride saying something to her friends about how he better keep working to "keep her". I've seen this princess mentality before, it never works out. A relationship needs each party to be equal.
23. A Tainted Tribute
We were friends of the bride. We met the groom’s parents for the first time just before the start of the wedding. Instead of offering nice remarks about our friend—their daughter-in-law to be—they spent the entire conversation talking about how wonderful their son was, which struck my wife and me as odd. The marriage lasted a little less than one month.
It also resulted in the birth of a boy who has never met his father, who not only demanded a paternity test but who has never set foot in the state where his son lives. If he did, he would be forced to pay child support, which he has never done, despite the wealth of his family, who were so effusive in their praise of him.
24. The Best Man Got Things Off With A Bang
I was a wedding videographer. About 10 years ago, I was filming a rather prestigious wedding. Everything was going great until the reception. The best man got up to give a speech, and started by saying, “Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to let the groom know I’ve been banging the bride for years”. The room parted into “his” and “hers”, and the groom ran out, never to be seen again. The bride’s parents asked me to send them the video, as they felt so guilty over what happened. I got paid, so it didn’t bother me either way, but it was the best red flag I’ve seen by far!
25. She Was A Gold Digger
people raising wine glass in selective focus photographyPhoto by Al Elmes on UnsplashMy cousin—who’s not a very nice lady—married some poor sucker rather quickly into their relationship. He was a super smart and successful accountant for an aerospace company and she was a nobody. Although that shouldn’t matter In love, in her case we knew what was up. We all knew the real reasons for this unholy matrimony, mostly because she was following in her mother’s footsteps, who was a raging forest fire of a magnum gold digger.
We took great pity for the pain, time, and large amounts of money this guy was sure to suffer. During the ceremony, this guy spontaneously developed a tick. He started throwing his head back and forth, almost as if the Good Lord himself was smacking him. His jaw must have started to lock up because he kept opening it as wide as he could and sticking his tongue out.
It was as if he had this sudden cramp in his entire speak-hole area, and he wouldn’t be able to utter the solidifying words. At the “I do” part, when it was his turn, he took three big violent shakes side-to-side and stretched his jaw super wide. A couple of months later, she was banging at least one other guy, accusing hubby of beating her and of being emotionally taxing, but we all knew better.
26. Happiness Is Key
I had a destination wedding. The night before, another couple was getting married, and they had to pass through the restaurant we were in to get to the reception area. The looks on their faces said it all. They looked miserable. They weren’t holding hands, not excited, nothing. It was like the ending of The Graduate. I originally gave them some slack, thinking that having a wedding is hard and exhausting.
However, the next night, at our wedding, we didn’t stop smiling for a second. When we were alone, passing through the restaurant to get to our reception space, we were both giddy, excited, and nervous, but we were happy.
27. The Bride Wanted A Frisky Frolic
woman in white sleeveless dressPhoto by Jonathan Borba on UnsplashMy friend got married to his baby mama after their kid was a few years old. Their wedding had a good reception and the bride was a great wing woman, so the bridesmaid and I left to have a party of our own. We came back and joined the after-party and everybody was feeling pretty good. Soon enough, the bride was sitting at the bar by me, started making comments, and getting pretty grabby.
I tried to get away, as things were getting awkward. So, I waved my buddy—the groom—over and told him what was up and he should probably get her out of there. She told him she just wanted to feel my willie but I wouldn't let her, and they proceeded to get into a fight. Years later, they were still together, but there is no way she's been faithful, and he refused to see it. I wish him the best of luck.
28. Time For A Change
When my cousin met his wife-to-be, she gradually chipped away at him by molding his personality to how she wanted him to be. In the end, gone was the cheeky lovable personality, his friends, and his hobbies. I barely saw him anymore, and neither did most of his family. The last I saw him was at our grandad’s funeral after they had been married for about a year.
Aside from the fact it obviously was a sad occasion, he was a completely different person. Even at the wedding, he was noticeably miserable. They divorced another year or so later. Apparently, he was boring and not the man she fell in love with, so cheating on him was the logical thing for her to do. I haven't seen or spoken to him since the funeral but I hear he's doing okay.
29. The Groom Became Texas Toast
My best friend was getting married. I met the bride-to-be about six months before the wedding. She was the southern Texas “treat me like a princess and I’ll tolerate you” type. I was the “loud obnoxious city slicker that will say things to see how you react” type. She started to disallow him to see me, even when I drove two hours just to see him for the day.
By the time the wedding happened, I walked down the aisle of the wedding party bus taking bets on how long the marriage would last. No one, including the bridesmaids, said over three years. The bride got mad at me for undoing my tie at the $30K reception. I looked at her and just shook my head. A year and a half later, I found out the dark truth about her.
She was banging the marriage counselor her father was making them go to see because he couldn’t have his clients knowing his daughter wanted a divorce.
I ended up helping my friend pack all of his stuff in a box truck and driving him across the country for a new start. I ended up being his best man in his second wedding and they are perfect together.
30. The Odds Were Stacked Against Them
a large statue in a large room with people standing aroundPhoto by Michael M on UnsplashI was at a poker table in Las Vegas over Labor Day weekend; it was late Saturday night. Next to me was a lady in her mid-20s, a naturally pretty country girl. She was a decent poker player, having a good time. Next to her was a dude, also in his mid-20s, in good shape, and rough around the edges. He was a decent poker player, but he was drinking and getting loud.
It was about 11 PM, and these two had been married for about 3-4 hours at that point. She had a bad hand, but it didn’t doesn't matter, as she was breaking even for the night. He dropped about $300-$400, and I noticed that a couple of players were keying in on him. By midnight, he was getting louder, and was warned for swearing at the table.
Everybody at the table was hoping to get a piece of his money when he started going crazy.
At 1 AM, he was down $1,000. They were going to play all night, as their plane was leaving in 10 hours, and they didn’t have a room at any hotel. At 2 AM, she was up $100 and was rock solid. She's gone from chatty to super-quiet. Her hubby was all over the place and was dropping about $200 an hour to the table.
At 3 AM, I left the table. I couldn’t help but wonder what possessed a “solid 8+ of a woman” to marry a pathetic trashed mess of a boy. I can't imagine a world where he didn't do something bad that night that she had to clean up. And, looking back, I can't imagine a world where he doesn't do something bad that she has to clean up every few days.
31. The Bride Had A Dark Side
A guy I know met, got married to, and divorced this girl in under two years. She was ten years younger than him. He came to find out that she was a pillhead and was buying all sorts of dope on the dark web. She had a rich family who kept giving her money and meddling in the details of their marriage, like buying car insurance, buying a mattress, and such.
Said rich family made them get married on the family property. During the wedding, the bride’s dad said to the groom, “That empty lot over there is a place for [my daughter] to have a house”. There was no mention of him. But that’s not the worst part. She was cheating on him with a guy elsewhere in the state, and when my friend found evidence of their relationship, she told him that the guy had assaulted her.
She took this claim so far with her family that they never knew the truth until the last round of divorce negotiations, when my buddy’s lawyer dropped all the evidence he got from her phone on them, along with transactions for her dope dealings. She got nothing.
32. Double-Dealing Dog
I was the best man at a wedding, and the groom disappeared on the morning of the wedding. He went AWOL for several hours. My wife overheard the bride in tears in the bathroom at the reception, saying she shouldn't have married him, and asked what she was doing. It turned out his absence was to go and speak to another full-on girlfriend—who none of us knew about—to break up with her before he got married. He was leading a double life. They split up within a couple of years when it all came out, but sadly not before they had a kid.
33. Early Intervention
group of people prayingPhoto by Samantha Gades on UnsplashI brought my girlfriend to a buddy’s wedding, and a conversation about kids came up. She told me she wouldn’t want kids for at least another ten years. We were only about six months in at that point, but things seemed pretty serious. I was sure I wanted kids with her, and I told her I’d be totally supportive of her if she ever became pregnant, whatever her decision was. Well, that’s when I learned she’d been keeping a devastating secret.
A few hours and a handful of drinks later, she told me she had recently gotten an abortion during our relationship. I didn’t know if it was mine or not; it was kind of a red flag.
34. An Exercise In How Not To Act
It wasn’t the couple getting married who had red flags flying, but the best man and maid of honor, who were married to each other. The best man's speech was all about how hard it was to be married. He said, "I've been married for a year and it feels like 100 years". The maid of honor stood up to give her speech and just said, "Ditto". It was so awkward and really brought the whole room down.
The brother of the bride stood up and gave a nice impromptu speech about teamwork, having a partner to go through life with, and how happy the family was to have the groom join their family. The best man and maid of honor were divorced within a year. The couple who got married was still married 30+ years later. I sometimes wonder if the speeches actually were helpful in how not to act as a couple.
35. All About The Groom, But What About The Bride?
I was the maid of honor at a wedding. They seemed like the perfect couple. They had been together for nearly ten years and had this big, expensive, beautiful wedding. The bride would have been happy with a small event, but she told me the groom had a big family and had insisted on a larger one. Alarm bells hit when I sat with her parents in the front row.
I realized the groom-to-bride ratio was so massively off. The groom had three best men, as well as ushers, etc. His sister and one best man read something during the ceremony, and then all three said long speeches about him at dinner. It was all about him. The photographer was even his friend’s mom, so she kept whisking away the boys for these “hilarious” guy shoots.
The bride was ignored most of the day and in the evening, the groom got too trashed, spilled a drink over her wedding gown, and danced with his friends. It felt more like a big birthday party than a joint event. I’d never seen that side of him, but I felt so sorry for my friend. It was like she was just there to be a prop to his plans and look good. Later, I learned the dark truth.
Three months after the wedding, he began being emotionally disparaging to her. A month after that, he admitted he’d been having an affair for years, then left. If I hadn’t seen the way he behaved at the wedding, I never would have guessed he had that in him. Four years later, my friend hasn’t been able to trust or date again yet, but I think she learned never to be a backseat passenger in a relationship again.
When he left, she told him that he would never see her, or hear from her, or about her again. She dropped all friends that had any connection with him and made sure he would always live his life wondering if he made the right decision and what she was up to.
36. A New Do And A Ring Too
shallow focus photo of man holding scissorsPhoto by Eugene Chystiakov on UnsplashMy college roommate was super reclusive. He never had any friends and never dated. One day, he told us he had a girlfriend. We’d never seen him with a girl, let alone talk to one. Toward the end of the semester, he ran into me near the apartment and asked if I was going to be gone around noon. I said I was and asked why. He told me he was going to propose to his girl, but he wanted me there and showed me the rather large diamond ring.
It was weird, but okay. It was the end of the semester, and everyone was busy with finals. The apartment was a mess. Dirty dishes were stacked high in the sink. My roommate’s idea to propose to this poor thing was to ask her to give him a haircut. She showed up before he or I did, so another roommate and she just sat there awkwardly.
We tried to clean up quickly, but we only had a few minutes. This was the first time we had met her and she was a supreme introvert. My roommate showed up and introduced her, and asked her if they could move along. He set up a chair in the kitchen and she started cutting his hair. He didn’t want to get hair on his shirt, so he got a big black trash bag and cut a hole in the bottom for his head only.
His arms were locked in the bag. She cut his hair, and his line to propose after she finished the haircut was, “If only I had something shiny to see my haircut”. She offered to get a mirror, but he repeated the same line louder and fumbled in his pocket and trash bag to retrieve the ring box. He was covered in hair, and his arms were awkwardly held against his body by the trash bag.
He opened the ring box, thrust it awkwardly at her, and went, “Hmmmmmmmmmmmm”? Meanwhile, she was backed into the sink with the dirty dishes. He didn’t really ask her to marry him. She put the ring on, said yes, and he left to go take a shower without kissing her or anything! She then sat on the couch, staring at the ring with a solemn look while the other roommate and I stared in disbelief at the train wreck that had just happened.
The semester ended, and they were still engaged. My roommate went across the country for an internship while she stayed in the college town. Then, my roommate got taken into custody at the airport and charged with possessing a fake grenade in his checked carry-on bags. He got out and came back to the college town. I ran into him about 4–5 months after the proposal mess. I asked how his fiancée was doing, and he replied, “I don’t know; I haven't talked to her since I left for the internship”. Somehow they are still married eight years later. It’s unbelievable.
37. It Was A Losing Battle
I was friends with this couple for a couple of years in college. They got “secretly” married so they could live off campus. In the last year of school, they were getting “married for the first time” for their family and friends who didn’t know. The wedding day came around, and they had been fighting up to that point like cats and dogs. These two weren’t good for each other and made dumb decisions young.
Apparently, the first words they said to each other in two days was, “I do”. Even at the age of 21, I knew they wouldn’t stay together. Fast forward, and I ended up being roommates with them for one year. What a massive mistake. The fights, the throwing of things, the running out of the house during arguments, the lies told, etc., were crazy. They got divorced within a couple of years of that, and they both later remarried.
38. Their Relationship Was Loaded With Problems
I was dating the best man at a wedding. The groom spent all his time hanging out with his buddies, and the bride spent all the time using illicit substances in the bathroom. I spent more time with the groom at the wedding than the bride did. She also flipped his brand new Jeep the day before the wedding because she was driving while loaded, and quit her job the day after the wedding because he was supposed to take care of her now.
They were married in November and separated by January. The groom later confided in my then-boyfriend that he thought getting married would solve everything.
39. Hitched On Hypocrisy
three people holding glass bottles while talkingPhoto by John Arano on UnsplashBoth the bride and the groom had their stags the night before. The groom and bride stood in the church, hungover, both mad at the other because they were hungover. At the party afterward, they practically refused to talk to each other because they were still mad at each other. It all came to a head at about midnight. They were fighting about literally being in the same condition as the other one but not wanting the other one to be in that condition.
I was kind of shocked, to be honest. There is a threshold of being just hypocritical and being entirely devoid of the ability of self-reflection. Both stood firmly in the second category. Here's the kicker, though. Both wanted a divorce because they both cheated just three months into the marriage. To this day, both blame the other for cheating and ruining the marriage because of it. In some very weird way, they fit each other perfectly.
40. A Photo Finish
I was at a wedding where the couple had four professional photographers and two two-man videographer teams running around the wedding, capturing everything. The bride paid them more attention than her guests and only acknowledged the groom when she was being filmed. Her mailed-out wedding invitations were styled after a gossip magazine and were six pages—FRONT AND BACK.
They had about 12 photos of her looking lovey-dovey at her ring, or with a “surprised” face, and the groom faded in the background on his knee. There were more photos of her dog than the groom. They are currently in marriage counseling, but it’s not looking good. She has a laundry list of narcissistic things she’s done since the wedding, which was less than three years ago.
41. The Signs Were All There
I was the groom attending a Roman Catholic church for a wedding that was a full mass as well as the wedding nuptials. The priest’s sermon was about the effects of divorce in today's society, of all things. When it came time to exchange vows, the bride-to-be looked bloody terrified and not what you would expect a woman to look like at that point in time on her wedding day.
I, on the other hand, was well and truly in the moment, fully embracing the commitment I was about to make in front of my family, friends, and God. But, the emotional state of my fiancée was becoming more and more apparent to me. So, when the priest asked, "If anyone here has any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony let them speak now, or forever hold their peace", my expression and glances around the church were, in hindsight, a desperate cry for help.
It was the kind of foreshadowing that should have been laughably obvious at the time, but what does one do in that situation? I just wish I knew what I could have done at the time, and not gone on to suffer through a one-sided loveless marriage for over 26 years and lose everything in the process. While we were separated, I found out that she had somehow managed to divorce me without my being served divorce papers and had remarried.
42. Rather A Roomie Than A Groomie
shallow focus photo of two men kissingPhoto by Glodi Miessi on UnsplashMy friend was gay and his best friend was getting married. We all used to joke that she was already his husband because they were roommates and had a very Will & Grace type of relationship. I didn’t know her that well but, I and some of our other friends, were invited to her wedding. After the wedding, at the reception, we were sitting with my friend.
The girl came up to our table, a little tipsy, and started crying about how she wished my friend was straight so that she could have married him instead. My friend took it all in stride while we and the other guests were horrified. The bride and her husband broke up 18 months later, and she and my friend are roommates once more.
43. The Bride Gave Off Some Bad Vibes
At my brother’s wedding, we were about to walk into the reception, and I assumed that speeches would be soon to follow. My family wasn’t all too fond of his wife, myself included, but I thought that I could at least give her a chance. I was talking to the maid of honor, who was also the bride’s little sister, and discovered that she had not prepared a speech.
She started freaking out, so I tried to calm her down and just give her some guidelines for something short and sweet to say that would go over well. She actually seemed like she was ready to pull it off. Then, the bride overheard our conversation and piped in, “Oh, no speeches. We’re not doing any speeches”. She was very firm on the matter, and my brother just kind of shrugged.
My reaction was something like, “Well then, why did I spend three days working on one”? I kept my cool, but I was mad. I had a really bad vibe from the incident, like their marriage was going to be a joke. She left my brother a month later.
44. Drama Was A Bonus
Many years ago, I was going out with a girlfriend, Kay, who had moved across the country to live with me, and was struggling to make friends. One night, I introduced her to one of my friend's girlfriends, and they became immediate best friends. This was an immediate red flag for me because this other girl was not exactly a nice person. However, I was glad that we now had a shared friend group and could go out together.
My friend’s girlfriend and my friend were getting married in a few months. A week before the wedding, Kay and I were spending the night in, and Kay was constantly texting on her phone. Eventually, she revealed that she was talking to the bride-to-be—and what she told me was seriously disturbing. The bride-to-be was with her ex in a hotel having a "bonus night" before she got "tied down forever".
My best friend was the best man; hence, I told him so that he could break it gently to our friend. However, the wedding went ahead as planned, surprisingly, and both have cheated on each other over their five-year marriage. I think some couples don't feel complete unless there is drama in their relationship, as my friends do seem very happy together when they're not shouting and fighting.
45. The Icing On The Cake
a three tiered cake with figs on top of itPhoto by Melissa Walker Horn on UnsplashIn a lot of weddings, it is customary that the groom and bride feed each other the cake. It is not unusual that they will sometimes get some icing on each other's noses or even outright smash it against each other's lips. Usually, it's meant for good fun and whatnot. At this wedding, during the cake slicing, the groom got a little icing on the bride's nose, and she burst into tears.
She was full-on crying and accusing him of ruining their wedding in front of the entire party. It was hard to watch, especially since the groom was my cousin who is a sweet guy that's a playful goofball. He was pretty taken aback by her reaction and pulled her aside to console her along with her bridesmaids and maid of honor.
There were other red flags, like how the bride was insistent that the groom's family be seated 3-4 rows back, while her entire family, extended family, and all got to sit front and center. Then, she asked my parents and me to move from our assigned seats because she forgot that my cousin had invited us. She wanted some of her friends to sit there since it was close to the bride and groom's table. It was a bunch of things, but that cake-eating is what really made me know they were in a doomed relationship. They ended up lasting not even two years.
46. Taking Bets
I used to work in catering for weddings. There was this one couple, who got this beautiful old English Tudor venue, and they paid out a huge amount for the catering; it was for about 200 guests. They were all expected to arrive after the ceremony at 1 PM. Three hours later, they rocked up to the venue without so much as an explanation. There was no call that they would be late, no sign of any guests, nothing.
The staff was all standing around speculating “maybe they called it off, someone was stood up, etc.”, for hours. We started getting ready to pack everything up and just leave when we finally saw guests arriving. So, we started serving canapés and we saw the bride and groom for about two minutes before they walked off into the gardens to have a full-on screaming match.
The main topic of conversation with guests was literally betting on how long they would last, who is going to be the first to cheat, and things like that. They came back an hour later, now shouting at us saying, “Why aren’t the guests eating yet”? Meanwhile, we were waiting for them! After that, things actually went pretty smoothly. We finished serving and they started the toasts.
The guy’s friends were comedians, so the speeches are brilliant, but walking through topping up champagne, we could hear every table still murmuring offhand jokes or sarcastic comments about them not lasting, etc. I think they went off to argue a few more times after that. It was a lovely wedding with terrible people.
47. The Butterfly Effect
My husband and I were doing the catering for a small wedding of fewer than 50 people. They had actually had their first date in our restaurant and asked us to cater their big day, which was sweet. It was a seaside wedding, very DIY, and even my kids helped set up. Under each folding chair in the wedding "audience", was a box to be retrieved and opened by the guests when the officiant told them to do so.
The goal of this was well-intentioned. The guests would lift the tops of the boxes to free what would become a sea of delicate butterflies, symbolic of their marital journey "taking off". Well, it ended in a truly gruesome scene. The butterflies all died in their boxes due to oxygen starvation, and when the lids were collectively released, their limp bodies were swept up in a vicious yet timely gust of wind. In one glorious moment, united, they were whipped off forcefully into the horizon.
48. Dreaming Of Another
man in gray suit jacket sitting on chair beside man in gray suit jacketPhoto by Sam Balye on UnsplashI was a groomsman at a wedding. As the night was winding up, the groom was nowhere to be found. The inebriated bride, whom I’d met maybe three times prior, asked me to dance. Then she made a disturbing revelation. She told me that when she pleasures herself, she would think of me!
That was the first time she ever expressed interest in me. They had three kids in five years, and both caught each other cheating on the other. They divorced at the 5-year mark.
49. For Goodness’ Sake Forsake Already!
I filmed a wedding in Louisiana once. In the hours leading up to the wedding, the bride was getting pretty loaded with her bridesmaids. Rain delayed the wedding, as it was all scheduled for outdoors next to a rustic barn. In the final hour before it was time, the bride was getting pretty angry at her mom who was criticizing this item here, or this guest here, and her drinking wasn’t helping anything.
Somehow, they made it through without a catfight, but the biggest red flag came from the groom-to-be. During the vows, when it got to the part where the line is, "and forsaking all others", the dude simply could not utter those words. So much so, that he was getting emotional on his face, and shutting down completely. I focused on him with the camera, so when I edited the video later, I played that part over and over, trying to guess what was going on in his head.
The bride was laughing and smiling at him, so either she was too sloshed to care, or she was in on some partner-swapping action with him, and thought it was hilarious. The preacher offered to alter the line, and said something like, "Okay how about, and only loving the bride”. The groom regained a little bit of his composure, nodded, and muddled through the rest of the vows. The marriage was only about three years ago, but sure enough, she has a new man she is with.
50. Getting Even
The groom had his bachelor party the night before, got a handy, and kissed an exotic dancer. He was guilt-ridden and told the bride the morning of the wedding. She still married him. The next day, I was hanging out with the newlyweds and the groom's friends. The bride and I were the only two women there. The bride was drinking and hanging off me like we had been BFFs for years.
She made several trips to the bathroom to pee and insisted I tag along. On each trip to the bathroom, she was fuming over the bachelor party action and kissing the dancer situation. The kissing bothered her more than the handy, but she was still upset and talked about how she was going to cheat on him to even the score. Not a solid start for a marriage.