"The Bride's Sobbing Was Almost Unbearable": People Are Sharing Tragic And Impossibly Sad Things That Happened At Weddings

A wedding is supposed to be a happy occasion. Sure, nearly 50% of marriages end in divorce, but even those who later divorce acrimoniously should be happy on the day they tie the knot...because weddings are supposed to be happy!

Unfortunately, weddings sometimes have tragic things happen at them, or — due to circumstances — are just impossibly sad. Over on Quora, people have been sharing stories about the weddings that put a lump in their throats. Here they are:

1."My ex-boss, an absolutely lovely, hilariously funny woman, was diagnosed with stomach cancer. She had limited treatment as it was so advanced. Her daughter was due to get married, and she was determined to hang on to see her on her wedding day. In the months leading up to it (before diagnosis), she had put incredible time and effort into making the day special for her only daughter. One week before the wedding, she died. It had been so quick and shocking. Her daughter did not want to go through with the wedding, but her father and stepfather both insisted because her mother had put such time, love, and effort in."

2."My husband's brother got married to a lovely girl in a large city. The church was on the other side of town from where the bride was getting ready, and traffic was bad, so she was VERY late. My brother-in-law was sweating bullets, and the priest was very annoyed; it was a Saturday, and they scheduled weddings back-to-back all day. When she finally arrived, the priest took both of them into the back and gave them a stern (and audible) talking-to, the gist of which was: 'WHY were you so late? Maybe you don't really want to get married? You had better think about it hard because marriage is forever.' Afterward, she had to walk BACK to the front of the church, past all the guests who had heard the priest yelling at her, and then come down the aisle AGAIN, with her huge dress and tear-stained face."

—Aurolyn L., Quora

3."The saddest wedding was the wedding of my best friend. He's the one I think about when I watch My Best Friend's Wedding. I attended the wedding and subsequent banquet with my then-boyfriend and, for all intents and purposes, thought I was fine. But at the receiving line to say goodbye, as I shook his hand, he pulled me in for a hug, whispered, 'Thank you for everything,' and kissed me on the cheek as we drew apart. I would say he's the one who got away, but in truth, I don't think I ever had him in the first place."

4."My partner had been suffering from severe pain for a month or so before finally going to the hospital for tests. He was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The hospital confirmed a few days later it was terminal. He opted to come home, went to bed, and never got up again. One evening, we were talking, and he asked me to marry him because he 'did not want to die a single man.' The registrar came to our home, and we were married in our bedroom with my father, my stepmother, and my young son in attendance. Afterward, he went to sleep, and I went and sat in the local park to spend some time alone."

"We were married for eight weeks. He died on his 40th birthday. After he died, I saw the same registrar at the registry office. She asked if I would prefer to see someone else and was really kind. I walked home, went to the park again, and sat on the same seat. That was truly the saddest wedding I have ever attended."

—Lindsay H., Quora

5."When I was 16 years old and growing up in Scotland, I was a waiter at a hotel. I was working at a big wedding, and at least a few hundred people were having dinner. Everything seemed fine; it was Scotland, so people were drinking a lot, but 99% of the time, that resulted in a good time. There must have been some bad feeling between the bride and groom's families — think Romeo & Juliet. A small disagreement broke out at a table near me; a few men were arguing. However, it escalated very quickly until all the tables around them were fighting and throwing punches. It unfolded like a large domino race — the punches grew from table to table until the whole room was in a total riot. I couldn't get to the kitchen, so I stood against the wall and watched."

6."The bride had cancer and had battled hard with it for some time. She was a Catholic but had been married before and couldn't remarry in the church. They applied for an annulment of that earlier marriage…and waited and waited. Finally, it came through! Within two weeks, everything was arranged. Their Catholic church, where they had worshipped for a long time, really did wonderful things and hosted the wedding and the reception, everyone bringing something. The cancer treatment had sapped the couple's finances, so their friends supplied all, even the dress, his suit, and flowers. It was lovely to witness the human spirit at its finest."

"It was bright and sunny on their wedding day. The bride looked frail but lovely and managed to walk down the aisle leaning heavily on her dad's arm. The feature song was 'Wind Beneath My Wings,' and although it gets panned a lot, this was absolutely the right occasion for it. We (the singers) learned it, especially for the occasion, and got through it, though it was a bit emotional.

Exactly one week to the day later, we had to sing the song again — at her funeral. It was another bright, sunny day, though this time, it seemed obscene for the sun to shine on such sorrow. All the same people were there, shedding tears of sadness now, not joy. It was much, much harder to sing this week.

The saddest thing I have ever seen, as people filed away, was her husband in the same suit, kneeling by the graveside with the biggest body-racking sobs. I am tearing up again, just remembering it.

Now, I have cancer. I'm doing well at the moment. But what haunts me is that one day, it will be my beloved in much the same position — though I will be cremated so he won't be kneeling in the dirt. It's hard to think of leaving him that way."

—Jennifer D., Quora

7."It was my cousin's wedding — an arranged marriage. The groom didn't like my cousin but said yes for his parents. Throughout the wedding, his face had no expression. On the other hand, my cousin was so happy, feeling excited and nervous simultaneously, the feelings a typical bride would have. Suddenly, I noticed her face was sad; she had no smile. After the wedding, in our house, I went to see her. She was crying."

8."My sister got married seven years ago. The wedding itself was beautiful in the church. We then all went to the reception and were having a great time dancing, eating, talking, etc. My mother was 73 at the time, and while dancing in high heels, spun around and fell, landing on her head on a concrete floor. Her brain got shaken when she fell, and fluid built up. An ambulance came and brought my mom to the hospital. My sister says there’s nothing like showing up at the emergency room in your wedding dress."

"My mother was in the hospital for over a month, then a rehab (therapy) center. She had seizures for a couple of years, then was able to be weaned off seizure meds. She’s now 80 and doing fairly well, but she can no longer drive, tires quickly, and her memory is still not as good. We feel blessed to still have her around, but that was a great and tough day for my sister!"

—J M K, Quora

9."The bride and groom kissed, then turned to the audience in the chapel and announced, 'We would like to give each of you a hug before you leave. Please wait in your seats so we can hug everyone in your aisle.' The guests in the last row groaned because the service had been well over 90 minutes, and everyone had to go to the bathroom. The little kids complained, but we all patiently waited. Row one was done, then two, three, four, five, etc. Halfway down the chapel — around row 12 — tragedy struck. The bride stepped too far into the pews to hug one of her favorite guests, and the train of her dress slipped over one of the burning candles lining the aisle. Her dress burst into flames."

10."A colleague of mine lost her husband at their daughter's wedding. He had a heart attack while dancing with his daughter and died later at the hospital. He'd been perfectly healthy until that moment. It was awful. My colleague was very stoic about it, but I couldn't help but think how awful that poor girl must have felt and how she'd have to deal with that each year when she and her husband should be celebrating their wedding anniversary."

—Debby R., Quora

11."In the early '90s, my parents were invited to the wedding of one of my mother's high school classmates. My mother had gone to a high-profile girls-only school attended by daughters of ambassadors and girls from the most elite circles, and the wedding was flamboyant. Doves were released after they exchanged their vows, an entire orchestra played during the reception, and photographers from a couple of magazines came to the event. Everything was smooth sailing until the bride and groom began to slice their wedding cake, a two-meter-high, gorgeous monstrosity."

12."I attended a truly heartbreaking wedding. There were seven family members in the room: the bride, the priest, and the groom, who lay in bed, dying."

My Nanny was married to my grandfather for around 25 years before the affairs, and the realization that neither of them truly loved each other, became too much. It seemed unlikely that she would find romantic love again in her life, but that all changed after she came home from a holiday in Spain. She told my mother that she had met a lovely Danish man, and that he was coming to England to visit! His visit to the UK was quickly followed by my Nan traveling to Denmark to meet his friends (he did not have any family).

Kjeld was a quiet, very kind man who clearly adored my Nan. We were so happy for her and welcomed Kjeld into our family. Before long, my Nan told us that Kjeld was going to come and live with her, and that they wanted to get married. We were all over the moon.

A few short months after moving in with my Nan, Kjeld started to complain of a bad cough and shortness of breath. My Nan eventually convinced him to go to the doctor, who was concerned and asked him to get a scan at the hospital. That was where they found the shadows on his lungs. Kjeld was diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer, and he was given less than a year to live.

My Nan was devastated, but they decided to make the most of the time that Kjeld had left. Shortly after his diagnosis, he presented my Nan with a wedding ring that he had designed and had made in Denmark.

There seemed to be no change in Kjeld at first; my Nan and he planned a holiday (back to the resort in Spain where they had met), and came to our house for dinner every other Sunday. However, Kjeld’s health suddenly began to decline. He went from a red-cheeked, portly man to little more than a skeleton within five months. The drastic change was shocking. The holiday was canceled as it became clear he wouldn’t live long enough to go.

Kjeld said that he wanted Nan to be his wife before he died, so my mum and my Nan started preparing for the wedding. They were going to marry in the registry office and have a small party afterward, but when Kjeld became bed-bound and had to be on oxygen, my Nan had to explore other options.

That brings us to the wedding. By this time, Kjeld had a permanently gray complexion and lost his hair. The priest came to my Nan’s house to conduct the ceremony, which was held in the upstairs bedroom. My Nan stood by the bed in a skirt suit made for the occasion, holding Kjeld’s hand. My mum, dad, uncle, sister, two cousins, and myself stood around the bed, and the priest stood on the other side to conduct the ceremony.

The whole thing lasted less than 15 minutes, and as my Nan and Kjeld were pronounced husband and wife, his face broke into a big smile. For a second, you could see the man that he had once been before this awful disease. He had to go to sleep and back on to his oxygen afterward, but before we left, he asked to look again at his wedding ring on my Nan’s finger. He held her hand and smiled with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We went downstairs and sat quietly with my Nan. There was no laughter, drinking, dancing, or anything else that would usually follow a wedding ceremony. We sat quietly, the whole family taking turns to hold her hand and sit next to her. It just didn’t seem fair.

Less than a year after moving in with my Nan to spend the rest of their lives together, my step-grandad Kjeld died. He spent the last three weeks of his life in a nursing home and took his last breath with my dad sitting next to him.

My Nan passed away six or seven years later. A week after her death, my mum dreamt that she was standing on one end of a bridge with my Nan standing in the middle. My mum knew she couldn’t step onto the bridge, and that Nan was there to say goodbye. On the other end of the bridge stood Kjeld as if he were waiting for her. Although my mum doesn’t believe in the paranormal and is an atheist, she hopes that her dream showed my Nan and her lovely husband Kjeld being reunited."

—Niamh C., Quora

13."Controversially, the invitations clearly stated 'no children.' Since 80% of the invitees were her family members, including myself, there was a lot of uproar. It was the topic of Thanksgiving, Christmas, the reunion…you get the picture. Mothers talked about how rude and ungrateful she was for stating this in the invites. Truthfully, I think it was because of one of two reasons. The bride desperately wanted children but had found out right before the invites were sent that she would never be able to conceive. Due to a childhood disease, the groom was also sterile."

14."Years ago, I went to a wedding with an ex. She and her friends (the bride included) were all nurses, physicians, and EMTs. During the reception, the bride’s uncle had a heart attack while dancing, stiffened up like a board, and fell flat to the ground. In less than five seconds, my ex and her friends were doing chest compressions and tearing his shirt off. Someone else tracked down the defibrillator, and in doing so, they discovered that the adult pads had been previously used and never been replaced. They prepared the child-sized pads, placed them, and, with the whole party watching closely, zapped this man until they brought him back to life. Tragedy with a happy ending. Lesson learned — always invite some medical people to your wedding."

—Jasmine, Quora

15.And lastly, let's end on one that's sad but also uplifting in its own way: "When I was a child, I attended a wedding with my parents. There was a big sit-down dinner and a dance floor. I didn't see the old lady at the next table collapse, but apparently, it was sudden. She had had a heart attack and died pretty much instantly; this was before the period when regular people started learning CPR. Activity in the room paused while two men in formal suits carried her out. I was horrified and said, 'What a terrible way to die.'"

(Entries have been edited for length and/or clarity.)