1. After the wedding, she went on her honeymoon to the Caribbean all by herself. The catch was that the groom had a severe allergy to the sun and couldn't be out in it.

2. The groom began his speech with these words: «To be honest, I didn't want to get married. But we’ve gathered here today for the sake of the bride—and the child she’s expecting with me.» They split up a year and three months later.

3. Instead of a male friend serving as the groom's best man, the groom chose a female friend. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, of course—but after she delivered her speech, everyone in the room realized she was in love with him.

4. Right there at the wedding reception, the groom got into a fistfight with the bride's father. Both families had serious issues with alcohol, and the bride's father had long harbored a dislike for his future son-in-law. The bride tried to step in and break them up, only to catch an elbow right in the eye. They separated four months later. This all took place in Canada. For anyone wondering: the father-in-law won the fight.

5. At the wedding reception, all the guests—including the newlyweds' parents—were placing bets on how long the marriage would last. The groom's friend won the pool by predicting they’d make it exactly 14 months. And that’s exactly what happened. They had known each other since childhood, constantly breaking up and making up two or three times a year. Getting married at age 19—during the summer break between their freshman and sophomore years of college—was essentially a last-ditch attempt to keep their relationship alive. At least they didn't have time to have any kids.

6. A few years ago, I served as a groomsman at a wedding. At the rehearsal dinner, the bride's relatives treated the groom like dirt—humiliating him and subjecting him to constant mockery. Of course, he really should have stood up for himself, but he was just too mild-mannered guy. To make matters worse, the bride ditched the dinner to go get wasted with her girlfriends, while the groom wasn't even allowed to step out into the yard to chat with his own friends.

7. At my brother's wedding, the maid of honor gave a toast and confessed her love to him. Her husband walked over, picked her up, and carried her out of the room before she could embarrass him any further; three months later, they separated. My brother is happily married; they have been together for 20 years.

8. The groom took the silly cake-smashing tradition to the extreme. The bride offered him a bite of her piece, accidentally getting some on his nose and chin. In response, he shoved the cake into her face with all his might. Her face, hair, and dress were covered in cake, and her nose was bleeding. The bride was sobbing, while the groom couldn't care less.

9. I attended the wedding of a friend of my mother's. The bride got so drunk that she seemed to enjoy dancing with the best man more than with the groom. After the divorce, she dated that best man for a while.

10. The bride told her bridesmaids that she didn't actually want to get married. Yet, no one mentioned this to the groom before the wedding.

11. Some friends of mine were getting married. During the church ceremony, the groom burst out laughing when it came time to recite the vows of fidelity.

12. I was invited to the wedding of a family friend whom I had never met before. At the pre-wedding dinner, guests were smashing ceramic and porcelain figurines on the floor. Having just arrived in Germany, I was shocked by this, but my husband explained that it was a local tradition. I overheard the bride whisper to the groom, asking him to sweep up the mess. He made a half-hearted attempt with a broom, then walked off to join his friends. Most of the shards remained scattered across the floor. Throughout the next three days of wedding festivities, I don't recall seeing the bride and groom exchange a single word. They divorced a few years later.

13. In the middle of the wedding ceremony—just as the bride and groom were exchanging their vows—the groom’s phone rang. He actually answered it and started chatting away, completely interrupting the proceedings. I know for a fact that they are divorced now.

14. I’m a wedding photographer, and I’ve got plenty of stories like that. One time, a couple started arguing during the reception dinner; later, when they hit the dance floor, the argument escalated into a full-blown brawl. At another wedding, right at the very end as the guests were starting to head out, I saw the bride slip away to be alone with one of the groom’s friends. I happened to be walking down the hallway and, through a door that hadn't been shut quite tight, I saw them kissing. I also once worked alongside a videographer who had fitted the bride and groom with lavalier microphones. After a while, the videographer came up to me and said, «Listen to this.» I could hear the groom talking to one of the bridesmaids, trying to convince her that they needed to put an end to their affair. On another occasion, I was shooting a church wedding on the hottest day of the year. The heat got to the groom; he passed out cold and smashed his face badly against the stone steps. And then there was the time I was photographing a newlywed couple on a trampoline. As the groom was landing, the bride was bouncing up into the air. The groom landed right on the hem of her dress, and she popped right out of it—landing in nothing but her lingerie.